achalabrookies

Paul Pezza has kindly sent me some photos of attractive fontinalis from Rhode Island USA.
For those who do not know, I always like to show brook trouts on my blog, wherever they come from.
If you want to share a photo of your favorite brookies, I will be very happy to publish them here with the appropriate mention.
My email is huberzil@hotmail.com

Photo Paul Pezza

Photo Paul Pezza

Photo Paul Pezza

I have a special inclination to use natural materials in the making of my flies.
In these modern times when synthetics make our artificials seem more “lures” than flies, it is very interesting for me to pay attention to the loose feathers that I find out there in my backyard and also on the banks of rivers and streams that I visit regularly during the season.
It is very personal, but I feel that somehow I am maintaining a certain tradition in addition to providing added value to my fly tying.
I show you here some more flies in which I have used some of these “treasures”.

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

Fortunately I live in an area rich in birdlife.
The backyard of my house is a meeting place for several species of small birds because I always leave them water and some seeds for food.
In return, they leave me some scattered feathers that come off after their occasional baths.
Many times these feathers are excellent for tying soft hackle flies.
Here I show you some flies that I have tied with those feathers.

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

I want to share a video.
It shows very aesthetically landscapes and part of the wild fauna of our beloved Patagonia.
Thanks to Pablo Saracco (whom I do not have the pleasure to meet personally) for his talent for transmitting realities and feelings through his videos and photographs.

youtube.com/watch?v=Nv7JPi4QhAk

achalabrookies

This photo is from the last century.
More precisely from about 1986.
I am holding the first catch of that day.
It was taken at the beginning of the season (November) on the Quilquihue river in a section that runs right next to the San Martín de los Andes “Chapelco” airport in the Patagonian province of Neuquèn.
I remember that we asked the airport manager for permission to walk across the landing track and access the river.
At that time there were very few flights, so there were no problems letting us through.
At that time, the Quilquihue offered a spectacular population of brown trout and its fishing was very productive.
An extraordinary river that I visited several times.

The simplicity of some traditional flies like Spiders, Soft Hackles, Bivisibles and others is well known.
Inspired by this concept, I have developed some small dry flies: “Ephemeroptera Mìnima”, “Mini Devaux” and “Simple Mini Caddis”.
The last two I just mentioned were successfully tested for two seasons.
They work very well and, as an anecdote, I can tell you that with the “Mini Devaux” in its debut I caught seven brookies in seven tries (7/7), optimum score! and I have witnesses!
I was also very pleased to know that other colleagues have seriously studied and experimented with this topic of simple and minimalist flies.
As an example, I want to mention Alan Petrucci (Small Stream Reflections Blog) who kindly sent me some beautiful photos that I share here and where his great work is evident.
Thank you very much Alan for your contribution, I really appreciate it.
There are also three more photos of my “inventions”, those models that I have mentioned above in this text.
Come and see!

Photo: Alan Petrucci

Photo: Alan Petrucci

Photo: Alan Petrucci

Ephemeroptera Mìnima achalabrookies

Mini Devaux achalabrookies

Simple Mini Caddis achalabrookies

Brookies are very photogenic, their colors always give us surprises.
I caught this one on a particularly beautiful cloudy day.

achalabrookies

These are nymphs that I designed some time ago and use a lot.
They are the result of various mixtures of different dubbings and trial/error tests.
Well used, they are very effective.
I tie them in hooks for dry flies (size 18,16,14) and with relatively little material so they don’t sink too much and stay close to the surface in drifts.
They can be smeared with some paste to float and in that way, keep them closer to the surface even.
Due to their characteristics, they can be fished upstream perfectly, you just have to pay close attention (I don’t fish with strike indicators).
You can also tie classic models following this criterion keeping in mind not to add too much weight.
Here they go!

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

About thirty years ago, an outstanding fly fishing researcher and great instructor, Marcelo Morales, came to Còrdoba to give a demonstration of fly tying.
I was lucky to be part of the organizing group for that event.
At that time I already had some good experience in tying nymphs especially because I fished a lot with these flies but, there was a great interest in me for traditional wet winged flies and I did not know them very well.
I asked Marcelo about them and he not only instructed me in detail on the tying and how to fish them, but he also looked in one of the many boxes of flies that he had brought and gave me three of them, three classics: Peter Ross, March Brown and Professor.
That generous attitude of Marcelo marked my life as a fly tyier and fly fisherman in a very special way and since then I have kept them almost like a treasure.
Here I show you:

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

achalabrookies

It is time for isolation, the 2019/2020 season has been cut short.
In my case, I take the opportunity to read and reread various fly fishing classics, tie flies, search the Internet for new and interesting fly fishing blogs, watch the videos that some colleagues upload to their You Tube channels generously and, finally, look at many photos to keep the sensations alive.
This one you see is from an early season rainbow at Intiyaco.

achalabrookies