Ausable Salmon Bomb

The Ausable Salmon Bomb is a sweet looking attractor fly that I found on the Ruff Waters Fly Fishing Blog. 

Watercolor on 9" x 12" Coldpress paper

 

I haven't fished the Ausable, but it will be crossed off my list some day for sure. This fly was not easy to paint...took me a few evenings and many beers and a bottle of red...oh and some whiskey too. I assume tying it is no easy task either. The plan according to Ruff Water's blog is to hit the Lake Champlain tributaries with this beautiful Salmon Fly. I'm sure there is a nice chill to the air up there right now...and those fish are hungry!

Take a look at the Ruff Waters Fly Shop to see a good selection of Adirondack Fly gear as well as a nice Ausable River Watershed guide service.  If you'd like to see this fly directly, check out the Ruff Waters Blog I'm always on the lookout for more interesting, eye catching subjects...if you have ideas "swing them" my way.

The Mighty Snook

A good friend relocated down south and has promised to bring me Snook fishing some day.  So, I've done my research and am looking forward to the opportunity.  Here is my attempt at capturing the Snook on paper.  Another warm water fish that "tricky" to catch.  Not only can they be hard to catch...specifically on the fly because they like to go deep, but these suckers can grow up to 47".  If your calculator is broken, that's almost 4 FEET LONG....damn!

The Fly Rod might not always be the ideal weapon of choice to bring these guys in as the recommended tackle is a 9- to 11-weight rod, with 40- to 50-pound-test tippets. Either way you catch them, the make for a nice meal and I think a great painting subject, racing stripe and all!

Watercolor on Cold Press 9"x 12"

For a more in depth description of the habits of the Snook, take a look here at Florida Sports Man

Thanksgiving Muddler

Happy Thanksgiving Week!  I thought I'd start this week off with a nice Muddler Minnow Fly.  Brown seems to be a very "thanksgiving-ish" color to me.  I have also included the actual fly that was the model for this painting.  The fly was given to me by my wife, as she felt it was a beautiful fly...agreed.  Looking forward to some Thanksgiving family time this week. 

Water color on 9"x12" cold press

Blue Cheek Trout

This Brown Trout has some nice features.  I wanted to deepen the feel of the spawning colors and provide a substantial backround to strengthen the overall look of of this girthy beauty.  I really enjoyed stepping a little more outside of my typical style.  Gradually I will let go a little further. 

5.5" x 8"  Water Color on cold press 140 lb. 

See if you can guess where I found the model for this Trout.  Here's a hint...one of my Favorite Blogs...and there hasn't been a post in a long time...i'll reveal in a few weeks once there have been a few stabs where she came from.

Can't wait to get this framed...it's going to look legit!

By the way...she's for sale...just shoot me an email.

 

Trophy Striper - On the Fly

A beautiful 22 lbs Striped Bass caught by my good friend on a blue and white clouser fly.  Let's call this beauty "The Lipper".  I thought it would be nice to give this Striper a "trophy mount" look. 

5.5" x 8" Water Color on 140 Lbs Cold Press.

Here is the actual Striped Bass and the Angler "The Lipper" in his glory.  Well done my man! 

And the framed work :

(SOLD)

Brook Trout Streamer

This Brook Trout Streamer was fun to paint.  The gold, wrap around, tincil like spiral really comes out and seems to shine.  I love the pattern...should catch some nice phat trout. 

(SOLD)

Water Color 5.5" x 8" on 140 Cold Press Paper

This Brook Trout Streamer is a beauty.  Idea taken from the fly tying of Lew Oatman.  The actual fly can be seen here: Lew Oatman

NEWLY FRAMED...this thing looks so sweet in the frame:

"Cover Model" Brown Trout - Progressive Start to Finish

I wanted to once again show the different stages of my painting process.  Below, you will see how my fish comes to life through the painting.  From top to bottom you can see where I begin on this Brown Trout from the base layer to the finishing detail.  The reason she is called the "Cover Model" is she is loosley based upon the beautiful Brown Trout on the cover of "Fly Rod & Reel" magaznie's Spring 2010 issue. http://www.flyrodreel.com/magazine/2010/april

Water Color on 140 lb cold press - 5.5" x 8"                                          

Stage 1 - The Sketch, outline, and base colors.

Stage 2 - The body formation, eye set up and more base layer.

Stage 3 - Bringing the layer effect to the spots and adding depth and dimention.

Brand New Frame for this beauty:

Wide Open Brookie with Skunk

The Wide Open Brookie was also a previous painting that I had shared on my blog, but was never satisfied with the finished product.  I have recently added a green butt skunk to the mouth of the fish to complete with what I feel is the finishing touch.  She was hungry and deserved more.  Have you ever caught a Brook Trout with a red butt skunk? 

Water Color on 140 lb Cold Press - 15" x 22"

Valley Creek Brown Trout

Water Color 5.5" x 8" on cold press.  Naitive Brown Trout I caught on Valley Creek in Valley Forge PA.  This was a spectacular fish at aproximatley 13".   She hit my elk hair caddis dry hard and fought the good fight.  So great to catch these native browns in Valley Forge.

Red Butt High Voltage Midge!

Thought this was a cool pattern.  Water Color on Paper.  5.5"x 8".

Found on BiggerFish...here's the link:

http://bigerrfish.blogspot.com/2010/06/red-butt-high-voltage-midge.html

Yellow Sally 6

4" x 6" This Water Color painting is a Dry Fly called the Yellow Sally 6 inspired by the fly tying of Whiskey Creek.  The "Yellow Sally Fly Pattern, tied on a Tiemco 101BL, size 14. Tied like a yellow elk hair caddis, but with a red foam underbody/egg sac"  http://www.flickr.com/photos/whiskeycreek/3755683574/

Also...as an update, here is a great fly tying video on MidCurrent by Michael Yelton.  Michael ties another version of the Yellow Sally:
http://www.midcurrent.com/video/clips/tying/yellow_sally.aspx

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Price : $100 USD