duaneredford.com   "Fear No Water"

Hidy Ho Good Neighbors!

The other day I am out in front of the shop performing my morning ritual rigging rods. Bob Streb walks by and asks’ “What are you doing?” I explain that I’m trying to get a two day Chubby. He kept walking by and filtered into the shop. I thought about my response for a bit and started chuckling. Let me explain.

As a guide and basically a bottom-feeder in the economic society, I strive to get as much use and efficiency out of my gear as possible. Gotta make every inch of tippet, every drop of floatant, and every pinch of putty last. Therefore, I go the extra mile, sometimes two, to stretch the last bit of life out of all my gear. That includes my Chubbies.

Since about the 4^th of July, I have been running the Mini-rig alongside nymph and dry fly rigs. It’s a standard in my stable, and I fish it a bunch in the right kind of water. It’s perfect for water that is up to about 18” deep, textured, and faster moving than the main run body. You can peruse the archives to find more detailed info about the Mini-rig, or pick up a copy of the 2^nd Edition of The Fly Fisher’s Playbook for more information. It’s perfect for top-down fly fishing.

I swore off tying dry flies years ago. Nowadays I concentrate my tying efforts to producing, in mass, nymphs, pupa, larva, and emergers exclusively. Therefore, I buy my Chubbies. A good Chubby ain’t cheap, and I have found a shop that takes good care of me in that department. It’s not that I can’t tie my own, but I had to draw the line somewhere, or I’d never leave the tying bench. Dressing the Chubby to get a good two days of service is important. Let me explain again.

Fishing a mini rig for a full eight hours equates to probably close to a thousand drifts, some drenching hook-ups, and a few trees and snags along the way. There’s only so much that it can take. But if you take care of it, you can get more service than you may think. It’s all about a little TLC.

The evening before the second day of service (and sometimes third), I painstakingly work to remove all water from the previous outing. I use those little foam thingy’s incased in leather to suck out the water from the main body. You can tell by looking at it if some areas require more attention, as it will appear darker in those areas. Keep working on those areas. I then use a little brush, the same one I use to prep yarn indicators, to brush the wing portions and get all the fibers pointing in the same direction. Next, I cover the Chubby with Top-Ride floatant and store for the night.

Bob walked by as I performed the next step the next morning. The Chubby is ready for final primping to get it thru the day. I usually only apply the silicone based floatants once to a dry fly, but the Chubby can handle two applications, if prepped right. First, I knock off all of the Top-Ride from the previous evening. Then, I re-apply a small amount of liquid floatant as I lightly brush it into all the nooks and cranny’s of the main body. Lastly, I simply brush a bit of floatant into the wing fibers making sure to fluff and separate the individual fibers. Now the Chubby is set for another day of service. As it gets tired during the day, I simply shake it in a little dry shake and continue to fluff. This helps keep it up all day.

Like I said, I’m cheap, er thrifty, and need to stretch all my gear to the limit, that includes my Chubby Chernobyls. Great Mini rig bug, floats all day, suspends heavy tungsten bugs, and catches fish.  Bob asked me the other day, if I am able to get two days out my Chubbies. I proudly told him “Yep”. He chuckled and walked by. To escape ridicule, maybe I shouldn’t prep my Chubbies in the parking lot in front of the shop.

Fear No Water,

Duane

After 2 days hard work….

Mouthful…