Test Run – Cheech’s Fly #317.5- B

We were headed home from a lake adventure. As usual we all were still eager to fish. Somewhere on the road we decided to take a small. I had a few flies burning a hole in my pocket...err…waders that I wanted to toss on the river; it was a win-win in anyone's book.

For the next few hours I spent a lot of time looking at the scenery. It was awesome. Each time I find myself saying the same thing, "this is the best day of fall colors ever", funny how every time seems to be "the best day". But today the feeling was perfect, the lighting was awesome; it gave nature a great contrast. It also gave me just another justification to why I spent most of my time out here… out there… you know what I mean.

I rigged up with a fly was that tied by my good friend Cheech. He is always coming up with crazy ideas and is always looking for feedback. Lucky for me I get to see the samples before the finished product, some stuff works, some doesn't, and each time the pattern is perfected. Perhaps a reason why his stuff is so productive might actually be all the fails, tweaks and miscalculations. Knowing exactly what you don't want in order to create something takes a lot of time and a ton of problem solving. I like how he takes his time to work on a pattern, investigate what the insect and material performs under a variety of conditions. Today was a perfect example of thinking outside the box… Cheech's "Scubahopper" series.

This particular fly is just part of the "Aquahopper" series that is coming out of depths of Cheech's basement. It's other half for is a shallow water swimmer, the "Snorkelhopper". These flies were designed to cover the entire water column -from fast shallow riffles to small deep pockets. Each fly has a specific purpose…. Well, that's the hope anyway.

After loosing the "Snorkelhopper", a great loss as it's really been a go-to for me, I tied the "Scubahopper". I was faced with a fast deep run with a small soft pocket tucked neatly to the side. A normal drift of a nymph wouldn't be able to get to the location, or if you could, it needs to be heavy to get down fast. I was really excited at this challenge; it was a perfect test to see if the theory matches the performance. A few casts later I had a perfect drift, tight to the side pocket. The line went viciously tight and I was rewarded with a nice Brown Trout.

It was a great to see that the fly performed exactly what its purpose was. It was a really fun fly to fish, it makes you switch up tactics and it makes you target specific locations that you might otherwise overlook or tricky spots that are difficult to get into….. I just wish that hopper season wasn't over.

To learn more about Cheech and his crazy flies check him out at……….http://flyfishfood.blogspot.com/