 |
 |
Home Local Water Gear Fly Patterns |
 |
 There is nothing new about using poly yarn or antron for spinner wings. This pattern is pretty generic. I don't know if I made it up or if it's just another of many patterns that I found somewhere and adapted to my needs. Hook: 28-20 Straight Eye Dry Fly (smaller if I could find 'em) Thread: Black, 8/0 Head: Thread Tail: 2 or 3 light hackle barbs Abdomen: Wrapped olive goose feather barb Wing Case: Fine black bubbing Thorax: Fine black dubbing Wing: White Antron This pattern came about one summer evening on a local pond with fish rising all over. A day earlier, they were slamming big foam ants and hoppers yet, tonight, nothing. This situation is frustrating and amusing at the same time. The more enlightened among us would view this as a learing opportunity. I threw everything I had at them. Still, nothing. Another guy was having the same experience. As he was throwing in the towel, he offered, "they're just not going to bite anything." Obviously, they were biting something. I perked up to the challenge and as I paused to take in the warm evening air, noticed that tiny midges were in the aloft. I hadn't noticed them before because they were mostly over the water and the light was dim. So, I inspected it and got an idea in my head about how I would tie an effective knockoff. This is that fly. Again, I don't really think it is original because well, it isn't. But, it's not a specific pattern either, just a style. If I was better at managing them, I would use two microfibettes for the tail instead of a couple hackle barbs. The next evening I went out and found the same conditions. For comparison sake, I tied on the big ant and hopper and some other stuff before trying the new midge. All produced nothing but fish were rising furiously. I looked for, and found the same tiny flies in the air and with high hopes, tied on my new imitation. A twelve inch rainbow attacked the fly the instant it hit the water. There were several other fishermen out who were catching nothing yet, suddenly I was landing fish at a rate of about every third cast. These are the moments we, as fly fishermen, dream of. Out of the edges of my vision, I could see every other fisherman looking on, trying to figure out what I was using. They could see the splash so they knew that it was a surface pattern, but that was it. Had someone asked, I probably would have given fies away to other anglers in an effort to build up some good fly fishing karma. Having been on the skunked end of skunked plenty of times myself, I didn't worry about it much. My little anecdote is living proof that size does matter. I was fishing a 26. I have a suspicion that size is the key factor quite often. If this was the same time of year, I would tie a few up in bright orange just to see if I am right. Unfortunately, that's an experiment that'll have to wait until next summer. |
||||
|
|