FLY JUNKIE

September 20, 2010

I have to admit I’m a fly junkie. I don’t tie flies any more, which does not mean I don’t still love ‘em or appreciate them. When we were at the FFF Fly Faire a couple of weeks ago there were a ton of fly tiers. Most of whom I didn’t recognize not because they weren’t a tier of note, but because I haven’t attended any of the events where tiers are featured in a while. If it isn’t someone who is involved with FAOL or written a book, or done a Fly of the Week I probably don’t know them.

Just the names of flies should be enough to turn the fish on. Instead of the well-known Humpy we now have the Burk's Crystal Hunchback. And a whole series of flies with orange on them, called the Rip Cord series. Got to love that one! All this so the angler can see the fly of course (and how would I know that?). Another series with the same intent, being visible to the angler (and let’s face it, the fish isn’t going to see this stuff anyway) are called headlights or spotlights. They have a touch of red where an egg sac would be, or a red tag on for example a size 14 yellow stonefly.

How about this? “The Mayfly Cripple Limestone is an excellent imitation of the sulfur mayfly in the emerger or cripple life stage. It's also the perfect fly pattern to have strung on your leader when the water is cool and you've spotted the first few of these pale yellow mayflies fluttering off the water's surface. With a whack of stiff, hollow fibers and a puff of CDC feathers for a tail, this fly rides right in the surface film and shows a realistic profile that will tantalize even the most wary trout!” This description from a California fly shop really shows how wonderfully creative writers have become in selling a bit of feather and thread. Great stuff. I doubt if the late Carl Richards, co-author of Selective Trout and others books could have imagined their creation of cripples and stillborns would ever rise to such heights.

I’m really not putting the names down, I love them. How about the Designated Hitter? No really, I get it. Then of course, everyone who has made a name for themselves in fly fishing has to have a fly or series of flies with their names on them. I also get that, Trav’s nephew Tom Travis is that Travis who has I think at last count 27 flies with his name on them in the Orvis catalog. 

Here are just a few of the others, not in any particular order all listed under Trout Flies: Cutter, Horodysky, Potter, Goddard, Mercer, Clark, Hill, Schlotter, Kaufmann, Chocklett, Blue Ribbon, Pablo, Burk, Mathews, Brooks, Sloan, Oliverio, A.K., Fowler, Anderson, Nealley, Bear, Lucca, Nemes, Scheck, Beck, Garcia, Hart, Cannon, Griffith, Jacklin, Logan, Burkholder, Berry, Engler, Barr, and Befus. This is just one page and I didn’t include the general names of just the flies such as Parachute Madam X October Caddis, Cripple. (That is one fly of course.)

The top fly names, (there must be an award somewhere for this don’t you think) just on the same page, Logan's Flying Circus October Caddis with Orange Head, Emerger; Schlotter's Rogue Foam Stone Skwala, Adult; and Mercer's Midgeling, Emerger. The last one really is a neat bead-head fly. I’d have to give an honorable mention to the Sloan's Paralyzer October Caddis, Adult.

Standing in the Selway River on a late September afternoon hoping against hope the October Caddis might really come off; I think I want the Sloan’s Paralyzer in my fly box. As I recall the actual flies on the Selway come in two sizes so I hope the Paralyzer is one of them.

There are of course classics in flies just as in so many other things we value over time. The Adams, Cahills (light and dark), Elk Hair Caddis, Bivisible, Royal Coachman, Dave’s Hopper, Black Fur Ant and a Black Midge. Those are pretty much the standard in dry flies. YMMV.

There is a new book on my reading table written by the man who initiated the Boy Scouts to make fly fishing a Merit Badge. The book is The 24 Greatest Flies You Don’t Leave Home Without by Robert J. Sousa, PH.D. He pares it down even more: Grasshopper, Blue Wing Olive, Adams, Black Gnat Parachute, Elk Hair Caddis and Ant. 

I’m sure you have your favorites, if you’ve been fishing any length of time you probably have several fly boxes. I still have my set-up which I’ve used over the years. One for basically Montana, one for Idaho, one for Michigan and two others for saltwater, and there was one for salmon and one for bonefish and other assorted toothy fish.

If you have more time and fly boxes you can narrow it down even more - sort by where you are going to fish, and then the time of year. Fishing in Michigan for example, you probably aren’t going to find the Hex in the spring when you should be carrying Hendricksons. You could carry the Hex nymph though. Just common sense stuff which helps to cut down on the amount of stuff we all carry.

Since Trav and I have been married he has taken it upon himself to be my guide - and I love it. We fished out on the creek (DePuy) a few days ago and I discovered I had a miracle midge and a dropper on. Very small and red, and I couldn’t have tied it on without a magnifier anyway.

Nephew Tom told us we should hit a particular section of the creek about five in the afternoon as he had seen ‘nice’ ants the previous day. When you have a famous guide/outfitter in the family giving out fishing advice what does one do? Go fishing of course. Trav got his trusty pocket net out and sure enough, there were ants, flying ants and the water was covered with them. And the fish were taking them.  The problem was they were all males, which are smaller than the females Tom had seen. Very small, in fact they were smaller than the 28's Trav had. 

Not to be defeated or outsmarted, Trav found a smallish ant for me and I actually did catch a couple of fish on it. He rigged up something for himself and he took a couple of nicer fish too. We didn’t have what matched the hatch. I just kept pounding the edges of the water until the fish gave up. Sometimes that works too.

Next time a fly catalogue shows up at your house, have some fun. Go through it and see what really is new, maybe nothing, but regardless it will be better than watching the evening news on anybody’s channel.

Remember, this is supposed to be fun. 

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