DESIGNING TROUT FLIES - EOTG - Jan 15, 2018

DESIGNING TROUT FLIES

Skues, as we shall see, was to play a pivotal role in the development of nymph fishing, and the discoveries that he made while fishing Tup?s Indispensable were key. In his book Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream, published in 1910. Skues recounted that for a while after he was first introduced to this fly he fished it only as a dry fly, but on one July day he ?put it over a fish without avail, cast it a second time without drying it. It was dressed with a soft hackle, and at once went under, and the trout turned at it and missed. Again, I cast, and again the trout missed, to fasten soundly at the next offer. It was a discovery for me, and I tried the pattern wet over a number of fish on the same shallow, with most satisfactory results.?

Boy, do I agree with that! It's pretty much exactly the same conclusions that I've come to over 50 years of fly fishing (and having read much of the same literature.)

One small nit, though. "Flymph" is Pete Hidy's word. Leisenring only called them "wet flies".

Very interesting article. Thanks