Gummy Bears

I made two entries into the Fly of the Week => Stoneflies thread, which I'll leave as is.
But I do have a few more experimental stonefly nymph ideas some might find interesting. These flies tend to evoke strong reaction, both positive and negative. Their shape and color isn't the problem--they do look a lot like stoneflies. The soft flexible rubbery materials used are, I guess, the problem. They are good fish-catching flies.

http://montana-riverboats.com/Upload...s-stonefly.jpg

http://montana-riverboats.com/Uploads/Gummy-Bear.jpg

http://montana-riverboats.com/Uploads/Trojan-nymph.jpg

The Golden Stone above is made with bass tube material layered over a strip of un-dyed open cell mattress foam.

The second nymph was snipped out of a bass worm. The third nymph has a layer of "plastic leather" sandwiched on top of a slab of nearly transparent bass worm resin I cooked up in a tupperware dish, inside a microwave. And then snipped to shape with scissors. The final photo is Marshmallow Nymph, made with brown-dyed open-cell mattress foam.

I fished several of these flies on the Gallatin this past June, just a few days before the Salmon fly hatch. And had one of the best big fish days I've had in a long time. The photo below is the same stretch of the Gallatin, also in June, the year before that. When I had a similar deja-vu-all-over-again day fishing Marshmallow Nymphs. As you can see, I am a bit of a stonefly nut. I've caught so many of the best ever fish on these flies--at least in the early season--it's hard not to get hooked.

http://montana-riverboats.com/Upload...llow-Nymph.jpg

Some of the best big-nymph fishing of the year comes during high brown water...

http://montana-riverboats.com/Uploads/June-Gallatin.jpg

One final note about the brown-water photo above. That day, above, as I sat on the tailgate of my pickup on the upper Gallatin, cussing my way into my waders (it was a bright sunny Sunday in June) at least a half a dozen cars filled with fishermen slowed down as they crossed the nearby bridge. And then turned around and left. Presumably they all thought the water was too high and brown to fish. I wacked'em like never before. I really did have one of the best-ever big fish days, right after taking that photo. I've had days when I caught more. I think I only actually landed a little more than a dozen that day. But they all seemed to be 16 - 20+ inches long. Twenty inch fish are common on the Missouri and Yellowstone. But darned rare on the Gallatin. To catch so many big fish in one day was astonishing. Another interesting note: if you measure water quality by the state of the fish, there is little doubt. Brown water fish in June are fatter and more vigorous than at any other time of year.

An interest collection you have there. The first one would possibly get me a fine where I trout fish most frequently as not scents etc., are allowed and its getting harder and harder to find worms without them.

Your mattress foam, is that the tempura type they advertise so frequently or will any open cell polyurethane foam do? How are you dyeing it? I am probably a victim of seeing too much foam and too many mattress manufactured. A wide variety of polyurethane foam are used in mattresses and furniture. Just a fyi, there are manufacturers that add sand to foam to make their furniture and mattresses heavier, so we will think they are better quality.

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Originally Posted by Uncle Jesse

An interest collection you have there. The first one would possibly get me a fine where I trout fish most frequently as not scents etc., are allowed and its getting harder and harder to find worms without them.

Your mattress foam, is that the tempura type they advertise so frequently or will any open cell polyurethane foam do? How are you dyeing it? I am probably a victim of seeing too much foam and too many mattress manufactured. A wide variety of polyurethane foam are used in mattresses and furniture. Just a fyi, there are manufacturers that add sand to foam to make their furniture and mattresses heavier, so we will think they are better quality.

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Interesting (your details about foam). I use the cheapest quality foam I can find. That's all I really know about it. What is generally considered "high quality" in the industry is denser and heavier. And firmer. So the high-quality foam is not much good for fly tying. Soft and flexible makes the best nymphs. And therefore the cheapest quality. Cheap foam with sand in it sounds interesting. That might make a soft fly that sinks well. I dye mattress foam by squeezing it (with mason's gloves on) in hot Rit dye.

RE> "the first fly being scented" ....not necessarily so. Berkeley Power Baits are scented. But most bass tubes are not. The smallest ones (mini-tubes for Croppie fishermen) work the best for nymph snipping.

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Originally Posted by pittendrigh

These flies tend to evoke strong reaction, both positive and negative. Their shape and color isn't the problem--they do look a lot like stoneflies. The soft flexible rubbery materials used are, I guess, the problem.

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The fewer people that use them, the less the fish get used to them. Doesn't sound like a problem if you're the one fishing the flies.

Regards,
Scott

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Originally Posted by ScottP

The fewer people that use them, the less the fish get used to them.

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Perhaps fish do get "used to" common patterns. But Prince Nymphs and Woolly Buggers do still work. And the fish do see a lot of them. I don't think appearance the active ingredient with soft nymphs. Texture is. Prince Nymphs and Woolly Buggers get spit out 1/2 a second after the take. Marshmallow nymphs get chewed on. For a surprisingly long time. I've seen my leader zig zag off through the currents for ten feet or more. Sometimes the visual que being the only strike indication (no noticeable tug because I had slack in the line).

I tell that story to some fishermen and they instictively react by saying "That's unfair advantage! You catch more fish because of the material and not because you're a skillful fisherman!"

I like to think it's both. I'm a very good fisherman (better than many, if not most). And I've found (like peacock herl) a new material that really does help to put throbbing fish on the end of my line.
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One of the most contentious threads on all fly fishing forums revolves around "what is fly fishing."
It just occurred to me. Maybe fly fishing means (not counting fly rod line and reel) fishing with any artificial lure that only targets the fish's visual system. Olfactory cues (smell) is off limits. So too (perhaps) is targeting the fish's lateral line with vibration (wiggling lures) and so too is texture (targeting the fish's tactile sensory neurons after the strike). If that is the definition of fly fishing I guess I'm not exactly a fly fisherman, even though I do use fly rods, fly lines and fly reels. Because I do target all of the above, with the exception of smell.

Well, that's not entirely true either. I don't use smell for trout. But I have had a lot of fun fishing long strips of fresh pork skin (with the flyrod) in the lower Big Horn and lower Yellowstone, for catching channel catfish on the fly rod.

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Originally Posted by ScottP

...the less the fish get used to them. ...

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This guy ate at 11:27 a.m. ...

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...002_edited.jpg

... and took the same fly again at 12:02 p.m. ...

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...003_edited.jpg

Guess he didn't have time to get used to the pattern ?? Or maybe because it was right at lunch time ??

John

P.S. Kind of "just teasing" Scott, and kind of not. I'm pretty sceptical about fish getting wary of a particular pattern. But then again, maybe it is because I seldom fish where there is any pressure on the fishies ??

John and Pitt,

Good points. I'm finding the fish getting jaded on certain patterns on some of the heavily fished waters I go to around here, I'm talking only dry flies, and I'm just talking about my observations; folks better than me (and that includes just about everybody) may have a different take. On one stream in particular, I can't remember the last time I had a real good day (and I did have a few) using an Elk Hair Caddis; it continues to fish well for me using other caddis patterns but not with the EHC; same goes for a Royal Wulff, although that could be because I can't tie them worth a darn.

Regards,
Scott

After admiring Mr. Pittendrigh's work now for a while I decided to give his mattress foam bug a shot. I used a brown marker, as I did not have any dye and used conventional rubber legs, which I candy cane striped and knotted to add joints, I also added a flashy shellback. This one was a little flat chested I thing I twisted the foam too tight. I put it on the map to study its hunting grounds before going out.

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