Compara vs Sparkle Duns?

[peregrines]

Hi all, long time lurker here on FAOL, and the collective knowledge on the board is outstanding. And I'd like to tap into it and learn a little more.

Just curious to your preference for fishing different hatches, especially in the east. Do you tend to fish one and not the other? Sparkles for Sulphurs and comparas for Hendricksons etc etc?

To paraphrase... "What's in YOUR box?"

In addition to hackled flies, I've fished mostly comparaduns, but I have a lot of holes to fill and need to get cranking on the tying.

Thanks in advance, am looking forward to your thoughts.

Best regards,

Peregrines

[Chuck441]

peregrines- I fish both, but I don't take the species into account. I prefer the original comparadun, but sometimes the trout tell me to change- so on goes a sparkle dun. If I were limited to one or the other, though, I'd go with the sparkle dun. With the "shuck" sticking out the rear, I suppose it looks more vulnerable to a fish.

Chuck

[peregrines]

Thanks for your thoughts Chuck. I don't live near a local stream with wild fish so every trip is a 4+ hour RT drive Normandy Invasion type of expedition.

Closer waters are stocked and the fish aren't very selective.

I have to tie up a bunch of flies in advance and hope they work when I can get away, as opposed to fishing every night after work and being able to tinker with patterns.

Sounds like Sparkle Duns are the way to go. Thanks again for your response.

peregrines

If you go back to the origin of the sparkle dun you'll find that it was developed in response to a particular situation. The trout were feeding selectively on emerging duns which had not yet completely escaped from their nymphal shucks and were unwilling (or less willing) to take the more conventional paradun patterns. I tie and fish both depending on the willingness of the fish to strike. The same applies to the conventional elk hair caddis versus the X-caddis with its trailing shuck.

[whatfly]

While I have seen situations where the fish would take a cripple over a dun, I have yet to see fish prefer a dun over a cripple. YMMV.

[peregrines]

Good point whatfly.

Preston, I've mostly fished EHC and delta wings for caddis, but I've been tying up a bunch of shucked X Caddis to try out this year.

Thanks all.

peregrines

[Chuck441]

+1 on the X-caddis. Apparently the "shuck" on both the sparkle dun and X-caddis look less likely to scoot off the water quickly. Easy meal for Mr. (or Ms.) trout. But- I kind of like the splayed tails of the comparadun, just as I take great pleasure in catching fish on traditional-style dries. Just my mishigas (don't bother looking that up), I suppose!

Chuck

[Max]

Comparadun and Sparkle Dun are both good flies for flat or limited turbulence water. I have developed a preference for the Sparkle Dun over the years. I view the Sparkle Dun as an emerger pattern that can be floated at different depths in the film by where you place the floatant:
- Lightly in the film--grease the entire fly.

- Well into the film with fly rear tilted down and deeper--grease the wing, thorax and head.

- Deep into the film--grease only the wing.

I have been amazed how fish will sometimes have a differniated view of these greasing variations.

[peregrines]

Max- thanks very much for the greasing tips. I'll have to give it a shot.

Chuck-- Am familiar with the term... I work in nyc where there is a misigas hatch everyday.

Thanks again to all who replied!

peregrines

[Jordan]

Well.. I'll buck the prevailing trend here, and say that I've found them to be more or less interchangable. Maybe the rest of these guys fish for pickier trout than I do.