all white flies?

[DDRRedneck500]

has anybody had any success with all white flies? like woolly buggers, soft hackles, or anything? ive got a ton of white tying materials and ive tried a few all white flies but they never seem to work. so any advise would be welcome

[RonS81]

Tied a bunch of white buggers only fish so far.

[dixieangler]

Have you tried White Millers for bream? Trout may like them too. Just one of the Miller series of wet flies developed for trout (Yellow Miller and Orange Miller also but have slight difference in the pattern recipe). They work pretty good sometimes for me on bream when they want different colors of wet flies. Only color that is not white on the White Miller is the orange butt. The other Millers are all the same color using the same basic recipe but they have an added gold wire rib and no butt. At least that is the way I tie them.

White Miller
Hook: Size 10 and smaller (short shank wet fly)
Thread: White 6/0
Tail: White hackle fibers (I like the length of the hook shank)
Butt: About two turns of orange floss
Body: White floss
Wing: Matching white duck quill sections
Hackle Collar: About two turns of white hen hackle laid back wet fly style
Head: White thread

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

I can't think of any 100% white flies, but I have some tied some that come close.

I know I've caught a couple fish with a white bodied, white hen hackle spider that had a yellow head (so not quite 100% white). Mind you, this is in a river where almost any spider pattern works well.

Also, I've caught fish on a "White Invicta" (but it involves some grizzle hackle, but could be tied all white). I fish this if I see lots of white butterflies around.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g142/ ... nvicta.jpg

The pattern as shown is:
Tail: grizzle fibres (light/pale barring)
Body: white wool
Rib :silver wire
Hackle: pale grizzle palmered
Wings: white quill
Throat: peacock eye (or black fibres).

You could replace the pale grizzle with white and I'm sure it would be good.

Also, a white miller is a popular wet fly back in Nova Scotia and it's just:
Tail: white
Body: White floss/thread
rib: flat silver tinsel
wing: white quill
hackle: white

I don't have a photo though.

I've heard of something called a "puke" fly, which is all white and I I think it's more or less an all white wooly bugger which some people swear by.

And, small midge larva in all white (with silver rib) are popular.

Caddis nymphs, basically white dubbed body, peacock hurl for the head, and copper ribbing (lead weighted or not) can be useful.

Hmmmm, those are what I can think of right now. An allwhite dry fly (or use grizzle hackle) would be good to have at times too.

- Jeff

[dixieangler]

Looks like Jeff had the same idea only his recipe is a little different than mine. I tie the White Miller out of a book I saw sometime back that had that recipe but I don't recall the book's name. All the Millers were in that book. Wish I could recall what it was. I just have always tied it the way I first saw it. I think the original recipe used tinsel for rib on the Yellow and Orange (the White had no rib) but I used wire since wire holds up better under bream bites.

I found the book. The above recipe for the White Miller in the book is correct except for the body which is white chenille and an orange floss tip. Oops. Sorry. The other Miller recipes are correct with no revisions. That's what I get for not looking at the book and trying to rely on memory only.

The book is Practical Flies And Their Construction (Revised Edition) by Lacey E. Gee and Erwin D. Sias. Copyrighted circa 1966.

[ducksterman]

I had good luck on trout with a white streamer...basically a white bunny strip wing with a white krystal chenille body and a little white bunny fur tail..did add some crystal flash....lots of ways you could modify this.

[Flyandtie1]

Yes they do work...Eventually.
I have had minimal success using them for trout, Mostly white zonkers....
But if you only add silver flash to the white zonker... or put a olive rabbit strip on top of the white for a double bunny...Oh how much better they work..

[flybinder]

I don't know, about it in VA, but out here in the West we use several all white flies for a variety of fish. One of my all time favorites for larger, difficult, Rainbows is a simple, all white, leech patten. Take any number of leech patterns and merely ignore the stated materials list and use all white, materials, instead. Another, and much easier way, that we use a lot, is to tie up all white Wooley Buggers, leaded at the hook eye only, so they'll "swim" more like a leech with rod-tip-lifting and lowering-action.
Lord only knows "why" exactly, because I've never seen a hatch of such insects before, but West Slope Cutts, especially in North Idaho where I fish a great deal, seem to go for a simple all white, dry!?! Usually a #14 or #16, hen hackles tail, white wool dubbed body and a white rooster hackle collar. Again, nothing I've ever seen hatch, on the waters where these have been the most productive for me so "go figure"!?!
Although, obviously not "all white", I also have had a lot of success using a dry that's tied with a simple peacock hurl body, in place of the white wool dubbing. The rest of the fly, as noted above, remains the same.
Have fun and Good Luck!

[Andy B]

Take a look at forgotten flies or Ray Bergmans book Trout. Look for the White Miller which is a wet fly. Also the White Miller varient that has a red tail, Both these patterns has worked well for me on Brown Trout up on the Willowemoc in the Catskills. I fish these two patterns at dark on the streams and do quite well. Hope this helps you out a bit.

Andy B

[Donald Nicolson]

AndyB has it right.
White or very pale winged flies have traditionally been used at dusk, to simulate moths.
You could try some dry flies with bushy white wings.
I'll see if I can find some recipes.