Catoctin Mountains MD

[ScottP]

Fished Big Hunting Creek for a few hours this afternoon; cloudy, misty, temps in the 60's. Good flow of water, helped out by thunderstorms last night, a bit of color in the stream. Saw a variety of bugs - BWOs, a couple bigger mayflies identity unknown (too far away for a good look), yellow sallies and lime sallies; no sulphurs or green drakes (bummer). The brown trout were looking up and in the mood - caught them in the heavier water on foam-back convertibles (color didn't seem to matter) and in the quiet stretches on Wally's Clacka Caddis (can't wait to get out to Montana and try them out there); most were 7-10" but did manage to fool one a bit over 12". A nice way to spend a few hours. Sorry, no pics. Hope everyone else gets out this weekend.

Regards,
Scott

[JohnScott]

... out with the convertible !! Must have gotten a bit wet with the top down ??

That's quite a soup of flies to have to work your way through. Tough duty, but we know you are up to it.

I assume the Wally's Clacka Caddis is from Walter Weiss ?? aka .... sorry, the BB name doesn't come to mind just off hand, and I wouldn't want to offend anyone by using the wrong one.

John

[ScottP]

John,

That is Mr. Wiese's caddis. Should have provided a link, so here it is: http://www.parksflyshop.com/newflies.htm You're right, it wouldn't seem like typical weather for a convertible, but I had to take mine out for a spin. Do you have any left? They should work well in your neighborhood soon.

Regards,
Scott

[JohnScott]

... You're right, it wouldn't seem like typical weather for a convertible, but I had to take mine out for a spin. Do you have any left? They should work well in your neighborhood soon.

Regards,
Scott

.... under cover until the weather clears up and I can take them for a ride in some sunshine !!

John

[appalachian angler]

Nice! I like fishing big beetles, ants and hopper/cricket patterns after a storm for brownies. those fish are just waiting under cover for some big terrestrial tidbits to fall in the creek after a storm!

aa

[lastchance]

Nice report and I'm glad you had some fun.
Question: what is a foam back convertible?

[JohnScott]

.... must have been named after Clackacraft Driftboats ?? As in the Clackamas River in Oregon. Hmmmmmm .....

Actually, it is very much like a fly I've been thinking about tying off one of my better caddis patterns - an X-caddis version of the Harrop's Henry's Fork Caddis.

The Clacka Caddis appears to have a synthetic wing - antron ?? The HHFC has a biot body, peacock herl thorax, grizzly hackle, and the original has a CDC wing, but a dark deer hair wing will do the trick also, at least for some streams. Same basic profile / silhouette as the Clacka. Just add some shuck to the HHFC.

Looks like I'll have to go from the thinking stage to the tying stage ?? ( Not sure which is a bigger "ouch" !! )

John

[ScottP]

Nice report and I'm glad you had some fun.
Question: what is a foam back convertible?

I just add a 2mm foam back to Scott Sanchez' Convertible http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flyt...080805fotw.php It floats a long time and is easy to see; I've tied them up in a lot of different colors and had luck with each at varying times. Size #12 for the most part, sometimes #14; calf tail wing becomes a booger for me to work with at any smaller sizes and I was never satisfied with the results I got from calf body (guess I could try synthetics but I like how the calf tail looks). With the foam providing most of the buoyancy, I can use lower quality saddle hackle and still keep it on top.

Regards,
Scott

[ScottP]

.... must have been named after Clackacraft Driftboats ?? As in the Clackamas River in Oregon. Hmmmmmm .....

Actually, it is very much like a fly I've been thinking about tying off one of my better caddis patterns - an X-caddis version of the Harrop's Henry's Fork Caddis.

The Clacka Caddis appears to have a synthetic wing - antron ?? The HHFC has a biot body, peacock herl thorax, grizzly hackle, and the original has a CDC wing, but a dark deer hair wing will do the trick also, at least for some streams. Same basic profile / silhouette as the Clacka. Just add some shuck to the HHFC.

Looks like I'll have to go from the thinking stage to the tying stage ?? ( Not sure which is a bigger "ouch" !! )

John

John,

I tie my Clackas (and Iris Caddis) wings with white Congo Hair (EP fiber sub, sheds water). Since I fish them most often in lower light conditions, I like the visibility it provides even if it's not what the bug's wing looks like; tied some up with black wings too for those times when the light gets real weird around sunset and its a PITA to see much of anything. I've always loved the Iris Caddis but I think Wally's on to something with adding the hackle up front. I like the Harrop and X-2 Caddis, too, and have them in the box.

Regards,
Scott