Your Favorite New Fly '09 ??

[JohnScott]

...Old fly patterns don't become ineffective, they just get forgotten in the desire for the latest hot fly...

Juan -

There is a lot of truth to this observation.

But it does miss one point, that some of us haven't been around fly fishing and fly tying to know about those old patterns, and some of us don't have the skill or interest in tying some of those patterns.

In my case, I have seen several dozen other hopper patterns and had tied maybe half a dozen of the well established patterns, and fished them. But I never found one that I could tie well and ENJOYED tying, and for whatever reason, I never found one that fished well for me.

So I tied the FEB Hopper as an experiment and as a successor to a couple other flies that had worked well for me earlier in the summer - FEB salmonflies and golden stones. I didn't sit down to create a hot fly, I sat down to come up with one that I thought would work for me and one I would enjoy fishing because it was one of my own. Believing others probably went through the same thing last year, creating or discovering a fly that was new for them and worked well, was the reason for starting this thread.

Certainly, there are a lot of folks who spend a lot of time trying to create the "hot new fly" as part of their business pursuit as professional fly tiers, writers, guides, etc. Some of those people are probably only motivated by the prospects of more fame, more book sales, more sales of their patterns, more guided trips, more visits to their resorts, etc. But a couple quite well known professionals that I've met strike me as guys who are expressing a truly and deeply creative aspect of their personality, and while it drives some fame and income for them, those things are secondary to the creative process which is what they really enjoy.

And there are folks who think that a different fly, especially one created by one of the "name" tiers, will catch them more fishies, will make them better or more successful fly fishers. They have their reasons for believing that, and it is not for us to judge their interests or motives, either.

So, with all due respect, it strikes me as true, but perhaps simplistic, to say "Old fly patterns don't become ineffective, they just get forgotten in the desire for the latest hot fly."

John

[FishnDave]

I don't know when this was a "new" fly, but I found it in July '09 and fished it until the cold weather hit. All I can say is tie a couple of these and carry them with you. If you see SM busting minnows, usually later in the season, tie it on as fast as you can. I barely fished another fly from the beginning of September to the end. Sunrise to ten and the last few hours of light seem to be the best time. One morning in September, it was just one of those perfect overcast days where it stays dawn-like all day. I worked about 1/4 mile of river back and forth until my arm fell off catching fish after fish with this fly.

I cast it across the current and it floats when it lands and for the first few strips. Then it goes just subsurface for the remainder of the retrieve. I give it continuous short strips and it sort of "walks the dog" like a Spook.

The size 10 hook is great, but I have even gone to a 1/0 Gamagatszu B10S and tied a fly 6" long and the fish keep hitting it. Even the big ones cast well on my 6wt. I tie them in all white, the gray over white version, and an all chartreuse version. I use EP fibers instead of the White Ice Fur, because I had it laying around. The eyes fell off after a few fish and it didn't seem to matter. I just leave them off now.

I want to try them on LM this year, but I will never go to a river without a few of these.

http://www.tightlinesflyshop.com/?p=178

Thanks for posting, I hadn't heard of this fly before.

After your post, I watched the video, then wandered down to my fly-tying desk to attempt it from memory. My memory sucks.

I see some things I could improve upon on future attempts, but as a first go, it should catch some fish!

This looks like it would be a good fly for hybrid wipers, too!