WHICH TYPE OF FLY?
I normally do not spend much time reading the posts on the FAOL bulletin board. I leave that to the Ladyfisher since she loves to pour over the posts. Occasionally, when I am glancing at the headings, something will catch my eye and I will read through the various postings to get the gist discussion. A recent post about the fishing qualities of comparaduns in comparison to other types of dry flies was the topic of discussion. The writer made the following statement: “They float well in the water and catch a lot of fish......can you think of a better pattern to fish....let’s hear your feed back and tell why yours works the best.”
As you might expect there were several replies from other fly fishers, and there were several suggestions on how to tie comparaduns using various materials for the wing. Some of the respondents wandered away from the original question, but there was one respondent that really nailed the essence of the entire question when he wrote: “What is actually more important is whether you even want a high floating fly. If the natural fly places it's abdomen into the film, you want the fly to stick it's abdomen into the film.”
When I started fly-fishing there were basically 4 types of flies that were in common use; dry flies, wet flies, nymphs and streamers. The most common dry fly was the traditional hackled model that, when properly dressed, held the front of the fly off the water. Parachute patterns were just beginning to make their appearance, but they were not in common use where I did my fishing.
It was during this period that I discovered Vince Marinaro’s book “The Modern Dry Fly Code” and his criss-cross method of applying the hackle. Vince had spent several years looking at flies from the trout’s perspective using a device he called a slant tank. From his experiments he developed a theory that fish [specifically trout] key on the foot print pattern of the natural fly as it drifts on the surface film. [Full details about this can be found in The Modern Dry Fly Code by Vince Marinaro]
A bit of good fortune allowed me to meet and fish with Vince for several years when he made a regular pilgrimage to fish Michigan’s Au Sable River. I enjoyed many conversations with him over the years and we corresponded for several years after I moved from Michigan to Montana.
The key to correctly tying the Marinaro-style dry fly was the shape of the ball of dubbing that composed the thorax and the use of just one hackle. When tied correctly the hackle was wrapped in an X shape around the thorax with the longest fibers pointing back and the shorter hackles pointing forward. This caused the fly to tilt forward on the water riding on the hackles and completely lifting the thorax and the body off the water. This achieved the ‘foot print’ pattern that Vince believed was part of the key in getting the trout to become interested in the artificial as it approached his position.
Shortly after my introduction to the Marinaro-style of dry fly Swisher and Richards published their book “Selective Trout,” a book that changed the face of fly-fishing like no other book in modern time. They introduced an entirely new concept to tying dry flies – flies without hackle. While angling historians know that this was not an entirely new concept it was the first time that this technique had been applied to specific insect hatches with flies tied to match those specific insects. At the same a time this tying method resulted in an increased interest in the parachute method of tying dry flies. The rest, as they say, is history.
This brings me back to the original question posted on the bulletin board, “They float well [comparaduns] in the water and catch a lot of fish......can you think of a better pattern to fish?” The short and long answer to that question is yes. While the comparadun is a very good pattern under certain situations there are patterns that are better under different conditions. The key to pattern selection is based, not on the pattern, but on what you are trying to achieve by using that specific pattern.
In the last 30 or so years I have spent many hours fishing for trout on spring creeks and tail waters that are considered by most anglers to be some of the more discriminating members of their species. I intentionally seek out these types of trout since I love the challenge. I choose the type of fly that I am going to use not based on the style – comparadun, parachute, etc. – but on what I want the trout to see when I present the fly. The comparadun-style fly is a good choice, but not for every situation.
I have had to change pattern type several times while fishing a single hatch. Each fishing, being individuals, were unwilling to take the same pattern type even though they were all feeding on the same insects. Fish number 1 might eagerly take a comparadun but the next fish, feeding on the same type of insect, doesn’t give that pattern a second look.
The reality is that there is no one pattern style that will serve as the perfect fly type under every situation. The bottom line is that the best pattern to fish is the pattern that the fish want to eat. Comparadun, haystacker, no-hackle, Marinaro-style, Catskill style, parachute – the best fly to use is the one that works.