Skues, as we shall see, was to play a pivotal role in the development of nymph fishing, and the discoveries that he made while fishing Tup’s Indispensable were key. In his book Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream, published in 1910. Skues recounted that for a while after he was first introduced to this fly he fished it only as a dry fly, but on one July day he “put it over a fish without avail, cast it a second time without drying it. It was dressed with a soft hackle, and at once went under, and the trout turned at it and missed. Again, I cast, and again the trout missed, to fasten soundly at the next offer. It was a discovery for me, and I tried the pattern wet over a number of fish on the same shallow, with most satisfactory results.”

My wife told me that she thought I needed to cook some fish for supper. That meant there needed to be a trip to the pond. What a terrible task to be entrusted with. NOT!!!!!

Little white fluffy cumulus clouds were playing peek-a-boo with the early spring sunshine and I was all alone on a beautiful spring creek with a steady hatch of small dark Baetis mayflies bring several trout to the surface. Like tiny sail boats with dark sails the small Baetis would hatch in a flurry as the sun slipped behind a cloud and quickly disappear when the clouds parted. I worked my way slowly along the edge of a long flat picking up several smaller trout that seemed all too willing to eat my fly. At the head of the flat a large cottonwood log was lodged along the far bank and a collection of limbs and flotsam had collected along the upstream end providing excellent cover. The past summer a large brown trout had taken up residence in that place but I had not been able to induce him to take any of my flies. Perhaps, I thought, he might still be there this year.

As with everything within the fly fishing community, we all strive for “perfection” in our equipment, searching for that piece of gear that best compliments a given fisherman’s style or technique. We are all different in tastes, from rod, reel & line, down to our vest-hung accouterments. All are in search of the perfect rod, reel, nipper, etc. We buy, try, sell and trade throughout the process, looking for the perfect fit. Usually we all seem to find what we like. Yet what about the commercial side of the fly fishing world, as rod companies strive for that golden nugget that will gain them the coveted “market share” they all seek in order to remain afloat? It seems these days that rod models change yearly in many cases. If you like a model, best grab it fast because in less than 2 years it could be gone completely and no longer made.