That looks like a killer pattern for sure. I’d like to see this one submitted for a Fly of the Week also. That way it’s archeived and easier for people to find.
Does it catch fish? Sure it does and it does it well!I dreamed it up purely from patterns of the past. I think you’ll find all the materials in your fly kit. All I did was to rearrange them into the fly you see.
There are two flies there, one: Hewitts Bi- Visible on the hook shank itself and second: the tail of the fly is a nymph with sprouting wings, probably influenced by Swisher and Richards stillborn duns with a shuck. I really didn’t try to match a specific insect or hatch, but since I started using it mid-summer of this year under differing circumstances it hasn’t let me down. I fished it into October here in Colorado along with a couple of fishing partners on front range streams and some in the Arkansas Valley with success. I’m afraid it hasn’t been tested on stillwater. I fish mostly rivers and stream.
Personally I can see it imitating mayflies, stoneflies, and caddis, and will not hesitate to use it as a searching pattern. Caution: it will not imitate a Trike Spinner.
I can’t see an Adams or an Elk Hair Caddis well enough to fish them the way I know they should be fished , neither can my slightly aged senior fishing partners, so the Hewitt bi- visible part to us is very important. It just adds so much more to the experience if we can see the fly. (BTW, our favorite fly, not to be outdone, HW Rio Grande King, a blind man can see it!).
I know you have the materials to tie the fly, so give the pattern a go. Be creative, change it to suit you. What I did was only give you an idea.
Yes the fly will work on the Pan. As with any hatch matching though size is important, so take that into account. Fishing a size #10 would do well during Green Drake but fishing for Baetis your going to have to be in the #18-#20 range.
Personally I’ll pull the fly out and fish it anywhere. Not just my home water.
