Scott,
You have done a wonderful job on this fly. What is the genesis of the purple haze? Is this just another pretty attractor fly? Has anybody actually fished it effectively? Not trying to be cute here.
The Purple Haze was created by Andy Carlson of Hamilton, Montana, a guide on the Bitterroot, back around 2000. For whatever reason, purple seemed to attract the trout’s attention and he started tying Parachute Adams in that color, eventually using spandex-like material (Sexi-floss, Spaniflex, etc) for the bodies. It’s been a great fly for years, as an attractor and in various incarnations very effective during a number of hatches, including baetis.
I’ve had real good luck with them on the Clark Fork and other streams in Montana.
I know a number of fishermen who won’t use a fly if it isn’t purple. I have not tried them yet but plan on tying some up and giving them a serious test this year. This one is as good if not better than any I’ve seen.
I can’t endorse a purple fly, but I can tell you about purple plastic worms. The used to be my favorite when I was bass fishing with casting and spinning tackle.
I CAN endorse your purple worms for bass. Several of the guide on the MI AuSable swear by various purple flies. The purple patriot is coming into its own up there. I’ve tied a few, but not tried them yet.
Hi Folks,
pardon my belated weighing in on this thread but I have to say that a lot of the old timers I have met and spoken with very strongly advocate that the best flies to use when fishing for brookies (and other trout ad shad and bass) are tied using mostly purple and/or peacock materials.
As usual Scott, your tying skills are incredible and inspire me. Great job on this fly! I love it! I do have a question on technique. As you may recall I have had probs trying to create a decent looking extended body that doesn’t fall apart and I notice that you are now using a piece of mono as a basis to build the extended body. Is this a new and better method than the needle method you have demonstrated previously? I am thinking that it might work better for me. I do have a suggestion for you to try as well.
In the past when building weed guards for bass and some saltwater flies, I have burned a small glob on the end of the mono to hold the mono at the tie in point and have also used a plier to flatten a short section of the mono just past/behind the glob/ball to hold things better. Wouldn’t that create less bulk than the loop method? As always, looking forward to your response.
Gerri
Thanks for he kind words. Mono cores for the extended body flies aren’t new; with the problems I was having with durability on the wrapped foam Carnage bodies (even the re-enforced underbody versions I tied with Swiss Straw on the needle had their limitations), I figured I’d give it a shot and I’ve been pretty happy with the results. With the mono tied to the hook, I have an integrated underbody; don’t have to slide it off the needle and tie in down to the hook, another area of weakness in the original.
I might be missing something here - the looped end isn’t tied down to the shank; it’s hooked onto the gallows to provide tension and make it easier to create underbody/tie in tails and wrap the foam body. Once the body’s complete, the tag end is clipped away.
Give them a try; the first few may seem a bit awkward, but the more you play around, the easier they are, and the savings in floatant will be tremendous
