I went to the local stream today to try and catch a trout or two. After nearly an hour of trying all my normal stuff plus a few others, I tied on a little wet fly I put in my fly box at least a year ago and have never fished. Put an indicator 16-18" above it, and let it drift over some likely spots. I couldn’t keep the fish off! The fly got too beat up to fish any more, so I put another one very similar on… Same results! I love when I’m at wit’s end and just start experimenting!
My flies were size 12, 1x long nymph hooks, bronze mallard tail, red floss or brown dubbed body, tinsel rib on the red flossed one, bronze mallard rolled wing, and brown hackle collar. Simple, nothing really life-changing to look at… But it looks buggy and sinks sloooow!
I tried fishing some lighter-colored flies and they didn’t do nearly as well.
What I learned today: You never know what the fish are going to bite!