The Peacock And Black And My Possum Caddis Nymph

"We are so tied down to the pursuit of the essential dollar that we lose the best and most innocent pleasures that this old earth affords. Time flies so fast after youth is past that we cannot accomplish one-half the many things we have in mind, or indeed one-half our duties. The only safe and sensible plan is to make the other things give way to the essentials and the first of these is fly fishing" - John McDonald, The Complete Fly Fisherman: The Notes and Letters of Theodore Gordon

Simplicity is King especially in fly fishing and fly tying and the Peacock and Black is an example of this.  Friend and reader Gary Cranson, the Wizard of the Westfield, pointed this out last Spring and I became a quick convert to the "black Fly".  While going through book collect in search old old soft hackles patterns I found the Peacock and Black.  This fly works:

Hook - 14 to 18

Body - black thread from the bend of the hook forward.

Thorax - a half dozen turns of peacock herl lashed down with the black thread

Hackle - Starling

Fish this fly upstream and across the current on the dead drift.

The Possum Caddis Nymph

This fly has been with me for over 30 years and is a top producer on the Millers River which is a great caddis river.  I've been tying this with hackles as of late and fishing it as I would a soft hackle fly. The key to its success is that wonderful buggy possum fur.

Hook - size 12 to 16 wet fly hook

Body - loosely dubbed possum fur lashed down with fine copper wire

Hackle - Partridge of course.

One can weigh this fly with a bead although I've been very successful with simple split shot.

This fly works best when its gone through hell and becomes VERY buggy.

This Winter Season

It is pretty safe to say that I'm in my waders 5 days a week from early April through early December.  From December through March it's down to once a week and the rest of this "fishing time" is devoted to fly tying which is an activity that I would continue to pursue even if I could no longer fly fish.  It's safe to say that fly tying is an art form that has a couple of centuries under its belt and to understand and maybe even master the old techniques gives one a sense of accomplishment.  I can't extend that feeling to the current world of Junk Flies!!!!!

Watch The Clock

We have been gaining precious minutes of daylight every day this month. By the 31st we will have gained 48 minutes!!!!!!

Ken