What a difference a year makes. Last January we had days in the 60's. This January we are in a deep freeze. My January started off with The flu that lingered for a week and a half. I did get to spend a week in Florida with it's 80 degree days which were perfect. And now back to the arctic where I've been hunkered down restocking my fly inventory. Today, the 27th, was my first fishing trip of 2013. It was 2 degrees at 7am and not much more at 10am when I quit. Two small 'bows were all that I got from the Swift. February will be better.
The Grouse and Orange - An ancient soft hackle fly that gets a modern makeover. Ditch the silk or floss for the body and go with orange kevlar. This glass thread gives a waxy shin to the body that the traditional materials don't.
Size 10 to 14 hooks (you can go smaller if you like)
Kevlar body
rusty brown natural dubbing for the thorax
Grouse, chicken hen or any soft material for the hackle
Many times we have a grouse cape that has been picked clean of the popular size hackles and all we have left is an abundance of hackles that are to large to wind on the fly. Here's how to use these feathers.
Pluck a large feather from the cape. Strip of the fibers from one side of the feather and position them on top of the hook, concave side on top, and enough fibers extending in front of the hook eye to equal about 1/3 of the hook shank. Do this before you wrap the body. (don't use too many fibers, keep it sparse) Then wrap your thread loosely around the hook and fibers allowing the fibers to encircle the hook. Now wrap the body and thorax (covering the butt ends of the fibers)and tie back the hackle fibers.
With practice your flies will all have that "wrapped hackle" look and you will be using all those feathers.
Ken
11 comments:
Ken,
What time of the year do you use G&O, or could it be considered an all purpose year round fly? Is this a Swift fly at size 10-14?
Hope I can make it out soon too!
Thanks for the post-Cliff
Cool strategy on those too big hackles... Thanks!
I've used some other techniques to make oversized feathers fit for soft hackles, but yours Ken might be the simplest. I can't wait to try it. A technique like this is essential for tying tiny (down to size 32) soft hackles which nicely imitate emerging midges.
Cliff,
This is a a year round fly on all streams. I've caught trout in those sizes on all freestone streams and also on a tail water like the Swift. Size 12 and 14 caught large landlocked salmon on the Swift last winter as well as resident trout. Many use this soft hackles in sizes around 18 with great success.
Brendan,
Size 32?!?!?!..If you can do it then go for it. If it works for you then you are a MASTER!!!! I am impressed!!
Ken
I don't know that I'm a master. Being young with good eyes certainly helps with the small flies.
Ken any word on the millers with shelf ice ect? Wadeable in the Kempfield-Erving stretch?
Some nice weather ahead of us, would like a nice winter trip since I haven't been able to head to NY this year for steelhead and likely some til late March or April
Tony
Forget about it!!! 800cfs at erving and rising as I write. More rain on the way.
Ken
Yeah I wrote that post prior to any knowledge of this storm...F- That, the Swift it will be! Midging on the 4wt!!
Spent a few hours on the Swift yesterday, between 9:30 to noon. Saw no other fisher, fly or otherwise, and only saw one fish. I'm happy that I was able to fool it.
Got a new camera and decided to test it out:
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm86/petelewis_photos/Fly%20Fishing/DSCF0038-1.jpg
~Pete
Pete,
I was there Saturday morning (your same day?) fishing the bubbler arm. There are some fish there. I hooked two and landed one. The Y Pool had three anglers but they left by 10 am.
No rising trout and few fish (Y pool) to be seen. What a difference a year makes. Last year the overflow was at 500+ cfs, salmon and lakers were everywhere and the rainbows were sipping the surface in the overflow arm. It's different this year.
We need a break from the cold to get the trout interested in our offerings.
Around 11am I drove down to the PIPE parking lot. I saw one vehicle there. Was that you??
Ken
Yup, that was me. Started at the Pipe, where I hooked up, then tried the gauge pool, and then moved upstream to try the riffles below, what I think people call, "the duck pond?"...Below rt.9 and the horse pasture, but above the crib dam. Regardless of what it's called, there are some great riffs in a very short stretch of water, that I've had some luck in recently.
Glad to hear that you hooked up that day too, but I imagine that there aren't too many days where you don't.
I'm so used to expecting above Rt. 9 to be packed, that coming from the east, I don't even bother to check out that lot, & just take the turn down River rd. I guess I should change my thinking at this time of year as there's productive water up there, to say the least. Had a great few hours in the bubbler arm a couple of months ago, on the day of the first snow of the season, when I drove by on my way home from Amherst and saw one car in that lot.
But, I must say, it was nice to fish the Swift in solitude for a change.
~Pete
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