Things I'd Like To See Go Away

Then in the mid-70s my interests began to shift back to simpler, more impressionistic patterns; flies that suggested insects or baitfish in general, flies tied with soft fibers that would move in the current like a living insect or baitfish. It was at this time that I tied the first Sparrow and other flies utilizing the soft aftershaft feathers found on a pheasant; also the Soft Hackle Streamer which (when you look at it closely) is simply a traditional soft hackle wet fly tied with a much longer marabou hackle thus allowing it to suggest a baitfish. About this time that I became friends with Sylvester Nemes, whose book rekindled my interest in the traditional soft-hackle wet fly. Since then I always carry a selection of traditional (and some not-so-traditional) soft-hackle wet flies with me wherever I fish. The late, great Jack Gartside

 

When you've been writing a fly fishing blog for 12 years and fly fishing for going on a half century (yikes) you see a lot of things come and go. Some things earn a place in our arsenal of equipment and others pop back up every decade or so. Here's a sample:

Junk Flies Mops, worms, green Weenies, rainbow warriors, - Upcountry Fly Shop and others call them junk flies because that's what they are - a concoction to fool freshly stocked trout. They are attractor flies that represent NOTHING alive in a trout stream and are about one step above fishing an Al's Goldfish! If you're still at the level where a good day depends on the number of fish you catch then go for it. If a good day depends on HOW you caught those fish then you have successfully evolved as a fly fisher.
(Note - a Mop Fly makes a great hellgrammite fly if tied with a gray body with the back colored brown with a sharpie. Chartreuse makes it a junk fly.)


Competitive Fly Fishing

Is it my imagination or has this activity begun to fade away?  It should fade away because fly fishing is NOT a competitive exercise.  I would guess that a fly fisher would want to get away from the competitive world of making a living and enjoy  an activity where the "trophy" is a trout and NOT A Medal around your neck.  Is it true that they stock these rivers before the event???

Gastric Lavage (stomach pumping)

Imagine a 16 inch trout sipping size 28 emergers from the film and it's been doing that for an hour. This fish has to swallow a lot of tiny insects to get what is called his caloric ration which is the amount of calories needed to maintain growth or it dies (trout don't go on diets).  Now, Mr. Flyfisher puts on a size 28 and catches that trout and then goes and empties it's stomach to see what's there.  WHY? First, you probably already know what's there because you caught the trout. Second, you stole a good portion of that trout's calories for the day AND you risked injuring the fish.


Now for a thing I'm glad to see

No, I don't mean fishing "built wing" wets that dominated the scene a hundred years ago.  They are a good exercise to hone your tying skills but in truth they basically represent nothing.  What I'm happy to see is the surge in two things: simple wet flies as in soft hackles AND (more importantly) the growing popularity in WET FLY TECHNIQUES.  Swinging a soft hackle that flows and moves in the current is what Jack Gartside means in the quote at the top of the post.  It's what Sylvester Nemes preached in his groundbreaking book The Soft Hackle Fly.  It is the most effective method of fly fishing because it works under any conditions.  I've been beating the drum for this technique for years.  I think it's starting to catch on.

 

A Traditional Wet




Not a built up quill wing but just a few wisps of bronze mallard for the wing, a tan rabbit body with ultra fine copper wire and a soft blue dun hackle.  Not a crazy colored old brookie fly but a somber and subtle brown trout fly.  It will catch trout!

Fall Stocking

Nothing on Monday

Nothing on Tuesday

Pray for rain!!

Ken