Favorite Fly - The DMS Caddis
This became my favorite soft hackle of 2019. It's somber hue is just right for imitating caddis flies and works all season long. Hell, it does a good job when mayflies rule the water too. I wrote in depth about this fly on my October 16th post of this year. It could be that it may be the ONLY unweighted insect imitation that you will need on ANY river, period. (As many readers know I like to carry just a few patterns - a minimalist I guess. This may be my super fly!!!)
I would think that the perfect river rod for trout would be 9 feet in length and geared for a 5wt line. This will take you anywhere that you want to go in Trout Land (Millers, EB, Ware, and the Farmington) and you will certainly not be over gunned in any situation.
8 feet to 8.5 feet is perfect for smaller streams like the Swift, the West Branch of the Westfield and the Mill River with 3 or 4 wt lines leading the way.
Good bamboo, at 7 feet to 8 feet, gets a pass on length because it just does. Too beautiful not to fish!!!
Rods below 7 feet leave much to be desired. They might work well on the tiniest of streams but ...... Yes, I know that Lee Wulff caught Atlantic Salmon on a 6 foot rod but I would not recommend it for you.
Many rods over 10 feet long have that weird "hinged" effect which I find unnerving. I believe that the effect is caused by too much mass beyond the half way point. Some companies then went to very light weight rods of long length (nymph rods) and we had a epidemic of broken rods. Stay with a 9 footer!!!
I don't believe in having a rod for every situation. We are not golfers carrying a bag of clubs around. Find a rod that will take care of most of your situations. You don't need a nymph rod, a streamer rod, a dry fly rod or whatever. Settle on "An All-Round Fly Rod" and make it work.
Ken
11 comments:
First off, Ken, I am really enjoying that 8'6" Redington rod you recommended to me. Very affordable and in my humble opinion a fine rod. I have especially enjoyed using it for high stick situations versus the 7' Fenwick I was using previously. I imagine I'll use that 7'er again when I explore small streams when I have more time available to fish at some point.
Once the water went down this spring, about all I fished were soft hackles in various versions. Even when trout are rising they proved to be very effective for me when I got the fly near the rise zone. I have many Catskill dries that I tied up last winter, but didn't fish them once. The only truly floating fly I fished this year was the elk hair caddis and if they brought a hit, it was usually a violent slashing one. That is a lot of fun to see that happen.
Best Regards, Sam
"We are not golfers carrying a bag of clubs around." Dang it, I have my wife convinced that fly fishing is just like golf! Can't play a round with one club/rod.
Sam,
I usually don't endorse rods but the Redington line, especially the "Classic Trout" line, is such a great value. There are rods out there that cost 4 times as much and are not as good.
A word about rising trout: as you know most "rises" are not rises after adult insects but attempts to catch emerging insects stuck in or trying to break through the surface
tension. That's where soft hackles rule.
Ken
Anonymous 10:02,
That's funny!!
Ken
Good morning all, Sam it's funny I also have tons of flies of all styles to imitate duns and they take a back seat to soft hackles 9 times out of 10
Paul and Sam,
I think this blog is becoming SOFT HACKLE NATION!!!!(that's a good thing)
Ken
Paul and Ken,
With the high flows last spring I started fishing the soft hackles and never stopped, reason being they never stopped producing. Along with partridge and orange, I have fished a soft hackle emerger pattern that has pheasant tail wrapped about 2/3 the length of the shank, then a few wraps of dubbing inserted in a split then retwisted thread, then the a couple wraps of partridge hackle to complete the fly.
The dubbing colors range from yellow, tan, olive, you name it. Meant to imitate the emerging insect coming out of the nymph shuck, it has just been deadly this year. The dubbing in that split thread is somewhat loose and takes on a liquid appearance that almost glows in the water to hopefully match whatever mayfly type is hatching. Here is where I got the idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__RaJOtsKwo&t=263s
Sam
Sam, Pheasant shuck is the way to go! I'll share my biggest swift secret for sulfurs and it's only because you mentioned the two tone body (as I call them) I do not use anything close to yellow when the sulfurs come off but a pheasant tail abdomen with a black dubbed thorax small CDC wing that I kind of smoosh under the hackle which I don't palmer instead just a small (very sparse) tuft of barbs tied on like a wing but I use my thumb and forefinger to splay them out a bit #20-#22
Ken
Any advice on the Swift with big bows hanging out low surrounded by some smaller brookies. Threw soft hackle which didn't;'t seem to get don low enough to them. tried bead head hares ear sized 16, no interest tried tandem with hares ear trailing a pin head no luck. Any advice? (Other than keep trying!)
2 of the three trips to the EB were very productive Pat's Rubber legs and bead Head Hares ear. Flow was high last Tuesday.
Quinneyfish,
We caught fish the last 2 days with soft hackles in water that was anywhere from 8 to 18 inches deep. If you must use a micro shot 4-6 inches above the fly. Maybe use an egg pattern with micro shot. Could you see the fish??
Ken
Paul, thanks for the heads up your secret Swift fly. I will have to try those when the mayflies are flying around again. The challenge for me right now is getting the chance to fish now that the dark season has set in. I am aiming to get out Sunday for a few hours and look forward to it.
Regards, Sam
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