I am a fly tying minimalist. As writer Christophe Perez wrote in Eastern Flyfishing Magazine my flies at times seem to be nothing more than thread and a scant dubbing. He was right when he mentioned that they catch trout! To test the theory of Thomas Ames Jr., the author of Hatch Guide For New England Streams, that it may be the bead on a beadhead that attracts the trout and not the skillfully crafted body, I tied a fly with nothing more than a size 14 hook with a brass bead glued to the hook AND CAUGHT TROUT on the Swift, no less.
Yes, this is taking minimalism too far. Let's talk about a simple traditional SIMPLE FLY - The Peacock and Partridge.
I'll call it a caddis fly and I don't think the trout will mind. It has two main materials - beautiful peacock herl and partridge hackle. Throw in some fine wire (or just black thread) to protect the herl and tie it on a dry fly hook from size 10 through 14 and you are in business!! Note: don't bother with a wet fly hook.
I've had some good days on the Millers and the EB with this simple thing. It never seemed to work on the Swift but that might be just me believing that only certain flies work on the Swift.
This is a good fly for a novice flytier because the materials are very common and skills are few. The partridge may be a bit fragile for newbie fingers so you can easily use hen hackle which is stronger. I personally don't like hen but it catches fish.
Remember one thing with fly tying - proportion is the key to a good looking fly. Hackles, wings and tails that are too big will ruin a fly. Get a good picture of this fly and tie your fly to match the one is the picture.
The Rivers
Everyone of my rivers is coming down (except for the Swift) with the Ware, the EB and the WB all at a fishable level. The Millers is below the 1200 mark but it has to cut that flow in half before it becomes fun to fish.
All of this good news could be washed away if we get heavy rain this weekend.
Stay Tuned,
Ken
15 comments:
Went to the Ware today at one of the spots you took me on a guide. I hooked up with definitely the biggest trout I would have ever caught, I chose a bad spot to cast from and my shoe laces got stuck and I stumbled and lost the fish. It felt like had a rock on the other end. It was so sad, but caught lots of other fish on the Ware today. Great day!
You'll remember that one!!!
The Ware got a load of brookies yesterday.
Ken
Man, peacock is just about the fishiest fly building material going :)
Hibernation (Will),
I knew you'd like peacock because you LOVE the Picket Pin!!!!!!
Ken
OK so I had a better March than April, most of it being spent on the EB with a few trips to the WB and MB. The most productive part of the MB being shut down by the feds, something about a pandemic. Yesterday I turned my backed on the high fast and cold water of the EB for the main stem of the Westfield River and fooled a nice bow with a #10 pats rubberlegs just at the end of a 20 yd. drift, thank you lord. But today,today I grabbed my #5 9' redington CT and headed for the WB in search of brookies. I found the river in a very fishable condition which is nice for a tactical approach for a change. It wasn't long before 17 brookies (all fooled with the same #14 hendrickson wet) had visited my net and are back in the river for you to catch. Well did this make up for a lousy April, oh yes, thank you lord. Oh and I will be back to the EB with a vengeance.
Gary,
I knew you would do well!! I heard that the low, lower MB is closed because it's a boat ramp and ramps are closed down.
Good that the EB is coming down. Hope we don't get much rain tonight (just snow)!!!
Ken
Gary, glad you had good action on the brookies. Last one I caught on the zone of the swift I fish was January. I think they migrate to wherever they go for winter. I read one study where one did a 70 mile round trip to where it was spawned and where it went back to once again for the autumn dance. A truly amazing fish.
Good brown action tonight. Glad I connected with a few before the catch and keep crowd cleans them out. One was a dandy.
Second hand report about the EB yesterday. My brother called an audible and took the day off to venture out ...He reported an epic afternoon mayfly hatch(he wasn't sure what it was) but not a fish coming up for them all afternoon. He fooled a few with nymphs; one particularly good looking rainbow -the other a little beat up looking from probably being recently stocked(my observations from the pictures he sent). He said he'd walked in about a mile from the closed gate and fished back up. I imagine the flies were hendricksons or quill gordons-I asked him about a water temp but he didn't bring a thermometer. Anyhow it looks like dry fly season is finally slogging to a start-even though the fish aren't always participating.
Add a fly with a rough dubbed Hare's Ear body with the same hackle, and you have quite a tandem to fish!
Ken - YES I DO :) You know how Yvonne Chiounard from Patagonia did a year using ONLY various sizes of the hares ear soft hackle... I might be able to do that with the Picket Pin :)
BobT,
I ran into an epic QG spinner fall on the EB a few years ago and nothing rose for them. The water was running high and that may have been the reason.
Ken
Yvonne used a Pheasant Tail for a year. Good choice.
Hi Ken,
I found net on the Green River in Guilford, VT. I know that's not your core area, but it's not too far away that it could belong to a reader. Anyhow, I can bring it back to the Green if someone claims it.
JG,
I have a feeling that the owner was a Vermonter since there are restrictions on Ma. people going to Vermont as I understand it. I'll post it but you may be its new owner.
Ken
The Peacock and Partridge is an excellent fly, and a close cousin to one of my personal favorites - the Brown Hackle. Mentioned and pictured in Mary Orvis Marbury's 1892 book Favorite Flies and Their Histories, the Brown Hackle was the very first pattern I learned as a sixteen-year-old novice tyer, using a barely-functional aluminum vise, black cotton thread held taught with a clothespin, and my fingers as hackle pliers.
Fifty-one years later I still tie this fly, with which I have caught panfish, smallmouth bass, grayling, landlocked salmon, arctic char, and all North American species of trout.
-Mike
Post a Comment