"Maybe your stature as a fly fisher isn't determined by how big a trout you can catch, but by how small a trout you can catch without being disappointed". John Gierach
Anyone with a copy of the great book by Thomas Ames Jr., Hatch Guide for New England Streams, knows this simple soft hackle fly that was created by Nick Yardley. Now, Yardley created this fly to represent an emerging caddis and it does a good job at that but I always think of this fly as an emerging MAYFLY. I guess it makes no difference.
Hook - Dry fly in size 12 to 16
Body - Olive thread size 12/0 then Krystal Flash wrapped over that.
Thorax - Rabbit dubbing in olive or natural
Hackle - Grouse or woodcock
In early to mid May our New England freestones host huge hatches of caddis and many of these insects do not rise through the water column but crawl to the shore and then hang out in the stream side bushes to molt. (shake some streamside bushes and hundreds may fly away. They do on the Millers).
A smart way to approach this situation is to swing or drift the above fly along the shoreline because the shoreline is where the caddis are which means the trout will be there too!
Hen and Flash
It seems to be that I have a bit of "hen" on the brain. Let's face it - it works very well in a soft hackle set up and when compared to partridge/grouse it is dirt cheap.
Give it a shot!!
Ken
14 comments:
While I love and fish soft hackles a lot, this is one pattern that I haven't had a touch on. This year going to tie one with a little more subdued flash and see how that works.
Anonymous,
Olive and orange floss work well.
Ken
So here's a question for the board, when was the last time any of you flushed a grouse or woodcock when streamside?
Chico,
Never at streamside but occasionally near overgrown fields. The time of year is important too.
Ken
Ken this behavior can be observed on the millers, splashy sub surface rises especially in eddies close to shore where these caddis become trapped in large numbers
Chico, I've never flushed one stream side. I read an article not to long ago that said there were a number of factors reducing the grouse population here in Massachusetts. I don't know how correct all of this is but this is what the author claimed. It said the states ability to quickly control wild fires which used to naturally clear lands leading to young forest was one factor. Grouse prefer/need over grown fields with young trees to thrive. Also the reduction in local farming means there are not as many cleared fields to become overgrown. In short a lot of once overgrown fields now becoming old growth forest. A percentage of the remaining fields are being cleared for housing or solar farms. The article stated that there are now 300% more old growth forest in the state than at the time of the Civil War. This is a good thing for a lot of species but not for the Ruffed Grouse.
And possibly West Nile
Anonymous,
What are you talking about???
Ken
Dean F,
You are correct, mature forests do ruffed grouse little good. They seek thick cover and that is just what there used to be plenty of, but not so any longer. I haven't hunted them for 20 years, but there was a time when I lived for it in the fall. I had a good number of coverts on my list of places in the Brookfields, Hampden, Palmer, and Wales. Many are now posted or have houses on them.
I wonder if since the tornado of 2011 there isn't some good partridge hunting to be had again in certain areas. A wide path of mature trees got taken out and I see evidence of thick undergrowth filling in.
Sam
West Nile virus. Studies in NY and elsewhere showing the possible effect on grouse populations
No, I also heard from a wildlife biologist in Pennsylvania that West Nile is taking a toll on the ruffed grouse populations, in addition to predation and habitat.
West Nile Virus - I didn't know that. Maybe I should use more hen (chicken) feathers on my Soft hackles which work fine.
I wonder if woodcock, pheasant, starling and waterfowl have the same WNV problem?
Ken
WNV, likely woodcock and pheasant, but the other species have much more robust populations and effect may therefore be less noticable.
Ken I know they find dead starlings around boston that test positive for WNV
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