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Autumn On The EB
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Dry Fly Evolution
"I strongly suspect that much of what we believe about a particular fly rod has little basis in reality. If you're shopping for a fly rod I can think of no greater waste of your time than watching the plethora of "fly rod shoot-outs" that glut the channels of YouTube. Nothing irks me more than to listen to some dweeb prattle on about the performance pros and cons of two rods when he's obviously not a good enough caster to do either one justice". - George V. Roberts, - Acquisitions Manager, Tail Magazine and Casting Instructor
A 21st Century Dry
It was about 150 years ago that some stodgy old farts from stodgy old England decreed that flyfishing was a gentleman's sport and could only be played by gentleman's rules: "Thou shall only cast a floating fly to a rising fish." If you don't we will kick you out of the club! To make matters worse they had the gall to DEFINE what a dry fly is: a wispy hackle fiber tail, a dubbed or quill body, a bundle of feathers for the wing and a few turns of chicken hackle on the collar.
None of this really made a lot of sense simply because mayflies really don't look like those artificial flies. First, they only have two or three inconspicuous tail fibers and not a miniature paint brush sticking out of their butt. Second, feathered wings (mallard, wood duck, duck quill) are terrible at representing mayfly wings with that 90 degree turn off of the hook shank. Freshly hatched mayfly wings mostly tilt backwards and do not point straight up in the air. (I once was asked by a beginner tier why that was. My answer was that those old timers were not good observers).
The traditional dry to the right looks great BUT on these hard fished streams of the 21st century the trout are beginning to wise up. The great fly tier and fly fishing author Bob Wyatt realized this a while ago. So did I. My question as a young man was "how come I can see a dozen trout rising in this pool/run but I can't see what they are after?). I thought they would be after size 14 cream cahills." The answer is yes, they are after cream cahills in the emerger stage BEFORE that fly hatches and rides the surface as an adult. When we see a surface disturbance by a trout it's taking a fly just below the surface. In fact, I believe the trout prefer that stage of insect life cycle. Very easy pickings.
I tie my dries with a curved hook and no tail. I want that fly down just in or under the surface film. I use buggy natural fur for a thorax and very fine post wing yarn for the "wing" or indicator if you like. I have pretty much dropped CDC as a wing material except for special applications because it is too fragile for me and once it gets slimed, muddy or dirty it's usually beyond recovery. Not very fine post wing yarn which is the good alternative.
Now, I don't think that I will change many minds with this screed (it took decades for me to "see the light" even when I was half blinded by it) but I may change enough to make for some enjoyable days on the stream. Remember, it's the emerger stage that counts, not the adult stage.
Book Me For The Spring
Things are filling up and that's good. May is the first to go followed by April and June. (I booked one for September which is good too.
While I agree with every word you said and have not tied a "catskill style" dry fly in years, I still tie and use lower floating patterns with all sorts of wing styles and materials because sometimes I just like to see that big snout inhale a floating pattern. I use soft hackles and/or emergers at the beginning and end of a hatch, but when trout are inhaling duns off of the surface, I cannot help myself.
I like to see trout inhale my emergers, breaking the surface as they do. As I said most surface disturbances are trout rising to emerging insects and not to fully hatched duns. This does it for me.
It's funny because i always keep some catskill style dries in my box but i mostly fish mayflies with a two tone dubbed or pheasant tail "body" one color for the thorax one for the abdomen, poly wing, ribbing if desired size and color to match what's going on, grey abdomen with black thorax in a size 14/16 does well for iso hatches and believe it or not but the pattern i fish for swift sulphurs is pheasant body black head size 20 go figure but I think the fish believe it to be a floating nymph and they really prefer it to the duns
It was a few years ago and I was down in Bondsville one mid day catching one trout after another. All were crammed to the gills with sulphur nymphs which were basically brownish. A partridge and yellow did the trick.
Don't discount Catskill patterns when a little twitch is needed to seal the deal! I mostly fish parachutes or Usuals but always carry a few Catskill patterns.
Unfortunately, the Halfordian cultists still walk among us; High Churcher's will never change. I've read Wyatt and his DHE was a revelation for me when I first fished it. His books are good, very informative, though he doesn't seem to think much of the term 'flymph'.
Allow me to respectfully disagree. “Stodgy old farts from stodgy old England” like Dennys, Walton, Cotton, Venables, Ronalds, Brooks, Halford, Skues, Sawyer and many others provided us with ‘foundational’ flies and techniques which inform our sport to this day, and from which two centuries of North American fly fishing is almost wholly derived. One need not be a disciple of Halford to appreciate his contributions to fly fishing.
My 58 years of fly fishing (52 years as a tyer) have taught me that no one dry-fly type will serve in all fishing situations; indeed, no one dry-fly type is consistently superior to another. Locality, river characteristics, hatch stage, and sought species determine which dry-fly type proves most effective during a mayfly hatch: emergers, Catskill-style duns, parachutes, Comparaduns, cripples, and spent spinners all have their places in a competent dry-fly fisherman’s arsenal.
Wyatt-style dries have their uses, but not to the exclusion of other dry-fly types; only time will tell whether these endure as have the classic Catskill patterns.
Are you kidding me?? You should know that by "stodgy old farts" I mean the likes of DRY FLY curmudgeons such as Halford and Marryat and certainly not G.E.M. Skues and Frank Sawyer who elevated nymphing to acceptable status even when it meant being banned from favorite rivers by the Halford crowd. Halford and Skues were "oil and water" as far as fly fishing philosophy was concerned.
The Catskill patterns are on their out. Just check any fly fishing catalog.
Mass Wildlife is pushing for increases in license fees. While I do not object to these increases in principle, I do have a number of concerns. I sent this feedback to Mass Wildlife. I suggest you all might consider doing something similar.
You can provide input using this convenient feedback form (https://form.jotform.com/210113812448143) or by mail to: MassWildlife Re: License Fee, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA 01581.
I fish, (1) When I am on the stream I see there are many other users of these resources than just the people like me who are fishing, like hikers, dog walkers, bikers, kayakers, canoers, etc. These other users also impact the same resources...... like creating trails that erode and adversely affect water quality, or leaving trash or dog waste, or causing issues with private property owners that result in loss of public access. Why are these other users of our natural resources not also required to pay a tax like a license fee for maintenance, restoration, enforcement, etc.? The state needs to broaden the tax base for wildlife management to these other users rather than keep increasing fees on just hunters and fishermen. (2) How can we licensees be assured that our dollars are actually being spent only on wildlife management, and are not otherwise being used for unrelated state spending in a general fund? (3) The state is effectively pricing out hunting and fishing for people of less means (only the rich will eventually be able to afford these pastimes), (4) at the same time, the burden of funding these pastimes should not fall solely on the rich who hunt and fish, (5) when I am streamside I see very little productive benefit from wildlife management enforcement, other than generally performing license checks for no reason, which is a form of harassment. I would rather see enforcement specifically target illegal fishing and littering (like people taking fish from catch and release only sections of streams, people littering, etc.), (6) On my favorite stream, I see the state electroshocking fish to "study" the distribution of stocked trout - and I have seen this study performed multiple times during the same fishing season. To what end? This "study" of stocked fish is a waste of our dollars, and does not build much credibility with the hunters and fishermen when the state is claiming that license fees need to be increased.
Skues' observations of trout and fly behavior were vastly superior to Halford's, and Skues was the better angler because of it. Halford's flies almost certainly would not have floated the way he claimed they should, perched on the tail and hackles as the weight of the hook would almost certainly broken through the surface film... our artificial flies weigh much more than the naturals. But of course, real mayflies don't float standing on their tails and legs anyway, so Halford's flies caught fish because they accidentally imitated emergers, not the perfect duns they were intended to imitate (and which trout eat only rarely). No shame in catching fish by accident, or in not understanding exactly why a fly works, but only knowing that it does, but to claim some moral high ground based on totally flawed observations and arguments... I think that earns you "stodgy old fart" status.
I do carry a few hackled dries (I usually leave off the fancy wings and keep the tail sparse) for the times when I come across fish eating duns that are fluttering and skating along the surface, but it's a rare occurrence to find a fish that will take a dun but not an emerger or a cripple.
I have been beating that drum for years on this blog! Fishers and hunters have always paid the freight for casual users of our public lands. The last that I knew birders don't want a tax on the optics that they use for their sport but we pay a tax on fishing equipment and that tax goes, in part, to public access which they use.
The DFW spends big time and $$ chasing goofy rainbows to see where they disappear to on the Swift. Stock more browns like CT and NY do and end the madness!
There are a number of internet entities out there that "report" on Ma fly fishing but other than some goofy product views or a replay of some timeworn YouTube fly tying videos or a "jolly good time" report of a fishing trip with buddies little if anything is mentioned about the REAL issues of use and overuse, abuse of creel limit laws and absolute crowding of popular fishing areas. But this blog and it's readers REALLY GET IT!!! The way our resources are used AND abused is always front and center on this entity. THANK YOU!!!!
13 comments:
While I agree with every word you said and have not tied a "catskill style" dry fly in years, I still tie and use lower floating patterns with all sorts of wing styles and materials because sometimes I just like to see that big snout inhale a floating pattern. I use soft hackles and/or emergers at the beginning and end of a hatch, but when trout are inhaling duns off of the surface, I cannot help myself.
Matt,
I like to see trout inhale my emergers, breaking the surface as they do. As I said most surface disturbances are trout rising to emerging insects and not to fully hatched duns. This does it for me.
Ken
It's funny because i always keep some catskill style dries in my box but i mostly fish mayflies with a two tone dubbed or pheasant tail "body" one color for the thorax one for the abdomen, poly wing, ribbing if desired size and color to match what's going on, grey abdomen with black thorax in a size 14/16 does well for iso hatches and believe it or not but the pattern i fish for swift sulphurs is pheasant body black head size 20 go figure but I think the fish believe it to be a floating nymph and they really prefer it to the duns
Paul,
It was a few years ago and I was down in Bondsville one mid day catching one trout after another. All were crammed to the gills with sulphur nymphs which were basically brownish. A partridge and yellow did the trick.
Ken
Don't discount Catskill patterns when a little twitch is needed to seal the deal! I mostly fish parachutes or Usuals but always carry a few Catskill patterns.
Unfortunately, the Halfordian cultists still walk among us; High Churcher's will never change. I've read Wyatt and his DHE was a revelation for me when I first fished it. His books are good, very informative, though he doesn't seem to think much of the term 'flymph'.
Mike,
Traditions, even outdated ones, die hard.
Ken
Dear Ken,
Allow me to respectfully disagree. “Stodgy old farts from stodgy old England” like Dennys, Walton, Cotton, Venables, Ronalds, Brooks, Halford, Skues, Sawyer and many others provided us with ‘foundational’ flies and techniques which inform our sport to this day, and from which two centuries of North American fly fishing is almost wholly derived. One need not be a disciple of Halford to appreciate his contributions to fly fishing.
My 58 years of fly fishing (52 years as a tyer) have taught me that no one dry-fly type will serve in all fishing situations; indeed, no one dry-fly type is consistently superior to another. Locality, river characteristics, hatch stage, and sought species determine which dry-fly type proves most effective during a mayfly hatch: emergers, Catskill-style duns, parachutes, Comparaduns, cripples, and spent spinners all have their places in a competent dry-fly fisherman’s arsenal.
Wyatt-style dries have their uses, but not to the exclusion of other dry-fly types; only time will tell whether these endure as have the classic Catskill patterns.
-Mike
Mike,
Are you kidding me?? You should know that by "stodgy old farts" I mean the likes of DRY FLY curmudgeons such as Halford and Marryat and certainly not G.E.M. Skues and Frank Sawyer who elevated nymphing to acceptable status even when it meant being banned from favorite rivers by the Halford crowd. Halford and Skues were "oil and water" as far as fly fishing philosophy was concerned.
The Catskill patterns are on their out. Just check any fly fishing catalog.
Ken
Mass Wildlife is pushing for increases in license fees. While I do not object to these increases in principle, I do have a number of concerns. I sent this feedback to Mass Wildlife. I suggest you all might consider doing something similar.
You can provide input using this convenient feedback form (https://form.jotform.com/210113812448143) or by mail to: MassWildlife Re: License Fee, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA 01581.
I fish, (1) When I am on the stream I see there are many other users of these resources than just the people like me who are fishing, like hikers, dog walkers, bikers, kayakers, canoers, etc. These other users also impact the same resources...... like creating trails that erode and adversely affect water quality, or leaving trash or dog waste, or causing issues with private property owners that result in loss of public access. Why are these other users of our natural resources not also required to pay a tax like a license fee for maintenance, restoration, enforcement, etc.? The state needs to broaden the tax base for wildlife management to these other users rather than keep increasing fees on just hunters and fishermen. (2) How can we licensees be assured that our dollars are actually being spent only on wildlife management, and are not otherwise being used for unrelated state spending in a general fund? (3) The state is effectively pricing out hunting and fishing for people of less means (only the rich will eventually be able to afford these pastimes), (4) at the same time, the burden of funding these pastimes should not fall solely on the rich who hunt and fish, (5) when I am streamside I see very little productive benefit from wildlife management enforcement, other than generally performing license checks for no reason, which is a form of harassment. I would rather see enforcement specifically target illegal fishing and littering (like people taking fish from catch and release only sections of streams, people littering, etc.), (6) On my favorite stream, I see the state electroshocking fish to "study" the distribution of stocked trout - and I have seen this study performed multiple times during the same fishing season. To what end? This "study" of stocked fish is a waste of our dollars, and does not build much credibility with the hunters and fishermen when the state is claiming that license fees need to be increased.
Skues' observations of trout and fly behavior were vastly superior to Halford's, and Skues was the better angler because of it. Halford's flies almost certainly would not have floated the way he claimed they should, perched on the tail and hackles as the weight of the hook would almost certainly broken through the surface film... our artificial flies weigh much more than the naturals. But of course, real mayflies don't float standing on their tails and legs anyway, so Halford's flies caught fish because they accidentally imitated emergers, not the perfect duns they were intended to imitate (and which trout eat only rarely). No shame in catching fish by accident, or in not understanding exactly why a fly works, but only knowing that it does, but to claim some moral high ground based on totally flawed observations and arguments... I think that earns you "stodgy old fart" status.
I do carry a few hackled dries (I usually leave off the fancy wings and keep the tail sparse) for the times when I come across fish eating duns that are fluttering and skating along the surface, but it's a rare occurrence to find a fish that will take a dun but not an emerger or a cripple.
Brendan,
I totally agree!!
Chico,
I have been beating that drum for years on this blog! Fishers and hunters have always paid the freight for casual users of our public lands. The last that I knew birders don't want a tax on the optics that they use for their sport but we pay a tax on fishing equipment and that tax goes, in part, to public access which they use.
The DFW spends big time and $$ chasing goofy rainbows to see where they disappear to on the Swift. Stock more browns like CT and NY do and end the madness!
Ken
One More Thing,
There are a number of internet entities out there that "report" on Ma fly fishing but other than some goofy product views or a replay of some timeworn YouTube fly tying videos or a "jolly good time" report of a fishing trip with buddies little if anything is mentioned about the REAL issues of use and overuse, abuse of creel limit laws and absolute crowding of popular fishing areas. But this blog and it's readers REALLY GET IT!!! The way our resources are used AND abused is always front and center on this entity. THANK YOU!!!!
Ken
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