"Nothing makes a trout bigger than almost being caught - Unknown
Back in the Dark Ages (1970's) a material swept the fly tying nation by storm. It was latex sheeting which was cut into strips and wrapped around the hook to give a good impression of the segmented body of a caddis larvae. There was only one problem and that was that this miracle material really didn't catch many fish. I remember going to hear the great fly tier Eric Leiser speak at a United fly Tyers meeting where he asked the question "has anyone fished with latex nymphs?" A few dozen hands went up. then he asked if anyone had caught anything = NO HANDS!! Mike Lawson, the great western fly fisher and author fished this fly, using rubber bands for the body and gave it a good workout for a few years with little of no success and then eliminated it from his arsenal.
If any of you have had success with a latex or rubber body let me know!!
The Rivers
Ok, the little Mill River here in Northampton has a greater flow than the EB and the Ware COMBINED!!! It did not rain evenly across Massachusetts but it rained hard. Where would you fish today? The Swift (of course), the Ware and by this afternoon the EB should be ok. There's no rain in sight through the week but the temperatures will be in the high 80's and above. Make sure that you have your winged ants ready. It's the season for them and I saw a good swarm of over the weekend. Nothing brings trout to the surface like an ant swarm!!
Ken
13 comments:
I've a few small latex larvae in my box. They seemed killer a few years ago, but fell into disuse. Perhaps it's time to resurrect them (maybe add a little partridge for good measure?). Hopper and ant season bodes smells of fall.
Ken - when I was a kid and my dad would drive me to the swift so I could attempt to catch those fish (thank god for glo bugs - that's all a 3rd grader trying to fish the swift can trust :) ha ha ha), a number of guys suggested I try a "rubber band fly". This was basically tied by taking a tan rubber band, tying it to the hook, wrapping it up the shank to form a sort of segmented body, then tying it off. That seemed pretty popular on a 14-18 sized hook back then. I'm thinking that was like 81 to 82 or so. Ive pondered those flies for a few years, and considered making a few to try, because I've not seen anyone using them on the swift for a LONG time now - making them seem like a good option for those well educated fish.
I'm curious if you remember those, or if you know folks who still fish with them? This thread made me think of it.
Will
Tried them without a tap! For me olive dubbed body with wire rib and hackle work better. The only latex flies I carry are condom flys which work nicely after big rainfalls like now. They are a PIA to tie!
I tried the latex nymphs in the 80's not much luck...That being said a good many patterns used today successfully do have a plastic body made up of d-rib or similar material. Also copper johns and thread midges are "hard" and opaque so it seems to me that the problem is not so much the pattern or material but the presentation? Adding a little partridge to incorporate movement cannot hurt. I may try something like that coming up just to see how it goes.
Anonymous,
Ribbed or not ribbed?
Ken
We use stretch tube scuds on the swift with great success especially in the bubbler arm very similar to the rubber band fly hibernation mentioned only the latex tube is clear making whatever color thread you use to kind of peek out through the latex
Hi Ken -- I love the Ants and took a nice one today on the Swift. I tend to go above rte 9 when there is bad weather and hopefully few people. Today it got to 93 and I figured it would keep people away. I was right. I am not a Y pool enthusiast, but it was empty so slipped in for 15 mins. I should have cleaned up, but could barely cast as there were hunting packs of Mergansers, at least 3 Blue Herons, and, of course, a flotilla of Geese. I went elsewhere and later on saw 6 people on that one trickle. I don't understand the enjoyment of overfishing that hole. I wonder how many trout the birds are getting? It really puts the fish down, for 5 mins. :)
Paul Fay,
Good idea!
Falsecast,
Be it man or beast, everyone is drawn to the Y Pool. I got there early one day this week and had only 2 others to deal with but then the crowd showed up along with the DFW shocking team and I left.
Ken
More shocking?
Chico,
YES, MORE SHOCKING!!! Maybe they have heard a rumor about some endangered species of trout. They couldn't possibly be counting stocked clonebows? (HaHa)
Ken
Hopefully they are starting to realize that the swift has become a world class brook trout stream with some individuals really pushing the bar as far as size goes
Paul Fay,
I think they realize it but they may not like it because these brookies do not depend on the DFW for their existence. So they spend their $$ and energy on sterile clonebows that are gone after a year.
Ken
Falsecast,
Out with Ken and my son last week (below Rte 9) we saw two huge herons in close quarters and a veritable armada of mergansers. Never seen so many in one pack. Do you think the birds are catching on to Ken's blog and figuring out where all the fish are?
Cheers,
Dave P.
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