Hook - Mustad 3906B for Soft hackles, 3906 for nymphs
Bead - Glass, Red Roe
Thread - Uni-8/0, Camel....The patterns above are tyed with Benicchi, Tobacco colored thread
Tail - Brown Hen Hackle (more durable than pheasant)
Abdomen - Uni-8/0, Camel
Rib - Lagurtan Wire, Red
Thorax - Peacock Herl or Homemade Sow Scud dubbing (Rainbow)
Collar- Brown Hen Hackle
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Last year my buddy that I float with brought a friend along to fish with us. Happens all the time, and sometimes with very informative results. This was one of those times. His buddy started railing trout on the Roaring Fork at one point of the float. I had watched the guy fish earlier in the day. I know this may come off as snobby, but I don’t know how to say it. The guy couldn’t get a drag free drift if his life depended on it. Mind you we were nymphing under indicators. My buddy Bob had brought this guy along in years past, and the buddy really didn’t want fishing/casting lessons at all. No big deal I took river left and gave them river right. In most places we could fish close enough to each other that we could have conversations across the river without yelling. At some point late morning/early afternoon the buddy started hammering trout. Bob asked him what fly he was using, and the buddy responded “Red Headed Step Child”. I watched the buddy pull the fly out of the water and show Bob. Bob yelled over to me and said, “a baeitis nymph with a red bead, size 18 or 20.”
I have fished with others over the years that believed they were getting drag free drifts as well. In reality, they were getting a drag free drift for about 1 foot of the entire drift. Where the actual drag free portion of the drift is in the cast is usually dictated by how much weight (beads/split shot) is being used, and how long the leader set up is. The one upside (for me), when fishing partners don’t realize they are allowing drag in their presentation, is this phenomena. At some point of most days an insect emergence will occur. It may be caddis or mayfly, but at some point bugs will start ascending from the depths. Trout will key on these emerging bugs as the bugs are vulnerable at this stage of their life cycle. Trout will ambush the insects from the bottom of the river all the way to the surface. Why not, it’s an easy meal? At this point folks that won’t or can’t understand the concept of drag have their best opportunity to catch fish. Especially if the bugs are caddis. I believe caddis ascend faster in the water column than Mayflies. A drift with drag by the buddy was producing a setup where the flies he was using were ascending faster than the current of the river could allow a free drifting bug.
The buddy was getting strikes at the very end of his drift. The indicator was downstream from him, and the flies he was using were swinging up in the water column. He had drag on the setup so I knew the fish in the river had switched from feeding on the bottom to taking emergers. Even though he was catching fish on the Redheaded Baetis, I believe it was caddis the fish were after just because of the drag in the buddies presentation. I had a three fly rig on at the time the buddy started catching fish. My bottom fly was a size 18 Muskrat. I clipped it off, slid a red bead on the tippet, reattached the fly. I took off the indicator, but left the split shot on, and made my casts directly across river. I made one large mend in the line to get the rig near bottom, then I let the line go tight (drag). At the end of my second cast I was into a fish. For maybe another hour this method produced for me. Once the emergence ended the tight line fishing ended.
I had forgotten the name of the pattern the buddy was using until earlier this week. I ran across a recipe for it here while browsing another forum.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/show ... pchild-SBS
A quick check of my fishing journal confirmed it was the same pattern, so I thought I would tie a few up.
Did you really think I could tie them up and not change them to soft hackles?
Recipe for the nymph:
Hook- Mustad 3906
Bead – Red Roe, Glass
Thread – Benicchi 12/0 Tobacco
Tail – Hen Hackle (lt. Brown)
Abdomen – Thread
Rib – Red Copper wire (Small)
Thorax – Peacock Herl
Wingcase - Mylar (Silver)
Legs – Red Krystalflash
I have no way of proving any of my suspicions or ideas concerning the emergence of bugs or how trout react to them. These are my opinions and nothing more.
