Crappie Kebari

Tenkara has become my favorite way to fish for Crappie and other panfish.   I have converted one of my favorite, brightly colored soft hackles into a reversed hackle, kebari style fly.  I have had quite a bit of success with this pattern over the last few seasons.  Sometimes it performs a little better, other times the fish prefer the pattern tied as a traditional soft hackle.  On a tenkara rod this one feels right.

Pattern Recipe:

Hook:  Standard wet fly ( the one pictured is an old, no longer made Mustad with a wicked barb)

Thread:  6/0 Uni your choice of color

Body:  Chartreuse Ice Dub

Thorax:  Pink Ice Dub

Hackle:  Hen pheasant tied reversed

The Golden Retriever

I was introduced to this simple pattern in Grand Lake Stream, Maine.  In the Pine Tree General Store, next to the cash register in a plastic cup, was a half a dozen of these flies.  The gal at the counter informed me that the local landlocked salmon population went crazy over this fly.  I was skeptical to say the least, but I wanted to be polite so I snatched up three and added them to my small pile of Barnes Specials and other traditional New England feather winged streamers I picked from their fly bins.

Throughout the week, every time I opened my fly box to select another streamer, this goofy little fly caught my attention.  It was so unlike the other streamer patterns that had proven themselves on this stream.  The more I looked at this fly, the more I felt I was duped by the young lady at the cash register.  No worries, I could always use them back home to catch bluegills.

One afternoon, the landlocked salmon developed a severe case of lock jaw.  Nothing I threw at them would elicit a strike.  When I opened my streamer box for the umpteenth time that day, the golden retriever fell out.  I managed to snatch it out of the air before it hit the water.  With the fly now in my hand I figured “what the hell”, so I tied it on.  Once the fly was wet, the first thing I noticed was the red underbody that shining through the golden yellow Estaz body.  This went un-noticed when I first purchased the flies.  The fly definitely had a different look when it was wet.   I was intrigued.

Within a few casts I was tight to a scrappy 17” salmon.  Then another and another…  What started as a pretty crappy afternoon of fishing turned into one of my best days on the river.  This versatile fly caught fish dead drifted or retrieved, fished like a nymph or a streamer.  I found it performed best when fished like a streamer with an active retrieve.  However,  I caught fish dead drifting the pattern as well.

By the day's end, I had lost two flies and the last one, still tied to my leader, was a shell of its former self.  On the way back to the cabin I stopped by the General Store just as they were closing, but to my dismay the little plastic cup by the cash register was empty.  I took the battered fly back to the cabin and carefully dissected it.  The fly could not be easier to tie.  Hook, lead under body, gold bead, marabou tail, red thread and Estaz, thats it!

When I returned home I quickly tied up a dozen for my next trip up north.  Not wanting to wait until my next trip to Maine I used them on my local waters.  Trout ate them up and many a farm pond crappie fell to its charms.  When I tried to research the origins of the fly I was not surprised to learn that it appears to have been developed by several different tiers in different parts of the country but most sources point to a tier by the name of Jim Finn.  The pattern is also tied with other colors of Estaz including white, pink, peach, and root beer, but the red thread remains the same.

The Golden Retriever

The Golden Retriever

The Pattern: UV Peach Version

Hook:  3x long streamer size 8 or 10
Bead:  Gold brass or tungsten sized to hook
Underbody:  .020 or .025 lead wire
Tail: Ginger marabou
Body: 210 denier waxed red UTC thread
“Hackle”: UV Peach Estaz palmered over thread body with a 1/8 inch gap so the red underbody shines through.

Blue Wing Olives

As I mentioned in a previous post, New Jersey has been experiencing a very mild winter.  Normally by this time of year we are in full winter fishing mode.  Days on the water are limited to the few days when the daytime temps creep above freezing and the river is free of ice.  This year we are still seeing water temperatures in the mid to high forties even hitting fifty degrees on some days.  Over the Christmas season we regularly saw daytime temperatures near seventy degrees!  In a nutshell, what this means is the fishing has been better than normal.  Higher water temps mean more active, feeding fish.

This fall and continuing into early winter, one of my go to patterns have been Beatis imitations commonly known as Blue Wing Olives.  These patterns have been producing far longer into the year than normal.  Typically this time of year the only insects we are likely to see are midges.  With all this mild weather I am continuing to see regular Baetis activity, particulary on overcast days.
Although there has been some surface activity, most of my fish have been coming below the film fishing nymph and emerger patterns.  I'm sure all this will finally come to an end with the cooler temperatures in the forecast, but it was good while it lasted.

 I'll leave you with an example of one of the Beatis nymph patterns that produced very well in recent weeks.  I discovered the pattern years ago while fishing the San Juan River in New Mexico.  I liberated it from the jaw of a large rainbow trout, took it home, duplicated it on my vise and have been using it ever since.

Baetis/Blue Winged Olive Nymph

Pattern Recipe: 

Hook:  TMC300R  size 18-24

Tail: 3 Pheasant tail fibers tied short (hook gap in length.

Body: 16/0 Olive Thread

Shellback:  Pheasant tail fibers from tail

Rib:  Olive thread

Thorax:  Black antron fibers

Legs:  Fibers from thorax spit and tied to the sides

October Caddis

In my neck of the woods the October Caddis is a sporadic hatch at best.  Fortunately it is a big bug that gets the attention of trout.  It is my understanding that the insect hatches at night or in the early morning, which may be the reason I don't see it often. Once school starts for the kids, I will seldom be able to get on the water before 10:00am on a weekday.

That being said, I do have quite a bit of luck with pupae patterns that represent this insect.  The version I have tied here is not an original pattern but a replication of a commercial one I picked up years ago. It worked well then, so I faithfully reproduced it and have been tying it the same way ever since.

As a European nymphing enthusiast I like to fish this fly as an anchor fly.  With the low water conditions we find on our rivers in the autumn of most years the tungsten bead is all the weight I need to get the flies in the zone.  Since I am using it as an attractor pattern I brighten up the colors a bit, and it works well for me.  The naturals are more of a dull orange, tie them that way if you are looking for a more realistic pattern.

It's a good sized fly, I will fish it as large as a size 8 and as small as a size 12.  A middle of the road size 10 is my all around favorite.

Recipe:
Hook: Standard nymph or natural bend hook 1x or 2x long
Bead:  Black tungsten sized to match the hook
Underbody:  Green Mylar or Krystal Flash
Body:  Orange ultra chenille tinted with a dark marker
Ribbing: Red wire
Antenna:  A light and dark barred feather like Woodduck
Legs:  Partridge
Thorax:  Black ostrich herl

The Not So Super Ant

Original Super Ant

Two summers ago I put up a post about a simple terrestrial pattern dubbed the super ant.  The super ant is a ungainly creation consisting of just three materials - foam, hackle and thread. It was a creation of my buddy Rick, during a late night tying session in our West Yellowstone cabin, fueled by one too many servings of "cabin punch".  This jumbo sized attractor pattern scored big time on fish in the West Yellowstone area.  The browns on the meadow section of Gibbon River fell particularly hard to its charms.

Super Ant Country

When I brought the pattern home to New Jersey it worked well most of the time for warm water species, but our trout here on the east coast sometimes cast a suspicious eye upon the pattern. They would often rise to inspect the fly, sometimes following a good distance downstream, before ultimately refusing the offering. They were definitely interested, but there was something about the pattern they were not sure of.

Super Ant Redux

As it turns out, it appears that the "super" in the super ant was turning fish off.   Downsizing the pattern has made it much more effective on our east coast trout.  It has also greatly improved its hooking abilities on small mouthed panfish as well,  which sometimes had a little difficulty choking down the original pattern.  The sample pattern I was given was tied on an old, discontinued Mustad barbless hook (3257B). It just so happens that I have thousands of these funky, old irons lying around. This hook was supposedly discontinued because of its poor hooking abilities. Although the hook held well, it was said to have penetration problems due the pronounced hump in the point. I have used the hook for a while now and have not observed any issues with penetration, so I am continuing to use it (I have to do something with them).  Another option in the same style of hook would be the Partridge Roman Moser (CS27) barbless dry fly hook (also discontinued, but easier to find). In the end, any old dry fly hook, barbed or not will work just fine.

This batch was tied up using some quick sight ant bodies I had lying around.  To get the hi-vis indicator tips, I simply tinted the white sections with permanent markers in various colors. The standard white works well enough but in some light conditions a little bit of color improves visibility on this low riding pattern.

In addition to the not so super ant I also tied up a few not so super bees with some foam bee bodies I found lying in the same drawer. I have a feeling the bluegills are going to tear these up!

Recent victim of the Super Ant

The Perfect Bass Fly?

Although my writing may not show it, I am an avid warm water fly fisherman. I am forced to be, because the nearest quality trout water is an hour from my house. Fortunately, I am blessed to have a number of warm water venues minutes from my front door. Despite the fact that most of this blog's posts revolve around trout fishing, much of my fishing involves the pursuit of warm water fish.

One of the most effective lures for largemouth bass has to be the plastic worm. For decades, I have been searching for the fly fisherman's equivalent. I believe that search is now over.

At a recent fly tying course offered by Central Jersey Trout Unlimited, I took a break from instructing and sat in on a workshop put on by one of the chapter's most innovative fly tiers, Bill Ninke.  Bill introduced me to materials and techniques to tie very effecting looking worm and tube jig imitations. Bill was quick to point out that these flies were not his original patterns.  He stated he had picked up the patterns and techniques from a source on the internet. The originator of this wrapping technique is Rich McElligott who works hard for the Illinois Smalmouth Alliance.

These flies are quick and easy to tie and they look great in the water.  The pattern's design keeps the long tail from fouling the hook point, an issue I have always had with other worm style flies.  The fly is tied in two stages.  First take a length of yarn equal to whatever you want the overall length of the fly to be and touch the end to an open flame to taper it.  I have been working with a fly that is 5 1/2 inches long. Take the none tapered end and tie it in behind the eye, bead or cone. Take a second piece of yarn three to four times longer than the first and tie it in behind the eye as well. Begin wrapping this longer piece of yarn around the hook shank until you reach the bend. Then continue wrapping the long piece of yarn around the standing portion of the tail. Make seven wraps down the tail then reverse direction and make six wraps back towards the hook.  Now continue wraping on the hook ending back at the eye.  Whip finish, tie off and your done.

I am adopting this technique and material to several new patterns I am developing.  I can't wait to field test them this spring.  I also started tying these flies on wire guard weedless hooks which results in a near weedless version that can be cast into heavy cover without the risk of losing the fly.  It can be weighted by attaching wraps of lead wire to the hook shank before tying on the yarn.

Recipe:
Hook: Mustad 3366 1/0 or substitute a weedless worm hook
Weight: Brass or tungsten cone or wraps on lead wire
Body:  Patons Bohemian Yarn (available at local craft stores)

Shad Flies

I needed to restock my shad fly box for an upcoming trip this weekend.  Normally I would recruit my 9 year old son to whip up a bunch off shad flies for me, but the lad broke his finger last night so I got stuck behind the vice.  I had only one hour to spend fly tying this evening.  Fortunately, shad flies are quick and easy to tie.  The patterns are only limited by your imagination and fly tying supplies.  For me it is crystal flash, and bright colored standard and crystal chenille, nothing to them.

When tying shad flies your looking for brightness and/or contrast.  These are all tied on an #4 Eagle Claw Nickel Teflon Salmon hook (model NT1197FS).  I carry a assortment of colors and sizes (2-6).  Follow the basic rules - bright flies on bright days, dark flies on cloudy days or low light periods.

Hendrickson Nymph

It is Hendrickson time here in New Jersey.  The hatch is a few weeks early due to the mild winter we have experienced here in the north east.  We are all hoping that the bugs stay around long enough for the season opener.  If you want to fish this hatch you can still get out on our trout conservation waters which are open year round, though they are likely to be crowded.  There have been no real prolific hatches report yet but there have been some sightings which mean the bugs are on the move.

Although I fish a number of emerger and dun patterns, I only fish on nymph pattern for this hatch.  I first found this fly in the book Flies for Trout by Dick Stewart and Farrow Allen.  I have been fishing the fly since the early nineties when the book first came out and I have never needed another pattern.  The grey band of dubbing in the center of the fly is essential to the pattern as the naturals often have a lighter coloration mid-abdomen.  I prefer the fly as shown (minus the crazy long guard hard that need to be plucked out!), though you can also add a bead if that's the way you roll.

Recipe:

Hook:  2x long nymph hook size 12 or 14
Thread:  Brown 6/0
Tail:  Well marked wood duck flank barbs
Abdomen: Reddish brown fur with a band of grey fur behind the thorax or in the mid section (look at your local nymphs)
Ribbing:  Copper wire (not in the original pattern)
Thorax: Reddish brown fur
Wing Case: Black section of turkey tail
Legs: Well marked wood duck flank or partridge barbs

These nymphs are active swimmers when emerging so subtle twitches and lift techniques are often productive when fishing this pattern.

Chimarra Caddis Larva

Chimarra Caddis Larva 

This bright orange/yellow caddis larva can be an important food source on some waters in my area during the late winter and early spring months.  As far as caddis larva go it is one of the smallest I will bother to imitate.  I tie them on a 3x short hook in sizes 16 & 18, but I know folks tie them smaller (typically 18-20).  The short shank hook allows me to maintain a good hook gap but still keep the body appropriately sized.

I was able to get out this week and enjoy some of the unseasonable warm weather.  This pattern and small patterns with bright orange hot spots produced well, indicating that the fish may be seeing some of these larva already.

Pattern Recipe:
Hook:  3x short larva hook
Thread:  8/0 Hot or Fire Orange for body/Brown for head
Under Body: Orange thread
Markings:  Black marker on thread before wrapping floss
Abdomen: Yellow floss spiraled up hook shank allowing the underbody to show
Thorax: Brown thread
Legs:  Squirrel dubbing

Tying Instructions:

• Cover the hook shank with orange thread wrapping down the bend of the hook, building up a thicker area over the barb of the hook.  
• Tie in a piece of yellow floss at the bend of the hook and advance the thread to the eye, whip finish and cut off.
• Attach brown thread at the hook eye
• Dot the back of the fly with a black marker a few times
• Advance the floss towards the eye in open spirals allowing the orange underbody to show through and tie off at the hook eye.
• Dub a small about of squirrel fur on thread and create the flies legs by making several wraps, pulling the fibers down after each wrap
• Create a neat thread head, whip finish and cut off thread.
• Apply a small drop of clear cure goo to the top of the thorax and cure with a UV light to keep the fibers pointing downward

Once this pattern gets wet the colors will change closely resembling that of the natural insect.

A healthy winter brown trout taken on a Chimarra larva pattern

An Evenings Work

Over the holiday break I got together with Lou from Fly and Fin, for an evening of fly tying, chili eating and bourbon swilling.  I refilled a couple holes in my nymph box, but it was not the most productive tying session.  I had to keep putting my scissors down to pick up the bourbon glass, which slowed things down, but at least I did not stab myself in the forehead.  That's a story for another time!

Tightline Productions

I recently discovered what I think are some of the best fly tying videos being shown on the web these days.  These videos are being produced by Tim and Joan Flagler of Tightline Productions.  It just so happens that this is also a local company which makes it kind of cool.  I was introduced to Tim and Joan as well as their fly tying videos at the NJ Fly Fisherman of the Year event.  My jar dropped when I saw the quality of the HD tying video being displayed on a large TV at the event.  I have bumped into Tim and Joan a few times since then and recently asked them for permission to share one of their videos (which they were more than happy to oblige, in fact they encouraged it).  Many of you may already be familiar with their work, since it has been featured on MidCurrent and other blogs like Matt Grobert's Caddis Chronicles.

I love this scud pattern.  Its simple, effective and very similar to a pattern I tie and use myself.  Enjoy the clip and check out some of their other videos on Vimeo

This Weekend - The 21st Annual Fly Tying Symposium

For all the details click here!

Golden Stonefly Nymph

Golden Stone 

This pattern has been particularly effective over the last few weeks.  Many of our local streams have seen an emergence of large stone flies in late May. Trout have been keying in on these large nymphs as they move towards the shore to crawl onto to the bank in the evenings to molt into winged adult stoneflies. 

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: Tiemco 200R (size 8-10)

Bead: Tungsten brown or black (3/16" for size 8)

Thread: Danville 210 denier white

Underbody: 8 wraps .30 lead wire

Tail: Goose biots (golden yellow)

Abdomen: Tapered thread underbody tinted with olive brown on top and golden yellow on bottom, covered with yellow or clear vinyl d-rib (medium)

Rib: Medium black wire 

Thorax: Synthetic or natural dubbing in a golden stone color to match the natural

Wing case:  Two Pheasant "church window" feather cut with a wing burner.

Legs: Round rubber (solid or barred)

Tying Instructions:

Although this pattern calls for a lot of materials it is relatively easy to tie.  

Begin by mounting the bead and placing 8 wraps of the lead wire on the hook shank, pushing it up against the bead to hold it in place.  Place a drop of head cement or super glue over the lead wraps.  

Mount your thread behind the lead and wrap towards the bend of the hook, where you will tie in you split biot tail, wire ribbing and vinyl d-rib.  

Next build up a tapered thread body and cover the lead wire with thread wraps.  Once your underbody is formed, tint the thread with the markers, dark on top, light on the bottom.  

Form the abdomen by wrapping the d-rib forward with tight touching wraps stretching the material slightly as you wrap it.  Tie it off at the start of the lead wire. If you wrap it with the flat side of the material against the hook shank you will get a nice segmented appearance.

Next, wind the black wire rib forward allowing the wire to fill the grooves between the d-rib. 

For the thorax apply dubbing to the thread and dub half of the remaining space on the hook shank behind the bead.  

On top of the hook shank tie and the dubbing you just applied tie in one of the wing case feathers.  

Apply additional dubbing to the thread and dub right up to the bead.  

Next tie in the final wing case feather and tie in the rubber legs on each side of the fly.  Apply a small amount of dubbing to cover your thread wraps and whip finish and apply head cement if desired.

Golden Stone (alternate view)

Solving a Mystery

I spent a few hours on my favorite trout stream over the holiday weekend and had an excellent day of fishing.  I had the whole section of river to myself, which shocked me since it was a holiday weekend.  What made it even more enjoyable, was the fact that it was one of those rare occasions where you manage to figure out what your pea brained quarry is focused on and find that little piece of the puzzle that makes for a great day's fishing.

After spending the first few hours of the day picking off a fish or two.  I sat down on a mid stream rock and began to ponder all the reasons why the fishing was so slow.  I reckoned it could have something to do with the little bit of color that still lingered in the water from the high water event earlier in the week, or perhaps the fish were gorged on sulphur nymphs that have been coming off in huge numbers every afternoon.  As I sat on this rock and retied my leader and selected yet another set of flies to present to the fish I spied this fellow crawling up from the waters edge.

This was a good sized stone fly with bright yellow markings on its underside.  With no better choices to go with I selected a large golden stone fly nymph as my anchor fly and was rewarded with a fish on my first cast.

And so it began...for the rest of the afternoon fish after fish came to this fly including the big fish in the previous post.   Here's a few more quick shots of this fly in action.

The fly I fished was a one of a kind experiment.  It was a more detailed version of a soft hackle stone fly that I regularly use.  Instead of a soft hackle it has a traditional double wing case and some rubber legs added.  When that fly was eventually lost to a fish, my soft hackled golden stones produced well enough but not quite as good as the experimental version.  So its off to the vice to turn out some more of what is now a proven pattern instead of a experimental one.

A Piece of Fly Fishing History

A few months back I picked up a Thompson Wet Fly Wing Forming Tool. This tool was popular back in the days when wet fly fishing was the standard method of presenting a fly to a trout.  When I purchased the tool it came with only three combs  I was fortunate to find three additional combs of different sizes on eBay a few days back. I have not used it yet since up to a few days ago I did not have the appropriate sized comb for the size flies I was looking to tie. I'll put up another post with the finished product and the steps taken to get there.

 

Getting Down Deep - The Cased Caddis Anchor

Cased Caddis Anchor

Faced with the prospect of high water flows on the season opener this weekend, I spent a few hours working on a few anchor fly patterns.  I was inspired to tie this particular pattern by my three year old son.  He was walking around the house with a piece of chartruese colored nylon twine around his neck.  Not wanting him to string himself up I took it away from him.  As I was getting ready to throw it away, I realized it would make a perfect larva head for a peeking caddis pattern.  A jig hook, large facetted/slotted tungsten bead, a lead underbody, grouse hackle for legs and a spiky hares ear body complete the package.  A basic peeking caddis pattern but this one has some serious weight behind it!

The Little Dark

As promised,  here is a little more information on the this "new" pattern.  Last fall I started playing around with a few small dark colored generic nymph imitations.  Using Fly DK synthetic quill material as a abdomen allowed for a neat trim profile.  A little silver wire for ribbing, synthetic peacock dubbed thorax for a buggy apperance, a strip of mylar for the wing case adds a little flash and a black tungsten bead to supply the weight and the Little Dark was born.  This pattern has quite a bit of flash to it.  The Fly DK Pearl synthetic quill abdomen gives it iridescence and the silver wire and mylar wing case add quite a bit of sparkle. 

The first two trips of the year as yielded excellent results for this new pattern.  The river at the time was seeing a lot of small black stone fly activity which may have accounted for its success.  I will have to see if it continues to produce through out the year.

Recipe:
Hook: 2xlong nymph hook size 14-18
Bead:  Black tungsten
Thread:  Black 6/0 Danville
Tail:  Dyed black pheasant tail fibers
Ribbing:  Small silver wire
Abdomen:  Fly DK Pearl Synthetic Quill
Thorax:  Synthetic peacock dubbing
Wing case:  Mylar

If you need a source for the DK synthetic quill check out Performance Flies.  Kevin is a great guy to deal with and has always been my source for this fantastic fly tying material.

The Pheasant Tail Anchor

I thought I would share the details on this incredibly effective pattern.  I have mentioned it a few times on this site but have never really given a pattern recipe for it.  I am constantly amazed how well this disproportionate fly performs.  The tungsten bead on the head of this fly is three or four times the size it should be.

I tie it in two basic versions, one with a gold bead and one with a black bead and small orange hot spot.

Pheasant Tail Anchor - Gold Bead

Pheasant Tail Anchor - Black Bead

I should mention that I mainly fish this fly as part of a Polish or Czech nymph rig.  With my normal three fly set up, this pattern would be tied in the middle or anchor position.  It is the heaviest of the three flies and helps bring all of the patterns down to where the fish are.

A few quick notes on tying this pattern:

1. A slotted bead is a must!  It is the only way you will get a bead this size on a #12 hook.  You must be careful on how you position this bead on the hook.  Slide it up and away from the hook point so you don't impede the hook gap and possible reduce the hooking ability of the fly.  A drop of super glue in the slot will hold in place if you need to.
2. Tie the body as slim as possible, 6-8 fibers of pheasant tail is all you need.  I ensure I have a smooth under body which will often take a quite a few wraps of thread to close the gap between the hook shank and the lead under body in the thorax area.  Don't allow too much thread to build up, you want a slim tapered under body on which to wrap the pheasant tail.  I wrap the pheasant tail straight on without twisting with helps keeps that slim profile.
3. Feel free to experiment with the legs.  The pattern fishes well as described here but may be even more effective with a few turns of rust brown CDC at the collar.  I tie the pattern both ways.  Feel free to omit the legs all together.  They are usually the first things chewed off the pattern after a few fish and the fly continues to work!

Pheasant Tail Anchor Recipe:
Hook:  Size 12 Dai-Riki 730  (2x long nymph hook)
Bead:  3/16 gold, faceted & slotted tungsten bead
Weight:  8 wraps of .020 lead wire (under the thorax area)
Wing case:  Peacock green mylar
Thorax:  Peacock herl
Legs:  8 pheasant tail fibers (4 off each side)
Ribbing:  Small gold wire
Abdomen:  Peacock tail fibers from the tail
Tail:  Peacock tail fibers (6-8)

Delektable Lil' Spanker

If I ever cross paths with Ben Romans I am gonna buy that man a beer!  I have been working my way through his book Montana's Best Fly Fishing.  In his section on the Madison River he mentions this fly.  I tied up a dozen and got them wet this weekend.  This pattern out fished everything else I fished two to one so it has earned a permanent spot in my box.  You can find a review on the book on the Chronicle Outdoors blog.

Here is the pattern as described in the book.

Hook:  #14-18 Tiemco 5262
Thread:  Brown 6/0 Danville
Bead: Gold
Tail:  Eight fibers of mallard dyed woodduck gold
Body:  Six fibers of brown pheasant tail, covered in super glue (I omitted the super glue)
Rib:  Counter wrapped gold wire
Thorax:  Peacock Ice Dub
Wing case/legs:  Light blue dun midge flash
Hackle:  Natural gray CDC
Collar:  Dark Hare's Ear Plus dubbing

The Line Up

Finally made it out on the water today and these were the top producers of the day.  The second fly from the top was a new fly (for me) and really produced well.  You'll have to wait a day or two for the details...