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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

Tuxedo Nymph

Tuxedo Nymph

Recipe:

Hook:  Standard Nymph Hook size 14 or 16 

Thread:  8/0 black

Tail:  Black and white barred feather fibers like teal or gadwall flank feathers, even finely barred grizzly hackle will work in a pinch

Ribbing: Small silver wire

Abdomen:  Black synthetic dubbing

Thorax:  White ostrich herl

Bead:  Black (glass, brass or tungsten)

I have only been fishing this nymph for a few seasons but it has produced well.  I would categorize it as a general attractor nymph since it does not really imitate any specific food form.  The idea for the pattern came from flies like the prince nymph, I believe the contrast of the dark body and the white wings on that fly contribute to its effectiveness.  The contrasting black and white color scheme on this pattern maximizes that contrast..  I will often fish this fly as part of a team of flies employing various euro-nymphing techniques.

I usually tie the fly as indicated in the pattern recipe however on the fly pictured I tied it on a 2x short #12  Gamakatsu S10-2S hook.  It has the hook shank of a #14 but the hook gap of the larger #12.  This should improve the holding ability for landing the larger fish that live in my home stream. 

Another way to add color...

A more subtle way to add an attractor color to the fly is to add a little thread dam before mounting the bead on the hook.  I like this method better than adding a band of color behind the bead.

Recipe:
Hook:  Scud 14-16
Thread:  Fire Orange 6/0 Uni
Bead:  Gold tungsten
Abdomen:  Turkey tail fibers
Ribbing:  Gold tinsel
Thorax:  Hares ear dubbing with extra guard hairs added

Aaron Jasper's Fire Fly

The Fire Fly

This is a new pattern for the box this year, although I have tied and fished very similar patterns I like this particular fly a lot.  At the International Fly Tying Symposium I ran into my friend Aaron Jasper.  Aaron, who is become well known as a master of Euro Nymphing techniques, was tying this pattern.  I like the looks of it so I added a dozen of them to this year's box.  I have only fished it for a few weeks but it has been fishing well enough to earn it a compartment in "the box".  

Aaron Will be releasing a new DVD this month entitled European Nymphing Techniques and Fly Tying  I plan on reviewing this video on the blog once it becomes available so stay tuned.

Aaron Jasper's Fire Fly

Rather than post the recipe you can see the originator tie it himself.  My buddy Lou from the Fly and Fin blog posted a video of Aaron tying this pattern at the show.  

The Nymph Box - Hot Beads

Hot Bead Nymph

Another way to add some color to a fly pattern is a "hot bead".  You can now find fluorescent beads in both brass and tungsten in what ever colors you desire.  Some of my favorite colors for these Euro patterns are hot orange, red, & chartreuse.  This blue wing olive nymph is transformed into an attractor pattern with the addition of a hot orange tungsten bead.

Recipe:
Hook:  Scud size 14-16
Bead:  Tungsten (hot orange) sized according to hook
Thread:  Brown 8/0 Uni
Tail:  Brown hackle fibers
Abdomen:  Olive biot
Ribbing: X-small black wire
Thorax:  Hares ear dubbing
Wing Case:  Black thin skin

Another variation on a hot spot micro-nymph

Micro Hot Spot Nymph

This pattern is very similar to the one in the previous post.  Substituting materials makes this version a much brighter fly with more flash.


Pattern Recipe:

Hook: DOHIKU bead hook (14-16 can substitute a standard scud hook)
Bead:  Gold tungsten
Tail:  Woodduck flank fibers
Hotspot:  Hot Orange Uni 6/0
Ribbing:  Synthetic pearl quill
Abdomen:  Synthetic brown quill
Thorax:  Synthetic peacock " eye"dubbing (it has a gold tint to it that does not pick up well in the photo)

Back to the box...

Hot Butt Micro Nymphs

The next group of flies I refer to as Micro Nymphs.  They really don't represent any particular species of aquatic insect.  The flies are small and buggy looking, never larger that a 14 or smaller size 22.  I will fish these flies in the point position or on a dropper on a three fly rig.  They need a substantial anchor fly to bring them down in swift water.  I will also fish them on a long spanish or french style leader in skinny water especially in the low flows of fall and early winter.

Hot Butt Micro Nymph

Pattern Recipe:


Hook: DOHIKU bead hook (14-16 can substitute a standard scud hook)
Bead:  Black tungsten
Tail:  Woodduck flank fibers
Hotspot:  Hot Orange Uni 6/0
Ribbing:  Synthetic pearl
Abdomen:  Turkey tail fibers
Thorax:  Synthetic peacock dubbing

The Box...

Pink Czech Nymphs

Another compartment in one of my Czech nymph boxes that needed to be filled is the one that held Pink Czech Nymphs.  For reasons known only to the fish, this particular color combination was particularly effective this past season.  I tie four variations of this pattern, tan back or pearl flash back with either a bead head or thread head.  Interestingly enough, my friend Lou from Fly and Fin posted about a Bugs of the Underworld video segment that appeared to show a caddis larva with a pinkish hue.  I know he does well on the same water with a similar pink grub.

Pink Czech Nymph
Hook:  Knapek Czech nymph hook size 12 or 14
Thread:  Uni 6/0 brown
Bead:  Black tungsten (optional)
Underbody: Sticky back lead tape
Shell Back:  Tan Thin Skin or pearl flash back
Rib (inner):  Small gold wire
Rib (outer): Small red wire
Abdomen:  Pink UV pink Ice Dub
Hot Spot: Yellow synthetic dubbing
Thorax:  Olive and black hares ear dubbing
Gills:  Light gray after shaft feather

Another Peek in the Nymph Box...

Big Bead Flashback Pheasant Tail

This odd looking fly is one of my all time top producers.  Another anchor fly this pattern was originally designed to bring other flies on a Czech nymph rig to the bottom.  The shocker was that it almost always out produced the other flies in the set.  I tie it in two versions the flashy gold bead version shown above and a more subdued version with a black bead and hot spot (shown below).  A slotted tungsten bead is essential to this pattern.  It will allow mounting an oversized bead on a smaller hook and you can position the bead so it will not interfere with the hook gap.  This fly also has a couple turns of .20 lead wire on it that helps hold the bead in place.  In a word...HEAVY!

The Big Bead Flashback Pheasant Tail

Hook:  Dai Riki 730 size 12

Bead: 3/16" Slotted Tungsten (gold or black/faceted or smooth)

Thread: Uni 6/0 brown

Rib: Gold wire

Tail:  Pheasant Tail fibers

Abdomen:  Pheasant Tail fibers

Thorax:  Peacock herl

Flashback:  Green flashabou

If you look through some of my fish images on this site you will see this fly hanging off a lot of fish lips! 

A Peek Into The Nymph Box...

I had high hopes of getting out several times over the holiday weekend but a nasty cold kept me close to home.  So instead of fishing I started my late season fly tying in earnest.  I have loads of near empty fly boxes that need refilling and a few new patterns to add to the arsenal.

I did get out the day after Thanksgiving but I paid for it dearly over the weekend.  The fly that produced the best that day was a anchor pattern inspired by fly tier Kevin Compton owner of Performance Flies.  This slim pattern sinks like a rock and is an effective fish catcher.  Dubbed the "Copper Bead" by my friend Aaron Jasper, one of the founders of Trout Predator Online, it is now one of my go to flies for fish holding in deeper fast water.

"The Copper Bead"

The Copper Bead

Hook:  DOHIKU model 302 size 6-12
Bead:  Copper tungsten
Thread: Brown 6/0 Uni
Tail:  Wood duck fibers
Rib: Pearl synthetic ribbing
Abdomen:  Hares ear dubbing mixed with copper flash or copper metallic dubbing (dub the body as thin as possible with slight taper.
Thorax:  "Tiger Beetle" (black/orange) zelon dubbing

Frank Sawyer's Killer Bug

Frank Sawyer's original Killer Bug is a very simple pattern tied with only two materials, red wire and yarn.  This scud or shrimp imitation takes on a completely different look when wet.  The original pattern called for Chadwick's yarn (color 477) which was a tan color with some pinks and browns in it.  Long since discontinued, the original material is no longer available.  Somewhere I have a three foot length of the original yarn but could never bring myself to use it.  Recently I found a reproduction of this yarn produced by Veniard.  I will have to dig up that original strand and compare it to this new product.  From the photos I found of both products, the original has that pinkish, tan, gray, brown coloration that the new product doesn't seem to capture.  But photos can be deceiving so I will reserve judgement until I can lay them side by side.

If you want to see a side by side comparison of three flies tied with three different yarns including the two above click on this post in the Fly Fishing Forums.  If these photos are correct there is not much difference between the three once the flies are wet.  A friend of mine recently posted about this fly on his blog Fly and Fin and recently I watched an Oliver Edwards DVD were he tied and fished the pattern.  So I decided to tie up a few myself.   I tried to follow Frank Sawyer's instructions to the letter including using two layers of wire and three layes of yarn, tying the fly off at the rear instead of the front.  

Bottom line...none of this makes a difference.  All this nonsense about materials doesn't matter.  Tie some grayish, pinkish tan yarn with brown high lights on to a hook and go fishing!  It's a simple pattern that works very well. 

 This fat rainbow could not tell the difference in the yarn colors either!

Hendrickson Nymph

Unfortunately I missed most of the dry fly action with this hatch this year.  Every time I was out on the water it was a case of "you should have been here yesterday".  I did however catch quite a few fish on Hendrickson nymphs.  In fact, even though the hatch is effectively over the nymph is still taking fish.

Another good day for the Cooper Bug

I am becoming very intrigued by this fly.  The fish went crazy over it today.  But the amazing thing was the distance they were moving to grab it.  Cooler water temps meant rainbows were the more active fish, brown trout were noticeably absent today and the river I fished is predominantly a brown trout fishery.  Subtle takes were not on the menu this afternoon.  The rainbows shot out of their lies and smashed this fly.  On three occasions I had 4x tippet snap on the take.

As far as insect activity goes there were a few straggling Hendricksons coming off, but that hatch peaked a week or two ago and should be all but over.  I did not observe any caddis activity (at or above the surface), but I know there was some earlier in the week.  The only other insects were a few small stone flies crawling about on mid-stream rocks. What are these fish taking this fly for??? ( I have a guess)  

 

There may have been a behavioral drift of green rock worms (Rhyacophila) occurring.  I was snagging these little buggers left and right.  In my opinion this fly bears little resemblance to the natural but I guess the fish disagree.  I even went as far as to imitate the obviously prevalent caddis larva with one of my rock worm patterns that did a better job "matching the hatch".

In the end the Beadhead Cooper bug out fished it three to one.  Without exception the larger fish of the day were caught on this fly.