Annelid Worms 03/23/2014 Photo Album

Egg Flies 03/23/2014 Photo Album

During the last week of March in 2013, my friend Steve and I booked a one day guided float fishing trip on the North Platte River below Grey Reef. Neither of us had ever fished there, but after seeing a presentation at the Fly Fishing Show in Denver, we decided to book a trip at the reduced rates offered prior to April 1. The weather was quite chilly, but the fishing was amazing. We spent the day floating in a drift boat and fishing almost entirely with annelid worm flies and egg flies. We each caught a huge quantity of fish, and most were rainbows in the 15 – 20 inch size range.

Based on this enjoyable experience we decided to book a trip again for March 25, 2014. This time, however, we knew what flies worked so I decided to tie worms and eggs in preparation for our trip. It seemed ridiculous to me to pay $1.50 or $2.00 per fly for these simple imitations, and after tying a supply of each, I was proven correct.

Worm with Neon Orange Head

I began with the annelid worm fly, and after watching a YouTube video on how to tie this simple fly, I headed to Charlie’s Fly Box and purchased some red D-rib material. That’s all I needed as I already had 200R hooks in size 12 and 14 and red thread. I whipped out 15 of these red worms in no time. Five were size 12, and ten were size 14. I made five of the size 14 worms with a fluorescent orange thread and five with red thread. I’m anxious to see if the small fluorescent head has any attraction ability.

Close Up Showing Veil

I delayed making the eggs until the last week before our trip, but once again traveled to Charlie’s over my lunch break and purchased materials to make egg flies. The salesman in the shop suggested using otter eggs and otter egg white veil material, so I purchased these along with 25 Tiemco 2488 hooks. Again I found a YouTube video demonstrating how to tie these basic patterns. Over the span of a couple days I churned out ten apricot colored egg flies and then made another six pink colored eggs. Both look great and I am optimistic that they will produce numerous nice rainbow trout in the North Platte tailwater below Grey Reef.

Collection of Egg Flies for North Platte River Below Grey Reef

Steve arrives tomorrow morning between 8:30 – 9:00AM, and I am extremely anxious to see if we can replicate last year’s success. Once again the water managers will be creating a flush, but in 2013 our guide knew the strategy to work around this circumstance, and in fact the flush tends to push worms and eggs loose from the river bottom which only enhances the fishing. The weather is a bit of a concern for Monday when the high is projected at 39 degrees; however, Tuesday and Wednesday are currently forecast to reach the low fifties, and that is tolerable if properly dressed. I’ve packed hand warmers, toe warmers, my New Zealand winter fishing hat, and several layers of fleece and down. Wyoming here we come.