Pat’s Rubber Legs 12/22/2022 Photo Album

During a 06/27/2022 trip to the Arkansas River the local brown trout and rainbow trout displayed a strong preference for Pat’s rubber legs. The river remained high from run off at 1100 CFS, and heavy rains several days earlier created turbid conditions with visibility to three feet along the edges. This suited my style perfectly, as I lobbed my dry/dropper featuring an olive and black Pat’s rubber legs as the upper nymph in a tandem nymph dry/dropper arrangement. I was frankly stunned by the effectiveness of the simple chenille and rubber leg fly.

Facing Down and Left

Overhead from the Front

I began tying these in recent years when my friend, Dave G, raved about their effectiveness on the Eagle River and Colorado River on guided float trips with Cutthroat Anglers. I must admit that I gave them scarce time on my line, so I was probably overlooking a very productive fly. After my outing on the Arkansas River in June, however, the days of disregarding Pat’s rubber legs are history. My post of 12/19/2020 provides additional background information on this popular fly.

Molting Stonefly

I follow the tying method of Tim Flagler, and if you want to attempt tying these tricky nymphs, you should search it out on YouTube. The most difficult aspect of tying this fly is the unruly nature of the rubber legs, and Tim devised a solution that keeps the legs under reasonable control. For my tying sessions in December I manufactured three different colors; olive and black, coffee and black, and orange-green-yellow. I use the latter in March to match molting stoneflies in the Arkansas River, although I’m sure they would work just as well on other western rivers that hold a strong population of stoneflies.

Three Colors

BWO Soft Hackle Emerger 12/16/2022 Photo Album

This pattern created by Charlie Craven has become a workhorse fly for baetis hatches. When I first started tying them, I added a small silver bead, so they would sink when fished in a dry/dropper combination. I subsequently discovered that a beaded soft hackle emerger is redundant with a RS2 or sparkle wing RS2, so my tying sessions over the last two years resulted in true emergers with no bead. For more information and background on the BWO soft hackle emerger follow this link to my 01/08/2022 post.

Nice View of the Left Side

During a 10/11/2022 fishing outing at the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon, I was in a state of frustration, as sizeable trout refused my BWO imitations in a long and smooth glassy pool. In a state of desperation I plucked a soft hackle emerger without a bead from my fleece wallet. Guess what happened? I suddenly began hooking and landing gorgeous wild trout on the soft hackle emerger. I applied floatant to the body and fished in dry fly style with across and down casts, and the results were very positive. When the conditions include strong wind, I suspect that the tiny olives get knocked down on the surface, and the low riding soft hackle with no bead does a nice job of portraying cripples and struggling emergers. I am very anxious to deploy this technique once again in the new season.

14 Soft Hackle Emergers

I sat down at my vise and produced fourteen new BWO soft hackle emergers, and this broke down into four size 20, five size 22, and five size 24. The 24’s are minute, but so are the late autumn naturals.

Sparkle Wing RS2 12/09/2022 Photo Album

Check out my post of 01/04/2022 for background information and a link to a materials table for the sparkle wing RS2. Each year I seem to use this fly for greater periods of time, and this translates to more lost flies and the need to tie more. After I counted my remaining supply, I decided to replenish my fly storage container with fifteen additional sparkle wings.

Other Side

I made one change to my usual tying recipe this year, as I substituted a crystal hair loop for the emerging wing instead of the antron stub that I utilized in previous tying sessions. I love the sparkle and flash of this addition. I will soon find out if the trout agree.

15 New Sparkle Wings and Materials

Classic RS2 12/05/2022 Photo Album

I would never wish to be caught without a sufficient supply of RS2’s in the spring and fall in the western United States. The RS2 imitates the nymphal stage of the baetis mayfly along with a myriad of other small mayfly nymphs. My fleece wallet contains the classic RS2, sparkle wing RS2’s, and small RS2-size soft hackle emergers. They all work, but in spite of the additional flash of the synthetic versions, the classic RS2 continues to perform at a high level. For this reason I always count my supply and tie replacements.

Soft Wing for Movement

Here is the link to a previous post that contains additional background information and additional links to related narrative. The classic RS2 is a simple tie, as it only contains three materials besides the hook, thread and bead. I can whip these out in no time, and I did just that recently to produce seven new models. The need to generate seven indicates that I suffered some shrinkage during the past season, and this is proof that the classic RS2 remains an often utilized fly in my fleece wallet.

Spotlight on One

Super Nova PMD 12/02/2022 Photo Album

My post of 12/01/2022 is rather comprehensive regarding my introduction to this fly and my subsequent situational application and consequent success. My confidence in the super nova PMD (pale morning dun) continued in 2022, and I eagerly topped off my inventory with nine additions. I view this fly as a simpler and easier to tie replica of the pheasant tail nymph, yet it seems to be just as effective.

Love Slim Rib

I use these mainly during the time period when pale morning duns are active, and it imitates the nymph stage of the prevalent mayfly in the west. My fly box continues to hold an ample supply of pheasant tails, so I utilize them as well while the supply lasts. I cannot wait for the advent of the pale morning duns in mid-June of 2023.

Batch with Materials

Emerald Caddis Pupa 11/21/2022 Photo Album

Another effective sparkle caddis pupa pattern that I rely on heavily is the emerald body version. My post of 12/19/2021 provides additional links and background on my experience with this workhorse fly in my arsenal of flies. I am convinced that the emerald color is a fish magnet, and this fly has historically produced for me in otherwise slow fishing situations.

Thread Was Unraveling

My count of emerald caddis revealed that my supply remained at adequate levels; however, I sorted four unraveling versions from my damaged fly canister, and I refurbished them. I am certain that the emerald caddis pupa will spend time on my line frequently during the 2023 season.

Five Refurbished

Prince Nymph 11/19/2022 Photo Album

The prince nymph is a proven classic, so I have little to add to what has been chronicled among fly fishing literature. Visit my 1/15/2022 post for my observations on the effectiveness of the prince nymph and the situations that invite me to knot a prince nymph to my line.

Size 14

I use the prince nymph as a weighted attractor, as a green drake nymph imitation, stonefly nymph and caddis egg-laying adult. The pattern remains the same in all situations, but I vary the size. I counted my supply of size 12 and size 14 prince nymphs and determined that I needed to tie six of each. Upon completion of this tying project my fleece wallet is adequately stocked for the 2023 season.

Size 14’s Completed

20 Incher 11/15/2022 Photo Album

I continued to cycle through my workhorse nymphs, as I replaced lost flies and advanced my inventory to target levels. Next on my agenda was the classic 20 Incher. The 20 incher was created in Colorado, and I have developed a strong relationship with this large stonefly imitation. I find myself defaulting to it more frequently, especially when I desire a deeper drift on my dry/dropper presentations. I tie the 20 incher on a size 12 2X long heavy hook, and then I add ten wraps of .02 non-lead weighting wire. This construction allows the 20 incher to sink rapidly without the aid of split shot. Quite often I fish through a series of attractive deep runs and pockets with no success, when I am certain trout are present. In these instances I conclude that my flies are not getting deep enough, and a frequent response is to combine the 20 incher with a smaller nymph. The 20 incher is more than just a heavy fly to sink my rig, as it also attracts its fair share of hungry fish.

Nice One

For a nice recap of the 20 incher stonefly nymph check out my post of 01/13/2022. I counted my supply and determined that I needed to add only three to elevate my total to my desired level. I manned my tying bench and cranked these out recently. Two of them were refurbished from damaged flies, and this saved some tying steps as well as a hook, bead and wire wrap. I vacillated between using a turkey tail section or Tyvek for the wing case, but I settled on the natural look of the turkey. Coating the wing case with a layer of thin UV resin has also become a standard step in my 20 incher fly tying process.

Peacock, Turkey and Goose Biots