Author Archives: wellerfish

Go2 Caddis Pupa – 11/20/2022

Go2 Caddis Pupa 11/20/2022 Photo Albums

I replenished my supply of bright green Go2 sparkle caddis pupa with five new models. The go2 sparkle caddis pupa is a hybrid that combines Gary Lafontaine’s emergent bright green caddis pupa with a go2 caddis created by Rick Takahashi. I substituted chartreuse midge diamond braid for the specified bright green antron yarn in the original pattern. Needless to say, I love the flash of the diamond braid for this fly, as it really stands out during the spring grannom emergence.

Zoomed In

For more information follow my 12/19/2021 link and the embedded links there. When I took stock of my holdings of this fly, I concluded that I needed to tie five additional caddis pupa to replenish my inventory to the desired level.

Fish Attractors

Prince Nymph – 11/19/2022

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

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

Ultra Zug Bug – 11/14/2022

Ultra Zug Bug 11/14/2022 Photo Album

Consistent with prior years, I used the ultra zug bug on numerous occasions with decent success during 2022, and this resulted in nine flies being lost or damaged. If you would like to learn more about my experience with this easy to tie, yet effective, fly, check out my post of 12/15/2021. This post provides a link to earlier posts with a materials table and a description of how I became a fan of the ultra zug bug.

Very Close

I replaced the nine flies that unraveled or disappeared with nine new versions, and I am ready for the 2023 season.

9 UZBs and Materials

Salvation Nymph – 11/11/2022

Salvation Nymph 11/11/2022 Photo Album

I have very little to add pertaining to the salvation nymph that is not available in my many annual posts. I suggest that you click on this link to last year’s post, and that provides key links to tying instructions as well as other useful information regarding when it is effective.

Angled Top View

This fly remains a mainstay in my fleece wallet, and when I counted my remaining supply after the 2022 season, I realized that 69 remained in my inventory. I start every season with 100, so I lost 31 to fish, rocks, branches and damage. This shrinkage in inventory is indicative of the effectiveness of the salvation nymph, and consequently it spends a significant amount of time on my line. I visited my vise and produced 31 to augment my supply back to my target level of 100.

20 with Materials

I sorted through my plastic canister of damaged and unraveling flies and discovered eleven, and these were repaired and were a portion of my 31 additional flies. In most cases I was able to recover the nymphs with the addition of a few legs on the front half of the fly, and this saved time and materials. I adopted the practice of applying UV resin to the wing case, and all 31 flies received this treatment. The layer of epoxy really enhances the flash of the flashabou strand and flashback black wing case.

South Platte River – 11/08/2022

Time: 11:00AM – 2:30PM

Location: Deckers area

South Platte River 11/08/2022 Photo Album

After landing two decent brown trout on soft egg flies on 11/01/2022, I advanced tying egg flies on my winter fly tying schedule, and I produced fifteen 6MM egg flies on size 12 scud hooks. I was unable to locate apricot eggs at the local fly shops, so I used the two that remained in my supply and then produced four chartreuse and nine red/pink versions. Having completed this assignment, I was anxious to test the product of my labors, and with a high temperature forecast in the sixties on Tuesday, November 8; I made the trip to the South Platte River in the Deckers area.

When I arrived, the flows were 127 CFS, and the air temperature advanced to the low sixties. I was very excited to test my new flies, but one negative interfered with otherwise favorable conditions on November 8, and that was wind. The wind gusted continuously throughout my time on the river, and a strong headwind prevailed most of the time. My shoulder and elbow were tired, but hopefully I avoided excessive strain in my efforts to counteract the severe blasts that rolled down the canyon.

Starting Point

I wore my Under Armour long sleeved shirt, my fishing shirt, and a fleece hoodie; and I was comfortable for my entire time on the water. My Sage One five weight was placed into action in order to offset the wind, as it possesses length and stiffness. I marched down to the river and began casting at 11AM; and a size 8 tan pool toy hopper, apricot egg and sparkle wing RS2 were featured in my dry/dropper configuration.

Egg Chomper

I spent three hours and thirty minutes on the river, and I managed to land three trout. The first and best visitor to my net was a nice thirteen inch brown trout, and it responded to my apricot egg. The other two trout were small rainbows in the seven to ten inch range, and they chowed down on the RS2. Yes, it was a slow day on the South Platte River. In addition to the three landed trout I experienced one foul hooked fish and a temporary connection.

There Is the Apricot Egg

At 12:30PM I spotted a few blue winged olives, and I searched for rises in a slow section and noted two. I was reluctant to undertake the time required to switch to a dry fly approach, and I suspect my decision was sound, since the surface activity was extremely sparse and lasted only a short period of time. By 1:45PM I lost confidence, so I swapped the apricot egg for a pink/red translucent version, but the move failed to ignite action. At one point I climbed the bank, and as I strode along the road, I noticed two fish in a trough between some aquatic vegetation. I carefully maneuvered down the bank and placed five or six casts through the trough, but the fish ignored my offerings, and I moved on in frustration.

Area That Produced

In two separate locations I spotted a cluster of spawning fish, as they swam in circles and attempted to gain prime positions for reproduction. I never witnessed this activity on November 1, so perhaps my timing overlapped with spawning to a greater degree and perhaps this impacted my slow catch rate.

End of Day Shot

By 2:30PM I was bored out of my mind, so I climbed a six foot bank and hiked back along the road for .5 mile. The wind was my enemy, and I could not convince myself to continue the battle given the largely futile fishing conditions. I took solace in the fact that I was outdoors in beautiful surroundings, and I avoided a skunking with three trout including a respectable brown that responded to my egg fly. The weather will dictate whether this was my last day of the season, so I will continue to follow the long range forecast.

Fish Landed: 3

Soft Egg Fly – 11/14/2022

Soft Egg Fly 11/14/2022 Photo Album

After a trip to the North Platte River below Grey Reef in March of 2013, I recognized the effectiveness of egg flies on that river in central Wyoming. That experience motivated me to tie some egg flies in preparation for our traditional March trip the following spring. I needed materials and guidance on tying a never before attempted pattern, so I journeyed to Charlie’s Fly Box in Old Arvada, and Dave, the salesperson behind the counter, pointed me in the right direction. I purchased soft otter eggs in apricot and translucent pink/red along with a white veil material and returned to my flying desk to make my first attempts at tying an egg fly.

Love the Veil on This One

Chartreuse Egg

I researched patterns on the internet and tied ten models for the upcoming return trip to the North Platte in March of 2014. These flies satisfied my needs for the next seven years, until I made a rare trip to the South Platte River below Deckers on 11/01/2022. During this venture I fished for a couple hours with minimal success, and I decided to experiment with fly changes. Early November was within the time frame of brown trout spawning season, and this surely suggested that loose brown trout eggs were a ready source of protein for rainbow trout and even adult brown trout. I was not having success with my salvation nymph and RS2, so why not field test an egg fly? I dug one of the apricot eggs that I tied seven years prior from my fleece wallet, and I knotted it to my line in a dry/dropper configuration below a pool toy hopper, and then I added the RS2 below the egg. I made a cast and concentrated on following the drift, and I concluded that the soft egg did not possess enough weight to allow it to bounce along the bottom. A tumbling fly along the bottom was the presentation that I was seeking, and I solved this concern by crimping a small split shot to my line just above the eye of the egg fly.

Apricot Egg

For the rest of the afternoon I drifted the egg and RS2 through deep troughs and moderate riffles on the South Platte River. The experiment paid off handsomely, as I landed two hook-jawed brown trout that grabbed the apricot sphere in a narrow band of slower moving water next to a deep run. The egg fly was a solid success, and I vowed to tie more to support my newfound reliance on egg flies for fall and spring fishing.

A More Distant Angle

I retrieved my egg tying materials from my storage cabinet, and I learned that I had two remaining apricot soft eggs, and fifteen translucent red/pink versions. An abundant clump of the white veil material satisfied my immediate needs. It was Saturday, so I decided to make a quick trip to Charlie’s Fly Box to augment my egg supply. Unfortunately the shop was out of apricot, so I bought some chartreuse eggs and returned home by way of the nearby Bass Pro Shop, but Bass Pro had no soft eggs whatsoever to offer this prospective customer. When I returned home, I fired up the computer and placed an order for apricot eggs from the source in Grand Junction, CO.

Since I planned to make a return visit to the South Platte River on Tuesday, November 8, I approached the tying bench and cranked out fifteen new eggs. The first two were apricot, and then I made four chartreuse and nine red/pink. I found a nice soft egg tying video and followed it to construct my egg flies. Tying the soft egg fly is a very simple process, and I tied fifteen eggs in slightly more than an hour. When I was done, I applied UV resin to the head of each fly, and this really added a nice touch to the red thread head. I am fairly certain that egg flies will be a significant new weapon in my fly fishing arsenal.

Hares Ear Nymph – 11/04/2022

Hares Ear Nymph 11/04/2022 Photo Album

I began my off season fly tying effort with the venerable hares ear nymph. Historically the beadhead hares ear nymph has been my most productive fly, although, when I counted my inventory in preparation for tying, I learned that I had 91 and only nine additional flies were needed to reach my target of 100. Generally shrinkage or loss of flies is an indicator of usage, so I can only assume that I deployed the hares ear nymph less frequently during 2022 than during previous seasons. I really have no explanation for this circumstance.

UV Resin on the Wing Case

If you visit my post of 10/25/2020, you can access links to a materials table and some tips related to my slight variations to the standard pattern. For the nine that I created this year I applied a UV resin coating to the wing case, and I love the shine that this created. This step may become a standard addition to my hares ear nymph production.

I Tied Nine

At any rate, I decided to make nine to return my supply to 100 just in case my usage bounces back in the upcoming year. I seem to enjoy greater success with the hares ear nymph during the early season prior to run off, but it is also effective later in the season. Bring on 2023.

South Platte River – 11/01/2022

Time: 12:00PM – 3:30PM

Location: Deckers area

South Platte River 11/01/2022 Photo Album

After a cold week with no fly fishing opportunities and a visit to the physical therapist resulting from groin and leg pain, I was exceedingly anxious to return to a river for mental relaxation. I find that total focus on the enterprise of catching fish is a therapeutic activity to eliminate stressful thoughts. The high temperature was forecast to reach the upper seventies in Denver, and this translated to the sixties in the South Platte River drainage. I chose the South Platte as my destination due to lower elevation and a higher ratio of rainbow trout compared to other streams along the Front range. My remaining decision was which section of the South Platte to visit. The flows at Lake George were 175 CFS and the flows farther down river at Trumbull were 134 CFS. I had more confidence that I could enjoy success at the lower levels, so I made the drive to the Deckers area on Tuesday morning.

As I turned on to the river road at Nighthwak, I decided to check out the upper special regulation section from Deckers to Scraggy View. This turned out to be an eye opener, as I was astounded by the number of vehicles occupying every available parking space. How could there be so many anglers on a Tuesday; a weekday in November? I suppose the favorable weather and proximity to Denver and Colorado Springs were the explanation.

134 CFS

At any rate, I made a U-turn at Deckers and reversed my tour to the open water below the special regulation section. Parking spaces were available, but a fair number of fishermen apparently copied my thought process of moving downstream away from the crowds. My extra survey of the upper section delayed my arrival, so I decided to consume my lunch before engaging in my highly anticipated fly fishing endeavor. After lunch I rigged my recently repaired Sage One five weight, and once I was prepared, I hiked down the dirt road to a stretch with faster current around large boulders to begin my quest for autumn trout.

After Release

I began my effort with a size 8 tan pool toy hopper, a size 16 salvation nymph and a sparkle wing RS2. Between noon and 3PM I moved upstream at a steady pace and cast the three fly dry/dropper to all the likely trout holding spots. During this three hour time frame I landed two rainbows and one brown trout. The largest was a rainbow of around twelve inches, and the other rainbow and brown were in the seven to ten inch range. In addition to the three netted trout, I experienced temporary connections with three other fish. The fly fishing on Tuesday was not exactly a torrid affair. In fact, it was quite slow. During this time I broke off a couple RS2’s and switched between a sparkle wing and classic version. For the top fly I concluded that I needed more weight to place my drifts nearer to the stream bottom, so I paused to consider options. Initially I was prepared to grab a weighted 20 incher, and although it certainly would have provided ballast to sink the RS2, I suspected it was not a menu item for South Platte residents.

Soft Egg

Surely spawning was in progress by now on the tailwater drainage, and wouldn’t rainbow trout take advantage of drifting brown trout eggs? Why not give an egg fly a try? I never tested egg flies other than early season trips to the North Platte River below Grey Reef. I inspected my fleece wallet and spotted four egg flies and plucked one constructed with soft Otter egg material with a white fibrous veil. I replaced the salvation with the egg fly and kept the RS2 in place and resumed casting. On the first couple drifts I noticed that the highly visible peach-colored egg was floating six inches below the surface, and I desired a deeper bottom bouncing presentation, so I crimped a small split shot to the line just above the egg. My offering now consisted of a tan pool toy hopper, peach soft egg with a tiny split shot above it, and a sparkle wing RS2.

The Run Ahead

This combination created some bumps and a temporary connection, and these encounters held my interest, but the egg and RS2 ploy was not a revelation of November fishing success. The few bumps, however, prompted me to persist, and I moved around a ninety degree bend and began to fish a section that featured faster, deep runs and pockets. I picked up my pace and allotted three to five casts to each targeted location, until I arrived at the upper section, just before the river made another ninety degree bend to the right. Here a nice long run curled around the corner and continued for thirty yards parallel to the road before tumbling over rocks. Next to the current, that was easily noticeable by the bubble line, there was a fairly wide slow-moving shelf pool that displayed four to five feet of depth.

Home of Hook-Jawed Beauty

I launched a long cast to the soft band of water next to the bubble line, and I thought I saw a rise to the hopper and swiftly elevated my Sage One to set the hook. The set was accurate, and a very respectable trout began to dive and thrash, as it attempted to disengage from my fly. Initially I thought that the fighter was foul hooked, but as the battle continued, I could feel the main pull from the mouth, and once the hook-jawed brown rested in my net, it was clear that the egg fly was embedded in the corner of its mouth. What a shock to land a sixteen inch brown on an egg fly late in my day! I snapped a gallery of photos of my fish of the day and prepared to fish out the long run before calling it a day.

Love the Orange Fins

I waded fifteen feet, so that I could cover the midsection of the long narrow shelf pool, and I once again launched some long casts to the area three feet to the left of the bubble line. Whoa! The hopper dipped suddenly, and I set the hook, and I was elated to connect with a second hook-jawed brown trout that also chomped the soft egg. I congratulated myself on my good fortune, but at the same time I began to wonder how many positive fishing outings I missed through my fly fishing career by not defaulting to egg flies? This brown was every bit as fat and mature as the previous, and I snapped off a few shots to document my success.

Looking Down

Home of Number Two

I was about to turn around and hike back to the nearby car, but I observed a nice wide riffle section in the center of the river just below the right turn. Earlier casts to these sorts of areas were mostly futile, but I decided that this would be my end of day prospecting. Some glare on the surface made tracking the hopper for the first five feet difficult, but the fly was easily observable over the bottom two-thirds of the riffle. I executed five fruitless drifts, and I was about to quit, when I initiated cast number six. Just as the hopper emerged from the glare, I spotted an aggressive slurp that created a small wave, and I raised my rod with a solid hook set. The recipient of the hook prick immediately curled its body and surfaced, so that I could see the wide pink stripe of a rainbow, but before I could even consider celebrating, the brute broke off the hopper and the egg fly and the RS2. It was a clean sweep, and I used this disappointing turn of events to amble back to the car. I reeled up my line, and when I inspected the end, I noted the telltale pigtail curl of a malfunctioning knot.

Tuesday on the South Platte River was a slow and disappointing fly fishing adventure, until my persistence paid off with two very respectable brown trout and an escaped rainbow. The unanticipated effectiveness of the egg fly was very gratifying, and I have already added tying egg flies to my winter fly tying agenda. Five trout in 3.5 hours is a below average catch rate, but the weather was perfect for the first day of November, and I found some space that contained nice trout to entertain me. November 1 was a success in my book.

Fish Landed: 5

Big Thompson River – 10/19/2022

Time: 11:00AM – 2:30PM

Location: The canyon below Estes Park

Big Thompson River 10/19/2022 Photo Album

Admittedly I was very excited to watch game two of the NLCS between the Phillies and Padres, and this may have distracted me from fly fishing. The Phillies have been my favorite team since my early childhood. I can remember sneaking my transistor radio into bed with me and listening to the woeful Phillies of the early sixties, when I was supposed to be sleeping. On the other hand my day of fishing on the Big Thompson River is probably better explained by the lack of insect activity and the bright blue sky that yielded pleasant autumn weather for the fisherman, but not much insect activity for the fish.

I chose the Big Thompson, because it represents a relatively short drive from Denver, and the flows were adjusted downward to 45 CFS three days ago. I favor Big Thompson flows in the 50 – 100 CFS range, and 45 CFS was close to the bottom. I used to believe the Big T harbored a fairly high ratio of rainbow trout, but fishing experiences since the big flood of 2013 have caused me to reconsider that opinion. At any rate I was looking for a higher proportion of rainbow trout over brown trout to offset the spawning effect, and I felt the Big Thompson had more bows than other Front Range options.

Perfect Riffle Water

I made the drive to the canyon below Estes Park without incident, and the air temperature was 51 degrees, as I rigged my Loomis two piece five weight and prepared to fish. My starting point featured a long and wide, slow-moving section, so I knotted an olive-brown size 16 deer hair caddis to my line and began making long upstream casts. I covered the entire thirty yard stretch with one refusal to show for my efforts, and then I adjusted my approach to an olive body hippie stomper and retained the caddis on a one foot dropper. Once again the trout gave my choices a resounding rejection.

The water type shifted to faster runs and pockets around exposed boulders, so I once again made a change, and this time I opted for a tan size 8 pool toy hopper with a beadhead hares ear trailer and a zebra midge. A solid fifteen minutes of prospecting with the dry/dropper failed to ignite the interest of the fish, and I exchanged the zebra midge for a size 22 olive bead. This fly is as basic as it gets with a silver bead and an olive thread body. The trout rejected this combination, and as noon rapidly approached, I once again swapped the olive bead fly for a sparkle wing RS2. Finally in a deep pocket a barely six inch brown trout nipped the RS2, and I was on the scoreboard with one trout. The first hour of fishing was very inauspicious.

Since I was near the car at noon, I climbed the boulder strewn bank and ambled back to the Santa Fe. I threw my gear in the back of the car and drove downstream for a couple miles before I parked in a pullout facing west. The portion of the canyon that I planned to fish after lunch ran tight to steep canyon walls, and I was fearful that I would be forced to fish in the chilly shadows. I debated traveling farther down the river to a point that was more open, but I decided to remain, because I remembered some nice pools in the area, in case blue winged olives made an appearance.

Beauty over Size

I retained the three fly system that included the pool toy hopper, hares ear and RS2 for the next 1.5 hour, and I was rewarded with frustration and one very pretty ten inch rainbow trout that nabbed the RS2 in a small eddy downstream from a large bankside boulder. Along the way I swapped the hares ear for an ultra zug bug, in case the rainbow trout desired more flash, but this idea failed to turn around my fortunes. By 1:45PM I arrived at a long wide riffle that spanned the entire river, and I was certain that this was prime dry fly water. I removed the dry/dropper and revived the olive hippie stomper with a size 16 gray deer hair caddis. A couple refusals reinforced the idea that the trout were tuned into the surface, and eventually I found a taker in the form of a ten inch brown trout.

Eager Brown Trout

I continued upstream for another fifty yards, and the hippie stomper and caddis attracted a bit of additional attention in the form of refusals and a temporary hook up, but the action was very sporadic, and I never saw signs of a BWO hatch or insect activity of any form. Toward the end of this period I exchanged the caddis for a size 22 CDC BWO in case the trout were looking for upright wings, but that move proved as futile as my others. By 2:20PM my mind was preoccupied with the baseball playoffs and bored with fishing, so I climbed the bank and meandered back to the car.

A three fish day in 3.5 hours was rather pathetic, however, the weather was outstanding and the scenery and drive were spectacular. I listened to the Phils take a lead on the return drive, but once I got home, they unraveled and stumbled to an 8-5 trouncing. Oh well, they won game one and return to Philadelphia with a split of their away games. I still like their chances.

Fish Landed: 3