Chubby Chernobyl 02/02/2026 Photo Album

Another story that documents my association with chubby Chernobyls can be found on my post of 03/02/2016. My trip to Argentina apparently exposed me to some popular foam flies. The chubby Chernobyl’s popularity has advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years.

Orange Chubby

Gray Chubby

The real appeal to me is its visibility. The double white poly wing is easy to track in nearly all situations including shadows, glare, fast water, and alternating light and dark. When a trout grabs the dangling nymph beneath the chubby in a dry/dropper scenario, I love the seductive disappearance of the large layered white wing.

Purple Chubby

During 2025 I deployed chubby Chernobyls more frequently than any prior season. I suspect it has stolen line time away from the fat Albert and the pool toy hopper. It serves as an imitation of a large stonefly as well as a grasshopper. My favorite color possesses a tan ice dub abdomen, but I also carry some in gray and orange and purple. I must admit that I rarely test the other colors.

Tan Ice Dub Chubby

For my recent tying efforts I refurbished three tan ice dub versions, and then I tied one orange, one gray, and one purple. I suspect that I will tie more chubby Chernobyls to my line in the upcoming season than ever before.

Aligned on Materials

Fat Albert 01/31/2026 Photo Album

Argentina was the place where I was introduced to the fat Albert, and I am thankful for that experience. Read about it in my 03/27/2016 post. The fat Albert is another hopper pattern, and it fishes quite well for me throughout the season. Similar to the pool toy hopper, it serves as an indicator for several weighted nymphs, and on many occasions that is its sole role. However, it is not uncommon for trout to choose the large foam terrestrial over the dangling nymphs.

Fresh Fat Albert

Typically this is my first choice for a surface fly, if I decide to fish a dry/dropper with two trailing nymphs especially if one of the nymphs contains a tungsten bead or is heavily weighted. The fat Albert is probably my most buoyant foam fly.

I Like This View

In a deviation from the tying instructions that one encounters online, I do not make the body by wrapping thread endlessly around a foam underbody. Instead I tie in a long strand of yellow floss, and then I wrap it back to the butt and return to the front of the hook. The wide floss provides coverage with far fewer wraps.

Needed Materials in the Background

I lost a few fat Alberts during my 2025 fly fishing adventures, so I tied an additional five. Two were refurbishments with only the replacement of legs required. I am ready for the 2026 fly fishing season with hopper patterns.

Pool Toy Hopper 01/30/2026 Photo Album

My post of 01/31/2013 documents my introduction to the pool toy hopper and some of my early fly tying challenges with this fly. There are more hopper patterns out there than one can even imagine, and fly designers somehow continue to envision variations. I have been tying and utilizing the pool toy hopper since 2013, and it has proven to be a very productive pattern.

New Pool Toy Hopper

The Grillos pool toy hopper is very buoyant and visible, as it supports a pair of beadhead nymphs. The three foam layers make it practically unsinkable. I tie them with a fairly narrow profile, and I believe this makes them more hopper-like and less indicator-like. Anglers ask me what the difference is between the pool toy hopper and the fat Albert, and I must admit the differences are subtle. Perhaps it is just my tying style, but my pool toys are higher and narrower than the fat Albert, and consequently I believe them to be more imitative of a natural grasshopper.

Grasshopper

I use this fly quite a bit and consequently I suffered some losses. I concluded that I needed to tie six replacements. Three were refurbishments, where I was able to replace missing legs, and the other three were fresh flies built from a bare hook. I am anxious for the 2026 hopper season.

Five Pool Toys

Chernobyl Ant 01/25/2026 Photo Album

My relationship with the Chernobyl ant began many years ago on the Green River, and I believe the Green River is actually the birthplace of this famous fly. The person who named it had a knack for fly nomenclature. The story of my introduction to this fly is available on my 2/1/11 post.

The Chernobyl ant spawned the chubby Chernobyl which in turn produced the mini chubby. I tie all of them, and they are all excellent fish catchers. The chubby and mini chubby both possess a large poly wing or wings, and these are a tremendous aid when tracking flies in glare or shadows. However, I continue to carry and deploy the old classic Chernobyl ant with a single layer of foam and pearl chenille body. Why? The wings on the chubby Chernobyl absorb water over time and require maintenance in the form of false casting to dry the wing, or they beg for the application of floatant.

Very Buoyant

The classic Chernobyl, on the other hand, is nearly all foam. It floats like a cork and requires no false casting. This is a huge advantage in small mountain streams, where a backcast is difficult if not impossible. In these situations a solo Chernobyl ant rules.

Angled Right Side

I counted up my size eight and size ten Chernobyls and concluded I was adequately supplied. I can almost guarantee that I will encounter a situation in 2026, where the classic Chernobyl saves the day.

Jake’s Gulp Beetle 01/25/2026 Photo Album

The entire tale of my introduction to Jake’s gulp beetle can be perused at my post of 10/22/2015. This post also contains my tying steps. This fly has become my “go to”, whenever I feel the need to prospect with a terrestrial. If trout refuse my Chernobyl ant and hippie stomper, I generally downsize to the foam beetle. I’m always amazed at the subtle takes this fly generates.

From the Other Side

I counted my foam beetles and determined that I needed three additional size sixteens. I produced these three and then refurbished a size 14 that was unraveling. I never approach a trout stream without having some beetles on hand.

Three New Size 16 and One Refurbished

San Juan Worm 01/18/2026 Photo Album

A must read is my 02/15/20216 post on San Juan worms. I am not very proud of this fact, but I have a long history with worms. I actually enjoyed reading my post again in preparation to write this blog.

Some anglers scoff at using worms for fly fishing, but they represent a protein rich food that is naturally available to trout. Do I like dredging worms along a stream bottom? It is not my favorite method of fishing, but if it results in fine, fat trout, I will not bypass the method. I am not a purist.

A Palette of Colors

Several times during the spring season I encounter turbid and high conditions, and these days find me tumbling a San Juan worm along a river bottom. A San Juan worm and a pheasant tail nymph were a lethal combination on the South Platte River in the 1990’s, but I rarely visit the Deckers area due to the heavy fishermen pressure. There are times, however, when I deploy the worm in other sections of the South Platte as well as other western rivers.

I counted all my San Juan worms of various colors, and I was pleased to learn that I did not need to supplement my supply for the upcoming year. As you will note in the embedded photo, I tie flesh, brown, red, pink and chocolate. A San Juan worm is one of the easier flies to tie, so skipping them was not a huge time saver. Nevertheless, it gives me confidence to know that I possess an adequate supply.