Purple Haze 02/18/2025 Photo Album

You may begin familiarizing yourself with the purple haze by accessing my 02/15/2021 post. Here I describe my introduction to the purple-bodied attractor, and a materials table is presented. I use purple dubbing for the body, but I believe the original fly uses a purple floss thread.

This fly is a relative newcomer to my winter fly tying progression. I attempted to incorporate its usage into my seasonal fishing routine, but I must admit that it tends to lag my usage of the hippie stomper, stimulators and deer hair caddis. Nevertheless, I have allocated some time to the purple haze over the past several summers, and it has produced a few nice fish.

Flies from Storage

I opened my fly storage containers and counted my purple haze population, and I concluded that I was adequately stocked with eighteen size fourteens present. I decided to skip tying the purple haze this year, but I am prepared to tie more should they suddenly be in high demand and require replenishment.

Yellow Sally 02/18/2025 Photo Album

My earliest post on the yellow sally was on 02/02/2016, and the latest was 02/26/2020. I read both of these, and they are informative, if you have an interest in yellow sallies. Both describe the circumstances that provoke the usage of a yellow sally dry fly.

It has been a few years since I encountered a dense yellow sally hatch like that which amazed me on the Eagle River. Nevertheless, I spy these small stoneflies fluttering over the water quite often during July, August and early September. They are quite prevalent, so it is a good idea to carry some in your fly box. If you read my earlier posts, you will learn that I experimented with several different styles of yellow sally, but I returned to the basic deer hair version. It is tied in the same way as a deer hair caddis, albeit with yellow deer hair for the wing, a yellow dubbed body and ginger hackle.

From My Storage Box

Although I have not tied additional yellow sallies in several years, when I counted my supply, I concluded that I retained sufficient numbers to get me through the 2025 season. Thinking about yellow sallies makes me anxious for summer, and that is not a good thing, since it is only the middle of February.

Klinkhammer BWO 02/16/2025 Photo Album

I recommend reading my post of 01/09/2018 for a more detailed explanation on the circumstances that cause me to knot a Klinkhammer BWO to my line. This article also includes a materials table.

Originally I envisioned the Klinkhammer emerger pattern as a solution to the riddle of disappointing results, when using my CDC blue wing olive during a baetis hatch. I thought that the fish were grabbing emergers, before they were blown away by the strong gusts of wind, and the Klinkhammer style with the dangling abdomen and shuck seemed like a solid bet to solve the riddle. Tilt. They did not perform any better than the CDC blue wing olive, although I have experienced sporadic luck with them. The white wing post is a positive, as it allows me to track the fly better than the gray CDC.

Visible White Wing Post Is Welcome for Tracking

I still carry a supply of the Klinkhammers, and I decided to count the quantity in my bins. The inventory yielded the conclusion that I possessed an adequate supply, so I did not tie additional quantities for 2025.

Comparaduns 02/16/2025 Photo Album

For the background story on my relationship with the comparadun, read my post of 02/21/2014. I just read it, and it brought back many of the details embedded in the adoption story of this fly. I highly recommend reading it, if you are not familiar with or a proponent of this style of fly.

Nice Fan Wing Size 16 Light Gray Comparadun

During a pale morning dun hatch, these comparaduns are indispensable. I carry them in size sixteen and eighteen and with cinnamon and light gray body colors. My poly light gray dubbing has hints of light yellow in it, and I think this is a key to its effectiveness. I bought the stuff in Pennsylvania at the inception of my fly tying career, but I retain a huge supply, and this alleviates any concerns about running out.

Size 18 Light Gray on a Refurbished Hook

I have experienced many fantastic days of fishing to pale morning hatches, and rarely do these comparaduns let me down. I have hit the PMD hatch on the Colorado River in July, the Yampa River in June, the South Platte River in late June and July, the Arkansas River in July, South Boulder Creek in August through September, and the Frying Pan River during August through October. The cinnamon comparadun shines on the Frying Pan River.

Size 18 Cinnamon Comparadun

I usually test the cinnamon version first, and on rare occasions the trout ignore it, so I switch to the light gray body color. Rarely do I find that neither of these flies work. As an aside, the salvation nymph and pheasant tail nymph are also stalwart performers before, during and after PMD hatches, but I usually use the hatch as an opportunity to fish the comparadun dry fly.

Nine New Comparaduns with Associated Materials

As is my practice, I counted my comparaduns, and I concluded that I needed to add three size 18 cinnamon, two size 18 light gray, and four size 16 light gray. Actually, I probably could have skipped tying any, but I wanted to round out my inventory to multiples of five. Why? Don’t ask. It’s just who I am.

CDC Blue Wing Olive 02/14/2025 Photo Album

For a look at my history with this fly inspect my post of 02/18/2022. I was unable to search for more recent posts, so this leads me to believe that I have not tied these flies in a few years. That is hard to accept, because I use and lose these tiny morsels quite frequently; however, I used my chronological listing of posts to scroll back through fly reports for 2023 and 2024, and I found no more current titles referencing CDC blue wing olives. It is also possible that I forgot to complete a write up.

Size 20

At any rate, I tie these flies in three sizes; 20, 22, and 24. I also tie other small blue wing olive imitations such as the Klinkhammer version and soft hackle emergers. Generally the CDC BWO tied comparadun style gets the job done, but frustrating episodes, where the fish ignore my trusty mainstay led to experimentation with variants. Recently small soft hackle emergers fished in the film with floatant have brought a degree of success particularly during windy conditions. I suspect the soft hackle and the swept back fluoro fiber wing represent a cripple or a fly struggling to get airborne in cold temperatures with strong wind.

Minute Size 24

I also suspect that the trout key on movement, and the dead drifting motionless CDC blue wing olive does not cut it, when motion is the image that trout are scanning the surface for. For this reason I tied a few hackled CDC BWO imitations to experiment with in the upcoming season. I made these in size 22, and they are the same as a CDC BWO, except that they feature a small hackle collar wound behind and in front of the wing.

Hackled Variety

My annual count of CDC BWO’s suggested that I tie four size 20’s, two size 24’s and five size 22’s with hackle. I am anxious to continue the experiment with CDC BWO variations in 2025.

Eleven New CDC BWO Flies

Stimulators 02/11/2025 Photo Album

Stimulators! I cannot think of a more appropriate name for this fly. They are easy to track, because they float high and dry on all those hackles, and the fish take notice. Fish are stimulated by the fuzzy image of a stimulator.

New Materials Purchased to Make Stimulators

Check out my posts of 02/13/2024 and 02/14/2024 for additional information on this popular fly. Each has links to previous posts for deep drilling this fly further. When I journeyed to Argentina for a fishing trip at Rio Manso Lodge, I bought a fly box in preparation, and it contained quite a few stimulators. When I returned to Colorado, I decided to experiment with them, and I was quite pleased with that decision. Since then, stimulators have become a necessary fly in my fly box.

Pale Olive Body Size 14

I primarily rely on three colors; yellow, gray and light olive. Yellow sees a lot of line time during golden stonefly and yellow sally seasons, and the gray and olive are effective searching patterns all year long. If trout are refusing my hippie stomper as the surface fly, I sometimes switch to a stimulator and trail a smaller dry in a double dry fly configuration. This combination is especially effective on high gradient mountains streams during the summer months.

Size 14 Yellow Stimulator

I counted all my stimulators and determined that I was adequately supplied except for olive, so I produced six additional size 14 and 16 pale olive body stimulators. In addition, I discovered four damaged yellow stimulators in my refurbishment canister, so I repaired them to yield two more size fourteens and two size sixteens. I am very anxious to roll out my stimulators in 2025.

A Batch of Ten

Deer Hair Caddis 02/02/2025 Photo Album

One can delve deeper into this fly by starting with my 02/11/2024 post and then following the links back in time. This fly has been a mainstay in my arsenal, since I began fly fishing in Pennsylvania in the 1980’s. This is not surprising given the prevalence of caddis flies throughout the world.

Olive-Brown Ligas Size 14

The fly is rather simple to tie with only a dubbed abdomen, deer hair wing, grizzly hackle, and dubbed thorax. The most difficult aspect of this tie is preventing the wing from rolling around the hook shank. My steps to prevent this are a solid pinch, twisting the thread clockwise to create a narrow cord with bite, and then winding forward a bit through the deer hair stubs in the same manner utilized for stimulators.

Light Gray Size 14

When I am fishing a dry/dropper and experiencing refusals or a single large dry fly that results in similar snubs, I often switch to a large lead dry with a size 14 or 16 deer hair caddis as the trailer. The large front fly enables me to follow the earth toned caddis, and quite often the fish suck in the trailer. The hippie stomper/deer hair combination can be quite effective.

Fresh Supply of Deer Hair Caddis with Materials

I have narrowed my supply of deer hair caddis down to two body colors; Ligas olive-brown and light olive, and these seem to serve my needs. I also carry some with a light tan body, but I rarely resort to them. I determined that I needed four additional olive-brown in size 14 and five more in light gray, and I quickly produced them for my fly boxes. I also tied four light gray in size 16 because I had them in an unraveling state in my damaged fly canister. Bring on the 2025 caddis hatches.

Harrop Hairwing Green Drake 01/31/2025 Photo Album

It appears that I have not tied Harrop green drakes in quite awhile, as my last post was on 04/13/2018, and that is very late in my annual fly tying cycle. My post of 12/29/2015 provides the story of my introduction to this productive fly. My lack of more recent posts suggests that I have not used the hair wing extensively in recent years, or perhaps I posted under a different name that avoids my search string.

Size 14

The hair wing version of the green drake is very similar to the comparadun from a color perspective; however, it possesses the unique characteristics of hackle and a swept back deer hair wing. The hardest aspect of tying the fly is positioning the angled deer hair as the last step and preventing it from rolling around the hook or sliding into the hook eye.

Size 12 Hovering

This fly is usually my third option during green drake emergences; however, on occasion I knot it to my line as a prospecting pattern, as it resembles a stimulator. I had quite a bit of success prospecting this fly during July on the upper Arkansas River during gray drake activity.

Batch of Six with Materials

My count revealed that I was running low on both size twelves and fourteens, so I cranked out four fourteens and two twelves. Hopefully these flies will see some action during 2025.

Parachute Green Drake 01/27/2025 Photo Album

Read my post from 02/05/2024 for a description of my love affair with western green drakes. Who does not like fishing to a large mayfly that emerges consistently on western rivers during the summer and mostly in the middle of the day? The trick is finding them. I have had pretty decent success targeting them on tailwaters, but the task of meeting them on freestones is a much more variable proposition.

My premier classroom for observing and learning about the habits of western green drakes is on South Boulder Creek. Emergences are fairly reliable from the beginning of August through the middle of September. Over the years I have developed a menu of four green drake dry flies for instances, where I encounter them. The parachute green drake is consistently the top producer, although I have learned that it shines during the pre-hatch time period and during the early stages of the emergence. Why? Are fish mistaking it for a spinner or is the low position of the body in the surface film representative of emerging mayflies?

Size 14 Parachute Green Drake

When I notice the flies fluttering during their clumsy efforts to get airborne, the effectiveness of the parachute green drake tends to wane. A switch to a comparadun or Harrop hair wing generally produces more favorable results, and this explains why I tie and carry so many types of green drakes dry flies.

Size 12 Angled Left

I went through a phase, where I tied green drakes with microfibbet tails and turkey flat wings, but I have now settled on moose mane tails and a white poly wing. The things that remain constant are the Ligas pale olive body with a maroon thread rib and the olive grizzly saddle for the parachute hackle. I have also discovered that the fly fishes better with a slightly over sized wing that equals a bit more than the shank length. I suspect the moose main tail is more visible than microfibbets, and a small clump is more effective in supporting the large fly.

Materials Needed to Tie Parachute Green Drakes and a Batch of New Green Drakes

I counted my supply of size 12 and 14 parachute green drakes with poly wings and moose mane tails, and I determined that I needed to tie six additional size 14’s and three more size 12’s. I also own a decent supply of parachutes with turkey flat wings, but they are relegated to the bottom of the pile. Unfortunately I need to wait until July to test the effectiveness of these flies.

Hippie Stomper 11/02/2024 Photo Album

The hippie stomper has secured a spot as one of my top producing flies if not number one. The beauty of this fly is its versatility. I tie only size 14’s on a 2XL hook, and this creates a relatively small foam body fly. Perhaps I should experiment with more sizes and colors, but my success rate with my narrow offering makes me question how much improvement I could gain.

My versatility comment stems from the fly’s buoyancy and size. The foam structure allows the fly to float quite well, and this translates to supporting two size 14 beadhead nymphs. Unlike larger hopper patterns, however, the hippie stomper is lighter and thus yields a softer landing in low and clear conditions. When fish refuse my size eight hoppers and chubby Chernobyls, I resort to the hippie stomper, and quite often the downsizing pays dividends.

The Beginning of My Tying List and Inventory Count

If I wish to go with a dry fly presentation, the hippie stomper is very productive solo or as the lead fly on a double dry arrangement. During the past season I experienced many fine days using the hippie stomper as the first fly along with a more imitative fly behind it such as a deer hair caddis or comparadun. The hippie stomper is very visible, and this makes tracking the typically drab trailer much easier.

As a solo fly, it is also no slouch. I believe that it imitates terrestrials and green drakes as well as other fish food morsels. It just looks buggy. If I haven’t convinced you of the versatility of this fly, I am not sure what else I have to say. This fly probably spent more time on my line than any other in my box including the dependable hares ear nymph and salvation nymph.

The Hippie Stomper Look

I settled on peacock and dark olive ice dub, as my preferred body colors on the hippie stompers that I tie. The body is only visible under the overlying foam at the back of the abdomen, so I am not convinced that color makes a huge difference. The creator, Andrew Grillos, favors various colors of flashabou, a tinsel like product. I have some reds, a silver, a blue, purples and bright green tied with the flash, but I rarely resort to them.

During September I was losing hippie stompers at an alarming rate, so I inspected my damaged fly canister and discovered, that I had five in need of repair. I fixed them by replacing legs and reinforcing unraveling thread, and I ended the season with plenty in reserve.

Twenty Completed and the Necessary Materials

Because of my inventory scare, I decided to make the hippie stomper my first tie of the 2024 tying season. I counted my supply and discovered that I had 25, so I suppose my concern was over done. I checked my tying checklist from the previous year, and I began the season with forty. Since five of the 25 counted were refurbished, simple math revealed that I lost twenty flies or half my beginning inventory. I collected all the necessary materials and tied an additional twenty to bring my 2025 beginning inventory to 45. Hopefully this will suffice, although I am certain that hippie stomper usage will once again increase in the new year.