Purple Haze 02/16/2024 Photo Album

The purple haze has slowly gained relevance in my fly box over the last several years. For more information regarding my introduction to this fly, please click on this link to last year’s post.

I find myself increasingly resorting to this fly, particularly during the mid-summer time frame, when I desire a large and visible mayfly imitation. The white wing post makes the fly reasonably easy to track, and the purple body seems to be a surprising fish attractor. The purple haze is a solid favorite with my float trip guide, Reed, and I have simply expanded my usage from there.

I experienced minimal shrinkage during 2023, so I added two more flies to my purple haze supply. I am quite anxious for purple haze season in 2024.

Gray Stimulator 02/14/2024 Photo Album

The gray stimulator is the stimulator equivalent of an Adams. The gray color seems to cover all bases, and the bushy, high floating dry fly is a superb searching pattern under nearly all occasions. My post of 01/29/2020 is a great starting point to understand the applications and versatility of a gray stimulator.

I counted my inventory, and I was relatively satisfied with my supply, so I produced only two additional models to stay in practice.

Yellow Stimulator 02/13/2024 Photo Album

My post of 02/22/2022 is particularly enlightening when it comes to yellow stimulators. I pluck one of these from my fly box quite often in late June and early July when golden stoneflies and yellow sallies are in their prime emergence period, but they also work as great searching patterns throughout the summer.

I produced five additional copies to replenish my fly box for the upcoming season, and I am ready for dry fly action around the corner.

Deer Hair Caddis 02/11/2024 Photo Album

The deer hair caddis is very effective for prospecting lakes and small streams. In recent years I enjoyed quite a bit of success utilizing light gray and olive-brown size 16 deer hair caddis in a tandem dry fly arrangement along with a more visible lead fly such as a stimulator or hippie stomper. This combination seems to work quite well in small mountain streams. My post of 02/22/2021 provides solid supplemental information about the deer hair caddis.

I counted my deer hair caddis flies and determined that I needed nine additional in olive-brown and seven in light gray. I also carry light yellow and tan, but my supply of those body colors was adequate. I approached my Renzetti vise and churned out nine additional in olive-brown and seven of the light gray color. Bring on the spring, summer and fall caddis hatches.

Green Drake Comparadun 02/06/2024

Review my post of 02/07/2023 for the latest modifications of my green drake comparadun tying method. If you read this post, you will learn that there are occasions, when the parachute style loses its effectiveness, and in these instances I default to the comparadun. I suspect the large and dark fanned -shaped wing better represents the dark fluttering wing of a natural western green drake, and this explains its desirability during the heart of the hatch. This is not always the case, but I like having some in my fly box for that eventuality.

I concluded that my supply of comparaduns with moose mane tails needed to be augmented, so I produced seven new ones on a winter day. One is earmarked for my friend, Nate, and the remainder will get added to my fly storage container. I cannot wait for the green drakes in 2024.

Parachute Green Drake 02/05/2024 Photo Album

My post of 02/05/2023 does an excellent job of summarizing my takeaways from tying the parachute green drake over many years. It also contains a link to the previous year post, and you can trace my parachute green drake evolution back through time should you have the desire.

It is no secret that I love fishing to western green drakes, and who wouldn’t? Slap a highly visible size 12 or size 14 on your line and be confident that any fish in the vicinity will search them out and crush your fly. I have experienced days, when I only observed a pair of naturals, yet the resident trout could not resist my offerings. The trick is locating western green drake emergences on western rivers and streams. The timing differs substantially between freestone and tailwater drainages, with tailwaters lagging the freestones significantly.

My supply of parachute green drakes dwindled a bit during 2023, so I manufactured six new imitations for the upcoming season. One of these was donated to Nate, and the other five replaced shrinkage in my fly boxes. I have four months to wait for green drake action.

Mini Chubby Chernobyl 02/04/2024 Photo Album

I encountered an Instagram video of a tier producing a mini chubby Chernobyl, and I was instantly struck with the desire to add a few of these to my collection of flies. Why? Because quite often I am frustrated by repeated refusals to the large surface fly in a dry/dropper, and this translates to the fish ignoring the trailing dropper flies. Could a smaller-sized chubby Chernobyl resolve this problem? Downsizing has often been a successful strategy for overcoming the large fly refusal syndrome.

The mini chubby is very similar to its larger cousin. The main difference is possessing only one large poly wing instead of two. In addition, the tying video I viewed did not take the time to cover the segment thread wraps with dubbed turns. These two modifications make this fly somewhat faster to tie.

For my first effort in mini chubby production I churned out six; five for my fly boxes and one for my friend. I am anxious to test my downsizing theory on trout in 2024.

Chubby Chernobyl 02/03/2024 Photo Album

Every year, when I encounter chubby Chernobyls on my fly tying checklist, I vow to use the large foam attractor fly more frequently. During 2023 I probably deployed the large-winged foam bomb with the same frequency as the previous season.

For an informative read on my experience with the chubby, check out my post of 01/24/2023. This report also provides links to older posts, should you desire more information on chubby Chernobyls. Quite a few tying tutorials are available on YouTube, should you wish to travel down the road of tying your own.

I counted my supply of chubbys and determined that I needed to tie three additional flies. I approached the vise and cranked out three, and this included one for my exercise specialist, Nate. I accompanied Jane on a visit to a local Joann’s store, and I purchased five sheets of 2MM foam of varying colors. One of the colors was lavender, and I was so intrigued with the unique shade, that I produced two lavender chubbys with purple bodies. I gave one of these to Nate. It will be interesting to see, if I use the purple and whether a trout will succumb to the allure of lavender and purple.

Hippie Stomper 01/12/2024 Photo Album

I opened my dry fly tying season with a hippie stomper, and why not? This fly is hands down my top producing dry fly, and I cannot even tell you what it imitates. I suppose that is the beauty of it; it looks like any number of natural food items, and most importantly it is simply buggy. I suggest that you read my last post from 01/11/203, as it has excellent background information and a link to an older post with even more explanation. My 2023 post is especially effective at explaining how and when I deploy the hippie stomper.

I began last year with twenty-five hippie stompers in stock containing my favorite body color, peacock; and I determined that my supply was severely diminished. In fact, toward the end of the 2023 season I began to worry that my valued stock of hippie stompers would be fully depleted. This level of shrinkage is a testament to heavy usage of an extremely effective fly. For this reason I approached my vise and tied twenty-eight new versions. I made three for my friend, Nate, and the remainder replenished my fly boxes. Of the twenty-five for me, twenty contained a peacock dubbed body and five contained an olive ice dub body. I was able to recover quite a few hooks by stripping old hippie stompers that were damaged through a season of heavy usage.

Soft Hackle Emerger 12/19/2023 Photo Album

I strongly suggest checking out my last previous post on the soft hackle emerger on 12/16/2022. This short narrative explains my latest stance on this fly. If you read the report, it notes a day when the soft hackle emerger saved the day when fished as a dry fly in the surface film. 2023 produced several additional days, when the soft hackle emerger was a game changer during blue winged olive hatches.

Because of the fly’s continued effectiveness I tied seven new imitations. I covered sizes 20 through 24, but 22 was the sweet spot. Hopefully I will be testing out the effectiveness of this fly shortly, as spring blue winged olive time is just around the corner.