Chubby Chernobyl 02/12/2022 Photo Album

Just what the world needs, another large foam dry fly. That is an apt description for the increasingly popular chubby Chernobyl. My post of 02/08/2022 provides ample links to all things chubby, and I recommend that you inspect it, if you are intrigued by this awkward looking fly.

A Spikey Version

The chubby Chernboyl looks like a classic Chernobyl ant when viewed from below; however, the angler’s view is an image of a large clump of white poly yarn. Initially when I used this fly I was turned off by the tendency of the poly to get saturated with water, but after observing some guides, as they applied fly floatant to the wing, I found the solution to my limp wing misgivings.

Trout View

Over the past two seasons I placed a chubby on my line more frequently than a fat Albert, and I have experienced some success with it. My confidence began during several trips to the Yampa River in a previous June, when large fish crushed the gangly imitation bearing an ice dub tan body. Of course this was a development that I could not ignore, so I tied a batch.

Side View

I counted my supply of these monsters, and I realized that I had adequate quantities of the large attractors with yellow, gray, and green bodies; but I did approach my vise to manufacture three additional versions with ice dub tan bodies. Hopefully these flies will attract hungry trout during 2022.

Hippie Stomper 01/30/2022 Photo Album

I cannot find enough superlatives to describe this valued weapon in my fly fishing arsenal, so I will just say, “Wow”. Check out my post from a year ago, for an update and click on this link to my post of 11/18/2018 for a materials table. The story of my introduction to the hippie stomper can be found in my 01/13/2018 post.

My success over the past year surpassed even my highest expectations, and I am a confirmed believer in the hippie stomper. The stomper delivers results year round, and I use it solo and as part of a dry/dropper and double dry rig. It is small enough to minimize the impact on the water, yet buoyant enough to support two size fourteen beadhead nymphs. In a double dry fly configuration  I position it first and trail a smaller dry, and it enables me to track the smaller fly quite well. I recommend using a short dropper of six to twelve inches, should you wish to experiment with the double dry approach.

From the Side

What does a hippie stomper imitate? It is hard to know; however, I believe it is first and foremost a terrestrial. However, it could easily be taken for a stonefly or a green drake. During the western green drake season I often knot a hippie stomper with a peacock body to my line along with a nymph dropper or another dry fly during the hours that precede a hatch. I believe that the peacock hippie stomper is close enough to a green drake adult to draw attention or looks prior to the actual hatch. This technique enables me to hedge my bets, as I test for what the trout are tuned into.

A Clump of Stompers

As I generally forget the tying steps from year to year, I have settled on the fly tying video from Andrew Grillos to refresh my memory. Andrew is the creator of the hippie stomper, and it represents his signature fly and one of the most popular in the Umpqua Feather Merchants’ catalog. Simply Google Andrew Grillos to find the video.

A Different Angle

As you might imagine, heavy usage produced significant shrinkage, so I tied twelve new models with peacock dubbed bodies and five with olive ice dub bodies. The olive body flies are the first to go on my line during green drake season. I cannot recommend a fly more highly than the hippie stomper.

Parachute Green Drake 11/14/2021 Photo Album

This is an update on my relationship with the parachute green drake. For links to a materials table and background information on this fly click on this link to my post of 02/09/2021.

2021 proved to be a better than average year in my annual quest to interact with green drake hatches in the west. 2020 remains perhaps my peak experience with western green drakes; however, 2021 was solid as well. I experimented with the western green drake on small high mountain creeks more often during the past season, and I was quite pleased with the results. In several instances I knotted the large mayfly to my line even without observing any naturals, and the fish responded very favorably.

The Other Side

During several hot green drake outings on South Boulder Creek, I discovered that the local trout demonstrated a pronounced preference for the parachute style with a moose mane tail. During the winter of 2021 I adopted the practice of tying amber microfibbet tails with the assumption that they were stiffer and aided in supporting the large dry fly on the surface. During an outing on South Boulder Creek I plucked a moose mane version from my box and enjoyed fast action. Eventually the trout teeth cut the hackle, and it unraveled, and I replaced it with a microfibbet version.

Two Flies Completed on Monday

I continued to catch fish, but the catch rate slowed measurably, and I switched back to another moose mane version. After this unscientific study of trout preferences, I returned to my tying vise and cranked out additional moose mane parachute green drakes, and in a subsequent visit to South Boulder Creek they proved their worth. Until I am convinced otherwise, I am adopting moose mane tails as my preferred tailing material.

A second modification came out of these real time studies in green drake fly selectivity. I migrated to using white turkey flat wings in recent years after reading A. K. Best’s book. The folded turkey flat wing was lighter than alternatives, and I valued this for flotation purposes. It was also easier to maintain a nice narrow tapered body due to the absence of significant bulk. As I tied my moose mane versions during the summer, I reverted to a gray poly yarn wing, and this adaptation made the fly easier to track, and I also believe it adds bulk to the wing that more closely mimics the large fluttering illusion of a green drake attempting to become airborne. I am not as convinced that this change is as critical as the tail choice, but the improved visibility sold me on adopting the poly wing.

Clump of 15

I manufactured fifteen new parachute green drakes over the recent weeks, and all of them possess moose mane tails and gray poly wings with the bottom two-thirds of the wing shaded with a black permanent marker. I am already anxiously anticipating a hot western green drake season in 2022.

Klinkhammer BWO 03/06/2021 Photo Album

Links to a materials table and additional information regarding the Klinkhammer BWO are available on my 02/23/2020 post. I utilize three different styles of flies to mimic the small blue winged olives that hatch in prodigious numbers in western streams. My first choice is generally a CDC blue winged olive which is tied similar to a comparadun but with CDC substituted for deer hair for the wing. Frequently, however, the trout ignore my CDC BWO, and in these cases I resort to the Klinkhammer BWO. The Klinkhammer imitates a mayfly in an intermediate state of emergence with the curved abdomen dangling beneath the surface. On rare occasions neither of these flies meet the rigid specifications of the resident trout, and my fly of last resort is a Craven soft hackle emerger with no bead. I apply floatant to the body and fish the small wet fly like a dry fly in the surface film. Visibility is a major drawback to this manner of fishing.

Solarez Coating on Body

During the 2020 season I experienced sporadic success with the Klinkhammer BWO. It yielded a selective trout on the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon late in the season to help salvage a slow day. It has produced often enough to earn a spot in my fly box. When I counted my blue winged olive supply in preparation for the upcoming season, I determined that I was adequately supplied, but the number of CDC BWO’s and soft hackle emergers far outnumbered the Klinkhammers. I decided to narrow the gap on this situation, and I tied six additional flies for the upcoming season. Four were new flies tied from scratch, and two were unraveling examples, that I repaired. I expect to encounter blue winged olives in the very near future.

Six New Klinkhammer BWO’s

Deer Hair Caddis 02/22/2021 Photo Album

Review my post of 02/16/2020 for links to more expansive descriptions of my history with a deer hair caddis as well as a materials table. This rather sparse fly is selected from my fly box fairly often during a season of fly fishing. The two colors that I favor the most are olive-brown and gray, although I also carry a few in tan and yellow. Sizes 14, 16, and 18 seem to fulfill most needs. When my larger and bushier flies such as the hippie stomper and stimulators elicit refusals, I often downsize to a deer hair caddis, and the fish seem to appreciate such a move. These earth colored imitations are challenging to track, but the trout seem to have no problem picking them out. During the 2020 season I increasingly deployed the strategy of a double dry fly with a larger more visible fly in the front position trailing a smaller deer hair caddis. It worked quite well, and I suspect it will be added to my bag of tricks in the upcoming season.

Underside

I counted all my deer hair caddis, and I was pleased to determine that I possessed adequate if not excessive quantities. I also went through my damaged and unraveling fly canister and extracted twelve flies in the 16 and 18 size range, and I stripped them back to bare hooks. With this recycled supply of dry fly hooks at my disposal, I manufactured five additional size 16 deer hair caddis with olive-brown bodies. Bring on the April caddis hatch. I am prepared.

Ice Dub Olive Bodies

Comparaduns 02/21/2021 Photo Album

I am unable to compose a better description of the why’s and wherefore’s of the comparadun style of fly than that which I created in my 02/21/2014 post. If you have any interest in this type of mayfly imitation, click on the link in the previous sentence. As the reader may suspect, I am a huge proponent of comparaduns, and the mayfly imitation that benefits the most from this affection is the pale morning dun. I always maintain an ample supply of cinnamon and light gray comparaduns in size 16 and 18, and rarely do they not produce trout during a pale morning dun hatch.

Size 18, Boat Box

The best characteristic of the comparadun is the lack of need for expensive dry fly hackles. This feature also assures that the fly sits low in the water similar to a natural mayfly. The lack of hackle does, however, dictate strict adherence to several important tying steps, so reading the referenced 02/21/2014 blog post should be required reading.

Size 16, LIght Gray

As is the case with all my regular flies, I counted my supply of cinnamon and light gray comparaduns in size 16 and 18, and I determined that my supply was adequate. Oddly I reached the same conclusion during the winter of 2020. I accepted my good fortune and moved on to the next fly on my list for 2021.

Stimulators 02/19/2021 Photo Album

Fairly thorough descriptions of my history with stimulators, and how I utilize this versatile fly are available through links in my post of 01/29/2020. This classic fly possesses several desirable characteristics including buoyancy and visibility and the ability to imitate quite a few food organisms that are preferred on the trout’s menu.

Olive Ice Dub Abdomen

The classic stimulator is tied with a fine wire rib that is used to counter wrap the body hackle. I do not favor the added weight associated with even fine wire, so I deviate from this practice, although the step is included in the videos I viewed by Charlie Craven and Tim Flagler. After I build a solid thread base and add the deer hair tail, I move my thread to the area in front of the tail and tie in a size 14 saddle hackle of the desired color. Next I dub the rear half of the fly, and then I wrap the hackle forward to the end of the body and tie off. Otherwise, my stimulators follow the accepted recipe and steps.

Left Side View

The most difficult aspect of tying a stimulator is avoiding the annoying result of crowding the hook eye. In order to avoid this unsightly circumstance, I end the abdomen at the midpoint of the shank, and this allows adequate space to add the deer hair wing, dubbing and the dense hackle of the stimulator collar. Do not tell me you were not forewarned.

Five Olive Ice Dub Stimulators

My stashes of stimulators of various colors were adequate for the upcoming season except for olive, so I settled into my swivel chair at my fly tying counter, and I produced five size 14 olives. These were not just ordinary olive stimulators; these possessed olive ice dub abdomens. The hint of flash amazingly shows through the densely hackled fly, and I am hopeful this will attract the attention of western trout.

Purple Haze 02/15/2021 Photo Album

During a float trip on the Colorado River on 07/07/2020, my guide knotted a purple haze to my line during the afternoon, and this simple act resulted in the guide’s net sagging under the weight of two bank dwelling brown trout in excess of fifteen inches. Needless to say this convinced me that the purple haze is a viable fish attractor in Colorado, and I made a mental note to tie some during the off season between 2020 and 2021.

Looking Good

I remained true to my commitment and recently manufactured five size 14 3XL purple hazes to experiment with during the upcoming season. I had to visit Charlie’s Fly Box in Arvada to purchase purple dubbing, as I never experienced the need for purple flies in my forty years of fly fishing and fly tying. Since I took the plunge to add purple dubbing to my supplies, I also created a purple haze chubby Chernobyl and a purple haze pool toy hopper. A purple hopper may be a reach, but I am anxious to see what happens.

Zooming In

I feel heightened anticipation for the dry fly season in 2021, so that my parachute purple hazes can ride the currents of western rivers and streams.

User Friendly Green Drake 02/12/2021 Photo Album

My post of 01/31/2019 provides a nice description of my introduction to this fly. It also describes how I envisioned it enhancing my arsenal of green drake imitations, and it contains a materials table. You can find a step by step video performed by the designer himself, Andrew Grillos, on YouTube.

The Better Side

During the 2019 summer season I tested the user friendly green drake on numerous occasions, but the results were less than impressive. In fact, I switched back to my more trusted green drake versions on several occasions, and they resulted in superior performance. As it turns out, the saga of the user friendly green drake was not over. I continued to carry four in my green drake fly box, and during a visit to the Cache la Poudre River on 07/17/2020, I knotted one to my line as a last resort after cycling through my other green drake imitations. Voila! The out of favor green drake accounted for seven trout during my remaining time on the river. Once again on 07/21/2020 I defaulted to the user friendly green drake on the Taylor River, and it yielded decent results including a fifteen inch rainbow trout. Again the user friendly green drake model proved its worth on 08/11/2020 and 08/14/2020 on South Boulder Creek, as it produced trout during several stints on my line.

Five User Friendly Green Drakes

Needless to say these productive periods convinced me to restore the user friendly to a prominent space in my fly box. I counted my stock of five and approached my vise to create five additional flies to bring my total to ten. Hopefully the user friendly green drake will continue to impress me during 2021 and become the preeminent green drake imitation in my possession.