Spin Doctor 03/27/202 Photo Album

I subscribe to at least six fly fishing magazines, and before I dispose of an issue, I flip through it and scan any fly patterns that stir my interest. With my fly boxes replenished with all my favorite patterns, I decided to review my scanned patterns for new additions to my ample supply of flies. Of course tying new flies is only a first step. I tend to revert to favorites, and it takes extra commitment to provide a fair test for a new pattern.

If you follow this blog, you know that I am a big fan of Andrew Grillos, the king of foam. One of the fly patterns that I scanned with the intention of trying is called the spin doctor. This fly is essentially a conventional spinner; however, Andrew incorporated two sections of 1MM foam to provide improved buoyancy and visibility. Because I normally fish during the late morning and afternoon, I rarely encounter strong spinner falls. Mating mayflies and spinner fall events tend to occur in the early morning and evening hours in the west, since these times generally coincide with the calmest hours of the day.

A Different View

One notable interaction with pale morning dun spinners took place on the Conejos River during a July 2016 trip. For the full story check out my post of 07/20/2016, and scroll toward the end. On this day I was camping near the river, so after dinner and clean up I wandered to a nice nearby hole and began to fish. As luck would have it, a pale morning dun spinner fall commenced, but when I frantically searched my fly boxes, I was disappointed to learn, that I did not have spinner imitations of the appropriate body color. I subsequently remedied this oversight and stocked a variety of spinner flies, but at the time I shifted into improvise mode. I plucked one of my size 16 cinnamon comparaduns from my box, and I mashed down the deer hair wings, so they parted in the middle and spread out at ninety degree angles from the hook shank. If you read my post, you learned that the ploy paid dividends, and I enjoyed some fine action over the remainder of the evening.

Zoomed on the Bunch

Despite this improvisational success story, I realized that I had not tied spinner flies in quite a while, so I decided to create some spin doctor patterns in pale morning dun body colors. I crafted two with light amber, two with a light olive body, and two with the aforementioned cinnamon. I am anxious to give the spin doctors a test during the upcoming season.

Damsel Adult 03/21/2020 Photo Album

With the corona virus necessitating self quarantines in Colorado, and a snowstorm placing a freeze on outdoor activities, I decided to return to my vice. During the winter I cycled through all my mainstay flies, and I was now positioned to undertake some experimental patterns. But before I forged into the new and untested, I remembered a day on a Frost Creek pond, when I was frustrated with my inability to hook trout in spite of the presence of abundant quantities of large rising fish. Rising is really an understatement, as most of the trout were aggressively slashing at surface food. My post of 07/12/2019 describes the discouraging day on a Frost Creek pond.

The obvious food that the Frost Creek trout craved was adult damsel flies. Hundreds of delicate blue aquatic insects fluttered about and perched on the reeds along the shoreline. At the time I vowed to remedy this lack of matching imitations, and with the completion of my standard tying for the upcoming season, I prepared to tie damsel adults. I started with an on line search of damsel adult patterns, and I began with one of my favorite tiers, Charlie Craven. I was pleased to discover that Charlie had a parachute damsel adult on his web site, and I promptly decided to make this pattern my first prototype.

Angled

Unfortunately the recipe called for a braided damsel body material, blue 2mm foam, and blue dubbing. I possess drawers full of tying materials, but the color blue is totally absent. I made the drive to Charlie’s shop in Arvada, and Charlie himself help me find and purchase the necessary materials. He was out of blue damsel body braid, so I bought white and a blue marker and colored my own. This actually worked out quite nicely, when I finally sat down to make my first batch of adult damsels.

A Batch of Five

The Craven parachute adult damsel is actually quite easy to tie, and I quickly produced five for my fly box for the 2020 season. In Charlie’s introduction to the tying steps, he mentioned the teneral stage of the adults. This refers to the stage of the adult when it first emerges from the nymph while clinging to vegetation along the shoreline. The adults are pale yellow to olive at this time and very vulnerable to getting swept into the water by gusts of wind, and this circumstance is not overlooked by the nearby ravenous trout. In preparation for encountering this event, I tied two additional adults with a light olive braid, foam and dubbing.

Olive Color

Hopefully the corona virus will pass before the summer fishing season, and I will be prepared to cast my damsel adults on Colorado lakes and ponds.

Yellow Sally 02/26/2020 Photo Album

For many years I viewed the yellow sally as a summer hatch that did not occur with enough density to attract trout to the surface in great quantities on major rivers. Sure it was a good searching pattern on small high country creeks, but for hatch matching I carried some just in case but did not use them frequently. That line of thought shifted dramatically after several blizzard hatches on the Eagle River in recent years during the post run off season. If the reader is interested in a vivid description of one of these outings, check out my 07/03/2017 post on the Eagle River. I described a blizzard hatch of yellow sallies, although you will note that I fished an iron sally and hares ear nymph through the hatch and did quite well. Nevertheless, I do not anticipate encountering another similar hatch without access to some yellow sally dry flies. Fish on larger rivers such as the Eagle, Arkansas and Colorado do tune into the plentiful supply of small yellow stoneflies.

Is It Real?

With the improved ranking of the yellow sally dry fly in my fly choice hierarchy, I took a quick inventory and concluded that I could use four additional size 14’s. My size 16’s were adequate, so I positioned myself at the tying station and cranked out some additional imitations. I have experimented with other patterns, but I concluded that the basic deer hair version works as well as any. Only three basic materials are required; yellow dubbing, yellow deer hair and ginger hackle. I feel prepared for the next yellow sally hatch that greets me on western waters.

Size 14 Yellow Sallies

Klinkhammer Blue Winged Olive 02/23/2020 Photo Album

I counted my CDC blue winged olive supply and determined that adequate quantities were present in my bins for the upcoming season. Over the last several years I settled on three different styles of blue winged olive flies to match the ever changing emergence of these diminutive mayflies. In most cases the CDC olive is my first option, but quite frequently, especially on windy days, the trout ignore the CDC version, and this circumstance forces me to experiment with alternatives. A craven soft hackle emerger without a bead occasionally produces on difficult and windy days, but I apply floatant and fish it in the film, and this presentation is very difficult to track. A larger leading fly assists with visibility, but the wet fly fished as a dry is my third and final choice.

Not Bad

Several years ago I experimented with a Klinkhammer BWO pattern. You can view a materials table along with some narrative about this fly in my 01/09/2018 post. A link to an instance when the Klinkhammer justified my confidence is contained in my 02/22/2019 post.

Four New BWO Energers

My supply of Klinkhammer blue winged olives lagged my other versions, and this condition is probably related to its late addition as a mainstay fly in my arsenal. I remedied this situation to some extent, when I visited my fly tying station and churned out four new size 22 models. Hopefully the Klinkhammer will continue to be a productive addition to my fly box in 2020.

Deer Hair Caddis 02/16/2020 Photo Album

My post of 11/28/2011 provides a materials table and an account of my early adoption of the deer hair caddis as an effective producer. Another post on 12/01/2011 documents the effectiveness of the deer hair caddis possessing a dark olive-brown body. An update of the deer hair caddis is available with my 02/24/2019 post.

A Row of Caddis Between Green Drakes and Stimulators

My caddis tying efforts generally follow pale morning duns, so I gathered my supply boxes and counted my carryover inventory. I was once again pleased to realize that adequate quantities of size 16 and 18 caddis occupied my storage containers in the common body colors of olive-brown, light gray, yellow, and tan. I accepted my good fortune and moved on to the next dry fly category to evaluate.

PMD Comparaduns 02/15/2020 Photo Album

Upon completion of green drake patterns, my winter fly tying routine normally transitions to pale morning dun imitations. After many years of success I settled on two patterns that generally fulfill my needs during a pale morning dun hatch. Comparaduns represent an accurate low riding likeness, and cinnamon and light gray bodies seem to cover nearly all pale morning dun scenarios. Another variable in the pale morning dun hatch matching game is size, and I typically stock size 18 and size 16 comparaduns, and these two sizes and colors seem to satisfy all my needs.

Cinnamon Size 16 Comparaduns

I collected my fly storage containers and counted my supply of cinnamon and light gray comparaduns in the two prevalent sizes, and I was pleased to determine that I possessed adequate quantities for the upcoming season. This raised the question of why I did not deplete my supply during 2019. The late and heavy run off during 2019 overlapped with the normal hatching time period of pale morning duns on freestone rivers and streams. I sat out the high murky conditions, and consequently missed the bulk of the pale morning dun hatch activity. Another dependable provider of pale morning dun entertainment is the Frying Pan River, but for some reason I never made the trek to the popular tailwater in the Roaring Fork Valley in 2019.

Parachute Green Drake 02/09/2020 Photo Album

I was recently asked to name my favorite hatch, and I quickly replied with western green drakes. Every summer I make a point of seeking these large olive flies on western waters. Western green drake hatches are not dense, but the relatively large size of the mayflies make them a favorite target of western trout. Quite often I experience excellent success by prospecting with a green drake before and after the actual hatch. Trout have long memories, when it comes to green drakes.

Number One Out of the Vice

After many years of searching for green drake hatches, I settled on four primary patterns that yield success during my infrequent but much appreciated encounters. The four producers are the parachute green drake, green drake comparadun, Harrop hair wing green drake, and user friendly green drake. Each seems to have its moment of excellence, but the parachute style seems to generate the most consistent results. I began tying the user friendly green drakes last winter, but the acceptance level was not as high as I anticipated.

Up Close

My post of 01/10/2016 provides some nice background information on the parachute green drake, and my 02/13/2015 post outlines the various styles and their unique qualities. For a materials table and detailed description of the materials utilized check out my post of  09/11/2012. Yes, I have been tying these green drake flies for quite awhile.

A Batch of Six

I counted my supply of all versions, and I determined that the parachute green drake in size 14 was the most depleted. I gathered the requisite materials and created six new imitations for the new season; thus, increasing my inventory to fifteen. Since the parachute style spends the most time on my line, it makes sense that their quantity was reduced the most. Several years ago I switched from using white calftail for the wing to white turkey flats. The turkey flats are lighter and allow for a more slender tapered body.

I anxiously look forward to encountering many green drake hatches during 2020.

Stimulators 01/29/2020 Photo Album

Stimulators have become a fixture in my fly inventory since 2014, when I tied a bunch with different body colors prior to a trip to Patagonia. You can read more about my early history with stimulators in my 01/26/2015 post. I love stimulators due to their versatility, as they are solid imitations of stoneflies, large caddisflies, and small grasshoppers. I even experienced success using olive and gray stimulators to duplicate large mayflies such as green and gray drakes.

Close to Perfection

The heavily hackled dry flies with large amounts of deer hair are quite visible and float well in fast, turbulent currents. I often choose one of these fuzzy floaters when prospecting high gradient mountain streams. Another popular ploy involves a small beadhead nymph dangling below a stimulator, and this combination also yields impressive results. A more extensive discussion of stimulator uses is contained in my previous stimulator post of 01/30/2019. Check it out if you are a fan of this popular fly.

Six Olive Stimulators

A count of my fly storage containers revealed that I possessed adequate quantities of size 12 and 14 stimulators in the various body colors. Only size 12 olives seemed to be in relatively short supply, so I manned my vice and manufactured six size 12 stimulators with olive bodies and grizzly hackle. I followed Charlie Craven’s excellent YouTube video, and his exacting instructions enabled me to improve the quality of the large attractor patterns. Charlie’s steps helped me avoid the three major pitfalls endemic to stimulators; gaps in the body of the fly, tails and wings not properly centered, and crowding of the eye of the hook.