Light Yellow Caddis Pupa 01/02/2019 Photo Album

When I pluck a sparkle caddis from my fleece wallet, I typically opt for a go2 sparkle pupa with a bright green body or an emerald caddis pupa. The body color of these two flies seems to attract extra attention, and when combined with the trapped air bubble, make the sparkle pupa a very effective fly.

Macro Shot

Although less frequently utilized I also encounter situations that call for a caddis with a light body, and in anticipation of these circumstances I carry light yellow sparkle pupa. This fly is offered in Gary Lafontaine’s book,Caddisflies, and his material recipe documents a light yellow body with a gray collar or thorax. The need for this imitation typically arises during the summer period of August and September, when caddis with tan and light yellow bodies are present on western trout streams.

I sorted through my used fly canisters and extracted eight versions in various states of damage, and I converted them to new models in the size 14 size range. The addition of these flies increased my inventory to sufficient levels for a fly that sees reduced usage compared to my other top producers.

A Completed Batch

Emerald Caddis Pupa 12/30/2018 Photo Album

For a materials list and my history with this fly check out my post of 01/01/2012. The emerald caddis pupa continued to be an effective fly among my collection in 2018. I used it in the early season and summer, when I observed sparse numbers of adult caddis in the streamside vegetation. It seemed to attract fish in situations when there was an absence of other abundant aquatic insects. I attributed its effectiveness to the body color and the antron sheath which mimics a trapped air bubble in an emerging caddis..

Trailing Shuck Version

I often impart action to this fly, and the trout react favorably to this tactic. In fact on many occasions I utilize fairly rapid strips at the end of the drift, and underwater residents respond with aggressive grabs. I may be handicapping this fly by relegating it to some of the more challenging situations, when my other favorites fail to produce.

As with the go2 caddis and bright green caddis pupa I possessed a considerable quantity of old  damaged caddis pupa in need of repair. I refurbished nine and added six to my backup supply while including the other three in a gift to my son.

Go2 Sparkle Pupa 12/29/2018 Photo Album

For some reason I did not fish frequently on grannom waters in April and May during 2018, and consequently I retained an adequate supply of Go2 sparkle pupa in my fly inventory. My post of 01/11/2017 Go2 Sparkle Pupa does an excellent job of documenting the creation of this fly.

A New Go2 Sparkle Pupa

I sorted through my cylinders of damaged and unraveling flies, and I discovered thirteen old flies in need of repair. Most of them had bright green caddis pupa bodies, so in spite of my ample supply I decided to refurbish nine of the misfit flies into Go2 sparkle pupa. In most cases I stripped the flies down to the bare hook and added a 2.4mm brass gold bead.

I love the look of these hybrid versions of the LaFontaine sparkle caddis emerger, and I suspect that the chartreuse diamond braid is a strong fish attractor. Hopefully I will interact with more grannom caddis activity during 2019.

Ultra Zug Bug 12/15/2018 Photo Album

The ultra zug bug has evolved into one of my top fish producers over the last six years, and I have little to add beyond the information provided in previous posts. For a materials list go to my post of 01/31/2012. A nice description of how I stumbled into increased dependence on the ultra zug bug is contained in my post of 12/07/2014. If you wish to tie this simple but effective fly, access my post of 11/04/2015, as this contains a paragraph with detailed step by step instructions.

Close-up of Ultra Zug Bug

During 2018 I offered the ultra zug bug to fish throughout the season, and I rarely regretted the choice. The peacock dubbed wet fly performed admirably and was often combined with a beadhead hares ear nymph or salvation nymph. The zug bug rarely took a back seat to my other top producers, but I would still rate it third if asked to rank by number of fish caught. I can tie an ultra zug bug in half the time required for a salvation nymph or hares ear nymph, and that is an important consideration.

A Batch of Ultra Zug Bugs

I counted my residual supply of UZB’s and determined that I held twenty-three carryovers in my boxes. I tied an additional forty to increase my holdings to sixty for the start of the 2019 season. My one criticism of this fly is the tendency of the thread to unravel at the head just behind the bead. For this reason I tried some Solarez UV flex resin on the first five, but application from the tube was difficult to regulate, so I abandoned this step for the remaining flies produced. Instead I was very meticulous in my application of head cement to the entire band of thread, and hopefully this will improve the durability of this valuable fly.

Iron Sally 12/14/2018 Photo Album

Sparkling, shiny, flashy and twinkling are apt adjectives for this fly. Any fly fisherman who gazes upon this jewel will be transfixed by its glamorous attraction. But even more important than attracting anglers is the ability of the iron sally to also attract fish.

Two New Iron Sallies

A good starting point to learning about my history with this fly is my 02/04/2014 blog post. My post of 12/18/2017 describes how my experiment with the iron sally in 2014 evolved into a full blown mainstay fly in my subsurface arsenal. During 2018 the iron sally once again surpassed my expectations, and I selected it for a position on my line much more frequently than prior seasons. Three of my most productive iron sally days were 06/28/2018 on the Eagle River, 10/11/2018 on the Arkansas River, and 10/24/2018 on the Colorado River. The iron sally graduated to one of my top five producing nymphs. It was very productive during golden stonefly and yellow sally hatches during the summer, but it also generated solid action during fall trips.

In an effort to establish an adequate quantity for the 2019 season, I tied five size 12 nymphs to bring my total to 37. During several fall outings I tested a smaller size 14 version, that a friend purchased and donated to me, and the results of these sessions provoked me to tie five of the smaller stonefly imitation. I sense that the the iron sally’s rise in popularity has only begun.

Iron Sally Earrings for Jane

Salvation Nymph 12/09/2018 Photo Album

The story of my introduction to the salvation nymph is contained in my post of 12/30/2011. Between that time and now it evolved into my second most productive fly after the beadhead hares ear, and for several years the salvation actually surpassed the hares ear in productivity. Check out the link to the 2011 post to see a materials table and my description of the steps required to manufacture this killer fly.

Look at the Back

I often fish the salvation nymph and hares ear nymph in a two fly combination beneath a large foam attractor fly, and this lineup frequently generates hot action. Upon completing my hares ear tying I inventoried my salvation nymph supply, and I discovered that my various storage boxes contained sixty-eight. Ironically this matched precisely my stock of hares ear nymphs, before I replenished. I adhered to my goal of storing one hundred salvations to begin the new season, and consequently I cranked out thirty-two new models.

Looking Great

I added one improvement to my salvation nymph process during my recent production tying project. Jane gave me a Solarez UV resin kit last year for Christmas, and the salvations became my first Solarez application. I applied the liquid resin to the entire back of the salvation nymph, and I was very pleased with the shimmering translucent effect. All thirty-two of the newly produced flies received a thin coat, and I am hopeful that this finishing touch will make the salvation nymph even more productive. It will be fun to continue the salvation experiment in 2019.

Love the Solarez

Hares Ear Nymph 12/09/2018 Photo Album

The beadhead hares ear nymph continued to be my number one producing fly. The fuzzy classic subsurface pattern produced year round, and it was particularly effective in the March through June time frame. During recent years I landed a fish on nearly every cast for consecutive hours on the South Platte River on the hares ear. The mainstay fly of my box produced everywhere, but for some reason the South Platte River residents were particularly attracted to it.

For a material list and a description of some of my tying deviations from the classic pattern check out my post of 11/05/2010. This description summarizes my interaction with the hares ear quite well, and I have very little to add here, eight years later. It is unusual for me to not tamper with a fly in minor ways, but I hesitate to tinker with overwhelming success.

Nice Close Up

I followed my customary practice and counted all my beadhead hares ear nymphs in my various fly containers, and I tallied sixty-eight. Actually I counted sixty-nine, but I lost one on my last outing of the year in November. With this information in my possession I visited my tying station and cranked out thirty-two additional versions to increase my total to one hundred in preparation for the 2019 season.

My tying method remains consistent with the 11/05/2010 post with only the addition of two intermediate applications of glue. I dab a small amount at the base of the tail to prevent unraveling at that end, and I apply a small amount, after I tie in the wing case strip but before adding dubbing for the thorax. These steps seem to extend the life of the flies, and most of my shrinkage is attributable to branches, rocks and aggressive fish. Unraveling is largely confined to the thread wraps behind the bead, and this is actually a good problem, since most of the time it is attributable to repeated attacks by hungry fish.

Batch and Materials

Prince Nymph 11/17/2018 Photo Album

In all likelihood the prince nymph is ranked among the top five nymphs by fly fishermen in the United States and perhaps only surpassed by the hares ear nymph and pheasant tail nymph. In my view the prince nymph lost a bit of its luster over the last three years, as I replaced it with the ultra zug bug, and the simplified version of the prince nymph proved to be very productive. Historically I found the goose biot wings on the classic prince nymph difficult to mount, and they were always the first component to fail during stream usage. The small slippery white biot wings inevitably became loose, and eventually I found myself fishing a peacock nymph with no wings. The white wings are probably the key triggering characteristic of a prince nymph, so fishing without them failed to take advantage of their attraction.

12’s, 14’s, and 16’s

Mounting the brown biot tails was also a bit challenging, but I managed to master that step; although when I tied the ultra zug bug, I eliminated that complication as well. I simply tied in brown fibers from a pheasant feather as the tail, and the pattern design eliminated the white biot wings. The simple zug bug was very productive, and I valued it as one of my mainstay nymphs.

But this piece is about the prince nymph, and I discovered two scenarios during the 2018 season, when the classic prince seemed to represent a favored food of Colorado trout. During the grannom caddis activity in April and May, a prince nymph in size 16 seemed to outperform the ultra zug bug, particularly when adult egg layers were active. Perhaps the natural iridescent peacock body or the white V-shaped wing explain this effectiveness, but in any event I like to carry a supply of the smaller prince nymphs in my fleece wallet.

During the 2018 season I also discovered that knotting a size 12 prince nymph to my line during green drake season produced some fairly consistent subsurface action. My total supply of these larger nymphs consisted of five, and I depleted them during fishing outings on the Cache la Poudre and South Boulder Creek during the time frame when green drakes were present. I suspect that better green drake nymph imitations exist, but field success counts a lot in my experience, so size 16 and 14 prince nymphs continued to earn slots in my fly containers.

Materials and Flies

Given the two situations outlined above, when prince nymphs provided a boost to my fly fishing fortunes, I decided to replenish my depleted supply. I remembered a series of tying tips in Fly Tyer Magazine that applied to tying prince nymphs, so I searched through my pile of old issues and found the piece that remained in my aging memory bank. One tip provided guidance to enable consistent mounting of the biot tails, so they split evenly and remain on the same plain. A second tip outlined the steps for locking down the white goose biot wings. I applied these recommendations and whipped out some quality prince nymphs in size 12, 14 and 16. I am fairly certain that the wing procedure greatly enhances the durability of a classic prince nymph.

My prince inventory now consists of five size 12’s, 15 size 14’s, and 20 size 16’s. I will no longer be reluctant to offer prince nymphs due to fears of depleting my supply. Hopefully these flies will continue to produce in the caddis and green drake situations as well as during general searching periods.