Field Research.....

I'll be away for a few days checking out a few locations.

Light Colored Mayflies...What?

My last couple of outings I have noticed many of these small exquisite mayflies dancing about the streams. With the abundance of these duns I also noticed the majority of the trouts feeding has been done sub-surface, that conclusion came from the fact that not a single rise form was seen. I'm a fisherman and not a entomologist, so please forgive me if I can't give you the actual name of the insect. I generally call them sulphurs, or white colored flies.

In Ames book Hatch Guide For New England Streams he lists several of these light colored insects as well as the flies one should use to represent them. It's a great book and should be in your library. There was an excellent fly tyer and fly fisher from New York state named Mark Libertone. Mark created two wet flies that I consider to be the best at representing these sulphurs. I put them in the same class as Fran Betters Usual. The two flies are the Genesee Jewel, and the Lil Dorothy.

The Lil Dorothy....this fly has accounted for many a trout. The last two outings I have taken a lot of trout on this fly. The recipe is as follows...Hook, Mustad 3906B....Body Orange Embroidery thread #722....Thorax, light hares ear....Hackle, Cream hen hackle. I also tie this fly on smaller light wire hooks.

Mark Libertone's Genesee Jewel another awesome pattern when these light colored mayflies are about. This fly works for me pretty much from May through October. The recipe is....Hook, Mustad 3906B....Tail, Cream Hackle Fibers....Body, Cahill dubbing....Rib, Pearlescent Tinsel....Wing, Wood Duck....Hackle, Cream Hen.

Both of these patterns should be in you fly box. Most likely you will have to tie them yourself or have them tied for you. I don't recall seeing them in the local fly shops.

An Incredible Spring Day

A beautiful spring day spent in the woods of Connecticut. The day after some substantial rain and a barrage of violent storms the peace and beauty came forth like like magic creating a true wonderland. It was cool enough for me to wear a flannel shirt and the sky may have brighten some but if so it went unnoticed. I had a first this day and that was a pretty good amount of those little sulphurs flying about. So tag along with me and enjoy what I experienced on this grand spring day.

Man "Bitten" By Fly......

When I first laid my eyes on the fly Salars Nemesis I never dreamed it would take up so much of my time. It consumed almost all of my fly tying, my fly fishing "I find myself fishing this fly almost a 100% of the time I'm on the water"....I have bought a book on it and have tied it to both the recipe as written as well as the photo of it in the book. Several readers of this blog have helped me in tying it, and most of all the fish have taken to it like no other fly I've fished with exception to the Ausable Bomber. The fly in the photo shows a well eaten Salars Nemesis. The hackle has been stripped down to just a few fibers, and the floss body is in tatters....it still works. Changes are in the works.....

Sylvester Nemes called for a body of Pearsall's silk thread or floss. In the bodies of future flies I will use this silk thread, it's a fine alternative to Pearsall's. I also believe the silk thread will hold up better and not fray as the floss does.

Here are two feathers that I've used for the hackle on this fly. The feather on the left is a ringneck pheasant rump feather. It has great movement and profile when wet. The problem I find with the rump feather is they are quite brittle and tend to break when fished. The feather on the right is a ringneck pheasant body feather. This feather is not as brittle but is much more dense when wrapped on the fly. Mr. Nemes called for a golden pheasant body feather. I ordered a golden pheasant skin and will tie a few Salars Nemesis when the skin arrives.

Here are the two flies. Both have silk bodies. The fly on the left has rump hackle and the fly on the right body feather hackle. Both flies have the same number of turns of hackle. I'm not normally a perfectionist when it comes to following a fly recipe, but this one has got me doing just that. More to come....