Something Old, Something New...Thanks "Polly"

The "Casual Dress"...a fuzzy nymph created by Earnest "Polly" Rosborough. Polly was an Arkansas native who moved to the Pacific northwest in the 1930's. An innovative tyer and very accomplished angler who created some wonderful flies. I for one have never fished his flies before, under the thought they were designed for western waters. It was many years ago that I was introduced to a couple of his patterns. The first was the "Muskrat" and the other was the "Casual Dress"...these patterns worked well for me in Maine, especially on the Kennebago River.

The "Casual Dress" has the look of many types of fish food and can adapt itself to both still water as well as river waters, and when tied on bigger hooks can fool several salt water fish.

Below I have tied three variations of the "Casual Dress"....the materials are Coyote, both underfur and guard hair...and a head of brown synthetic dubbing. These flies are tied on a size 12 hook. I believe these flies can be weighted to get them to fish deeper.

This variant has a long tail, when fished it has the profile to represent a small minnow.

This variant takes on the traditional "nymph" look. It's pretty buggy looking and would draw some attention.

The third variant make an excellent emerger. I can see a caddis here for sure.

The last one is like the original as Rosborough tied it.

Thursday On The Farmington..7-7-16

This morning was one of those typical July days. The sun was just filtering through the trees and casting light upon the river. The air was humid and the water cold, that brought waves of fog drifting down. These waves also brought a funky chill that was not a good feel to the skin. As I walked out to where I was to make my first cast I scanned the surface for a feeding fish. There were none dining on the surface so a soft hackle was the first fly of the day. I was to cast many many times the wet flies and had only a few bumps to show for it.

Well nothing taking below, then why not try on top. I was armed with several new dry flies that I wanted to try so what the heck go for it. An hour later and all I had was many looks at how the flies floated but not a fish.

It's hard to believe that a river full of fish and an angler can spend a couple of hours casting and not have a fish to show for his efforts. Plan X went into effect and when the big caddis floated near the bank the water moved and moved a lot. The fish rolled on the surface in an attempt to grab the fly and missed. Right here a little frustration set in, and soon it was brushed aside.

I continued moving upstream and casting... a subtle rise and a solid hookup. My first of the day. A wild little brookie.

Moving still further upstream I came upon this...a big clump of underwater wood...a nice flow of current...and a deep channel. I floated the fly a couple of times and the fish rose. I pulled back but felt nothing...then something the trout was on. A brief struggle and I could see the brown starting to tire...not to be, a quick run and off he was.

I continued to fish for some time without any success. The morning was beautiful and the river so relaxing...who needs fish? I was set to call it a day when I walked by the spot where I hooked the brown. Why not a few more casts. On one of those casts the fish rose in a big boil and grabbed the fly. He bent that rod so much I knew I had a good fish on. Strong runs and holding deep. I turned the fish and it ran upstream right at me, and that's when I saw him. A brook trout of substantial size. Be cool Alan. The glass rod and my ability to keep cool finally subdued the trout....

I was amazed at the size and beauty of this brook trout. It probably ranks as one of my best Farmy brook trout. He had a nice hook-jaw and will be something to behold come October.

As I reached into the water to release him he just shot upstream. The hook had come free and he was gone.

Look at the hook on that fly...strong fish. I walked up the bank headed to my car. Pausing for a moment to say thank you.

The IOBO Humpy" Simplicity To The Max

Just when I thought a fly could not be simpler "wham" there it is, probably the simplest pattern this tyer ever laid eye on. A few posts ago I talked about the CDC and Elk pattern and how easy it was to tie and how little materials there are to do that. Then Will Kirousis at http://fliesfattiresfamily.blogspot.com/ lets me know about a fly that's been around for some time and I get the research tool going and look what I found.

The "IOBO Humpy"...it has but two materials..thread and a single CDC feather. The pattern was created by Jack Tucker of Pennsylvania. Below a little tutorial on how I tie it.

Start thread and wrap a quarter way back, then come back towards the eye, Next tie in a single CDC feather by the stem. Put a hackle plier on the tip and begin to wrap rearward. The first few turns are the most problematic because the stem is thick, just a little care is needed.

This is how it looks when tied to the rear. Now stroke the fibers to the back and tie them off.

Wrap thread to front of hook just behind the eye.

Grab the CDC and bring it forward and tie off. A whip finish and the fly is complete.

I have two versions of the fly....the first is all natural, fibers here there and...

The second version is neat and trim....don't know which is better, I guess the fish will let me know.

A Short Time but Quality Time 7-3-16

I hope everyone is enjoying America's 240th birthday. Be safe and be happy.

I had a couple of free hours this day, albeit 5am to 8am, but the early bird gets the worm. I had just finished reading "Simple Flies" by Morgan Lyle. and a particular pattern hit me hard. The pattern was the CDC & Elk. This fly is the epitome of simplicity. I can't believe this is the first encounter with this fly. I tied up a couple of them a size 14 and a 16. Only 3 hours of fishing so these were the flies I would use. There were no hatches coming off other than some midges as well as a few sulphurs dying along the banks. I started fishin the CDC-Elk in some riffles that flowed into a nice pool. The fly's drift stopped and hung in the slack water briefly. The water exploded and fish on.

A few runs and a jump along with some head shakes and the beautiful rainbow was at hand.

The CDC&Elk size 14. Thread, CDC, and elk hair...now that's simplicity.

In the few hours I fished several nice rainbows were fooled by the fly.

I'm a believer.....going to tie up several more, different colors and some size 12's.