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| My old box, every type of fly...not any more. |
2018 is knocking at the door, many of us have out New Years resolutions written down, and most of them will be abandoned by the time St. Patrick's Day is here. I have a few of my own and I too will be in the St. Patrick's Day group, with the exception of one resolution....and that resolution is to fish with nothing but soft-hackled flies.
Part of my inspiration came from Yvon Chouinard who used one style of fly, the pheasant tail soft hackle in many variations for one year. That was quite a challenge and I hope to do the same only I'll use variations of soft hackles to create dries, wets, and streamers.
This is my new fly box...I'll start filling it with soft hackles and begin fishing them New Years Day.
One of the first flies is this "Snake Stonefly" the pattern was found in Allen McGee's book "Fly Fishing Soft Hackles.
The "Minimalist Nymph" also a pattern from McGee's book....pretty simple.
A pattern of my own...scruffy, I love it.
A soft hackle dry fly, also a pattern of mine.
It should be an interesting year for me.
Very nice. It's going to be fun following your journey.
ReplyDeleteAlan
ReplyDeleteGood choice for your New Year's Resolution. All you really need is the pheasant tail soft hackle.!!!! :-)
TROUT1
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Pete you can attest to that. It should be interesting.
Knowing you, it will be an awesome soft-hackle year. Go get'em.
ReplyDeleteMark Kautz
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Mark I'm looking forward to it.
Shades of Art Flick, in years gone by, who limited his choice to a deer hair beetle, on the Schoharie for an entire season. He did as well as ever. Hard to believe you're forsaking the celebrated A. bomber. Happy new year. Be safe.
ReplyDeleteJohn Dornik
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John I never knew that about Flick.
I'm trying to configure a soft hackle bomber, it should be interesting for sure.
Alan, Can't wait to follow your patterns through 2018!
ReplyDeleteRalph Long
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Ralph the journey should be fun.
This should be interesting.... I'm looking forward to seeing your fly selection... What no "Wet Fly Pinkie"?
ReplyDeleteDoug Korn, Fly Tyer
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Doug I have most of the staples, it's the odd stuff that's going to be a challenge.
How about a soft hackle pinkie?
That's an awesome idea. They say the mark of maturity is the appreciation of and quest for nuance over novelty. This is on point for that axiom.
ReplyDeleteFred NJ
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Fred it's a quest I had in mind for several years. But I thought it would be dry flies, maybe that will be next years resolution.
I'll be watching with great interest Alan. I think you'll prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it's not the fly, but the fisherman.
ReplyDeleteHoward Levett
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Howard I hope so.
Should be fun.
Alan, i am not surprised by your resolution. Your passion for soft hackles is very obvious when you go back thru your posts over the years. I'm glad you've dedicated yourself to such an adventure. I think all of us will benefit from your resolution. Cannot wait to hitch up to this ride. Thankyou.
ReplyDeleteBrad Basehore
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Brad it will be a learning adventure for me, if anyone else benefits that will be a plus. It has been cold here, I hope the fish will be active at least for a few hours.
Alan, I really like that resolution. It narrows down what one brings to the stream. Going through my flies recently and tying a few during this cold snap, I realize that when I am fishing, I always seek out the flies I have confidence in. Many that I tied last winter that seemed like a good idea at the time, never got out of the fly box.
ReplyDeleteSam
Parachute Adams
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Sam it's funny how we head to the rivers with our boxes fully stocked with almost every fly....at seasons end we find we have only used maybe half of the patterns in our boxes.
Another issue to be dealt with, hooks.
Alan,
ReplyDeleteCan I have your "old box"? Since you won't have much need for it this year.....
It will be interesting to follow along with you during this journey! Keep us fed my friend!
Dougsden
Dougsden
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Doug it should be very interesting, I will probably have lots of stories.
Sorry buddy the fly box is spoken for.
Have you done any soft hackles with wire bodies? I've tried and had good luck with a red and blue wire body.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous
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I have not used wire on the bodies of my flies. But perhaps this year I may.
What size wire do you use?
I think the hook was a 16 and I used brassie size wire. Mostly up to how fast you want it to sink.
DeleteWell done Alan, In the past thats all Ive used before I got into nymphing, for a few years all I fished was spider patterns, never bothered with anything else and my catch rate never suffered either.
ReplyDeleteGeorge
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George that's good to hear. There are times when we find some highly selective trout, and when that happens I move on to another part of the stream and it's usually solved.
I think this idea sounds great. I too carry hundreds of flies to the stream and fish the same 3 or 4 stuck in the bream of my hat.
ReplyDeleteGo get'em
ray henley
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Ray it seems we all carry to many flies. Certain ones are favorites and those do most of the work.
Hi Alan,
ReplyDeleteBecause of it's success, I have a bad habit of using one fly 99% of the time; it's Whitlock's Red Fox Squirrel nymph. In fact, I've caught just about everything with it and I believe there is a soft hackle recipe out there on the internet.
Happy New Year
Regards
John V.
John V
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John that's a great fly, and I hope to tie a few in the soft hackle style. I have a couple of fox squirrel tails but I can't seem to find them.
I look forward to following your experiment with interest. I like the look of the scruffy patterns you designed. One question, How do you find the hooking success on the up-eyed hooks?
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Paul
Paul Gaskell
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Paul I don't find the up-turned eye any better than other styles of hooks. It's some patterns look so much better on the up-turned hook. I like the straight eye hooks very much for spider patterns.
Alan,
ReplyDeleteI wish you all the best in your goal of fishing the year with soft hackles. I lived very close to Sylvester Nemes and he would be very proud of you in your quest.
I would really appreciate it if you would let us know about the patterns that you use and their construction if you have the time.
Happy New Year Good fishing
Bryan S.
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Bryan I know I will learn a great deal in these next 12 months, and I'll be happy to pass it along to all of you.
I have been fumbling around trying to find some patterns that were created by Sylvester. I think it would be great to actually fish these flies.
Alan
ReplyDeleteThe soft hackle is my second go to pattern right after the midge, couldn't do without either in my fly box. Thanks for sharing
Bill Trussell
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Bill for the next year the soft-hackle will be my only go to patterns...it should be interesting.