Wet And Wild..Soft Hackles, Spiders And Flymphs

A somewhat different look at soft-hackles, spiders and flymphs. When these are wet and viewed as the fish see them you'll see better why the can be so very effective. As you look down through this post you will also see that most all freshwater fish will take these flies, and in a variety of waters, from still water lakes and ponds to small streams and large rivers. Using a couple of retrieves as well as just letting them roll with the flow you'll be very surprised how effective these simple flies can be.

Tie up a few, or pick some up at your local fly shop and give them a try.

"Legends" and "Winter Spiders"

I received a gift of a most wonderful book a few months ago. It's title is "Limestone Legends" The Papers and Recollections of the Fly Fishers' Club of Harrisburg...1947-1997. The book is a delight to read for it is like being there as these stories were being told. Many of the writers were just folks who had a story to tell, and some are pretty eloquently written. The members of this club are icons that I remember reading about as I entered into fly fishing, and the stories told were that of the famed waters of Pennsylvania's Cumberland County.

I'm not a guy who reads a book cover to cover "in that order" but thumb through it and when I spot something interesting and read it. Such was this fine piece written by Charles Fox.

In the article Mr. Fox compares two types of dry fly fishing. One where the angler uses a fine crisp Catskill dry fly, one that matches the hatch, and the other dry fly is an attractor or big bushy dry fly that gets the trouts attention. And this is so Pennsylvania..most anglers here also hunt, thus a precise Catskill dry "rifle" and a gaudy bushy dry fly "shotgun" applies so perfectly. I wish my typing skills were better for I would put forth the entire article for it's truly a gem.

I tied up some of those "winter spiders"..although they can be used successfully all year long.

The "Winter Brown"..Body Pearsalls Orange Silk- Hackle, Woodcock, and the head is Peacock.

The "February Red"...Body Pearsalls Red Silk, Hackle Grouse.

Impressions and Impressionistic

Somewhere along the way I read an article about a certain tree and brook trout. The article stated that where you find the hemlock tree you'll find wild brook trout. That article made an impression on me and that still holds firmly today.

In the top photo is a stream I fished the other day, as you see there is an abundance of hemlocks some of which are quite impressive in size. Well the stream was also impressive in the amount of brook trout present.

Here you see a spool of thread, a hook, and feathers, not very impressive. When put together they become something impressionistic.

The fly created by the scant few materials does not represent any one type of insect in the stream, but does represent many.

Its size, overall color, and movement by the hackles tell the trout I'm food.

On this day the brook trout found the impressionistic fly to be impressive, and it left an impression on me.

I love these fish.....