Easing Back Into Winter

It seems we are easing back into winter this week, our spell of upper forty, even fifty degree days now a memory. I am back to tying a few dry flies, though still watching weather trends and river temperatures. Today we reach and pass the ninety-day mark in my personal countdown to the nirvana of the dry fly season; the time that my soul finds its freedom once more.

I talked with a good friend from Chambersburg on Sunday night, catching up after a long stint. He has been busy with family and the increasing responsibilities of his profession, typical of many young men of his age, and I with my fishing, tying and general enjoyment of life in the Catskills. He asked if I had tied a Translucence Coffin Fly, and I told him that, while one was on my radar, I had not yet placed the hook in the vise. Sadly, I explained, Daiichi does not make their Crystal Finish dry fly hooks in a size larger than #10, a size short of our typical Catskill Green Drake. In searching through my hooks yesterday though, I found a single package of size 8 Sprite dry fly hooks, a hook that has a dull silvery finish. While it won’t give the same effect as the Crystal Finish hook, it will not darken the silk as a standard bronze or black finished hook will. I believe the Sprite will allow me to include the big Drakes in my Translucence Series without too much loss of performance.

So, my lineup of patterns to be tested grows by one, Translucence flies all: Olive, Paralep, Isonychia, Light Cahill, Drake and Coffin Fly. It looks to be a busy season! I sit now pondering the hatches, some of which have been rather sparse these past two years, and hope that 2023 will be a very fruitful year upon the rivers of my heart!

I still need to get back to my silk blending, for I hope to prepare some dubbing for the Lady H next!