Hope, Thoughts and Feathers

Rain, snow showers and a bit of water in the rivers, such are the things that begin to breed hope for springtime.

I have begun thinking about trout flies and about a change in design from the various transitional stage mayflies I have tied and relied upon for many years. Subtleties, a variation in the attitude of a fly on the water, movement within the fly itself, my guidelines are the same, but I have combined the success of my 100-Year Duns with the imitation of the imperfect mayflies well-schooled wild trout often select from the drift.

Effective flies are often relatively simple, too many parts and materials may defeat the ultimate purpose: to imitate life!

The idea of the 100-Year duns was to highlight the proper attitude of a fully emerged mayfly dun on the surface, something it has done particularly well. Though I often tie them on straight dry fly hooks, the upturned shank of Daiichi’s Darrel Martin’s Dry Fly Hook, model numbers 1220 and 1222 lends itself fully to the design. These unique hooks are the basis for my newest transitional patterns, tied first for the Hendricksons I hope will return to prominence on our Catskill rivers.

I am anxious to enjoy the opportunity to cast this new fly over the most wary and particular wild brown I encounter next spring. It is designed to sit lower in the film at the rear and amidship, with the soft fibers of wood duck, Hungarian Partridge and CDC providing subtle movement in the current and winds. There are other prototypes too, hackled versions with either paired CDC feathers or Trigger Point fibers posted for wings. May the trout be forthcoming with their opinions!

Winter is just now whispering o’er the ridges of these mountains, the first flurries of snow appearing on high. There are many months to experiment here at my vise. The March Browns made something of an appearance upon our drought and ice ravaged rivers this year, and they shall be next in the new procession of patterns…