Two Favorites - Dry Flies

With the caddis and sulphurs in full swing here in PA, I wanted to share two of my favorite dries.

The first is the Bubble Back Caddis, it is a Rene Harrop original with a spin. I love this fly for almost any situation during a caddis hatch. It can be a cripple, emerger, or an adult, or maybe not, but the fish still seem to gobble it down at all times. It is a great fly to use for a dry dropper rig when the fish are keyed in on emergers. With lots of loose cdc fibers it is easy to see at all distances and it can hold up a tungsten bead head fly with ease.

Bubble Back Caddis

Materials:
Hook: Partridge Patriot Dry - 12-18
Thread: UNI Thread 8/0 - Tan
Tail: Wood Duck - Lemon Barred
Wing: CDC Feathers -Natural Brown
Body: East Coast Dubbing - Yellow/Tan Caddis
Collar: Partridge Feather - Natural
Antena: Wood Duck - Lemon Barred
Head: East Coast Dubbing - Caddis Thorax 

The second is another stand by that I love. This is a CDC Parachute Sulphur. I love to use the cdc as a post because it always lands perfect on the water. It is also a lot lighter and drops on the water much quieter than para post material. I like to tie mine with very sparse hackle, just enough to make a footprint on the water. This is another one that can be used as an indicator fly, I tie it with Chart. or pink cdc feathers to see it easier.

CDC Parachute Sulphur

Materials:
Hook: Partridge Patriot Dry 12-18
Thread:  UNI Thread 8/0 - Yellow
Tail: CDL Fibers - Dark
Abdomen: Goode Biot - Sulphur Yellow
Para Post: CDC Feathers - Chart.
Wing: Grizzly Hackle
Thorax:  East Coast Dubbing - Sulphur Yellow

Early Season Go-Tos

The weather is warming up and the fish are starting to get hungry. The number one question that we get in the shop right now is, "what are the hitting on today?". So Im going to answer that question for you all, so you don't have to come into the shop and ask. With the Tully and the Breeches both being stocked streams, its not surprise that then Sexy Walts Worm is a must have. They are both caddis filled systems, so the RT Tube Steak Caddis Larva is another must have, the last one is Kevin Compton's Hot Butt Caddis Jig.

Sexy Walt's Worm 
Hook: Partridge Jig
Bead: Tungsten Bead
Rib: Pearl Tinsel - Sm.
Body: Hares Ear Plus #1
Collar: UNI 6/0 Fl. Fire Orangee

RT Tube Steak 
Hook: Partridge Straight Eye Grub
Bead: Tungsten Bead
Rib: Stretch Tubbing - Micro
Body: SLF Bug Dub
Collar: SLF Bug Dub

Compton's Peaking Caddis
Hook: Partridge Jig
Bead: Tungsten Bomb Bead
Rib: Ultra Wire - Copper
Hotspot: Chart. Floss
Body: Jack's English Hares Ear 

These all mimic some sort of natural food, but I want to be honest with you all... They also look like food pellets :).

This is why I have lots of each of these in my boxes to start the season off.

Just a few Pictures and some Updates

If you have not heard, the Tulpehocken is now a Keystone Select trout stream. This means that each year 25% of our allotted fish will be replaced with trophy sized trout. This will equate to about 200 trout for the pre-season and in-season stocking. Tony and I have the privilege to be apart of the stocking and each time we will be float stocking these fish. The Keystone Select trout range from 16-22", so get out there and try to find them :)

Also with the flows at a great level on the Tully we have been offering float trips for trout this season. As some of you may know, I have been floating this for years, but now we are actually offering them as a guided option. I was out with Rob and Jack this past Monday when the creek was flowing at 408 cfs, a flow that some would say is un-fishable. We did fantastic, and the crowds were minimal.

Show season is finally over. This was the first year I went to more than just Somerset and Lancaster. I traveled down to Maryland to be apart of TieFest on Kent Island, in my hometown. Then the next week traveled with Steve Silverio from Regal and Partridge to upstate New York to be apart of Tie One On, and great show for charity.

I will also have another announcement in the next week, very exciting news!

Jigs - Riding Low

To go along with Boiling Springs last Brew n Bugs, Im going to do a some talking about different jig flies. It is quite simple really, when it comes to jigs its really just an upside down fly. Nothing changes except you have a small bed in the shank with a slotted bead.

Most of my jigs are fairly simple flies, that don't have a lot of detail, but hold a nice natural profile in the water. This simplicity really helps simplify the fly design and stops many frustrated moments at the vice. I have tied jig style Prince Nymphs to large jig style Stoneflies, all have their own challenges. However if you stay way from flies that require a lot of detail on the bottom of the fly or in this case the top, it will lead to a much more enjoyable tying experience.



Most of my jig flies are Pheasant tails tied "in the round", Hare's Ears without a shellback, Quill Bodies with just dubbing and a little flash for the legs. You can add shellbacks to jig on the larger flies, but its a headache and unnecessary for the smaller ones. I tie a small winter black stone nymph on both a standard nymph hook and a jig style, the only difference is no shell back, this is because dealing with a hook point in your way vs. a wide open shank makes a huge difference, and you won't have to worry about stabbing yourself every 2 seconds with the hook.

Another key to success with jig flies is to secure the bead from flopping around while you are starting to tie. One way I have found to keep the bead in place and stop it from spinning around is adding a few lead wraps behind the bead and pushing it tight to the bead. The other way is to make a small thread dam behind it. I do this often times when I'm trying to make a smaller, lighter jig. I will use this dam to also the start of my body taper for the fly.

Jigs are used as anchor flies most of the time. This is also why I try to keep it simple, for restocking purposes. I have found that if you start with a larger jig hook (8-12) with the style flies you are trying to tie, this will help you get proportions right before you start into the smaller sizes (14-18). I often times will tie one style of fly in 3 to 4 sizes, always starting with the larger ones first, again to help with proportions but also help with your tying movements around the hook point and tying inverted.

These are 3 tips that have made tying jig flies fun for me with the least amount of frustration. Hope this helps.

Over the next moth I will be posting more on jigs to give everyone some ideas on simple ones to tie. Maybe even a tutorial or video.