Fly of the Month

This month’s pattern will be familiar to many smallmouth (and big trout) anglers and for good reason. It has been a killer warmwater streamer throughout the country and guides from Idaho to Virginia will swear by it.

This is a green drake pattern with added foam for an unsinkable parachute pattern!

The exact version of this month’s pattern comes with a bit of mystery behind is provenance. The original is most definitely credited to the legendary Theodore Gordon, who is most remembered as the father of the American dry fly. One of the first hair wings of this type, Gordon likely created the Bumblepuppy in the 1890s. In a 1903 letter to John Gordon, published later in The Complete Fly Fisherman, he sings its praise:

This month’s pattern is a simple take on one of the most prevalent mayflies to hit our springtime waters-- the Ephemerella Invaria, or more colloquially called the Sulphur Dun by fly fishermen. Depending on your geography they may differ slightly in size and coloration, but they all have one thing in common-- a yellowish body and white wing.

This month’s pattern is coming to us from a plate in John Robert’s “Illustrated Dictionary of Trout Flies.” The Red Arrow is a traditional Irish wet fly created by Syl Higgins, a dentist from Longford, Ireland. Originally tied with a two-toned body of red and black seal’s fur, today’s tiers usually substitute with an imitation dubbing.

It’s now March and many of you trout fishermen know what that means- the March Browns will be hatching any week now. So what exactly is a March Brown? In short, it’s a mayfly, and usually it’s some shade of brown. It can be found in abundance in the larger, clean rivers throughout the world, but quite often in smaller trout waters as well. It’s no mystery how it got its name. It is usually one of the earliest emerging mayflies of the year, typically the end of winter (ie, March to early April).

This fly is one I’ve been using on smallmouth and trout in smaller water. The bend in the hook and head profile creates an erratic swimming action that attracts fish in all water conditions. Although the fly really shines when you are fishing low or smaller waters where fish can spook easy, as this fly lands softly but has a lot of movement once it gets subsurface unlike many small streamers that are just profile-oriented and don’t have as much swimming action.

Picture this. It’s a sunny spring morning, you’re on your favorite river, and you walk up to a run that looks perfect for drifting your favorite nymph. Maybe some nondescript, semi-fuzzy bug. And maybe it’s a fast chute that you need something with some weight to punch through the current and get closer to the bottom.

The original Contraband Crab was a confluence of several of my favorite permit patterns: Bauer Crab, Scotch-Brite Crab, and McFly Crab. My goal was to incorporate all my favorite attributes or "abilities" and overcome each pattern's shortcomings. After several years of "test and tweak," the outcome proved productive all over the planet. But, targeting Sheepshead or "Prison Permit," a notoriously picky fish with human-like teeth, required some rethinking and adjustments to my old stand-by.  It took some time, but with the help of my good friend Captain Codty Pierce, we managed to crack the code for consistently catching these crustacean-crunching convicts!

Many tiers will be familiar with the Silver Doctor, a classic salmon pattern that can trace its roots back to the mid-1800s. A beautiful, old school pattern with 24 distinct materials that few of us will have ever attempted to tie. That’s likely the case today and interestingly enough, was also the case back in the early 1900s.

Have you ever wondered why so many winter steelhead patterns feature orange or red components? One common theory is that during these fall and winter runs, the fish are conditioned to feed on the eggs, which almost always feature some shade of red/orange or even pinks.

Over the last few seasons, this month’s pattern has become one of my go-to nymphs for fall trout here in the mid-Atlantic. There is no exciting history on this thing. Ray Bergman or Polly Rosborough didn’t fish it. It doesn’t have a catchy name. And I don’t claim this as one of my original patterns as it’s a conglomeration of enough other bead head, caddis pupa type nymphs that I would feel a bit guilty trying to convince anyone that I invented it.