Foam Head Hoppers

Foam head made with two over-lapping foam discs. 

Hook: 6-10 streamer or 3x dry

Thread: rusty brown 8/0

Head: green craft foam

Body: olive hare's ear dubbed thick and buggy

Under-wing: elk hair

Legs: 4 pheasant tail fibers knotted to make the leg joint

Over-wing: turkey quill lacquered with Tough as Nails

Whip finish behind foam head

More traditional foam head created by tying the foam to the shank and folding it back on itself. This go around I left the butts of the pheasant tail exposed to mimic some forelegs. 

Sulphur Sparkle Dun

Hook: #16 dry

Thread: Orvis "Primrose" 8/0 (light yellow)

Tail: silver poly yarn

Body: thread wraps

Thorax: Hareline UV Light Yellow Trout Ice Dub

Wing: light deer hair tied comparadun style

Extended-body Deer Hair Mayfly (Paradrake)

This was a special request from my fishing buddy JBP. The extended body is tied separately on a bodkin, finished, then pulled off and tied onto the hook.

Hook: #12 Dry

Thread: black

Tail: black bear hair

Abdomen: deer hair

Thorax: black dubbin

Wing Post: black bear hair

Hackle: grizzly tied parachute style

West Branch Report

Thanks to the men and women of our Armed Forces who fought and died for us, I was priveledged to be able to go fishing with my buddy on Memorial Day. I think war is a terrible option to have to take, and I hope we never have another, but I have nothing but respect for all those who have gone to battle to defend our freedom throughout history.

Back home in central New York, Memorial Day was beautiful, sunny and warm. The Upper West Branch near Hamden was running a bit high (USGS says 650 CFS at Walton and it seems best at 300-400), but it's starting to clear up and should be perfect in a day or two if the thunderstorms don't muck it up again.

I hit the water a little after 5PM and the insect activity was moderate. I noticed quite a few small caddisflies dipping and diving to deposit their eggs (dark dun Chimarras) and there were Hendricksons out and about. A few fish were feeding at the surface in select spots, but I had to cover a lot of river to find them.

On the evening, a Biot Parachute Hendrickson pattern in size 12 seemed to draw the most interest.  I landed a nice 15" brown, an 8" chub, and had a few takes that I wasn't quick enough to connect with on that fly. I also had a strong take on a CDC & Elk caddis pattern. I was swinging it as a wet fly when the strike occurred, but my tippet gave way. It didn't raise any fish as a dry, which led to the switch to the Hendrickson Pattern.

As night fell, there were a few vicious outbursts where browns jumped clear out of the water after a meal. My guess is that they were hitting caddisflies based on the violence of the takes, so I switched again to a CDC Biot Caddis Emerger. It did draw a strike, but I lost the fly and the fish when I set the hook - something I clearly need to work on.

PFD Rusty Spinner

Hook: 14-18 Dry

Thread: rusty brown 8/0

Tail: brown-olive micro-fibbets (Hareline Tinted Mayfly Tails)

Body: tapered tying thread

Wing: white poly yarn

Wing case/PFD: white craft foam

West Branch Report

I spent a couple of hours on the waters between Walton and Delhi tonight and while there were definitely bugs out and about, there wasn't nearly the surface activity I expected. I netted a few Red Quill (male hendrickson) spinners and saw quite a lot of small dark dun caddis (Chimarra, I believe) and slightly larger greed caddis (apple?) out and about, but the fish seemed to be feeding elsewhere. Perhaps I arrived too late for the main feast. Even so, I did manage to hook up with a few small browns. I'm guessing the stocking truck came through recently because the fish I caught were in the 6-8" range and were pretty pale.

Once again, the dark dun CDC emerger was a killer, as was the Madison Guide Cripple in red quill coloring. While the CDC Emerger is deadly, it's tough to fish in that it's hard to see and a little fish slime pretty much trashes it. I fish it mostly as a dropper off of a larger, more visible fly (a Hendrickson or klinkhamer for example) unless the water is fairly calm. Last night it was my go-to for sight-casting to a rising trout. I stuck with the MGC for prospecting in the faster water since the parachute made it easier to track and it's far more durable.

West Branch Report - Get your dries!

My first fish on a dry of the season _and_ my first fish on a fly that I tied EVER _AND_ it's my largest trout to date (at just shy of 20")! I am disgustingly proud of myself.

Last night was a beautiful night for fishing with temps in the 60s and no breeze to speak of when I arrived near Hamden at 5:15PM. There was a lot of insect activity with Hendricksons mating in the air, blue quills drifting past, and clouds of small, dark dun caddis flies everywhere. I also noticed nymph shucks floating past in the water. The surface activity wasn't phenomenal, despite the bugs, but there were fish rising. Based on the slow rises and what I was seeing in the water, fish seemed to be slurping up spent caddis flies (dark dun, size 18 or so). The Hendricksons weren't yet depositing eggs and there wasn't a spinner fall so perhaps tonight will show some more action on that front.

The above fish was caught on a dark dun CDC emerger pattern, size 16 with a stripped peacock herl body. I'll tie a few more up and post a pattern soon. It's an easy fly to tie, though the CDC requires a lot of maintenance to keep it floating (many thanks to Hareline's Amadou fly dryer!) and it was pretty much toast after the tussle with the fish pictured above. I tried a few other flies including a more traditional Hendrickson pattern, a blue quill, and even a pheasant tail nymph over a few risers but they weren't interested. A dark Madison Guide Cripple (brown with grizzly hackle, size #14 or 16) drew a savage take from a nice looking fish who managed to get away. It popped my tippet during a brief lapse in concentration as I tried to get into a better position to land it. Unfortunately, I didn't have a spare in dark coloring and the remaining rising fish had no interest in the cream colored variation I showed them next.

All in all, an excellent evening spent on the water and with the warm temperatures continuing, I expect things will only pick up from here.

CDC Biot Caddis Emerger

Hook: Dry 12-16

Thread: brown or black

Shuck: silvery Zelon or poly yarn 

Abdomen: tan or olive goose or turkey biot (goose pref)

Thorax: small ball of olive dubbin under wings

Under-wing: silvery Zelon or poly yarn

Wing: pair of natural CDC feathers. Bend down butts to create beard/legs before trimming

Antennae: 2 duck flank fibers

Head: 1 peacock herl

Check out Hans Weilenmann's video for how to do it right: