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

West Branch Report

The gauge on at Walton had the upper West Branch at close to 800 cfs, but Wednesday night is fishing night, so JBP and I were not to be deterred. As expected, 800 cfs is pretty high and rather muddy but somewhat wadeable if you know the area. Rises were few and far between this evening and I had no luck prospecting sub surface with a "Maple Syrup" streamer nor on top with a Mahogany Dun or a Light Cahill.

In a desperate attempt to save the evening, I walked to a bridge abutment that's definitely over-fished, but is always good for at least a few smaller browns. Tonight was no exception, and predictably the rises began picking up right around dusk. In less than an hour, I landed a half dozen or so small browns in the 8-10" range. Perhaps not the classiest fishing I've ever done, but after a couple of hours of getting skunked, sometimes it's nice to just land a fish.

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.

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.

Blue Quill

The West Branch Resort report says the blue quills are popping on the Delaware so to the fly bench I went.

Hook: #14-18 dry

Thread: black 70 denier

Tail: natural dun fibers

Body: stripped peacock herl

Hackle: natural dun

Wings: natural dun hackle tips

Biot Parachute Hendrickson

Hook: Dry 12-16

Thread: Tan

Tail: Natural Dun Fibers

Abdomen: Turkey Biot dyed Hendrickson

Thorax: Dubbed March Brown or Hendrickson 

Wing Post: Poly yarn

Hackle: Natural Dun and Grizzly

note: whip finish on post under hackle for cleaner fly. 

Parachute Hendrickson

Hook: 12 or 14 Dry

Thread: Cream

Wing Post: Poly Yarn

Tail: Natural Dun Fibers

Body: subbed Hareline "March Brown" for usual Hareline Super Fine "Hendrickson Pink"

Hackle: Parachute-style Natural Dun and Grizzly

Notes:

- Whip finish under hackle

- use small thread ball under base of tail to lift and splay tail fibers. 

Adams Wet Fly

Hook: Mustad R90 nymph size 12

Thread: gray

Tail: grizzly and brown hackle fibers

Body: Natural Wool (gray) tied in dubbin loop here

Rib: silver Wapsi wire

Hackle: grizzly and dun hen hackle

Opt: weight with 6-7 turns lead-free wire

CDC Blue Wing Olive

Pattern: 

Hook: Dry Fly (14 or 16)
Thread: Olive
Tail: Dark Dun Ultra Fibbets
Body: Olive Super Fine Dubbin
Wing: Dark Dun CDC  

Instructions:

1. Begin thread at eye and wind back to tail tie in.  Do not trim tag end of thread!
2. Measure fibbets (slightly longer than body) and tie in with two pinch wraps.
3. Bring tag end up and through fibbets and pull forward along shank to split tail.
4. Tie in tag end with fibbets and trim.
5. Advance thread to wing position.
6. Tie in two CDC feathers, first on far side, second on near side.
7. Trim butts and tie down, bring thread to tail.
8. Create tapered dubbin noodle and wrap body.
9. Using dubbin noodle, wrap in front of wings to lift them to vertical, then use dubbin to split wings with x-wraps.  
10. Neaten up head with thread wraps.
11. Whip finish & cement.

For an excellent demonstration, check out Jim Misiura's video.  The fly is billed as a dun, but the profile looks rather spinner-like to me so I'll be fishing both ways.

CDC BWOs from different angles: