Big fish need a ton of calories. Although they make a living eating the small stuff, they'll never turn down a prime rib dinner. I was taught a long time ago that most subsurface feeding is done at the emergence of aquatic insects--the state where the insect is out of its own control and when its most vulnerable. This is great news for us who love to swing for trout as we can mimic this upward insect migration with the proper use of mends and tension throughout the swing. I have also observed that most emerging insects Shine, or have a certain "Flash" to them as they emerge due to the gasses that get trapped under the nymphal skin during their metamorphosis to the adult state. These gasses give off several different colors which the fish tend to key on once they have decided what their favorite menu item is. These Nymphs also move a ton as they try to get back to the cover that provided them protection over the past year. Learning all these things about Nymphs and the Trout that love them, I set out to create a fly that mimics all the characteristics that make trout order take out.
With the PTBFE I think I have done it.
First: the PTBFE has all the movement you could ask for from a trout fly. Rubber legs have worked on every fish under the sun and I knew it would bring trout to the dinner table as well. Add the marabou and fuzzy thorax and you have a fly that has the appearance of a emerging insect whos life is in a shambles and is swimming for its life.
PTBFE one for every hatch.
Second: the PTBFE Mimics the silhouette of almost all emerging insects. its larger than life thorax looks like a set of bunched up wings ready to pop at anytime. The marabou tail also reflects the shucking of nymphal skin, that all flies do when they enter that awkward age between adolescence and adulthood.
Third: The PTBFE Mimics Insect Gas...it really does! I have included a ton of flash in this fly to copy the very gas that makes all emerging type insects buoyant. after watching insects emerge under water, I am of the opinion that if you don't have some kind of flash or reflective material in your emerger pattern, your not imitating any emerging insect well.
So there are the three properties that I have induced into my attractor pattern the PTBFE. Mabye its from fishing the same waters as Polly Rosebrough, or from his direct influence on fly design to me, but I am a firm believer that a good fly shouldn't try to mimic just one species, but rather mimic the qualities that all emerging insects. Sure you'll have to tie several different colors and sizes, but in most cases the PTBFE, much like Polly's Casual Dress, will match most western hatches.
Swing The PTBFE on your favorite river, or strip it on your favorite Stillwater and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Start with a good Nymph Hook!
Tie in a Marabou Tail
Add veevus Holographic tensil
Use uni wire over the tensile body to add strength.
Body complete!
Create a Kyrstal Dub ball to hold the rubber legs.
The ball keeps the legs from folding over the body.
Add Legs to form a collar.
Much like a hackle.
Add a little more dubbing to finish off the thorax ... now swing it in front of a mean trout.
One of my mentors Polly Rosebrough came up with a nymph pattern named the Casual Dress. Polly use to swing this pattern alone or behind a wet fly. This is one of Polly's best know patterns and it has caught trout from coast to coast: probably internationally. he tied it with muskrat which he trapped and died himself. The Casual Dress imitates a ton of different nymphs keeping on track with what Polly would call a suggestive pattern. His idea was that fish eat flies that don't look "fishy" out of the water but rather carry the same look underwater as the natural. Its for this reason he would tie flies that trap air and give some shimmer, because that exactly what emerging nymphs do! when they build the necessary gasses it takes to rise through the water column those gases make a bubble. That bubble would shimmer under water. His casual dress did this well as it would trap air as it entered the water. The Casual Dress was one of my favorite flies until I was fishing with someone who put a little flash in their fly, giving it a super shimmer under water. I got out fished, on my own river using a classic fly that was born on that river. this got me to thinking--I had better change something. Out of pure tradition and respect to this cool fly I still wanted to fish the casual dress style, but I thought I would bring it up to date with some of our more modern materials. The result was an amazing success. What I came up with was a fly that I call the Un-casual Dress, as it holds on to some of the tradition of Polly's pattern, but is updated with some of our modern materials. below you will find the instructions for tying it, and with another blog post I will describe how to fish it. Oh, and by the way, this fly doesn't work on any of the waters I guide on, so don't even bother to try it. Enjoy!
Here are all the materials you need to tie My Not So Casual Dress Any good nymph hook, olive 140 thread, .015 lead wire, Krystal Dub--olive and brown, muskrat strips--olive and Brown, and Crystal Flash.
Add lead wire along the whole shank of the hook.
Tie in a muskrat tail leaving the guard hairs pointing back like marabou.
Add a strip of flash on either side of the tail.
Dub about 3/4 of the shank with Peacock Green Krystal Dub.
Make a dubbing loop add guard hair from brown muskrat to the dubbing loop.
Wrap the Muskrat like its a hackle.
Finish the head with Brown Krystal Dub and there you have it My Not So Casual Dress. Its not a true Casual dress like Polly's, but it is truly a fuzzy inspired nymph that loves to swing.
Right before he straightened the hook. Maybe I should lay off the Navy jokes!
Have you ever wished you could toss heavy polly leaders or short t7 and t11 sink tips with your mini speys? Do you fish for river carnivores with your back against the wall, and have no room to cast? Don't you wish you could strip your piece of the trout gravy train within close proximity without pulling the head into the guides? Well your in luck! Or should I say, I'm in luck! I just got this new 4wt Tactical Switch Streamer line from Airflo and had to put it to the test.
This cool little line is shaped like a small Skagit with a heaver than normal running line fused into it. the color of the head is easy to see from above and super stealthy from below. I complained about the oversized running line until I realized it would be a bummer to strip flies with a thin diameter mono or even coated running line--duh! The little Skagit loved all the waterborne cast most Skagit fanatics are use to, but it did require me to compact my movement as it was only a 18' head and I have been throwing Scandi's most of the winter. the little head turned even the densest of all my pollys over with ease, and that's saying something as I was using a 10'8' 4wt. The chunky little head weighed in at a slim 300grains yet slopped the meat out there like a Navy cook--and just like a Navy cook it must have had all its weight right up front. (disclaimer: I am a Coast Guard Veteran so I have been cracking sarcastic Navy jokes for over two decades...now that I think of it that's not much of a disclaimer, is it, oh well) Anyhow, if your looking to advance your trout spey game, throw mini tips, and sound the dinner bell check out this little line, I'm sure its gonna help me call out some Williamson Red Bands, like a pig farmer yelling SUUUUUEEEEEE!
Hello all, I decided to make a blog that would consist of nothing but Spey fishing for Trout and all the entails. I am the owner of the blog www.southernoregonflyfishing.blogspot.com and I have shared a ton of trout information over there, but I thought it was time to have a blog that did nothing but explore this brave new world called Trout Spey.
Master of the swung Nymph!
Trout Spey has really caught on the last few years, the main reason is because it is so versatile and fun, and brings us back to some of our roots, at least for me it does. I grew up swinging flies. early on I was influenced by my Grandfather, Paul Pursell, and Polly Rosebrough. These guys all swung bamboo rods and silk lines for trout. Polly realized early on the effectiveness of the wet fly when fished at the right moment during the hatch. He even wrote a book about it Tying and Fishing the Fuzzy Nymph. Don't let the name fool you, this book isn't so much a book the type of nymph fishing we associate with nowadays but rather its mainly a book about swinging emergers. In the early 80's I followed the indicator crowds, and like most anglers of the day acquired gear that was more in tune with that style of fishing while my old sinking line setups sat in the corner and collected dust.
It wasn't until the mid 90's that I started to revisit trout on the swing again. Spey fishing had consumed me. I loved all things spey and decided I would start fishing my home river, The Williamson with Spey Gear. at first I looked funny with a 7130 swinging big leaches, but the rod didn't look as near as funny when it was doubled over! From that day I never looked back. My rods have shrunk considerably and I no longer have to cut and build my own heads as there are several companies that now produce them.
So join me as we move this sport forward and share ideas, rivers and flies, looking at all things Trout Spey.
