Last week I wrote about
my top six flies. When I got to Blue Ribbon Fly Shop the next day, I discussed
the article with Henry Seay, my assistant manager. He is an accomplished fly
fisher and fly tyer but he uses different flies with great success. I decided
to write about his top six and see where we agreed and where we were different.
When he moved here from Arizona 11 years ago, one of the first
items on my things he did was to find a hatch chart for the Norfork and Bull
Shoals Tailwaters. Two things stood out midges and sowbugs/scuds hatched 52
weeks of the year. In moving water sowbugs and scuds look so much alike he
didn’t think fish could tell the difference to see them as one type of fly,
hence sowbug/scud.
Other hatches come and go but midges and sowbugs/scuds are always
present. It seems to make no difference to him, if you are fishing Lee's
Ferry, the San Juan River, the Norfork or any other tailwater anywhere in the
U.S.A. midges will be the most important hatch. It was only natural to bring
with him and introduce to the local tailwaters here the Zebra midge. His list
would have to be the Zebra midge #16 – 22, a simple and highly effective fly
that no angler should be without. This fly has also caught largemouth bass and
bream on Norfork Lake.
His second fly would also be a midge, the Pheasant Tail midge #16
- 20. This fly is often tied with a hot spot at the thorax to catch the
eye of a passing trout. This fly can also pass as a midge larva, pupae or a
small stonefly. He finds there is inherent magic, with pheasant tail fibers,
hares ear, CDC, copper wire and peacock hurl. When any two of these items
are used together they become as irresistible as chocolate candy. All his flies
will have one or more of these items tied into them.
He would never consider venturing into the waters to fish for
trout without hare and copper #10 - 18. This is a fly that has also taken
fish everywhere in the world. A fly that suggest a stonefly, a scud, and a
crane fly, it is fuzzy, spiky and looks like many aquatic life forms.
Next is the sowbug/scud #10 – 16, the other trout food that hatches
12 months of the year. A fly that can pass for a stonefly, and has proven very
productive crawled slowly across the bottom of a stream as well as dead
drifting.
The "F" fly #14 - 22 is the only dry fly that he
carries. This is a European fly that has had a hand in bringing home trophies
for more than one country, in international competition. It is the only fly a
friend of his from Mississippi uses, when he comes here and fishes the Norfork
Tailwater. He takes a backseat to no one on the river.
He would never step into the river or any body of water without a
Woolly Bugger #6 - 14. This fly has caught fish coast to coast, cold water,
warm water or salt water. A size #12 or 14 will destroy a bream bed. When
nothing else works, he ties on a woolly bugger.
With these 6 flies he could fish every tailwater in America and
believe that he was armed properly. We agreed on the woolly bugger and hare and
copper. He ties all of these flies at the shop and will be glad to show them to
you. What are your top six flies?
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