I was speaking with a customer yesterday, and he was telling me about one flashbugger they fished last year on a series of lakes, that one ...
I was speaking with a customer yesterday, and he was telling me about one flashbugger they fished last year on a series of lakes, that one fly, he told me, caught 111 fish. "There was nothing left of it but some black thread, and it was still catching fish." Of course he ordered some more and adjusted his expectations down somewhat. But that one fly was like "magic."
Anyone who has logged some hours fly fishing most likely has a similar story. Mine was with a caddis larva. I fished that thing until is was green fuzz and nothing else, still catching fish. Looked nothing like the original pattern, still catching fish. My friend cast his fly into the same riffle, nothing. I cast his fly threw the same riffle, figuring it was I that was magic, again nothing. Went back to the green fuzz, wham-o. My friend tried the same pattern only fresh out of the box, nothing. He then sliced up his pattern to make it look like the ragged remnant that mine did, nothing. All the while I never went three casts without hooking another trout.
I did not count the fish caught in the one spot with that one fly, but it was well over twenty, and I never went more than three casts without a fish. This lasted until dark. The fly, looking more like a blank hook, stayed on my tippet, but alas the next morning the magic had worn off.
We'll never know what triggers fish to strike these magic flies in a mad frenzy, after 20 plus years of tying and designing fly patterns I am no closer in figuring it out than a novice. But one thing I do know, if we did know the answer it would certainly take out the very thing thath makes us cast one more time, or try one more spot, or try one more fly. In fact it is the very thing that makes fly fishing so dang addicting. And that is the unknown. If we ever learn everything there is to know about fish and fly fishing, there really wouldn't be a point in going out this evening for a few casts.... Well there is the natural beauty of scenery and fish. And the sheer enjoyment and relaxation of stepping in to the river, and the feel of the evening air, and watching the fish slurp bugs, and the birds diving about. But other than that there would be no reason at all.
Anyone who has logged some hours fly fishing most likely has a similar story. Mine was with a caddis larva. I fished that thing until is was green fuzz and nothing else, still catching fish. Looked nothing like the original pattern, still catching fish. My friend cast his fly into the same riffle, nothing. I cast his fly threw the same riffle, figuring it was I that was magic, again nothing. Went back to the green fuzz, wham-o. My friend tried the same pattern only fresh out of the box, nothing. He then sliced up his pattern to make it look like the ragged remnant that mine did, nothing. All the while I never went three casts without hooking another trout.
I did not count the fish caught in the one spot with that one fly, but it was well over twenty, and I never went more than three casts without a fish. This lasted until dark. The fly, looking more like a blank hook, stayed on my tippet, but alas the next morning the magic had worn off.
We'll never know what triggers fish to strike these magic flies in a mad frenzy, after 20 plus years of tying and designing fly patterns I am no closer in figuring it out than a novice. But one thing I do know, if we did know the answer it would certainly take out the very thing thath makes us cast one more time, or try one more spot, or try one more fly. In fact it is the very thing that makes fly fishing so dang addicting. And that is the unknown. If we ever learn everything there is to know about fish and fly fishing, there really wouldn't be a point in going out this evening for a few casts.... Well there is the natural beauty of scenery and fish. And the sheer enjoyment and relaxation of stepping in to the river, and the feel of the evening air, and watching the fish slurp bugs, and the birds diving about. But other than that there would be no reason at all.
