Fellow Flyfishing Enthusiasts:
Many of you Extravagant rookies out there have been asking, "Just what kind of flies are we going to be using and how big are they?" Well, remembering the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, attached is a photo depicting some of the flies that we will be using this year together with a hand-drawn (accurate) measuring stick right beneath to give you perspective.
In general, we will be primarily be using two kind of flies: (a) dry flies to replicate the adult form of the bugs that the fish are feeding on and (b) wet flies, or nymphs, to replicate the immature form of the bugs.
Since these bugs are in their nymphal stage for 95+% of their life, guess what, that form gets eaten 90% of the time. When the bugs transform into adulthood (much like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon), all hell breaks loose, however, because free eats have just shown up in the air and on the water and the fish can get a bigger bite with less effort.
There are literally hundreds of different types and sizes of bugs that "hatch" (i.e. come out of their cocoon) on the Montana waters. Thus, you will see that your guide has, literally, hundreds of different flies with him on your boat. The time of day, the time of year, the heat or coolness of the day, and the river that you are on will drive the appropriate menu selection. Simply stated, what is good for fishing in the morning often is not in the afternoon; what is good one day on a river is often not the next; and what is good at a particular time of day on one river will be totally different than on another river. Hence, a guide.
The attached photo gives you an idea of the range of bugs that we will be using (you got it, depending on the time of day, the weather and the river) (for you of inquisitive minds, yes, I tied each of these flies for your viewing enjoyment).
Here's a summary:
The fly at the top is a streamer, used when all else fails or to go after big fish. It is 3" long, weighted heavily with lead, has a tungsten cone, and made of rabbit fur (affectionately known as a "double bunny" with two different strips glued together on a size 4 (i.e. huge) hook. I show this to you for comparison purposes, as, most likely, these will stay in the fly box--they hurt when they hit you (or the guide) in the head, and the hooks (even when unbarbed) are a nasty date.
The large fly on the left is an imitation of an adult salmon fly--the first hatch that will occur post runoff. There are actually two salmon flies--I gave you a top and side view of this "battleship fly" which floats on top of the water enticing fish of all sizes to rise to the surface and dine. The salmon fly hatch starts in early June and may still be going on for those of you in Group One and, perhaps, Group Two. This bug lives under the water for 2 1/2 years and, right about now, as a stone fly, literally crawls out of the river, attaches to a nearby stone and then sheds its shuck to emerge as the flying battleship that it is. Like most of these bugs, since it only lives a few days in its adult form (to mate, deposit eggs back into or on the river and expire), the bugs have no mouths, do not feed and, therefore, do not bite--nice, huh?!?
The medium sized fly on the right is another stone fly, the Yellow Stone. This will be our "go to fly" for each of the groups, as the Yellow Stone hatch will be in full bloom (along with the Green Drake hatch)--these bugs are about 1 1/2" in length and still constitute a substantial meal for a hungry trout. Trout need to have enough "meat" to merit a trip from below to the surface to chomp, and this fly has that--if they use more energy than they ingest, they will eventually expire. As such, you can expect explosive "takes" on these floating flies, as the trout claim their bounty. Hence, polarized sunglasses so that you can see both your fly and the takes.
The smaller dry fly in the middle of the page is a caddisfly which hatch in profusive numbers in the heat of the day and during the evening hours. In good years, like this one, driving through a caddisfly hatch often requires turning on windshield wipers to see your way through. The mess left behind on the car is truly impressive, as are the swarming of trout when these bugs are on the water.
The smallest of the dry flies (right below the streamer on top) are mayflies. These are bugs that, unlike the stone flies which crawl out of the water, rise to the surface from the bottom as they hatch. As such, during the rise and while they are on the surface removing their shuck and spreading and drying their wings, they are sitting ducks and the trout will often line up in feeding lanes and stay on the surface slurping these little guys in. Try finding that floating fly in foamy or choppy water without polarized glasses twenty feet away!
The bottom two rows are nymphs of different sizes, shapes and colors. You can see that size does not matter at this level, as some of the more effective of these are under one half inch in length. These are fished under the water underneath either a colored floating indicator (so you can see if you have a take by the indicator submerging or just stopping) or as a "dropper" attached by monofilament tied to the hook of a floating dry fly. Under this latter approach, which is employed once you have your casting under control, you can get two shots at feeding fish and the best of both worlds--shots at both the fish feeding on the surface and those munching on nymphs below. (The bottom row are flies that I have developed after several years of fishing Rock Creek and they have proved to be extraordinarily deadly on not only the Creek, but also on all of the rivers that we fish.)
So there you have it, Entomology 1A.
Best,
Rock Creek Ron
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