Brook Trout Fly experiment

[ryanh]

Last weekend I went to a local brook trout stream. I have been toying with adding color to my flies so I can see them in the water. Then I got hit with some inspiration. For the heck of it I tied a handfull of "experimantal" flies. Some catskill type in hot pink and some Caddis in bright red. These were glo ball colors! I could easily spot these flies yet the fish killed them. Go figgure! I have to admit that they really took away from the aesthetic aspect of the sport but it taught me that these fish don't really care about the color of the fly.

I may refine them a bit but if it ain't broke...

 

[ian_brown]

I may need to try a red cdc & elk.

 

[dryflyguy]

ryan:

I love to see guys experiment like that, and in your case, it paid off! I have a few fly fishing buddies who tie strictly by the book, and I think they're missing some of the beauty of fly tying,- trying things a little differently to see if they work.
I've always tied things my way, and it's really paid off after 25 years. On heavy pressured streams, I think it can be a real advantage to have flies tied different that everyone else's.
I'm always tinkering with patterns - hoping to make it work a little better.

As for the bright colors on a brookie stream, I've caught quite a few fish on charlie meck's patriot fly, which is about as gaudy as it gets - white calf hair wing, and bright red and blue body. But it works!

Keep on experimenting!

 

[DJB66]

love seeing others who go "outside the lines" when tying.I have been playing around with different flies for th elast 20 years and had some of my best days ever with off the wall type of flies.I also love brookie fishing and it still amazes me as to that they will hit.Keep playing with the flies and enjoy ,to me it is a lot more fun catching on something that I design myself that a fly that is by the book.

 

[troutbert]

Here are some innovative flies that look like real nice.

http://www.rareandunusual.com/troutwetflies2.htm

 

[tomgamber]

I've always heard that brookies were attracted to brightly colored flies. When I was first starting out I had a bunch of those hot pink and bright blue foreign tied flies, Don't even know where I got them but I caught a bunch of brookies on them after reading something that mentioned this bright fly preference of brookies. Then someone told me what junk these flies were and I never looked back. When you are young and learning, listen to advice given but don't throw away your own observations...

 

[Chaz]

Troutbert It's easy to see why brook trout would like those flies, some of them probably pass for small brookies. I experiment with flies quite often, and if I find a pattern that works really well, I like to tweek it until it becomes a killer pattern.

 

[jayL]

I have always tied hi vis stuff in my wings for catskills. It's a great little feature, and it doesn't hurt the effectiveness of the fly.

 

[Padraic]

There's a good ole pattern called the "bright spot" that has hackle at either end of the shank and a hot pink body. Sort of a hot pink renegade.

And of course there's one of my favorites, the lime trude. Or for that matter the royal trude/coachman/wulff in any of it's incarnations.

Take a look at the fly swap page for one of my patterns called the Cabin Adams. It's a litte gray fly with a bright red floss tail. It has a down wing and sits deep in the water. I think it does darn well, and I don't carry standard adams flies anymore because I prefer my pattern over it.

So the idea of adding a bright color is not a new one. Although it does fire one's imagination when sitting at the vice!