A forum to discuss tying and fishing wingless wet flies and other soft hackle fly patterns
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Soft hackles do mimic several species and is one reason I like them, but there are trends to what color & size insects predominate throughout the year, that apply pretty much everywhere. The patterns that Pritt described for month in North Country Flies work very well for me, even though I live an ocean and many degrees of latitude away the River Wharfe, and experience none of the same insects. That's because biology dictates that, for example, that insects in winter are going to be small and dark. As spring starts, they can get larger and lighter in color. The term "April Grays" doesn't apply to any specific insects, but many of the flies that are around during that month are predominately gray/olive. In the heat of summer, terrestrials like ants and beetles are going to be an important source of food, regardless of what river you fish. And come autumn, you'll see orange-ish caddis that match the color of fallen leaves, even if you don't have an "October Caddis."raven4ns wrote: ↑Sat Aug 10, 2019 5:35 pm One problem with me is that the rivers I fish are so far away I can't get on them all of the time. It's difficult to follow the hatches on rivers when your presence is sporadic at best. I know on some rivers like the Margaree and the Middle have a good Yellow Sally hatch yet on other rivers I have never seen this hatch. It's enough to drive a man to drink...
This is one of the reasons I wanted to try soft hackle flies because of their ability to mimic several species of insects.
So well said. I think this post should be printed on cards and carried in leader wallets to be referenced in times of consternation.redietz wrote: ↑Sat Aug 10, 2019 6:44 pm
Soft hackles do mimic several species and is one reason I like them, but there are trends to what color & size insects predominate throughout the year, that apply pretty much everywhere. The patterns that Pritt described for month in North Country Flies work very well for me, even though I live an ocean and many degrees of latitude away the River Wharfe, and experience none of the same insects. That's because biology dictates that, for example, that insects in winter are going to be small and dark. As spring starts, they can get larger and lighter in color. The term "April Grays" doesn't apply to any specific insects, but many of the flies that are around during that month are predominately gray/olive. In the heat of summer, terrestrials like ants and beetles are going to be an important source of food, regardless of what river you fish. And come autumn, you'll see orange-ish caddis that match the color of fallen leaves, even if you don't have an "October Caddis."
Obviously, the month-by-month approach needs to be adjusted for climate. I doubt that you do much fishing in February, for example, and my (and Pritt's) April may be your May or early June. And there are always outliers that don't follow the trend.
You mentioned not always having Yellow Sallies in response to Dubbin's post, but may not have noticed that he also mentioned PMD's. Those aren't the only yellowish flies that hatch around the same time at any given latitude (for me that time was late spring/early summer.) The same fly can work equally well for sulfurs, yellow sallies, Light Cahills, Yellow drakes, Little Maryatts, etc. Just vary size. Even if one of those insects isn't in your river, another probably is, and around the same time of year.
OTOH, there's a school of thought that says "most of what trout eat is 3/8 of inch long and brown." Guess what? That's a perfect description of a wet Partridge and Orange. Many versions of a Pheasant Tail, as well.
What it boils down to is to definitely have some generalist year-round flies, but also carry some generalist, but seasonal flies. You don't have to match species, but smaller and darker in winter early spring, larger and lighter later in the year, with some terrestrials in summer, is a good rule to follow.