A Series of Comets

[William Anderson]

So before I post these I'll say these need another season of testing and I'm not making any grand claims about why they worked, but they did work. On four different outings last season in late summer I was very pleased to see very fussy brown trout on bright days on low water moving to snatch these flies. I'm not one to crowbar some entomological correlation but after some surprising days I tied a whole box of these last fall with plans to see how they work this year. Maybe these were taken in spite of the glaring trail of bling, but maybe they garnered attention that might have otherwise been lacking. These are very unusual for me, I tend to prefer subtle patterns and natural materials but as an extension of using pale patterns in bright sun I thought the added bling might be attractive. I even took these pics last fall and hesitate to post them here out of respect for the forum, but you might want to try this.

For what it's worth I blame Eric. He tied a white fly soft-hackle imitation and included two pieces of holo rib, long and split like a spinner's tails and I tucked it in my box and the look of that fly led me here. If anyone gets guff over this, it really should start there.

[tie2fish]

Awesome!

[William Anderson]

Bill, you really shouldn't encourage this kind of thing.

one last shot.

[joaniebo]

Bill

Need anyone to test these for you? :>)

Bob

[redietz]

I'd certainly fish them. The nice thing about that trailing flash is that if you really start to believe it's spooking fish (which I doubt), you can always cut it off. They're no compelling reason to not tie them like that.

I especially like the white fly version. The naturals seem to have a trailing shuck as often as not.

You not calling the fly a Comet, are you? It's a pretty well established name for a series of steelhead flies.

[Johnno]

Nice flies! Wonderful colour and it's pleasing to the eye... and a trout eye too....

[William Anderson]

Bill

Need anyone to test these for you? :>)

Bob

Bob, I'd actually appreciate that. Shoot me an message with your mailing address and I'll put you to the task. Thanks.

[William Anderson]

I'd certainly fish them. The nice thing about that trailing flash is that if you really start to believe it's spooking fish (which I doubt), you can always cut it off. They're no compelling reason to not tie them like that.

I especially like the white fly version. The naturals seem to have a trailing shuck as often as not.

You not calling the fly a Comet, are you? It's a pretty well established name for a series of steelhead flies.

Bob, thanks for the kind words. I especially like the white version too. Just a flash added to my favorite white fly
softhackle pattern that you so beautifully tied last year. I managed to hit that hatch last season but it was a trickle of bugs coming off. I was really a week late. They still hit this though.

It's a shame the comet is already attached to that ugly steelhead fly. I'd never heard of it before. I like the name. Simple and descriptive. Maybe I'll have to consider a variation like the Halle Bop Softhackle or maybe a Heaven's Gate series.

Thanks for the heads up.

[William Anderson]

Nice flies! Wonderful colour and it's pleasing to the eye... and a trout eye too....

Thank you, John.

[Old Hat]

Good Lord! Why not just add a tungsten bead in pearlescent blue!



Reminds me of a Wilted Spinach after a few fish have chewed on it. The tail that is. Of course, your ties look much better than an already chewed fly.