During the past few weeks I have been trying to spend a little time each day tying for the upcoming spring trout season. And while examining my boxes to see what I needed, I came across a pattern that reminded me of a great day I had last year on the Oatka creek.
The pattern was a modified Hare's ear that I tied on a size #14 2xl nymph hook. A brass bead to fit, 10 or 12 wraps of lead wire, with rabbit body hair tied in for a tail, hare's ear dubbing for the body, gold wire for the ribbing and then finished off with another bunch of rabbit body hair for a wing.
The idea was to use it in the spring and early summer when the larger mayflies like the hendricksons were active. It was also designed to impart more action than a standard nymph (This is where the rabbit fur came into the design.)
I was dead drifting it along the bottom of a stretch of creek that had a nice long pool with a good current. And almost every other drift was producing a trout. Then, for some reason I forgot to pick up my line and make another cast. The line began to form a nice arc, the kind you get when you forget to mend. The fly picked up speed and swung up in the current. This triggered a whole new reaction from the trout. One fish would spot the swinging fly and begin to follow, then another and soon 3 to 4 trout would be competing for my fly. I did not need to watch my indicator anymore, the trout would pull hard enough to let me know when they took the fly. Plus I could see everything unfold right before my eyes.
I have dead drifted nymphs before and let them ride up in the current with good success. But, not with an indicator attached to my leader. And not when I could see everything so clearly. An eye opener for sure!
That experience reminded me that I can sometimes get tunnel vision. I catch so many fish dead drifting nymphs that I usually don't think about imparting action to the nymph. It also reminded me to always try new things when fly fishing.
Have a great spring trout season everybody!
Brian
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