The Peacock and Partridge pattern that Tim Barker a.k.a. Planet Trout introduced me to a year ago turned into a spring/summer staple and for weeks I fished it hard. The #16 with the Hot Yellow Wire proved to be the most effective. I fished it deep as a trailing nymph , as a solo wet fly and even as a dry fly (as long as the floatant kept it riding high). This fly just rocks and I had to tie another dozen for the coming months, I remember it being particularly effective on the rise by allowing the fly to sink then simply high sticking a run, fish would bolt from the depths to grab this bad boy within inches of the surface. For this round I tied half exactly as last year and half with Orange dyed peacock herl.

I also sat down to work on an emerger pattern for the coming BWO hatches. I turned to Charlie Cravens Mole Fly pattern for inspiration. I played with some material substitutions such as CDC Puffs instead of the regular CDC feather that Charlie uses. I can trim some of the CDC out on-stream if need be so for the time being I put an entire Puff on each fly then played around with some beaver dubbing along with a couple other options, some I tied with dry fly dubbing and others with Hare’s Mask to see which perform better than others. I plan to fish these trailing a standard dry fly, hopefully the CDC Puff will achieve the effect I was hoping for, something like a Klinkhammer type dry fly. The trout will let me know how I did.

Slide Show

How did that happen? Lord, seems like this season is blowing by, not enough time to fish and still take care of responsibilities. Got out for a couple hours before a responsibility that brought me streamside for a meeting. Not a ton of time to fish but enough for a guy to tempt a few, looks like the stocking truck has been here. Rainbows abound, everywhere. Kind of crazy to see it packed the way it was. Saw fish rising on arrival in the mid-afternoon. Didn’t see much in the way of adults to key me to what they were taking and the rises were inconsistent. A few would be splashy almost leaping rises that I would associate with the presence of caddisflies, others read mayfly with the gentle take just barely giving the trout away. I opted to try my luck with a #16 EHC. Landed one, lost two strikes before the trout were on to it and would have no more. Swapped to a #16 P&P and swung it down and across letting it rise as the current pulled my line. This resulted in some excellent fun with the fat stocker rainbows and a few went home for dinner.

Cleaning the first of three nice rainbows I noticed something bright red and spotted in the stomach contents. The shell of a lady bug, mostly digested but just enough remained to provide photographic proof that the trout here eat Lady Bugs and probably more likely the Asian Beetle. After seeing the one in the stomach I decided to look a bit at the plants around the spot I caught the fish, sure enough I found several just waiting to be blown to the trout dinner table. I moved upstream, fished the P&P as I went and it just reinforced why I love this fly. Cast it upstream and present it like a dead drifted nymph and it will take fish, do a down and across and it will take fish and the new method that happens to be very handy…. remove all weight from your line and fish it like a dry. Fishing longer slower sections I picked the trout rising the most consistently, put my fly just upstream of the target and without much hesitation it was picked off time and time again. My obligation pulled me from the stream as Lt. Hendrickson’s were hatching, pretty late in the day and they were VERY bright lending me to think the hatch I saw was Ephemerella dorothea otherwise known as out “Sulpher” hatch. I got a few craptastic photo’s before I had to go but I’ll take what I get, when I can get it. As I finished my meeting we noticed the spinner fall bring trout to rise in a steady rythem. I wish I could get more later evenings on the water.

Slide Show

• Hook: Dai-Riki 135 #14-16
• Thread: 70 Denier Black
• Butt: SM Hot Yellow Ultra Wire
• Body: Peacock Herl
• Hackle: Soft Hackle (Oversized/White)

To start this fly I wrap 5 turns of the SM Ultra Wire tight against the hook shank and position it just above/behind the hook barb then glue it in place with the Zap-A-Gap, remove both tag ends. I twist them off and never clip them free with scissors, it saves your blades and leaves a cleaner looking finish. I typically prep a dozen in one color before I sit down to tie the batch. This has also been an effective pattern with Red and Green Ultra Wire as well. The body is made with the peacock herl wrapped close to form a bushy full body and finished with 1-2 turns of a soft-hackle, on my #14 flies I used traditional Partridge but for the #16′s I used this white soft-hackle that came free with a dry fly hackle I purchased a while back, both have proven to take trout. I measure the hackle from just behind the hook eye back to the wire above the hook barb. I’ll fish this pattern dead drifted behind a nymph but I find it best fished on the swing or by lifting your rod tip to bring the fly up from the bottom. This tends to trigger the desired behaviour again and again. This is a good attractor pattern that might be simulating a pupating caddis or perhaps a cased caddis that is peeping, either way this fly takes trout. Good luck.

p.s. This video was taken in HD format with the Panasonic Lumix TS-1.

Couldn’t get to the water until 12:30pm. Clouds were about, air temp was cooler in the upper 40′s and rather windy. With a short hike downstream I rigged my line with a #16 Black Flashback PT with a #16 Partridge and Peacock trailer. I started with an indicator set about three feet above the my splitshot which was about 10inches from my 1st fly. I lost four of the first five strikes then landed the first of several brown trout, it took the #16 P&P. I would learn this day how absolutely ridiculous this fly is. If you don’t have this in your box, write the following down, stop reading this and go straight to your vise.

• Pull out a #16 Scud Hook (I like 1X Short)
• Grab a stretch of Hot Yellow SM Ultra Wire
• Wrap the wire on the shank, above the barb, tightly X 5 turns.
• Glue it in place (I like Zap-A-Gap)
• Tie in 70 Denier Black Tying Thread, Wrap Back to the Wire
• Tie in Peacock Herl, Wrap Thread Forward, Then the Herl, Tie Off, Clip
• Tie in A Soft-Hackle (I like White), X 2 Wraps, Tie Off
• Wrap Thread for a Small Head, Whip Finish
• Glue The Head, THIS FLY WILL BE ABUSED

Back to the 10th, it’s 1:15pm and I’ve been fishing for maybe twenty minutes, check the rocks and the water temp, it’s cool at 52 degrees, cloudy and the fish are active. I drop my indicator because the trout are crushing the #16 P&P almost every cast, what is the deal with this thing? I found I lost more fish with the indicator, they were smacking it right as it entered the water and it was easier to tighten my line and kind of drag the fly. Most of the trout were small under 10 inches for sure, maybe 20 fish in an hour. Moved upstream and hit a hole, by now the BWO’s were popping but the hatch was thin, I saw maybe 10 BWO’s float by in 5 minutes. Enough to keep the trout active and near the surface but not enough for me to try and force feed them an imitation, consider the wind in this scenario and the gin clear water.

I kept swinging the two fly rig and took only two trout on the PT, which I put on because the rocks were screaming Ephemerella, the Invaria are coming…Light Hendricksons, look for 58 degrees in the water. Today that wasn’t going to happen, second water temp a few hours later read 52 degrees? No change. No Hendricksons for sure now. No big deal. I missed A TON of strikes, a few of them hit the PT for sure. I took a couple on it but nothing compared to it’s partner. The rain was holding off and other than losing my rig to a tree across the stream on it’s ~25th trout I was in good shape. A bit of tippet and only a single #16 P&P I was off taking more colorful brown trout in no time. Landed nothing spectacularly large, just enjoyed working my nymphing skills and trying any spot that looked fishy.

Dinner was on my mind today, I chose this place because it offered a large amount of smaller trout that could easily become dinner for me and maybe a few of my friends. I wanted five, man did I get to pick my fish this day. I chose to take only the 10-11inch trout leaving the younger fish to grow and the older fish a chance to create tomorrow’s trout. Stomach contents were clear and read nothing but snail, snail, snail, caddis case, green goup, snail. I worked upstream, took a few more trout and enjoyed the forested area I moved into, shelter from the wind. Turned around and hit a spot or two on the way back to cull the last of my limit. Time to hit the bench and tie more of these flies, curious to see what the stocker rainbows will do when they see it.

Slide Show

Notes and Observations:

• On stream arrival at ~3:45pm, fished until 7:30pm
• Water Clarity: Stained but Very Fishable
• Air Temp: ~73 Degrees
• Streamer Fishing Produced Little, Again…
• Bummed to Find Fields of Garlic Mustard
• Trout Rising until 5:30pm, A Storm Blew In
• Fly Fishing a SERIOUSLY Deep Hole May Void Traditional Fly Fishing Rules

Being a stubborn ass I chose to visit the same site as yesterday, looking to land one of those larger trout I missed the day before. Seems to be a typical scenario for the W.F.F. as of late, lighter take, fish on, right about to my feet and it’s as if they could let go at any moment but noooo… they wait until after they’ve shown me their colors and are almost to my feet, at this point my line goes limp. Now I kind of set myself up for this again, a second day in a row, why you ask? Well I am always curious as to what affect a few small changes may make under similar conditions.

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