October Fly tying contest ~ 4" Minimum.... Wet or dry, hard or soft!

flybill

Life of the Party
Apropos for Fall, because that's when meat rules...

My "Doug E. Flesh" platform, all 4.75" of it, at rest and at work.
This platform started life as my "HappyMeal" pattern in the late aughts, and has continued to evolve in the form of both intentional and accidental tweaks. It is the first fly I reach for when it is time to throw meat on spraystring for big trout, and has accounted for a disproportionately large number of 30"+ fish in the past 6 years.
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Peace, y'all
Eggselent! That fish! Love it!
 

VMP

Steelhead
Big enough, yes. Pretty enough? I doubt it!
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Not sure if pretty enough, but as the saying goes "some flies catch fish, some flies...." and @Chucker's pattern catches fish! I started fishing it this year after getting one from @Chucker, I tied it in different colors (different combinations of chartreuse, white, pink) but the all-white seems to work best. All in the 5- to-6-inch range matching this year's Puget Sound green label sized herring and WA coast surf smelt. As shown below, it seems to imitate a half digested herring best :) Some of the fish that fell for it this season and their stomach contents also pictured below, including coho, lingcod, black rockfish from the WA coast, a 34+ inch long chinook released (crappy picture, it was first light, solo trip during one of the king's mid-season emergency closures so not kept even if hatchery, pictured also a 36 inch PVC pipe I use to gauge oversized lingcod) and the always prized over eager little flatfish.
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