Go-to Trout Lake Patterns

Draketake said:
Regarding the Olive Willy, do you folks favor regular Olive Chenille basically the color of an olive that you eat, or the darker Olive color chenille? I went with the darker olive as it seemed to match the pictures I could find here and on Google. The Fly Fish Food video I think called for the darker olive also.

Thanks in advance.

Bob
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I tie almost all of mine in medium olive. I feel the medium olive with the brownish/tannish hackle covering the body better represents what a bug would look like underwater. If I go darker (a variant) I like using peacock for the body.
 
One other idea folks might like to try... When I've tied Willys I select a marabou feather for the tail, tie in the tip with whatever amount extending out past the bend that I want, then instead of cutting off the feather and lashing down the butts, I grab the stem of the marabout feather with hackle pliers and spin the remaining feather into a fuzzy rope. Then I wrap that for the body instead of chenille or dubbing. So now the body color matches the tail exactly and has a pretty buggy / natural look.
 
Merle said:
One other idea folks might like to try... When I've tied Willys I select a marabou feather for the tail, tie in the tip with whatever amount extending out past the bend that I want, then instead of cutting off the feather and lashing down the butts, I grab the stem of the marabout feather with hackle pliers and spin the remaining feather into a fuzzy rope. Then I wrap that for the body instead of chenille or dubbing. So now the body color matches the tail exactly and has a pretty buggy / natural look.
Click to expand...

Now THAT is a great idea! My vise will be busy this afternoon...
 
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This thread got me reminiscing about my “go to” patterns over the years and how they have changed. Here’s a run down (that nobody asked for :)) of my go to flies over the years for a lake I fish a lot.
1998-1999- A simple black leech that Mark Noble told me to fish.
2000-2005- A olive egg sucking leech that Gary from the Toutle Fly Shop told me worked good.
2006-2007- I caught many fish stripping this fry pattern around downed trees.
2008-2009- My friend called this fly the McMupppet. It was tied with Mcfly Foam. It looked clownish, but it caught a lot of fish.
2010-2015- UV Polar Chenille Leech. A 2 material fly that worked great (especially in off colored water). I should probably fish this more again.
2016-2017- Balanced Leech.
2018-2019- Deer Hair Dragon.
2020- Extended body dragon. It caught a lot of fish. But it tends to fall apart after a few fish.
2021-Present- Jig Leeches.

8EE3C14B-D73E-405A-AFC0-5BF034CB26A6.jpeg
 
Paul_ said:
This thread got me reminiscing about my “go to” patterns over the years and how they have changed. Here’s a run down (that nobody asked for :)) of my go to flies over the years for a lake I fish a lot.
1998-1999- A simple black leech that Mark Noble told me to fish.
2000-2005- A olive egg sucking leech that Gary from the Toutle Fly Shop told me worked good.
2006-2007- I caught many fish stripping this fry pattern around downed trees.
2008-2009- My friend called this fly the McMupppet. It was tied with Mcfly Foam. It looked clownish, but it caught a lot of fish.
2010-2015- UV Polar Chenille Leech. A 2 material fly that worked great (especially in off colored water). I should probably fish this more again.
2016-2017- Balanced Leech.
2018-2019- Deer Hair Dragon.
2020- Extended body dragon. It caught a lot of fish. But it tends to fall apart after a few fish.
2021-Present- Jig Leeches.

View attachment 59859
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That extended body dragon looks like a killer!
 
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