What's your most surprising turn?

[Tallguy]

good tip, been tying 12'..sometimes, however, those fish are only 20' away..

Back up 10-20'. It'll work itself out.

 

[Para_Adams]

Seeing those smaller diameter tippet materials caused a flash back to the 1960s and reminded me how far leader material has advanced!

When I started fishing small dry flies (18s) in the early 1960s I used a lot of 6X tippets and even some 7X. As I recalled the 6X when new tested at 1 3/4# and which by the end of the season would test 1/2 of that. By the mid 1990s where some of my fishing was on spring creeks and clear water ponds where small bugs ruled the day; a size 18 would be a large but. I would tie and fish dries down to size 24 and after discovering "big eye" which allowed the use of beefier tippets I was able to land some very large trout on flies I could barely see!

May recent return to the past is the increasing role various soft hackles play in my lake fishing (especially in BC). Currently the fly count in my soft hackle box is approaching 100.

curt

Curt, do you have a favorite soft hackle for callibaetis on BC lakes? I’m looking for a pattern to try in WA and OR.

 

[Smalma]

Curt, do you have a favorite soft hackle for callibaetis on BC lakes? I’m looking for a pattern to try in WA and OR.

For years I would use a simple soft hackle with greyish/brown dubbed body with a fine gold rib and partridge hackle with fairly consistent success.

That said the last few years have been using a suggestive callibaetis pattern that incorporates soft hackle principles and have been pleased with the trout's response to the pattern.

On a size 14 hook, I like a fine wire of a dry fly hook, a 1.5mm black or brown bead is optional
Step one - tie in 4 or 5 natural pheasant tail fibers for the tail (about a body length), leave enough for an over body
Step two - tie in a gold wire as well as blue dun dry fly quality hackle* for ribs
Step three - form thin dubbed body in light hare's color
Step four - rib the body with 5 or 6 or so turns of that dry hackle
Step five - pull the remaining pheasant tail fibers over the top of the body/hackles tying off where the soft hackle will be placed.
Step six - rib the body, over body, and hackle with the fine gold wire working between the hackle turns securing both the dubbed body and hackle
Step seven - select a partridge hackle of appropriate color with fibers that will extend about the length of the body. I tie the hackle in by the tip after stripping the fuzz and fibers from one side and typically use 4 turns with each turn in front of the previous turn. The hackle will cover the body and over body.
Whip finish the head

* the hackle I use is from neck of those long fine feathers (each 8 or 9 inches long) with uniform fiber length across the entire length of the hackle. I select a hackle that would be appropriate for a size 18 fly. While that neck was expensive each hackle will be adequate for 4 or 5 flies.

In the water as the fly is retrieved that hackle rib movement suggest the nymph's gills

tight lines
curt