Your Single Fly

[Wetswinger]

While visiting my family in Utah, a few years back, my nephew told me about an event on the Green R. It’s a contest where you can use only one separate fly to catch and release as many trout as you can. Snag a bush on the back cast? Too bad. Your fly becomes unraveled? Your done. Bust the barb? Adios..So obviously, you need your best fly, the one you always go to and feel the most confident with. I thought I’d ask you which fly that would be for you? Let’s keep this to Stillwater flies only..
Mine is without a doubt, a Black Simi Seal Beadhead Leech with a red collar…how about you?

JoinUs For The Green River Single Fly Tournament

highdesertanglerstu.my.canva.site

 

[Hobbyranch]

While visiting my family in Utah, a few years back, my nephew told me about an event on the Green R. It’s a contest where you can use only one separate fly to catch and release as many trout as you can. Snag a bush on the back cast? Too bad. Your fly becomes unraveled? Your done. Bust the barb? Adios..So obviously, you need your best fly, the one you always go to and feel the most confident with. I thought I’d ask you which fly that would be for you? Let’s keep this to Stillwater flies only..
Mine is without a doubt, a Black Simi Seal Beadhead Leech with a red collar…how about you?

JoinUs For The Green River Single Fly Tournament

highdesertanglerstu.my.canva.site

Damselfly nymph

 

[fatbillybob]

caddis emerger

 

[RCF]

Dragonfly nymph (Carey Special style)

 

[Burt Dagger]

Olive willy

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

Olive willy

Ditto.

 

[Yardus]

Brown pine squirrel jig style leech

 

[Zak]

While visiting my family in Utah, a few years back, my nephew told me about an event on the Green R. It’s a contest where you can use only one separate fly to catch and release as many trout as you can. Snag a bush on the back cast? Too bad. Your fly becomes unraveled? Your done. Bust the barb? Adios..So obviously, you need your best fly, the one you always go to and feel the most confident with. I thought I’d ask you which fly that would be for you? Let’s keep this to Stillwater flies only..
Mine is without a doubt, a Black Simi Seal Beadhead Leech with a red collar…how about you?

JoinUs For The Green River Single Fly Tournament

highdesertanglerstu.my.canva.site

What color bead do you put on that?

 

[Wetswinger]

What color bead do you put on that?

Black Nickel

 

[troutpocket]

Canadian brown simiseal leech. With a bead if I’m indicator fishing.

 

[Smalma]

Without a doubt if limited to a single fly on stillwaters without any advance hatch information my pick would be a dark olive soft hackle (partridge).

 

[skyriver]

@Wetswinger yep, the events are called a One Fly. Some call them One Fly tournaments and others just call it a One Fly event. They're fun, but yeah, you can be done early if you break off.

For me, it would depend on time of year and type of lake. If it's spring into summer, then I'm stripping a #12 damsel nymph. If it's winter or early spring, then probably a #10 balanced bruised leech under a bobber.
If it's fall, I might have to go with a #8 royal coachman wet or streamer. I'm not doing a winter one fly event.

 

[krusty]

I'd go with an Olive Willy on a stout size 12 hook with a 3X fluoro tippet. They don't ALWAYS work but if they're hitting anything this pattern will usually also produce. Tied with a durable OD chenille and the thread whip finished behind the red glass bead and you've got a very durable fly.

I always start fishing with an Olive Willy and many many times I'm not changing patterns or even needing a new OW even after an extremely productive day.

Hell...I've fished the same Olive Willy on several successive days. I do periodically check the knot and to see if the damn thing needs sharpening.

 

[Zak]

Black Nickel

View attachment 187718

Thanks! One of my favorite things to do is see a fly on here, then try to copy it. Here's my copy (I need restock black nickel beads, this is a Hareline plummeting black ruby bead):

 

[SurfnFish]

Jiggy Beetle...might catch less fish, just so much fun when they smack it on the surface

 

[Porter2]

I’m going with a leech of some kind. Probably an orange:reddish or maybe brass colored headed cone …Black or Olive. These are the flies I use most often when exploring new areas with little info. Hope I don’t snag

 

[Wetswinger]

Thanks! One of my favorite things to do is see a fly on here, then try to copy it. Here's my copy (I need restock black nickel beads, this is a Hareline plummeting black ruby bead):
View attachment 187721

Looks nice. For me the challenge is to make them on the sparse side like yours. The skinny ones just seem to work better..

 

[Stonedfish]

Olive speckled woolly bugger. First saw that particular bugger pattern when Gary at the Morning Hatch in Tacoma was selling them in the 80’s. Speckled brown as well as well.
SF

 

[RRSmith]

When I was a kid spending my summers fishing small streams in Santa Clara County and the backcountry of Yosemite National Park - it was a brown hackle peacock. Now I really like fishing the Jeffery Delia version of a brown woolly worm in both lakes and estuaries. He calls it a wonder worm.

 

[Zak]

Looks nice. For me the challenge is to make them on the sparse side like yours. The skinny ones just seem to work better..

I used to put the body dubbing in a dubbing loop or split thread, but nowadays I just dub it onto the thread like I was building a nymph body and then hit it hard with Velcro. It seems to produce a slimmer body.