m&M: - Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

I HE fly fishermen has the wonderful opportunity of havln
g his favorite trout stream all to himself on opening day
' •• as a fly fishermen . . . almost everyone else there will
De
using worms. An extremely high percentage of the
tr
°ut's diet is made up from various forms of aquatic life.
Although we see many worms found in the trout stream,
w
orms are not a form of aquatic life and when found in the
stream, the worms are undergoing a process commonly
known as drowning. Some worms, previous to entering
tne
water, have been first stabbed to death.
Worm users catch a lot of fish on opening day, but the
an
gler who carefully presents artificial flies, matching the
gout's diet, can catch fish on that same day too. Listed
below are four flies which a group of friends and myself
*J av e found particularly successful during the first few
a
ys of Pennsylvania's trout season.
The first is called the Ross Fly. We would have liked
° have been able to name this fly by another name, but on
" e night we "invented" this model, the only one who had
tl, e
material available for the idea was Ross. Contrary to
w
hat I said about artificial flies matching the trout's diet
are
the ones to use, this fly does not. The Ross Fly is
Probably the only fly tied with, I am almost ashamed, the
ea
of its ending up looking like a salmon egg.
This fly is simply natural wool, which has been first
yed a deep pink, applied to a number twelve hook in the
0r
m of dubbing. That's all! Lacking a tail, wings and
^ckle I am not even sure if one could call this a fly. But,
. he Ross Fly bouncing along a stream bottom during openln
g day is a very deadly thing. It can be tied either with
Wnit
e or black thread and often we have found that one
c
°lor would be better than another. This fly does not fall
the hook as easily as that which it is imitating and it
Ure
can be a real saver for the fly purist who is at his
ts
end on opening day.
There are dozens of variations of the age old favorite
"p," • the Coachman. This fly is thought to have been in
n
gland as early as 1835, although some believe this pattern
°° es back thirty years before Bosworth's time. Two varia-
,0
ns of this theme which are widely used by Pennsylvania's
n
g'ers are the Leadwing and Royal Coachman. The
° a chman is an excellent fly for the first day and works
0r
>ders on lake-living brook trout. The other two coach-
. arj s, the Leadwing and Royal come in to their own later
U
*e season.
j ne standard Coachman seems best during opening
. ' in size twelves to as large as number eight. The fly
*"*d with a body of bronze peacock herl and a tag of
^°. d flat tinsel. Hackle is red-brown hen's hackle tied wet.
, ln gs are usually cut from matching pairs of mallard
t c * s wings and tied wet with the white side out. I like
.j, tie some of my Coachmans with white bucktail wings.
* hucktail holds up better and adds a little more action.
i he third fly is one which has been in a great many fly
Xe
s down through the years and has been in a lot more
re° ut 's jaws than fly boxes. The Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear
s Pres ents to fishermen and fish alike, many of the different
tr l° leS °^ a( l uat ' c insects found in the trout stream. It is
j i y a hot pattern during the first days of the season and
° w one elderly veteran of the trout streams who uses
nothing else. Claims if he can't catch them on a Gold-
Ribbed Hare's Ear, the trout just are not hitting. He is
usually right.
The tail of this fly is tied with hackle fibers from either
wood duck, mallard or grizzly. The body is of the same
material as is its name, fur from a hare's ear which is
dubbed in place. The body is then ribbed with fine flat
gold wire. Wings of this fly are cut from the wing feathers
of either a gray duck's or wood duck's wings and tied wet.
The hackle is made up from unplucked rabbit's hair. This
fly is usually best early in the season tied in sizes twelve
and ten. As the season progresses and waters become
lower, clearer; move down to the smaller sizes like fourteens
and sixteens and keep on taking trout with this same
pattern right through the season. The nice thing about the
Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear is that the more ragged and
chewed it gets, the more trout seem to like it.
Last of the four is one of the deadliest of all flies, especially
for big trout. The White Marabou Streamer probably
accounts for the creeling of more monstrous trout
each year, than through the use of any other single fly.
A White Marabou can attract lots of attention when
streams are high and muddy as many times they are
during the first few weeks of the season. Marabou fibers
work wonders on trout but to have it work wonders, the
fisherman must get this streamer down where the trout are.
For Pennsylvania's water, a 3X long shanked number
eight hook is a favorite size to use in tying the White
Marabou Streamer. This fly is often tied with a thin lead
wire base to help get it down where the big ones live. The
normal body is added over this lead base and it consists of
a flat silver tinsel body with a ribbing of oval tinsel of the
same color. Wing is white marabou fibers and should be
tied quite heavy since once the marabou fibers become
wet they pack into a very small size. This fly has a topping
of five strands peacock herl and its hackle, tied wet,
is scarlet. Two jungle cock eyes for cheeks complete the
fly. The limpness of marabou fibers makes it a perfect
material for the fly fishermen. Moving through the water
in short pumping jerks, this streamer seems to breath and
in the hands of expert, the marabou can act more "alive"
than the aquatic life which it imitates.
The four patterns listed here produce fish all through the
year, but these patterns are especially noted for their effectiveness
during the first days of early season. It would be
wise to carry these patterns in both smaller and larger sizes
as well as the sizes which have been recommended here.
And also not a bad bet, particularly on opening day, is
to have a couple of each of these flies tied with weighted
bodies. No matter how effective a fly may be, it can not
catch fish unless it is operated where the fish are and
second, acts in the manner as its natural counterpart.
Try these four patterns on opening day. They can suddenly
change the peace and solitude you hope to find on
the stream into a real battle April 17, 1965. An amazing
amount of Pennsylvania trout have read this article and
will be acting accordingly.
By the way, if any readers have found a way to tie
a fly which imitates a worm, I would appreciate hearing
about it.
APR «~1965 13