I awoke at 4 a.m. on Black Friday in order to get to the Swift before dawn. The morning started with a bit of frustration, as I went one-for-seven with dry flies. Seven takes and one landed, with three fish popping off in the middle of the fight and three missed hook sets. When surface
Category: Flies and fly tying
Fiddling with Soft Hackles
Noted Swift regular Gary often fishes a soft hackle fly. So, that pattern intrigues me. Unfortunately, when I fished them, I was blanked. I’ve often scratched my head and have wondered why. Then, I recently started to tie some of my own. The good news is that those soft hackles are now among the most
Best Practices
I’m fishing the Swift a 1/2 day on Saturday, and so, am tying tonight some nymphs and dries in sizes 22 down to 26. I really enjoy these moments to focus fully on making some small flies. I’m making a bunch of flies that folks say work well at other tailwaters. I make the assumption
15″ Brown Trout with a 4″ Brookie It Coughed Up
I paid a visit to the Swift. I don’t know why Lady Luck recently has come my way, but I again landed about 20 trout. All the fish were healthy, feisty, and released with no complications. A #20 BWO emerger fished as a dry with Frog’s Fanny was very effective. There were five takes in