I fished the Swift for about four hours and landed nine trout, all on nymphs. Lost two others. A total surprise, as I had low expectations. Nearly all of the 11 trout took a Hare’s Ear variant, size 18. I caught fish both above and below Rt. 9. I was the eighth car in the
Variants
Part of the fun about fly tying, for me, is making variants. I will tweak a pattern to give it a slightly different look. A tweak can be major or minor, but can help attract trout I don’t think it matters much for most waters. But, it has made a big difference for me when
Chomping on Stoneflies
During the recent warm spell, I hit a very local freestone a few times and had good luck finding brown trout, even when the water was down to 33 °F. A big surprise. A key fly has been the Hare’s Ear. Let me explain. I stomach-pumped a trout during one outing, and it was full
A Small Price to Pay
I fished in 20 °F. weather and the water measured at 33 °F. I could last for only 90 minutes before I lost the feeling in my legs. But, with even colder weather on tap in the coming days, I wanted to get out there. I managed to land three browns. The biggest was about