Only one fly for December
If you were only allowed one trout pattern to fish for the month of December, what would it be?
That's a tough one, because I would want a midge, a caddis larva, an egg fly, a stonefly and a scud, but I can only pick one. It would probably have to come down to the midge and the egg, and I guess I would grudgingly have to go with the egg, mainly due to past success everywhere I used it. The midge would be my 2nd choice though. I'm guessing Juice is going to go with a red San Juan Worm, Aaron an egg fly.
Re: Only one fly for December
Nymphmeister,
What size and color egg ?
Regards,
FK
Re: Only one fly for December
Small, probably on a #16 hook and tied about 1/4" in diameter. Color- you are gonna make me choose only one? Bastard! Hmmm, I dunno, maybe something in a yellow to cream color, like Oregon cheese or egg, or a paler orange color like apricot. In the McFlyfoam maybe lite yellow or some shade of paler orange or pinkish-orange. Over the years Oregon cheese and egg have been my two most consistent, productive colors on trout. Oregon has hands down caught the most Steelhead for me.
Re: Only one fly for December
a sculpin...
after the spawn.. them big boys wants meat.. not a little snack...
or a egg sucking sculpin... :o :o :o ::)
Re: Only one fly for December
Leonard-
Try a live Sculpin, they work even better I hear! Lol.
Re: Only one fly for December
I tried that once...
That little SOB.. would not suck on the egg while I was putting him on the hook...
so I tossed him in the water and a big brown came up.. out of now where and ate him...
if only he would have held on to the egg...
Re: Only one fly for December
I dont know what fly because I have never really fly fished all winter before Like i want to this year
Mike
Re: Only one fly for December
Re: Only one fly for December
Red San Juan Worm for sure!
Re: Only one fly for December
I figured Justin would say that but if it were the summer months i would good with the RS2
Re: Only one fly for December
Its hard to narrow your fly selection to one fly during any season. I will narrow it down to eight ;D
If the river that you are going to fish is on the high and muddy side, I would have eggs and Juan Worms.
For similar conditions on freestone streams or the Farmington, I would thrown a size 8 golden stonefly in there.
For rivers that are low and clear, I would be using a caddis larvae (there are tons of these on the rocks in the winter)
I would also use midges of various colors, with the two most important colors being red and black.
Also, on the rivers in our area that have limestone influence and the correct ph, scuds and sow bugs are a must have. Remember to size these flies up appropriately to the water level. Higher water larger flies, When the water is lower use smaller flies.
Later in the winter as we get closer to the spring, make sure to start using nymphs that are representative of the hatches that are going to take place. BWO nymphs and brown mayfly nymphs are great producers in the late winter.
Sorry guys, I could not narrow it down to one fly because of the many different types of rivers that I fish.
Re: Only one fly for December
For the Housy, I'd have to decide between eggs or golden stones. I guess I'd end up going with the eggs.
For the Farmington, definitely midges.
Good thing Aaron wouldn't narrow it down, the more info the better!
Steve
Re: Only one fly for December
I still say sculpins...
Last night:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...K73/brown2.jpg
sculpins, sculpins, sculpins!!!
Re: Only one fly for December
I'd have to go with a stonefly for any river all winter. It will catch steelhead and trout and will be present and somewhat active in most rivers.
Re: Only one fly for December
Good discussion guys.
Aaron, you cheated and named 8, bad Aaron. Spankies for you. Wait, that probaly wouldn't be punishment for you...
Slo- no particular stream, just trout streams in general. I think everyone is going to answer according to the places they fish regularly. You can specify a stream or streams if you want.
If I was going to "cheat" like Aaron and name more than one, I'd add 3 more to my original group of 5 (that I cut down to one):
-a Hare's Ear (prob about a #16, but bigger or smaller according to the water conditions & the food base in the specific stream)
-a SJ Worm (fl. pink, red, worm brown, 2-tone, fl. orange)
-an all purpose/generic dark brown mayfly nymph (#14-18, whatever your favorite is, specific pattern is not critical- think size/color/presentation). Could imitate all sorts of mayflies as well as smaller, darker stones.
Re: Only one fly for December
OK, A size 14 golden stone.
Re: Only one fly for December
this is a hard one ! I like sculpin patterns ,but on a nice day I head for size 22 griff knats they fool them everytime ! And almost every place Ive fished ! If I see a big boy though I got to wait and see if he is feeding on the surface for that otherwise ,got to go woith the sculpin or a dark stonefly nymph,cause they are about to hatch in the winter! Oh a back up top water is a stimulator ,ahhhh there are to many, you just cant have one thats like trying to decide eggs or bacon or cereal!
Re: Only one fly for December
Slo-
Do you simply your Golden Stones when you go to smaller sizes such as the #14 you mention?
Re: Only one fly for December
Glad you included the worm, you know it's the best.
Re: Only one fly for December
Juice, I wonder what Freud would have said about your worm fixation....
Re: Only one fly for December
[quote author=Nymphmeister link=topic=1093.msg6944#msg6944 date=1197848851]
Slo-
Do you simply your Golden Stones when you go to smaller sizes such as the #14 you mention?
[/quote]
No, I do everything the same, but with smaller materials.
I tried to create a link to my FOTM page with the Golden Stone, but the link is dead. When you go to this archive page and click on April FOTM "Golden Stone", the link dont work. It appears to be the only dead link, I'm feelin a little dissed :'( Juice, you still mad at me for the Utah post? ???
http://www.troutpredator.com/Aaron's...20Articles.htm
Smaller lead, smaller hen hackle, and a finer thread rib, otherwise the same.
Re: Only one fly for December
I will call him tonight. It'll be fixed. That is weird that its the only one that does not work. No hard feelings ;)
