A famous fly that you dont care for?

This is an interesting subject when you compare the east vs west responses. There was a simular post on a western site and many of the answers were just the opposit of the ones here.

For instance, before I moved to Montana I would have agreed with the Prince being a never use fly. In Montana it is as commonly used as a pt. Buggers, big ones, are a standard here as are stimulators, trudes and royal wulfs. The rainbows really, realy like royal anythings out here.

As for the muddler, I am a bit surprised there. For many years back east the muddler was a go to fly for me. I tied and fished them both weighted and un-weighted and caught lots of fish on them. An extremely effective method to fish an un-weighted muddler is to trail one behind a heavier point fly under an indicator. The un-weighted muddler flutters along the bottom and big browns really seem to like them.

As for a famous pattern that I use very infrequently: for some very strange reson I rarely use a Clouser Minnow. As a streamer fisherman that is strange. However, I have used them a few times recently and my clients did well on them on the lower Big Horn. They are on my to-tie list now.

One of the shop owners near YNP uses a royal trude and a prince dropper almost exclusively, ie way too much. He does however catch a heck of a lot of fish with this rig.
 
scotto wrote:
Royal Wullf - love the Wulff pattern, but it makes more sense and has seemed more effective to me to use in natural colors.
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I feel the same way about the Royal Wulff. However last week Fritz hit a local stream and fished many fishy runs and pools but didn't even see a trout, then He put a Royal Wulff and I a RW parachute on and in 45 minutes we landed 6 trout. It was spooky.
 
If you lived near Middletown and visited Clouser's shop, you know what a pleasant and down-to-earth person he is, and how his suggestions are grounded in deep experience. Yet, despite overwhelming evidence of its effectiveness, I simply don't like the Clouser deep minnow and have no idea why not. The lead eyes, however, are great for many of my other warmwater flies.
 
YOU HATE THE PRINCE!!! THAT'S MY GO TO NYMPH!!!!
(all kidding aside)

I am a fan of the prince nymph. I like how it looks, I tie it pretty well, and I catch a good amout of fish on it, especially steelhead. I also like the HE as I can tie it in any color combo and it is a very general pattern.

I am also on the side of liking the royal wulff for wilds. They float like a cork all day, and have the color to see, and the fish seem to like them.



Now to answer the real question, which patterns I do not like. Count me for another on the Muddler side. Looks stupid, doesn't sink, and I like buggers and other streamers for those situations that one would fish a muddler.

(don't shoot me Jay...)
I'm not a big fan of the Pheasant Tail. I just don't catch many fish on them, and don't fish them confidently. It looks ok, but just don't like the pattern. I have some and tie one on every once in a while, but not my go-to.


Ryan
 
Woolly Buggers. I carry them, and fish them occasionally, but just don’t care for them. Also, I don’t care for any beetle imitation. I have much more luck with a plain old griffith’s gnat.

As for muddlers, I have great success with muddlers.

First, try adding a cone head to add some weight.

Second, when tying, hold the first clump of deer hair in-place on top of the shank and secure it in place. Then cut a second clump and cut the tips off cutting the length in half. Spin this clump around the shank and see how it looks. You want enough hair flare to shape a head but not so much that it is tightly packed or so little that it is full of holes. I always go smaller clumps so I can add additional hair if needed. The reason I cut the tips on the second clump is I don’t want the entire shank wrapped in deer hair and since I am going to cut the bottom tips off anyway, I might as well do it first plus the shorter clumps spins much more easily.
 
I never was fond of the prince nymph and have never had much success with it. I’m not sure if I even have one in my nymph box for trout, although I use them for bluegills a lot. It’s all a matter of what you have confidence in.

I almost always fish multiple flies and you will likely find a HE or a PT nymph on my tippet along with a match-the-hatch type nymph, larva, or pupa. In limestoners I nearly always fish a scud with another fly.

When I first started fishing, I used a muddler and caught fish, but now usually try a wooly bugger first since it can represent a bunch of things to the fish and has an irresistible movement.

I will put my money on the “wrong” fly, presented well, and fished in the right place any time.
 
Afishinado has really summed this up well. As long as we are talking about flies that are in the same size range I will take a well presented "any fly" over any poorly presented fly. I see this end result day after day after day. Presentation is far more important than any particular pattern. IMHO this goes for dries, wets, nymphs and streamers.
 
Can't bring myself to fish scuds and though I almost always have exactly one San Juan worm in my possession, I don't think one has graced my tippet for more than 20 minutes of my entire flyfishing career.
 
Jack,

Would you fish a shrimp pattern in the salt?

If the Bighorn ever makes your bucket list, do yourself a favor and pass on it. :lol: Scud/sjw combo seemed to be the key to the nonstop fish catching. Then again, the bottom was crawling with scuds and tiny red worms.
 
Fishidiot wrote:
Hornberg.
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Gahh!!! You're killin' me Dave! Those are the first fly I ever caught a significant number of trout on and thanks to my tying laziness, led the way to "Maurice's Miracle", Which is one of my go-to flies. As far as popular flies that I don't get, put me down for most dries and all midges. :-D

Boyer

PS: you muddler haters also make me sad :-(
 
Muddler Minnows....hate those things
 
salvelinusfontinalis wrote:
Muddler Minnows....hate those things
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Try hanging one near the top of the water column in a deep, clear native stream. Nothing like bringing a jumper up from the deep.

Boyer
 
OK I give up...whats my miracle?
 
It's just a guess, but probably something similar to the fly that you barked something along the lines of "WTF IS THAT???" at the pine creek jam. :lol:

I'm a believer. It works.
 
jayL wrote:
It's just a guess, but probably something similar to the fly that you barked something along the lines of "WTF IS THAT???" at the pine creek jam. :lol:

I'm a believer. It works.
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What Jay said. It's nothing more than brown saddle hackle with a lemon wood duck tuft for a tail on streamer hook. I thought you knew I named it after you. LOL. Shakey calls it "that Maurice fly" I believe.

Boyer
 
Cool thread. Man, lots of people hatin' on the prince nymph. I loves me a BH prince...now the zug bug, on the the other hand...seems like a waste of my Alexandra peacock sword to me...
-Dave
 
Great post Ernie! I'd have to agree with JayL's notion on the traditional winged Wets. Soft Hackles are a perfect substitute and definately easier to tie.

The Prince has a place in my box, but my success with it is less than I'd prefer. It doesn't quite live up to the hype for me, but I know lots of guys love that fly. Pheasant Tails on the other hand are very consistent for me, and I love to tie them.
 
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