Your most productive fly of 2021

Best flies for numbers of trout this year:

Prince Nymph until caddis started to show, then was a
Partridge and Orange
 
Fished Pine Creek Monday thru Thursday this week. Used a Grey Fox dry with a Grey Fox emerger tied off the bend almost exclusively. Had a great week, quite a few fish in the 15" to 20" range. About evenly split between dry and emerger. Most takes on the emerger were at the end of the drift when I gave it a little action. Hardly had to change flies or add tippet all week. However, Thursday evening the Menu changed and I was too slow to adapt.

 
size 14 and 16 Hare's Ear; size 16 and 18 pink Frenchie; CDC Loop Emerger patterns is my favorite dry during mayfly hatches; CDC Caddis has worked well when caddis were out;
 
I would have to go with a caddis as my winner for the year with the most fish caught. But, given one fly in my box it would be a rusty brown spinner as the most versatile dry fly.
 
Small chartreuse deceiver. But only because I use it on the small pond in the development on many evenings.
Relaxing to just go out and cast to panfish after a day in the office.
 
Just recently catching good numbers on #16 blow torch, Plus yesterday I got one on top with my avatar
 
Last 2-3 years, it's been a toss up between the x-caddis and Harrops caddis emerger. A lot of times I'll fish at tandem dry rig and when those two go over them, it's a high percentage eat and it could be either one.

Ask me the same question again in about a week through the end of October and the answer would be ISO
 
Swattie87 wrote:
For the guys fishing the wet soft hackles...Are you primarily swinging it during pre-emergence periods? Anything else in particular you’re doing? I’d like to get into fishing those more. I really struggled to get takes and hookups this year during the Sulphurs. Contemplated trying a wet soft hackle, but never committed to it.
Click to expand...

I've been fishing soft hackles this year more than any year prior. When bugs are popping off the water and you're seeing rises, I've done extremely well swinging them through some fast currents. 2 weeks ago on the Little J I was absolutely demolishing fish by swinging a sulfur soft hackle through shallow riffles..it was nearly every cast a fish was eating it.

When the flies are laying eggs I've been doing well on them, too..on the swing. There it looks like one that got caught in the current and is struggling getting swept downstream (I'm assuming.)

If I don't want to change flies and go right to nymphing, fishing em tight and close under an indy has been working well, too. I have a lot of faith in prince nymphs, so if I'm going to change tactics I'll often have the soft hackle and a prince on..I will fish that pair of flies deep under am indicator or swing em. The only downside is that fish have crushed it so hard on the swing on a tightline that I've lost a few fish on 5x tippet that hammered if and were gone. Either a weak spot or a faulty knot, oh well.

 
Swattie87 wrote:
For the guys fishing the wet soft hackles...Are you primarily swinging it during pre-emergence periods? Anything else in particular you’re doing? I’d like to get into fishing those more. I really struggled to get takes and hookups this year during the Sulphurs. Contemplated trying a wet soft hackle, but never committed to it.
Click to expand...

Fishing soft hackle wets can be a very productive way to fish. I’ve gained a lot of confidence in it over the years. I usually fish a 3 fly leader with the top two flies tied off of 4-6” droppers clinch knotted to dropper loops. I keep changing my method until I figure out exactly the way the fish want it at that particular time. Sometimes it’s the classic down and across and swinging it (constant mending slows the flies down equally more takes). Sometimes it works better with a dead drift fished upstream, strip them fast and quick, strip them long and slow, bumping the rod with your line hand also produces extra takes at times. Then there is those times where they only seem to want it hanging full drag straight downstream with a little twitch every now and then, it never really makes sense to me why this works but it does at times. I usually discover this while I am digging around in my flybox looking for a new pattern to put on and my line and wet fly leader is dangling in the current straight downstream from me and I feel the pressure of the rod in the crook of my arm as a fish hooks itself. If the bugs are active and the fish actively feeding up in the water column fishing soft hackle wet flies is definitely a method you should try out.
 
Thanks all for sharing. What I've determined is that it's most probably confidence and water specific. Lots of great ideas to add to my tying list, too.
 
From reading this post it seems maybe the fly is less important than the presentation. That's the only conclusion with so many fishermen using so many different flies.
 
Guides Choice Hares Ear Nymph.
 
BH sexy walt's worm with orange hot spot have produced for me on every body of water this year across conditions. Pink SJJs on rainy days have been killer as well.
 
So far, a size 6 shad fly and a size 8 clouser swimming nymph. Crushed the hickories on the shad fly and yanked about 15 browns and rainbows from a stillwater on the swimming nymph over the course of a couple hours.

Regarding soft hackles, I got my best trout of the year swinging a partridge and tan

 
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