Marshall's
Notebook

 Brown Trout caught on a "Green Weenie"

Home - Highlight Gallery - Notebook Archive

 

   Nymphing small streams has always been a favorite of mine ever since I read Joe Humphries' books and watched his videos. Rigging my terminal tackle...leaders, weights, flies, indicators all spaced and balanced so that the nymphs are right near the bottom all takes patience and re-trying until I feel I'm in the zone. What tells me I'm in the zone is, of course, hooking fish. But I have to go fish the stream and find fish moving up first, so I usually start going out in Mid-October, sometimes before the water is "ready". I'll prospect with wooly buggers and deep streamers. Then, when I contact a fish I'll use bead head nymphs, primarily Caddis Larvae...Green Weenies, as they are called by the locals.

As the water cools, I'll start fishing an egg fly as a dropper and later, when the fish are there in larger numbers, I'll fish the egg fly exclusively.

Fishing for Browns on egg flies is challenging and fun. I hope you get to try it sometime if you haven't already.

Here's an Egg Fly Pattern to try;

"Veiled Ovation", sharing the pattern here, so other posters can compare it with the myriad of egg patterns they already tie and what's available.

Bright orange dubbed dot, tied midway on a no. 12 Mustad 80200BR shrimp-caddis hook, surrounded by a veil of strands of Oregon Cheese Glow Bug Yarn. 6 O, clear, monocord thread.

Of course, I did not "invent" this fly, but nevertheless I'mm a little bit proud that I discovered the best part of it all by myself; tied it, and tried it. It's the same fly I tie for N.Y. Steelhead, only a #12. But browns are the same all over. Even here in Maine.

I guess it has the right visability factors, because trout from 12" to 23" see it and, of course, it must have some food triggers built largely by the colors. like it really does look like an egg,however under water, this fly is much brighter, compared to those squirting from the females there. The water there is cloudy, not clear. It has the "right" size, maybe too big compared with the naturals to us, but maybe larger is better to a trout. The fly's viel pulsates in the water, but the real eggs don't, not when I look at naturals move, anyway.

I tried to fish it near the bottom where the real eggs might be.

I lost flies on bottom, in trees (I have photos of tree bass hookups!) I must have lost 12 or 14 flies. But they're cheap. 25 hooks cost $3.25. and the dubbing and yarn....pennies. Cheap fun.
  Visit ROTARYFLYTYING.COM for more tips on tying the egg and many other flies