Ramblings of a Hackle Junkie
Check out the Tungsten Bead Soft Hackle Dark in the Fly Pattern section of the site. This is one hell of a bug. I usually fish it size #12 on a TMC 3761 nymph hook. Here is the skinny on this fly. The deeper you fish a soft hackle, the fewer fish you catch, but the size goes up.
I stopped by the Riverhouse very early in April during a rare 80 degree day. Word was that there were Hendricksons on the Manistee. Gad! Not yet. If that continues there might be Hex for Opener. Sorry, just kidding.
As you wade the AuSable this spring or any other water that has spawning Rainbows, be sure to wade around the light gravel. Chances are you will be wading around a bed. Sometimes it takes weeks for the eggs to hatch and the alvin to absorb their yoke sack before leaving the bed for shallower water and cover. I am convinced that a large number of Rainbow trout beds in the AuSable are inadvertently destroyed by wading anglers. Watch where you are wading.
The next fly on the Fly Patterns page will be Rusty’s Laid-Back Dun. This is a great alternative to a parachute (although you don’t really need one). Rusty was the first to tie this type of hackled fly many years ago. Let’s just say that it was “borrowed”, claimed and published by others. Gator was a great tier.
Yippee Tie One On!