Flymphs for the Henry's Fork

[Eric Peper]

I haven't been here for a while, but Mataura Mayfly convinced me I should get reinvolved. I hope you don't mind my intruding with a couple of flies.

90% of my fishing is on the Henry's Fork because we have a cabin near there, and because it is my favorite river on the planet. The fish are wild and big and often very difficult, and the haches can be lush. I'm sharing here two flymphs: one that is new this year for the PMD hatch, shown here on a #16 TMC 900BL. I'm anxious to give this one a shot in early June.



and another for the green drake hatch that I used last year for the first time with excellent results. I went to a flymph because just about every time the hatch begins, we are inundated by gulls. Their shadows keep the fish from coming to the top, but they did respond to this fly tied on a Dohiku #10 long shank dryfly hook. The takes on this one were pretty exciting.



Eric

[gingerdun]

Hi Eric,
Intruding? You're funny.
Thanks to Jeff for prodding you to reappear.
Great ties, and the story about the problem with gulls during a hatch is a new one to me.
That second fly is especially stunning.

Lance

[William Anderson]

Eric, it's great to see you back and the flies are spot on. I appreciate the effectiveness of that PMD, but that Greek Drake is really beautiful. So glad you've joined back in and Happy Birthday.

w

[Eric Peper]

Thanks Lance and William. You would not believe the gull problem that has evolved out there. I have no idea how they sense the start of the hatch, but you can watch them move up river anticipating the insects. It occurs primarily during the drakes, but I've also seen it happen on a heavy spinner fall. Almost all of my fish taken during the drake hatches the last couple of years have been to a "damp" fly, either a flymph or a cripple or an emerger. When I do take a fish on a dun imitation it is generally what I call a "hangover" reaction when there are no naturals present on the water, but the memory of them lingers on. The same "hangover" thing happens with salmon flies, 'hoppers and the magnificent honey ants that are there in August.

Eric

[Old Hat]

Very nice looking GD pattern Eric. Those larger insects can be a bit difficult to cover with soft hackled patterns. This is one of the best GD flymphs I've seen. Thanks for sharing both of these and the information. I am heading to the Henry's Fork area in the first half of June this year, this little tidbit of info is welcomed.

[DUBBN]

Glad to see someone else does well with a GD wet. Being that the Green Drakes hatch mostly at night in my neck of the woods, all that is left over in the morning are dead cripples and drowned adults. Big Soft Hackles do fairly well for me. Folks still throw dry's in the day with some success but the rage is casting big bugs at night. I will fish a lake at night, but am a little too scared to wade during high water after dark.

I am happy to see that you returned Mr. Peper.

[Eric Peper]

Regrettably, I have to agree with your comment about wading rivers after dark -- even the relatively docile currents of the Henry's Fork. I know my reluctance and trepidation costs me an awful lot of good opportunities for very big fish during the brown drakes, but I figure a few more years of fishing is worth more than a shot at a 2-foot-plus rainbow. Besides, I've discovered those fish eat during the day too. And some of the stuff they eat is downright tiny!

Eric

[Soft-hackle]

Nice, Eric. Very nice!

Mark

[Mataura mayfly]

Welcome back Eric. If you are going to come back- come back with a bang! Two very nice examples.
The hackle on your second offering looks to be almost of "dry" quality and should give a high riding "top" water fly, I like that idea.

We have similar bird "shadow" problems here, either from red billed gulls- welcome swallows- small terns and the occasional Black Shag (Cormorant). The trout get used to the swallow's but the bigger birds cast a bigger shadow and the Shag's are about the only airborne predator trout have to fear over here.
They are, however, a very good indication of insect life above the water and a hatch happening on a particular stretch of water.

On wading at night, risky business. But the risk can be negated a lot by daylight sorties to nightime positions and forming a mental picture of any obstacles or hazards. In saying that, it is funny how things "change" from how you remember them once the light falls!
Inflation devices like suspenders or vests that inflate with CO2 canisters are a nice safety device if contemplating deeper water, that and leave detailed descriptions and times with somebody who can come looking if you do not return on time.

[Eric Peper]

That's a Charlie Collins dun hen neck on the green drake, Jeff. Beautiful, and as you note, almost dry fly quality -- better in fact than most of those Chinese and Indian rooster necks of a few decades back. Our airborne predators on the Henry's Fork, in addition to gulls, include terns, eagles, ospreys, cormorants, kingfishers, mergansers and, worst of all, pelicans. The funny thing is the gulls and terns focus on insects during the hatch, but will cross over to a fish diet when the bugs are gone.

Eric