Sam's Upper Pond Special

[letumgo]

[letumgo]

Doug - Can you give us the history and describe how you fish this fly? I can update the pattern name, or leave it "Doug's Fly".

[Variant]

Doug,
Beautiful fly!
Lou

[DOUGSDEN]

Hi Ray and Everyone!
Let's change the name to "Sam's Upper Pond Special"! I would be glad to post the recipe, how I fish it, and a history of this way too effective but simple pattern! Thanks Ray! Coming soon!
Doug

[SenecaLaker]

Great fly Doug. Let's see some of the slabs you've landed with it. We recently bought a place on a river/lake system that's full of gills and will definitely tie a few to try it out.

Dave

[DOUGSDEN]

Good Morning Fella's,
I apologize for not getting back sooner about some details for Sam's UPS. Here is a brief history of this pattern and a complicated recipe!
This is one of two patterns that I have actually created to match a hatch in one of our local ponds! The other is a hopper pattern that I tailored to our local beast's! More about that later!
Sam was my wife's uncle who owned a farm on our ridge (I drove by it everyday!) which contained two small ponds! They were separated by perhaps 100 yards of woods and pasture but, they were at times different as night and day! Sam and his wife Janet were always so welcoming to us (me mostly) to fish both waters but wanted me to "catch and release". No problem!
I always fished each pond most frequently in the fall, October and on into November depending on the weather. Summertime was excellent but there is something about fall fishing. I took a trip one Autumn afternoon and started on the Upper Pond. I found Bluegill stacked at roughly the mid-line of the pond feeding just slightly sub-surface and feeding well! I could not figure it out. I went to the lower end (the dam) and caught a few small stone flies in my had. I sat down in the dirt and watched as some very small stones rose off the surface and disappeared! I popped open my wet fly box (at that time one, now many) and found a couple Iron Blue Wets, added some 7x to my leader, tied one on, and did pretty well before darkness fell! 8-9-10" fish near the surface and falling to my Iron Blue! I felt great!
When I returned a couple days later, I had a few "Specials" at the ready and found the same situation going on with the fish strung out over deep water laying waste to the tiny stones! When I left that evening, I felt even better because the Specials performed better than the Iron Blues! It has been this way now for 25 years or more!

[letumgo]

Wonderful! I really love reading about the circumstances which lead to the development of this pattern, and how you were able to put the fly to such good use.

Question - Do you use barbless hooks for this pattern, or barbed. I still tend to fish barbed hooks, but know that pan fish can be difficult to unhook with barbed hooks (they quickly and deeply swallow smaller flies). I'd be curious to hear your experience and if you can offer any words of wisdom.

I look forward to seeing the recipe too.

Great post Doug.

[DOUGSDEN]

The recipe......
Hook: Originally they were tied on Tiemco's 102Y which is a great dry fly hook and great for tying emergers like this pattern. I switched to several other brands and styles! Mustad 94840, Daiichi 1720, etc. Any 2x or 3x long dryfly hook (for me, the pattern looks more like the natural using the 3x long hook!) will do fine! Sizes 16 or18 work good!
Thread: Giorgio Benecchi 12/0 black
Body: Any black or very dark gray hurls (4) from a goose or Moskovie (spelling?) duck wing primary
Hackle: Moorhen upper wing covert to size tied in by the tip and folded wet fly style with one side of the feather trimmed off! The trimmed off side becomes the leading edge of wound hackle! It seems a shame to trim off a Moorhen hackle (or any hackle for that matter) but there is a marked difference in appearance when the fly is finished!
Rib: The waste or tag end of the thread left long and then wound forward once the hurls are secured! Counter wound seems the best!
Head Cement: Yes! In various spots during the construction of pattern especially where the hurls end at the front of the fly!

[letumgo]

Hackle: Moorhen upper wing covert to size tied in by the tip and folded wet fly style with one side of the feather trimmed off! The trimmed off side becomes the leading edge of wound hackle! It seems a shame to trim off a Moorhen hackle (or any hackle for that matter) but there is a marked difference in appearance when the fly is finished!

Those are the little details I find interesting, and often explain why one person's flies look the way they do. Sometimes it is these little details that make all the difference.

Thanks Doug.

[DOUGSDEN]

Ooops! One too many postings! Ray, please take one of them away! Thanks!
To answer your question....I leave the barbs on my hooks up generally. I do eventually smash the barbs down with my pliers as the day rolls along! I have noticed that bigger fish (not only Bluegill but especially them) will unhook themselves by doing a power dive straight away from the pull of the leader! They are smart! I've had this happen on several occasions & I have to laugh at myself because of it!