Arron, I'm in your camp too. Every piece of water requires a different presentation. I find the soft hackles work in most situations with a different presentation. They represent nymphs, emergers, cripples, spinners, drowns, etc. So fish the SH in the manner that the water requires and by the behavior of a given insect, in it's given stage, on that particular piece of water. You don't have that option with many other types of flies. How many ways can you fish a Chernobyl Ant?
w
Plain Silk Body's
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William Anderson
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Re: Plain Silk Body's
"A man should not try to eliminate his complexes, but rather come into accord with them. They are ultimately what directs his conduct in the world." Sigmund Freud.
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Soft-hackle
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Re: Plain Silk Body's
I agree, Aaron. That's the true beauty of the flies-their versatility.
Mark
Mark
"I have the highest respect for the skilled wet-fly fisherman, as he has mastered an art of very great difficulty.” Edward R. Hewitt
http://www.libstudio.com/FS&S
http://www.libstudio.com/FS&S
Re: Plain Silk Body's
Mike , I've read through most of your stuff here on spiders, and to be honest the more I read the more understand and the more frigging confused I get. 
Drys and nymphs are kinda okayish to understand - there is enough photo stuff on the net to allow you to at least comprehend that the profile of you hares ear nymph or PTN matches whats in the water, dries ditto.
I can only describe from what Ive read of spider fishing as the equivalent of integration in mathematics. I recall doing differntial equations many moons ago, you worked logical paths, applied the methods and got a result. Then came Integration, now that separated the everage from the good student, for most integration problems you followed a certain logic but for some you needed to apply a liberal dose of what only be described as black magic, without the third eye these were unsolvable.
Methinks there is no short cuts to really successful spider fishing - it would appear that without solid hours at the vice, donkey loads of research, time and money spent accuiring quality materials, and lots off onstream time that its potentially a long process to become even seriously average. Anyone want a loan of wife and 6 kids for a few years
Drys and nymphs are kinda okayish to understand - there is enough photo stuff on the net to allow you to at least comprehend that the profile of you hares ear nymph or PTN matches whats in the water, dries ditto.
I can only describe from what Ive read of spider fishing as the equivalent of integration in mathematics. I recall doing differntial equations many moons ago, you worked logical paths, applied the methods and got a result. Then came Integration, now that separated the everage from the good student, for most integration problems you followed a certain logic but for some you needed to apply a liberal dose of what only be described as black magic, without the third eye these were unsolvable.
Methinks there is no short cuts to really successful spider fishing - it would appear that without solid hours at the vice, donkey loads of research, time and money spent accuiring quality materials, and lots off onstream time that its potentially a long process to become even seriously average. Anyone want a loan of wife and 6 kids for a few years
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Soft-hackle
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- Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:23 am
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Re: Plain Silk Body's
Otter,
It can be involved or as simple as you want it to be. It depends upon how deep you want to wade into it. I know lots of fishermen that fish the fly ONLY utilizing the most fundamental wet fly techniques. Doing this these flies catch fish. The more techniques you master, however, the more fish you will take and the more conditions you'll be able to fish. Take it a little at a time. Start with the simpler techniques, but while you fish these, you continue to build your repertoire.
Mark
It can be involved or as simple as you want it to be. It depends upon how deep you want to wade into it. I know lots of fishermen that fish the fly ONLY utilizing the most fundamental wet fly techniques. Doing this these flies catch fish. The more techniques you master, however, the more fish you will take and the more conditions you'll be able to fish. Take it a little at a time. Start with the simpler techniques, but while you fish these, you continue to build your repertoire.
Mark
"I have the highest respect for the skilled wet-fly fisherman, as he has mastered an art of very great difficulty.” Edward R. Hewitt
http://www.libstudio.com/FS&S
http://www.libstudio.com/FS&S
Re: Plain Silk Body's
[quote="Mike
It would grieve me more than somewhat to think that my writing had discouraged anybody from doing these things, I know how much pleasure I get from them, and have also learned a great deal as a direct result of engaging in them. Don't try to grasp or implement all the information at once, and remember that it is the result of a lifetime's experience. Just go fishing, and see what happens.................[/quote]
Mike, quite the reverse, your writings really challenge one to not simply tie or buy a few patterns, lash them to a leader and see what happens. When it comes to fishing I like to know or at least have a resonable understanding of what should work in particular circumstances. Without that tentative knowledge as a starting point or a foundation it would be quite difficult and extremely time consuming to develop a set of skills that would provide consistent results.
Any opinions anyone on preference of pattern or approach for Iron Blues...
which reminds me, what is the preffered snipe hackle for the snipe and purple with a view to using them for iron blues.
There seems to be quite a variance on the upper coverts between the few snipe wings that I possess, under coverts seen pretty similar on all of them.
Thanks to all that have taken the time to provide info.....
It would grieve me more than somewhat to think that my writing had discouraged anybody from doing these things, I know how much pleasure I get from them, and have also learned a great deal as a direct result of engaging in them. Don't try to grasp or implement all the information at once, and remember that it is the result of a lifetime's experience. Just go fishing, and see what happens.................[/quote]
Mike, quite the reverse, your writings really challenge one to not simply tie or buy a few patterns, lash them to a leader and see what happens. When it comes to fishing I like to know or at least have a resonable understanding of what should work in particular circumstances. Without that tentative knowledge as a starting point or a foundation it would be quite difficult and extremely time consuming to develop a set of skills that would provide consistent results.
Any opinions anyone on preference of pattern or approach for Iron Blues...
which reminds me, what is the preffered snipe hackle for the snipe and purple with a view to using them for iron blues.
There seems to be quite a variance on the upper coverts between the few snipe wings that I possess, under coverts seen pretty similar on all of them.
Thanks to all that have taken the time to provide info.....
Re: Plain Silk Body's
Thanks Mike, much appreciated.
Nice to have confirmed what I suspected to be the case. I know of a few anglers that use Jackdaw Scalps for Iron Blues and wondered would dark Starling should not be just as effective. I'll tie up a few of each, and pray for an oppurtunity to use them.
My local river still enjoys some reasonable hatches of Iron Blues. I recall One day last April fishing a friendly club competition, and witnessed the whole stretch of river come alive slowly at first as a few LDO's came off, then a cresendo of rises to a very concentrated hatch of iron blues, a then long taper off to the LDO's. I failed miserably for the period that they really latched onto the Iron Blues , as far as I could tell they were taking just subsurface. My next experience was in early may on a completely different stretch many miles upstream, a less prolific hatch and managed quite a few on a size 20 black shuttlecock style fly that I generally used for smutters. There is something magical about the spring hatches when a completely dead river comes to life all be it sometimes only for twenty minutes, though I recall one day last season when I witnessed a really prolific hatch of LDO's, the hatch lasting from about 12 pm to 4pm and the trout responded as though they were in a eat as much as you can for $10 type restaurant.
Nice to have confirmed what I suspected to be the case. I know of a few anglers that use Jackdaw Scalps for Iron Blues and wondered would dark Starling should not be just as effective. I'll tie up a few of each, and pray for an oppurtunity to use them.
My local river still enjoys some reasonable hatches of Iron Blues. I recall One day last April fishing a friendly club competition, and witnessed the whole stretch of river come alive slowly at first as a few LDO's came off, then a cresendo of rises to a very concentrated hatch of iron blues, a then long taper off to the LDO's. I failed miserably for the period that they really latched onto the Iron Blues , as far as I could tell they were taking just subsurface. My next experience was in early may on a completely different stretch many miles upstream, a less prolific hatch and managed quite a few on a size 20 black shuttlecock style fly that I generally used for smutters. There is something magical about the spring hatches when a completely dead river comes to life all be it sometimes only for twenty minutes, though I recall one day last season when I witnessed a really prolific hatch of LDO's, the hatch lasting from about 12 pm to 4pm and the trout responded as though they were in a eat as much as you can for $10 type restaurant.
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flyfishwithme
Re: Plain Silk Body's
Very good mike, I like it.
Re: Plain Silk Body's
There's a post to uplift ones spirits , though for the life of me I cannot see why you would fear to post it.
To quote from one a bit more gifted with the pen than most.
Horatio:
O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!
Hamlet:
And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
That some anglers possess an uncanny ability to do the right thing at the right time is no less strange than those that consistently get it wrong.
I would not pretend to have been visited by the fairies and have received a magic blessing for if I have I think they may have got the spell slightly wrong.
One thing I can say with absolute certainty is that on some occasions when I visit the river I know I will do well, and others where conditions look perfect I know its going to be hard work, and rarely is this sixth sense wrong. Though often whilst fishing aimlessly, with little rising and few offers, the mind much distracted suddenly you will start from some irrational impulse to concentrate. The water in front of you will no longer appear barren, and within minutes you will spot an occasional rise and a few fish may come to hand. This has happened to me too many times for me to deem such an event as coincidence.
I suspect that we all possess an ability to tune into the natural world and that some have senses that are more finely tuned than others. Too often I have sat at work and a sudden sense that this would be a perfect time to be on the water envelops and distracts the mind only later to be told by a fishing friend that they were out and had a really successful afternoon.
leaving the fairies aside there is little doubt that hard work will give yield rewards.....and should you have the "touch" and combine it with endevour the sky is the limit.
To quote from one a bit more gifted with the pen than most.
Horatio:
O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!
Hamlet:
And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
That some anglers possess an uncanny ability to do the right thing at the right time is no less strange than those that consistently get it wrong.
I would not pretend to have been visited by the fairies and have received a magic blessing for if I have I think they may have got the spell slightly wrong.
One thing I can say with absolute certainty is that on some occasions when I visit the river I know I will do well, and others where conditions look perfect I know its going to be hard work, and rarely is this sixth sense wrong. Though often whilst fishing aimlessly, with little rising and few offers, the mind much distracted suddenly you will start from some irrational impulse to concentrate. The water in front of you will no longer appear barren, and within minutes you will spot an occasional rise and a few fish may come to hand. This has happened to me too many times for me to deem such an event as coincidence.
I suspect that we all possess an ability to tune into the natural world and that some have senses that are more finely tuned than others. Too often I have sat at work and a sudden sense that this would be a perfect time to be on the water envelops and distracts the mind only later to be told by a fishing friend that they were out and had a really successful afternoon.
leaving the fairies aside there is little doubt that hard work will give yield rewards.....and should you have the "touch" and combine it with endevour the sky is the limit.
Re: Plain Silk Body's
One of the first fishing stories that I heard many years ago concerned a long established fishing shop , the better type shop you know, where the better class angler made sure the mahogany counters had a permanent gleam.
One regular not so well pursed angler visited each week to purchase a single fly. He was renowned for his catching abilities, and came to be christened as the Magician by one of the shops owners. And so he grew in stature and mystique till the legend became much greater than the man. Each day he visited, the box containing his preferred and only fly was laid ceremoniously on the counter. He would deftly sort through the flies until a half dozen or so were laid in a small pile, and often had a small audience as he did so. Each from the pile was examined in great detail, held to the light, often he would walk to the front door so he could better examine it in daylight.
Having made his selection he lit a cigarette, after a strong pull , he then blew on the tip till it glowed strongly, he then proceeded to singe the fly. Satisfied with his work he would pull a coin from his sparse purse and pay for the fly and bid all a good day. On leaving the shop the assembled audience would rush to the counter and try and grab the remaining flies he had left in a small pile. It is said that many offered what for him would have been serious money for the method of burning the fly but he always replied that he had made a pact with the devil and could not reveal its secret.
Many many years later the shop owner revealed the reason that he called him the magician. He had come to notice that his stocks of that particular fly never matched the difference between the number he purchased and the number he sold. Eventually he realised that the old codger was somehow pocketing quite a few each time he went through his little fly picking ceremony. For many years he watched and watched but could never quite see how he did it, and even if he had he would have said nought for the sales of that fly were beyond belief. It was also said that nearly every trout angler in the locality smoked.
If you fish a certain river on a moonlit night and get a waft of cigarette smoke on the gentle breeze, and hear trout fighting an unseen rod, go home for you will catch nought whilst the magican and his friend the devil ply their craft......
One regular not so well pursed angler visited each week to purchase a single fly. He was renowned for his catching abilities, and came to be christened as the Magician by one of the shops owners. And so he grew in stature and mystique till the legend became much greater than the man. Each day he visited, the box containing his preferred and only fly was laid ceremoniously on the counter. He would deftly sort through the flies until a half dozen or so were laid in a small pile, and often had a small audience as he did so. Each from the pile was examined in great detail, held to the light, often he would walk to the front door so he could better examine it in daylight.
Having made his selection he lit a cigarette, after a strong pull , he then blew on the tip till it glowed strongly, he then proceeded to singe the fly. Satisfied with his work he would pull a coin from his sparse purse and pay for the fly and bid all a good day. On leaving the shop the assembled audience would rush to the counter and try and grab the remaining flies he had left in a small pile. It is said that many offered what for him would have been serious money for the method of burning the fly but he always replied that he had made a pact with the devil and could not reveal its secret.
Many many years later the shop owner revealed the reason that he called him the magician. He had come to notice that his stocks of that particular fly never matched the difference between the number he purchased and the number he sold. Eventually he realised that the old codger was somehow pocketing quite a few each time he went through his little fly picking ceremony. For many years he watched and watched but could never quite see how he did it, and even if he had he would have said nought for the sales of that fly were beyond belief. It was also said that nearly every trout angler in the locality smoked.
If you fish a certain river on a moonlit night and get a waft of cigarette smoke on the gentle breeze, and hear trout fighting an unseen rod, go home for you will catch nought whilst the magican and his friend the devil ply their craft......
Re: Plain Silk Body's
Mike!
Great reading your words! So many with whom I have fished with, or simply near, can be observed fighting what comes natural to others! I truly agree that there are days; sometimes only moments, that 'the click' happens; all comes together. The true magic is realizing the parts of the whole! Knowing that it can present itself in a endless day of catch... or that single fish that took so long.... or just as well, the magic is hidden through that long day, on familiar waters where nothing, this time, works! But then, that I can walk out with the same pleasures in my mind, and thank the Lord for the riches he has allowed me!
That is Fly Fishing!
FliTrap
Great reading your words! So many with whom I have fished with, or simply near, can be observed fighting what comes natural to others! I truly agree that there are days; sometimes only moments, that 'the click' happens; all comes together. The true magic is realizing the parts of the whole! Knowing that it can present itself in a endless day of catch... or that single fish that took so long.... or just as well, the magic is hidden through that long day, on familiar waters where nothing, this time, works! But then, that I can walk out with the same pleasures in my mind, and thank the Lord for the riches he has allowed me!
That is Fly Fishing!
FliTrap