Silver Badger and Claret Grub

[DOUGSDEN]

Ray,
Wow! That is one sassy looking pattern! Skues loved the color red and for good reason. It catches fish! So yes, we are very interested in seeing how this one does esp. on steelhead. Can you make it another three in a row?
I was also very interested in your comments (and Carls too!) about contrasts. It seems to be the driving force many times in a fishes decision to take a fly esp. as a food source. Your pattern exemplifies this to a "T" and it is so perfectly tied.
Here is your assignment Ray....Get out there and fish! Destiny awaits you! And don't forget to post the pic.'s to confirm what the rest of us already know, you have a killer pattern on your hands!
Go claret,
Doug

[Donald Nicolson]

A great fly, I really like Claret coloured flies.
By the way, there is a difference between claret and red.

[letumgo]

chuckle

Thanks Donald. I agree. To my eye, a true claret would be darker and contain a hint of purple. The dyed herl looks more "claret" in artificial light, but more red in natural sunlight. It may darken when it gets wet, while fishing.

Doug - it may be a while before I get out fishing again. We have gotten 4 to 5 feet of snow in the past few days, with more on the way. This winter is shaping up to be a doozy.

[swellcat]

Would you be flattered or offended if carp found this pattern appealing?

[letumgo]

Deeply flattered, of course!
(pun intended)

I had not thought of this as a possible carp pattern. Perhaps it would look like a small juicy bug, or berry to a carp.

Do you fish for carp? I've heard that they are a great challenge to catch. Like a poormans bone fish.

[UC Steve]

Beautiful. Wing or no, to my mind this is a modern soft-hackle design in the finest sense. You progress the meme sir. Inspiring. Thanks.

[swellcat]

Like a poor man's bone fish.

Or a landlocked redfish (red drum). (Tales are told at the Kansas City Cabela's of Midwesterners "practicing" for Gulf-of-Mexico trips by targeting the local carp.)

. . . carp . . . I've heard that they are a great challenge to catch.

They can ignore your lovely fly with the best of the fancy finickies or part your puny tippet as though it were not there. How can one not appreciate a fish that can both accelerate like a Bugatti pull like angry oxen?