 FLY
OF THE MONTH
|
|
JP's
Trout Snack
By Jeff Pierce
The
Trout Snack: a great fly for trout.
- I started tying this fly to imitate trout and
salmon fry. I live on a great brown trout stream
that has good natural reproduction. I also lived
on a very good spring creek where brown trout flourished
along with a good population of brook trout and some
rainbows.
One day I was watching a couple very small trout
fry chasing midges as they hatched in some very shallow
water. Suddenly, a very large brown trout came charging
out of some weeds and ate both of the fry. It was
the largest trout (resident fish) I had ever seen
in my local waters. I knew one thing, I wanted to
catch that fish. That night I began experimenting
at my tying bench. I wanted to come up with a good
imitation of a trout fry. After some trial and error
I came up with the Trout Snack. Two weeks later I
was back fishing that same stretch of water and was
having some success with the fly. I walked down to
the next pool and laid out a 40 foot cast with my
3WT, placing the fly right up against the opposite
bank near some blow down. With two quick strips that
huge brown blasted up through some weeds and engulfed
my fly. I was way under gunned with my little 6.5ft
3WT. 25 minutes later after going into my backing
twice I landed the largest resident (non-migratory
- ie. Great Lakes) brown trout I had ever seen. That
fish is still the largest resident fish I have taken
to date. Another gentleman assisted me with landing
the fish and measuring it. It was a stocky 26 inch
brown trout that must have weighed around 7lbs. The
fish was quickly admired and then released.
Since that memorable experience (I was 15 at the
time) I have taken several more large trout on the
Trout Snack as well as some impressive steelhead
and Lake Ontario Brown Trout. Fish it like you would
any streamer. It also does a pretty good job of imitating
a sculpin and has been a good smallmouth fly for
me as well.
|
|
Materials List: |
Hooks: |
R74
(Mustad Signature Series Hook) size 2, 4 or 6
Substitutes - 80400BLN, 79580, 9672 |
Thread: |
8/0
- dark brown |
Body: |
(in
order of attachment) Wood Duck Flank - 2
Partridge SLF Master Class - Cinnamon Brown
Bucktail - dark brown/olive Starling breast
feathers w/ white tips - 2 Grizzly hackle
- 2 |
Gills: |
Islandic
Sheep - Red |
Eyes: |
2mm
prismatic stick on eyes
|
|
Tying
instructions: |
Step
1:
Place
the R74 in the vise and begin wrapping the thread
on the shank from the eye back to the bend. Next
get two same sized Wood Duck flank feathers. Align
them with each other so that the feathers are cupped
inward. Secure them at the bend to form the tail. |
Photos
and fly by Jeff Pierce
|
|
|
Step
2:
Form
a dubbing loop using a cinnamon brown dubbing. |
|
Step 3:
Wrap
the dubbing forming a streamlined body. Be sure to leave
enough space to tie in the deer hair and finish off the
head.
|
|
|
|
Step
4:
Attach
the dark brown/olive bucktail so that the hair extended
to the end of the tail. |
|
Step
5:
Get
two starling breast feathers with white tips. The feathers
need to be the appropriate size as to resemble the pectoral
fins. Use some head cement to make the feathers more durable.
Once the feathers are dried, secure one on each side angled
downward at about 30 degrees. Be sure to secure them so
that the tips of the feathers are curved outward. |
|
|
|
Step
6:
Get
two same sized grizzly hackles. Trim them to size so that
the feather will run from the head to just forward of the
tail. Once the feathers are trimmed to size coat each feather
lightly with head cement for added durability. Once dry,
secure one feather to each side so that the feather is
curved inward. |
|
Step
7:
Attach
two 2mm eyes and give the head a coating of glossy
head cement.
Dampen
in your local waters and enjoy the day.
|
|
|
JP's
Trout Snack is not the prettiest fly you've ever
seen, but it is very effective. One point I want
to make is to be sure not to skip the step where
you attach the eyes. I am a firm believer that
eyes are essential on a baitfish pattern. Having
gotten my college BS in Biology/Fisheries Science
I have spend quite a lot of time observing and
studying fish. There are numerous species out there
that have false eye spots, generally on their tail.
This is so that a predator may mistakingly attack
the fishes tail, thus allowing the prey a chance
to escape. Obviously, in stained or cloudy water,
this is less important, but in clear water, eye's
on you bait patterns can really make the difference.
Just something to keep in mind. |
Jeff
Pierce
About
Jeff Pierce:
Jeff Pierce, AKA Dr. Fish, is the North American
Sales Coordinator for O. Mustad & Son
(USA), Inc and Partridge of Redditch. He is the Captain of Team Mustad
USA and is a diehard angler and fly tier. He has traveled from Buffalo
to Borneo in search of finned quarry to grapple with.
|
