Willamette River

In this video, Simon ties an effective large profile searching pattern. The fly is versatile in its imitation of several different types of large calorie food items for trout. The fly effectively imitates stonefly & salmon fly nymphs, crawdads, hellgrammites, sculpins, and more. The fly was initially developed for large predatory brown trout and rainbows. Simon was looking for a fly that would stand out to an opportunistic large fish that selectively feeds. Upon testing, he realized there was not much wrong with the fly. The bigger issue was his tippet was too light or his knows were bad He left the fly testing 2 flies lighter pondering what, if anything, he would change when he restocked. Two massive fish breaking off was enough to show Simon that this fly was worth tweaking and refilling his box. Some more tinkering at the vise yielded several colors and a little extra weight in the form of lead wraps hidden below the body. This aided in getting the fly deeper quicker and improving the flies overall silhouette and taper. Simon likes to tie these in several different colors depending on where, when, and how he is fishing them. See the photo below for all of the color variants he likes: Black, Brown, Olive, Orange, Gold Grizzly.

This is one of Simons confidence flies, especially right now with the high winter flows we are having. High flows knock large stonefly nymphs and sculpins loose. This is the time of year, more than ever, that large educated trout are on the lookout for these large food items that enter the middle water column haphazardly. The fly also is suggestive of crawdads and can be dead drifted, stripped, twitched, or swung for bass. As the fly swings, the legs collapse onto the body forming a wide head silhouette just like a sculpin. Simon has caught several fish letting this fly swing into structure or at the end of his drift. The Fulling Mill Rabbit Strip along the top adds movement and the Fulling Mill FM5130 Jig Force Long Hook provides a stout foundation for a long bodied stonefly nymph, sculpin or crawdad. Stay tuned for another update on this fly in the near future, you may be able to get it from the fly bins at your local shop.

Hook- Fulling Mill FM5130 Jig Force Long: Size 12

Thread- Fulling Mill Pro Thread Twisted 140D: Black

Lead- Hareline .02 Lead

Bead- Fulling Mill Slotted Silver Tungsten Bead: 5/32 or 3.8mm

Antennae/Legs- Montana Fly Company Medium Barred Sexi-Floss: Copper (Pink, Olive, Amber, Orange)

Body- Fulling Mill Rabbit Zonker Micro: Gold Grizzly Black Barred (Black, Orange, Olive, Brown) & Fulling Mill Medium Super Suede Chenille- Tan (Golden Olive, Bright Yellow Olive, Black)

Collar- Fulling Mill Tactical Microflash Dub: UV Purple (UV Light Violet, UV Olive, UV Sunburst, UV Pink)

Resin- Solarez Bone Dry

UV Torch-Loon Plasma Light

Bobbin- Stonfo Steeltech Streamer Bobbin

Vise- Renzetti Master & Deluxe Streamer Base

In this video, Simon ties a wonderful BWO soft hackle. Soft hackles are traditionally swung, but their sparse design allows them to be so much more than a swung wet fly. Simon developed this pattern for a late season trip to the spring fed creeks of the Midwests Driftless area. The fly quickly proved productive when tagged behind another, more buoyant dry. Trout, especially in spring creeks, get keyed in on more vulnerable insects. Ones that are stilllborn, actively emerging, or have become crippled in their emergence. This fly fished in tandem with another dry mimics a bug in trouble rather than the typical ascending nymph that a swung soft hackle imitates. Since then, the fly has become a staple in Simons box not only from its productivity, but also its versatility. Its simple construction makes it attractive when needing to fill your box. Few flies can be swung, stripped, fished tagged off of a dry in the film, and nymphed. This makes this style of fly very important and every angler should carve out space ion their box for flies of this likeness.

Hook- Ahrex North Country Spider LE810: Size 14

Thread- Semperfli Classic Waxed Thread 12/0: Olive

Hot Tag- Hareline Fluoro Fibre: Orange

Body- Thread & Uni Small Soft Wire: Orange

Thorax- Hareline Peacock Herl

Collar- Hareline Starling

Resin- Solarez Bone Dry

UV Torch-Loon Plasma Light

Bobbin- Smhaen Tension Bobbin

Vise- Renzetti Master & Deluxe Streamer Base