Kent Lufkin wrote:
>
> As a Christmas present, my wife gave me a wonderful book titled 'The
> Longest Silence - A Life in Fishing' by Thomas McGuane. In the chapter
> 'Unfounded Opinions', he writes:
>
> "...I asked the greatest trout fisherman of my era, who is himself an
> out-of-control proliferator of equipment and technical doo-dads, what
> percentage of his annual catch would remain if he were reduced to
> Adamses and Gold-Ribber Hare's Ear nymphs. His answer: "Certainly over
> ninety percent." When pressed about the staggering variety of patterns
> available in his fly shop, he said, "I don't sell flies to fish."
>
> This admission reminded me of a similar conversation I'd had several
> years ago with one of my flyfishing mentors who maintained that he can
> successfully fish for trout* anywhere in Washington's fresh waters*
> with just six fly patterns.
>
> So here's a question for you: if you could have just six patterns in
> your fly box, which would they be?
>
> Please send me your list of 6 (or less if you feel confident!) as an
> offline reply to this email by clicking here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED].
>
> I'll tally your responses and post the top six in the Fly Patterns
> section of the new WAFF web site when it debuts in a few weeks.
>
> (* To start out, let's just consider trout patterns for freshwater
> streams and lakes - not those for steelhead, salmon, or for searun
> trout fished in salt water. If this poll proves popular, we'll do new
> polls for those categories later.)
>
> Thanks,
>
> Kent Lufkin
Okay, here's my top six trout patterns assuming that one can tie any
size and color, with or without weight, with or without flash, beads,
etc.
1) Al Troths "Elk Hair Caddis"
2) Bob Clousers "Clouser Minnow"
3) Frank Sawyers "Pheasant Tail"
4) Parachute Adams by ?????
5) Randall Kauffmans "Stimulator"
6) And, I'll go ahead and say it, the "Wooly Bugger". I use them to
imitate leeches, baitfish, damsel nymphs, stones, and dragons. I once
read about the supposed originator of the bugger, but dismissed it
because in my mind the originator of the Wooly Worm should get credit
for this one. I am surprised at the number of responses for the Hares
Ear over the Pheasant Tail. They are both undoubtedly wonderful flies,
but I find myself reaching for PT's over Hare's Ears. Does anyone else
prefer the PT as their nymph of choice? Jeff Hale
