A friend of mine fished Lenice Thursday and Friday and also did well - very
well -fishing Calibaetis emergers. I believe he had something like 8 large
(20" range) fish Thursday and "uncountable" numbers of large fish Friday.
The pattern he was using was the venerable (but not widely known) Chopaka
Emerger. I suspect this may very well be the pattern that Preston gave you,
since it was Preston who (to the best of my knowledge) first published an
account of this pattern. For those of you who keep your old fly fishing
magazines, the article is in in Western Fly Tying, Volume 1, Number 2 -
Summer 1996).
It's an unusual pattern - somewhat similar to a Tom Thumb - but fairly easy
to tie. It incorporates a pheasant tail (or I prefer dubbed) body with a
hank of deer or elk hair tied in at the front, with the tips pointed back
(like an elk-hair caddis, only longer). The tips are pulled forward over
the eye and tied down to form a wing-case, with the hair tips pointed ahead
of and above the eye at a 45 degree angle. Either hackle fibers or hair can
be used for the tail (3 splayed fibers or bunches of fibers). The trick is
in getting the right combination of materials and proportions so that the
fly hangs in the film at a 45 degree angle, with only the 'wing' (the hair
tips), and perhaps wing-case, floating and the abdomen and tail hanging
below the surface. I sometimes dress the wing in floatant (lightly) to get
the proper float.
This can be an incredibly effective pattern during Calibaetis emergences,
and when the trout are keyed on emergers, may be the only thing they'll
take.
-Wes
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lisa and Jeff Hale [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2001 9:25 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Lake Lenice, Rocky Ford, Lenore
>
>
> Fished lake Lenice with my brother on Wednesday. I only landed two and
> he landed four. Two of the fish were nice browns. Got em' on buggers,
> bunny leeches, and 'mids. However, Preston Singletary was there, and he
> was hooking fish on a callabaetis emerger pattern during a pretty steady
> mayfly hatch. The speckled winged duns were coming off from about 11 am
> until we left at 3:30 pm. I tried a parachute Adams and a Gulper
> Special, but no dice. The emerger is what they wanted and Preston's fly
> was the ticket. He gave me two of the flies during the peak of the
> hatch (and my frustration); that's the sign of a true sportsman.
> It was my first time to fish the lake and I was impressed by the
> strong, sturdy, hard fighting rainbows that live there. They ran,
> jumped, and raised hell just like rainbows are supposed to do. I
> haven't seen that for a while. I'll be going back, but this time I'll
> be armed with a dozen of the emerger patterns Preston showed me.
> I also fished the Ford, and 5 of the rainbows went better than 20
> inches. They all ate a #14 dirty olive scud. Also messed around a
> little at Lenore and took 3 bright Lahottans on #12 black mids' fished
> about 6 feet under an indicator. That's all fellows! Jeff Hale
>
>
