Exasperated, I finally tied on a hare's ear flymph (after going thru several other items in the box of course) and that was the ticket. Wet fly swing (down and across, just under the film) saved the day.
So then I was a convert and when Dave Hughes' book on wet flies comes out I snatch it up. But the Flymphs I'd tied according to Hidy's instructions (and terrible photos) in "...Fishing the Flymph" and what Dave says are Flymphs don't quite match up. Dave's Flymphs have the hackle wrapped (palmered?) thru the front 1/3 of the body where Hidy's descriptions are standard soft hackle style with only a turn or two behind the eye.
Curious, I sent a note to Dave and he responded that he had watched Hidy tie them and he palmered the hackle as we see them in Dave's book. When I talked to Dave's cohort Rick Haefle one day he also said he also saw Mr. Hidy tie them in that fashion.
Well the devil's in the details for the fly tier. I tie them the way Dave describes them and ties them in his book and when I'm up B.C. way next time I'll pay more attention to Hidy's patterns in the collection on Granville Island.
Don't tie them with "soft" hackle though. You want that stiffer grade 1 palmered hen to trap air bubbles between the barbules and the rough dubbing rather than lay matted flat against the body.
Oh, and if you don't have it, get "Wet Flies."
Lou
From: Kent Lufkin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Wet flies (was new hook) Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 11:36:18 -0800
Thanks Jim for the interesting discussion about flymphs. I guess I'd always thought of any pattern with a soft hackle as being well, a soft hackle, rather than drawing a distinction between soft hackles and flymphs based on body size.
Several years ago, one of my mentors in that stage of my flyfishing addiction would absolutely clean up while I was struggling, spending more time switching my flies than I seemed to be fishing. When we fished together, he'd catch zillions of fish using the same pattern, stopping to retie only when he got broken off.
He finally shared his go-to pattern with me which he referred to as a soft hackle (and I had no reason to doubt him as he was catching fish and I wasn't :) I started tying them and for nearly the whole next season, it was the about only subsurface trout pattern I used. And yes, it worked just as well for me as it had for him.
Looking carefully at Dave Hughes' flymph section this morning, it appears my friend's pattern was actually a flymph - a soft hackled pattern on a wet hook with a bulky body and an optional tail. Until this thread started, I've used them almost exclusively on lakes. I'll try one on moving water next trip.
Kent Lufkin
If a soft hackle is all about the hackle, then a flymph is all about
the body. Kent mentioned Dave Hughes calling them "wingless wets"
and that's pretty accurate. The way I tie them, they are basically a soft hackle with a buggy dubbed body and maybe an extra turn of hackle.
I frequently use webby hen hackle which gives it more of a shaggy
appearance. Maybe a tail, maybe not a tail. But you can go crazy on
the body. The flymph is also a guides' fly because it can be tied in about 30 seconds using about any material you happen to have.
The flymph tie that I use for March Browns comes from Dave Hughes' little yellow book that may not be yellow in later edition. I think it is titled as some kind of stream side guide. I can't find my copy right now...it's probably in the truck.
I fish a flymph the same way I fish a soft hackle. I like it to be
fishing right below the surface. One difference is that because of the body, it can be harder to get it to break through the surface on a down
and across presentation. But I have caught many fish on a skating March
Brown flymph as it swings around on a tight line below me. But I also
dead drift it.
Speaking specifically of the March Brown hatch:
Before the hatch when things are slow, it is a good idea to fish the hang down for 20 or 30 seconds. I fish the flymph well into the hatch and only change to a dry fly when it truly becomes a mega-hatch and the fish have absolutely thrown caution to the wind. I think I catch bigger fish that way. My theory is that early in the hatch the big fish are
more cautious and continue to feed on the emerging March Browns just
below the surface. I always fish two flies because I think two flies,
one following the other, also produces strikes.
I guess that most of my "soft hackles" these days are closer to flymphs. I just can't resist adding a bit of a body.
Jim Jones
ffishnfly chatterton wrote:Ok, I am going to have to plead ignorance here and ask the question as to what is a "flymph". It sounds like something which might be uttered by a politician. By the way, I fish any fly whatever way it catches fish, regardless of how that fly is classified.
Thanks,
Roger
----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Jones To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, January 30, 2004 2:10 PM
Subject: Re: Wet flies (was new hook)
I don't think it's a east coast thing. When you include nymphs, I think wet flies probably account for the vast majority of fish caught in the west. Of course it depends a lot on the water. I have never done any good below the surface on Silver Creek. But on the Deschutes (OR) nymphs, streamers, soft hackles and flymphs produce day in and day out. If you only fished drys, you would have lots of bad days.
I love to swing a soft hackle or a flymph with a down and
across cast or even a dead drift in a current seam. When it's productive, I probably enjoy it as much as dry fly fishing.
For the March Brown hatch, I normally fish a pair of 14 flymphs
well into the hatch. The adults really have to be coming off
in bunches and the fish have to go crazy before I shift to a
dry fly. I feel I catch bigger fish that way.
Over the years I have drifted away from the traditional soft hackles. I usually fish much smaller (16's and 18's or smaller) unless I am fishing a specific hatch...like March Browns. That's probably because I fish a lot of water where the BWO's are important. I have also gone more toward the flymph. This year I am going to make a point of fishing some of the traditional soft hackles.
Great thread BTW. I've really enjoyed it.
Jim Jones
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