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Piker20 -- Inspiring observations. In the tiny trout world, soft hackles and winged wets are separate animals -- with the roots in the old greased line methods of a down and across presentation. The classic texts on greased line fishing describe the importance of keeping the fly "broadside" to the current. As we discuss how materials behave on the swing, a broadside presentation begins to make a ton of sense, as it would continue to make the hackle pulse, rather than collapse around the fly. I've never put much stock in spey patterns for stream trout because I have always assumed them to be "shrimp" silhouettes for sea run fish. I think what I have overlooked is the ability of spey flies to combine dead drift materials with swing materials -- and create flies that fish from beginning to end of the swing. By all standards discussed, Spey and Dee flies are winged soft hackles. Perhaps the best stream trout wet fly is not either a soft hackle or winged wet, but one that combines the best of both worlds and has been taking fish since the 1800s in Scotland. When I fish the winged wet and a soft hackle in a team, my catch rate increases, because I'm "fishing" more water -- as the two different flies take trout during all parts of the cast. I'm going to take a stab at tying some tiny spey flies that combine the qualities of the teams I fish for different hatches and use them in the coming months. On the "end of the swing" magic I think basically the planets align -- the fly begins to rise to the surface and changes direction (almost darting or snapping to life). The light shines down through the fly and the sparkle of materials and a perfect silhouette beg the trout to eat it -- all while it's in the perfect position for a "blind side ambush." My friend and I had a lengthy discussion on this a few weeks ago, we call it the "down stream dangle" effect. If you just drop 5 feet of fly line on the water and let the current tease your leader in lazy "S" curves you can see what happens at the end of the swing. My goal in an "ultra-slow" walk across stream is to make this effect happen throughout the drift. Most guys have caught fish this way without knowing it -- it's that trout that takes your fly while you are fiddling in the fly box.

I'll start my research on the Big Horn. What would be your best guess on timing or favorite hatches to fish there?

DUBN -- I guess it all boils down to how you fish most confidently. Hatches could play a role too. What are your favorite patterns/hatches in your area? I'm always looking to improve my soft hackle arsenal. With winged wets I find that the speed of the swing can mean the difference between success and failure especially when it comes to certain hatches like caddis. For caddis (any color) I fish an Invicta and Invicta Silver dropper in an appropriate size. If I just cast those down stream at an angle and let it swing while following with the rod tip -- I'll take very few fish. If I cast down and throw huge mends to insure the line is directly above the fly and slowly walk it across stream -- it will take fish after fish. What has always perplexed me about winged-wets is the presentation is anything but natural. The fly is always moving across and slower than the current. There are days and hatches where the slowest of swings (the most unnatural movement of all) will take more fish than anything remotely natural. To your statement about the IQ of fish, I think both soft hackles and winged wets offer one distinct advantage over dry flies, in that you can make the fly do unnatural without things without appearing alarmingly unnatural -- like the wake on an improperly presented dry fly. There are days where I believe the most important aspect of subsurface fishing is simply keeping a fly in the trout's field of vision for the longest time amount of time before it becomes alarmingly unnatural. Of course the minute I settle on that theory, there is always another fish willing to prove me wrong. At any rate, I'm hoping to head to some western rivers this summer. I'd love so hear some of your soft hackle methods and patterns for your area.

Dubbn -- I agree to an extent. Yes the compressed hackle can make it nymphy looking fly that will take fish. I often fish a wet fly on point and a soft hackle dropper to get more miles out of a cast. The soft hackle will take more fish on the "across" portion of the cast while I mend to set up the swing. Once the fly starts swinging, 9.9 times out of 10 the fish will take the winged wet over the soft hackle. I think it's a question of putting your best foot forward. A soft hackle fishes best when the hackle is allowed to undulate in the current and bring a fly to life. The same holds true for a winged wet on a tight line -- when the current pushes against the fly under tension it moves the fly in an enticing manner -- as it slowly walks across their field of vision. The above especially holds true in fast riffle sections of a river and the rules can be broken/bent on slick water where current force is less of an issue.

Just a quick note -- I think you have a typo on the "sprout" bend hooks -- shouldn't that be sproat? Don't ya love auto correct?

Great fly and proportions. A great fly in SW Wisconsin. As others mentioned, the colors can vary greatly from stream to stream -- you'd almost swear the were different bugs. This is my Hendrickson wet fly. Down and across to risers on the swing. Just spot 'em and swat 'em on a tight line.

I'm kicking around the idea of heading west of the Great Lakes for a summer fishing excursion. I'm looking for a river that has nice drift boat access (easy ins and outs) and floats that range from 3-8 hours. My rowing skills are limited to tight water finesse and tailwater fisheries. I'm confident of my skills but not looking to shoot any big rapids or do overnight floats. I've been thinking the Missouri and the PMD hatches around the first week of July. Any other thoughts or suggestions in CO, MT, WY?

I think the tough thing about 4wt choices out there is most are fast action, 4 piece rods that feel like hard sticks -- but I'm a bias fan of slow action 2 piece rods. Also, 4wt options are pretty pricey for a secondary panfish/trout rod. I'd follow Riffle's recommendation and contact steedrifter for a custom rod. You can find quality IM6, IMX or GLX 2pc blanks at very reasonable prices and end up with a custom rod with your choice of reel seat, grip, thread color and guides while saving a few bucks in the process.

I don't mix fluorocarbon tippet with mono leaders if that was the original question. In my experience the fluorocarbon can cut the mono at the knot when tying and fishing. "Knot failure" on big fish can actually be "knot cutting". I think fluorocarbon has incredible advantages for a number of situations. I fish wet flies down and across in a team and I'm of the ilk that changes flies often until I hit the team that is tearing them up. I'd spend a lot on fluorocarbon and frankly I haven't found one that rolls over a team of flies as nicely as mono. When it comes to big fish, I'm in the same school as Piker20 on Maxima for the stretch on hookup -- it's hardy line with a built in shock absorber. On steelhead I fish confidently with Maxima.

Kudu -- I'd tied a bunch of soft hackles for a friend that just went to the White River in Arkansas. Red floss body, peacock thorax and partridge hackle was this hit for the trip (on a #16 3906b) -- similar to a Red Ass soft hackle but floss instead of wire. I'd tie it both ways so you can get it deep if you need to. I've never had luck with "red" bodied flies here in the north but for southern tail waters and still water it's seems to do the trick. I recall reading something/somewhere on red being a more effective color in low oxygenated waters. I don't recall the entire theory but I'm sure you can find it with a google search.

Fishing wing-less wet flies (soft-hackles) dead drift, be it up and across or across and sightly down with and upstream mend is extremely common. Where you fish in the water column can vary depends on the hook weight and dressing. You can fish in the film or just below it if the flies are tied on dry hooks, or deeper on heavy wet fly hooks, or even deeper with weighted nymph droppers. Wet fly is a vague term -- it describes any fly fished below the surface. Fishing soft hackles down and across (on the swing) would be unproductive in most cases as the tension of the current against a tight line fly would compress the soft hackle around the fly. With winged wets, the tight line and tension are imperative to keep the fly upright and "swimming." Winged wets do not fish on slack line or dead drift because the fly flops on it's side. In reality the odd fish will take a poorly presented fly no matter what so I'm sure you could disprove my statements above, however to catch fish consistently and have the fly "acting" in a manner that is most productive for its design: Soft hackles : Present dead drift, across or up and across as circumstances allow. Winged wets: Fish down and across, always on a tight line. Control the speed of the swing with mends -- the greater the angle the faster the fly swings. The more the line is above the fly the slower it moves. As for down and across productivity, 90% of the time I fish winged wet flies down and across on midwest tail-waters and streams. When you can fish down and across beyond chuck and chance -- I would stack it against any other presentation for producing incredible numbers of fish. Unless it's a spinner fall. I'm down and across -- even during hatches.

What ditz said. Get the rod to match your flies.

Rocco pretty much covered the gamut on this one. What's important is getting the fly down to the fish and the tactics for that differ from river to river. The tributaries I fish are extremely shallow for steelhead standards so my modified sink tip strategies wouldn't help you a bit. If you're on the river and not catching and somebody else is -- ask questions. Most fisherman never do and they forget we're all usually a pretty talkative bunch. No information is better than local information.

Piker you're absolutely right on the pike issue when you are stripping line. I agree the inertia is somewhat marketing gimmick when you start comparing better reels that have good drag systems. I will say that my first bargain basement steelhead system had an old SA reel on it and sounded more like gravel grinding then a reel singing on hook up. On steelhead it's a tight line, down and across swing. I don't have slop on the water and rarely hold the line with my second hand, as is usually stuffed in a pocket or the top of my waders thawing out. On the SA I lost fish. I think regardless of the thinking you can buy $300 + drag technology for around a hundred bucks if you shop used and many of those reels will be better that what he might find for under a hundred new.

I think you can try some all purpose patterns in 14-18 (tied on a 1xl shank hook). Try peacock herl body with a starling or black hen hackle. A pheasant tail body with herl/thorax and partridge hackle. And classics like a purple silk body and starling hackle. Fish them across stream at a dead drift (as if you were fishing a nymph). I'd also fish them as a team -- and vary the patterns on the point and dropper.

FFL -- you're going after big fish it seems. Pike and salmon are burst runs on hook up and inexpensive reels have drag systems that will stick on the first run and can cause lots of lost fish. I can tell you that from years of steelhead fishing with a Ross Gunnison -- the drag system will do what you need. These reels stand up to abuse and can be found used for $90-125. This reel would really serve your needs better than a new low cost reel with an inferior drag system. I use a Ross Gunnison G-3 on my 8wt with ample backing. You may want to look for a Ross Gunnison G-4 for that 10wt.

Wood -- most reels don't step up in single weight sizes. so don't sweat that one bit. Most companies make small, med and large reels that serve multiple line weights at each size. Load up the line and cast it -- feel how it loads the rod.

Well the snow piled up here the past few days. At least when it does start to melt it will put some steelhead in the rivers. Working on some steelhead patterns for the coming weeks. Just a quick iphone photo:

Haha -- whooda-thunk-it: http://pyramidlakefisheries.org/fishmap/fishtips.html And I thought the rivers got crowded here during steelhead season.

When somebody says "midge" I think size-18 or smaller. You tied them in 8s & 10s? Can you post up a fly pic? Great pics. The stepladder technique is something I would have never imagined in my wildest dreams. Thanks for sharing.

Here is an updated link for the bagpipe Black Cobblers Wax. They are in Traverse, City, MI for U.S. ordering.

Exactly. Just working out the style on larger to tie the smaller. I'll fish the gray ghost or a spruce in the 8-10 sizes and they are time honored classics that always produce fish. Tied this tonight and as I getting ready to tie the cheek patch I discovered I was out of purple died mallard flank and didn't have a nice dark black substitute -- so i just wrapped a spey collar.

I've placed online orders with them in the past -- just don't get into the city often enough to visit the shop. I do need to pick up some hen necks soon and I'll have to visit them. I just don't order necks online because I like to inspect them first.

I popped over to Davie McPhail's youtube channel, and low and behold he had one hackle streamers. I really respect him as a tier and like the way he added the hackle wraps on the fly before the cheek patches we added. I'll have to tie some of these in the larger sizes and see if/what needs to change or be removed when tying on #6-8 streamer hooks. JS@ I'll have to look for that article tonight. Thanks.

"All Season Long" Isonychia Nymph I've long enjoyed the consistency of fishing a large prince nymph throughout the season. Here in the upper midwest I've theorized that the fish are taking it as an Isonychia because fish will take the fly on the swing or when moving (as a swimming nymph) and the biot wing resembles the stripe on the nymph more than a "wing" when viewed at various angles. Isonychia, being multi-brood flies, can hatch multiple times in a season and help make the fly a constant fish catcher. So why fix something that isn't seemingly broke? Well, for starters the Prince Nymph is a pain to tie quickly if you are not pre-glueing biots. Second, if the fish are taking the fly as an Iso, would a closer imitation make a good fly a great fly. All that said, I created a faster tying version of the herl bodied Prince that fished with every bit of the same success and perhaps even better (should the water you fish have Isonychia). Pattern: Hook: TMC 5263 #12 2x heavy, 3x long Thread: Black Tail: Brown Goose Biots or Brown Hackle Fibers (fish don't seem to care) Body Stripe: Brown Goose Biot Body: Peacock Herl Rib: Copper or Chartreuse wire (fish like both) Hackle: Brown/Ginger Hen Saddle or Neck Head: Copper Bead. Tie in body stripe biot after tail, wrap body with herl, pull biot over back and secure with wrapped wire.