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Guides choice hares ears are in my opinion one of the best summer months swinging flies. It mimics a caddis emerging perfectly, Its got just the right amount of flash to get the fish's attention, the movement with the soft hackle legs is amazing, and I jig it so it won't get caught on the bottom while starting my swing. I like fishing these in riffles, casting down stream about 60 degrees and letting it swing down. If no bites, take a step down and repeat. This will allow you to cover lots of water and catch more fish especially in the summer. In the spring, summer and fall, caddis hatches start popping off. Caddis provide a little more food for trout in one bite than just midges. Many caddis can get large, some are smaller though. But all of the caddis species will start swimming and floating upward towards the surface to be able to emerge into their final winged form. This process happens very quickly, and therefor the swinging motion of the fly will entice a trout to strike. These are fairly easy to tie, and you can probably tie around 10-15 per hour and fill a box in just a couple hours. Tie them in different color shades as well. Ive been known to use olive dubbing for the body, and also orange. Also you can use a hot spot or no hot spot. Up to you.

Soft hackle fly patterns have been around since pretty much when fly fishing started. That does not mean they aren't effective now. In fact, they are still very effective, and in some circumstances more so. They are relatively easy to fish, and fish tend to bite hard on them and will almost rip the rod out of your hand! They are really good at fishing the hard to fish riffles. Cast about 30 degrees down stream, and let the line take the fly. This style of fishing is called swinging. You can either just keep your rod tip still, or shake the rod for a little more action. When you reach the end of your drift, make a few little bumps on the tip of the rod, and leave it for an additional 10 seconds or so. Then take a step or two down stream and repeat. You cover a lot of water, and always seem to entice those super active fish! We all know that is a recipe for a fun fight! This fly is tied in an olive body with porterage hackle. The body is tied a bit fatter than most soft hackles, and it mimics the body of a caddis. The hackle mimics the legs and head of the caddis. Caddis tend to emerge quickly up to the surface, and trout know this. So swinging this fly quickly through fast water is a great way to get bites. These are quite easy to tie once you get the hang of tying in the soft hackle. I can usually tie out 10-20 of them an hour, so I can fill a box quite quickly! Also the materials on this are rather inexpensive, and you really dont use that many. Just a hook, thread, wire, poly yarn, and a porterage feather. Very simple, yet effective! As always I listed the materials I used on this fly. Hook: TMC 3761 in size 14 Thread: Veevus 6/0 in olive Tail: Antron Yarn Wire: Small Gold UTC Ultra Wire Dubbing: Olive/Brown Hares Ear Dubbing Hackle: Hungarian Partridge Cement: Hard as Hull