Brook Trout Favorites Swap

[kennebec12 0]

Flies came in today, great set! If the Kennebec isn't producing this weekend after this heat wave we're getting I'll be moving into the smaller trout streams. Maybe I'll try and catch a fish on every fly in the set and post some pictures, they will certainly all work. If the Kennebec is producing well I'm pretty sure I can nab a fish or two on JD's stimulator, it's a great imitation of the little yellow stoneflies that should be in full swing.

[vicrider 0]

Yep, mine got here today. Now I just wish I'd have been in swaps like this when I lived up in brookie country. Still hoping for a fall trip I can put some of these to use in AR White River. Great looking ties and impressive work one and all.

[jd1983 0]

Glad to see some of you getting your sets. For those that haven't, here's a little teaser for what is on its way:

 

rtangley's red tag jfinn's purple haze

 

green's prince nymph fishingbobnelson's moose bi-visible

 

netabrookie's pheasant tail nymph variation & dry fly

 

tyme keeper's brown drake djd3mon's green wire caddis

 

kennebec12's hare's ear variant branden_fritzemeier_67's 3 dollar dip

 

flyfishingdom's pink squirrel DavidHE's black ant

 

vicrider's royal coachman streamer and mickey finn

 

jd1983's yellow stimulator

[jd1983 0]

vic - if you ever make the trip out to east Tennessee, let me know. I'm about 2 hours north of Great Smoky Mountain National Park and have been working out some brookie spots.

 

kennebec - I was actually going to try that myself. Planning on hitting one of the better brookie waters to try and get a photo of each fly in a fish's mouth.

[green 0]

Well as usual my fly is the worst. Any tips would be appreciated.

[flyfishingdom 0]

Wow. All these flies look great! Green, your PN looks wonderful and will catch fish for sure. The only thing I would have done differently is use the traditional natural colored peacock for the body and would have also used 2-3 herls in order to bulk up the body. You could also put on a second coat of head cement to cover up the thread wraps and create a more solid looking head.

 

This is just preference though and the great thing about swaps is you get to use variations of patterns from other people.

[green 0]

I thought it was natural colored.

[flyfishingdom 0]

I thought it was natural colored.

oh maybe it is and the lighting was just weird. It looks more black than green to me, but now that I look at it again, I can see the green. Either way, you did a great job with it. No reason to think it is anything less than all the other great flies in this swap!

[netabrookie 0]

I received a great looking box of flies also. Really good work everyone. If I fished my swap flies instead of keeping them I would give just about every Brookie in my favorite creek a sore lip. Thanks everyone and a big thanks to jd1983 for hosting.

[jfinn 0]

Got my flies today. Now I have the itch to hit the water soon.

[fishingbobnelson 0]

Great set of flies in the mailbox today. Thanks to all the tyers and thanks jd for hosting. Hope you host another swap soon. Tight Lines to all.

[djd3mon 0]

Received mine in the mail today. Thank you.

 

Can't wait to do another swap!

[kennebec12 0]

jd 15 fish on 15 flies sounded like a good challenge, I don't think I've tied on that many different flies in one day since I stopped catching trees and started catching fish. On a small trout stream up here 15 fish should be pretty easy because they are aggressive but I usually catch all my fish on one or two patterns that seem to be working real good that particular day. I think I've used every pattern in the swap previously except for the pink squirrel and the purple haze.

[vicrider 0]

When I lived up north if you wanted to picture brookies in the 4-6" area you could easily fill the pictures for this swap. Now, if you didn't want to start shooting pics until you pass 9" things were going to get tougher. Up there in the small streams a brookie started to get shoulders around 8". 9-12" were solid fish for sure and readily available at times but never in the quantities the little guys made their presence known.

 

I should add that most of the really bigger brook trout came from deadwaters and beaver ponds. If the ponds got flushed regular they would produce a lot of strong healthy fish. Some of them took some real efforts to get into but the rewards were large. The lakes where brookies were stocked also produced some big fish, enough that a size regulation of no more than 3 over 16" had to be added to the game laws.

[DavidHE 0]

Received my flies yesterday. Nice work everyone. Leave tomorrow for a couple days of backpacking in the high sierra, I'll put the lot in my fly box tonight.