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Lucian.Vasies

Do you still use them? Which are your favorite wet flies

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A few years I had an interesting experience. I was on a beautiful river full with trout and grayling. Fishing was ok but something was not like I expected. I changed a lot of flies nothing was ok (dries and nymphs). When I changed on spiders ( some old tied flies ) everything was different: fish over fish and big smiles on my face. From that moment I carry all the time a box with wet flies.

I'm curious which are your favorite models because I want to add more in my box:)

 

Here is what worked for me in that day:

 

purple-spider-980x654.jpg

 

hackle-detail.jpg

 

tactical-purple-spiders.jpg

 

I tie it in yellow, orange -rusty, brown and black.

 

 

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I find wet flies indispensable for trout fishing and always carry a modest assortment.

Most streams I find the Royal Coachman and Brown hackle to be the most taking under ordinary situations. Others that work well for streams are Lead-wing coachman's, two of my own design, flies with an olive hue to them in the body and sometimes a gilded Coachman.

 

In lakes I find their appetites are either for buggy looking wet flies or the attractor type, rarely both, then it's a matter of figuring out what they want. Some of my favorites for lakes: Gilded Coachman (top fly for last spring in several lakes), Alexandrea, Brown hackle, Yellow Montreal, Silver Montreal, March Brown, Gold Ribbed Hares Ear (also good for streams), Lead-wing Coachman, one of my own design and Lady of the Lake.

 

If you are in to Bass fishing, I keep a completely different wet fly box. Lakes I generally use a wider selection because I almost always use a wet fly for lakes, sometimes nymphs, but with streams I go back and forth with wet and dry flies and haven't found much need to stray from the shorter list of wet flies.

 

Hope this helps,

Jeff

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I fish wets about 80% of the time. The ones I fish most frequently include a lot the Partridge & Orange, March Brown Flymph, Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle, Waterhen Bloa, Grouse & Herl, Tup's Spider, Greenwell's Spider, Light Spanish Needle, Leadwing Coachman, Dark Watchet, Dark Hendrickson wet, Light Cahill wet, Lil' Dorothy and a sulfur wet.

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Spidery flies are my favorite, some how in my mind they are a separate category, like nymphs, when I think of wets the Leadwing Coachman, Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, Whickhams Fancy, Sliver Doctor and such are what comes to mind.

Not sure why that is or why nymphs and streamers aren't called wet flies too.

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On rivers spiders take some beating. In still water I always carry a peter Ross and silver invicta. March Brown's cover both bases.

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post-36073-0-92114200-1553389752_thumb.jpg

 

I don't carry winged wets but I never fish a trout stream without a few basic soft hackles in my box -- my go-to is the Hare's Ear soft hackle in natural and dark olive, sized 14 & 16. The one in the photo has partridge hackle, but I like brown Indian hen just as well.

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Kind of . . .

 

I play with a Tenkara style rod (and flies) and they are a wet fly but tied with the hackles facing forward. The idea is to give them a bit of action to induce a strike.

 

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I have been tying a wingless, tail-less, wet fly since the early 1990's. I use a wet fly hook, various colors of stretch nylon for the body, x-small wire to rib the body, suprefine dubbing in a contrasting color for an abdomen, and finally juvinile grizzly hen for a hackle. I tie these in sizes 20 to 12. They work great as an emerger or as a grenral searching pattern.

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Partridge and orange or natural hen and orange. Peacock herl and natural hen. Purple and natural hen. Leadwing Coachman. And a jade floss and turkey with brown hackle all work for me at various times. Oh and a very small Hornberg too, fished wet, about a size 14 or so.

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Another color that worked great for me was rusty ( Uni Thread 8/0 non waxed) but purple and partridge and yellow and partridge where deadly for a few good seasons.

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I tie all my nymphs with soft hackles. I do a few spider patterns in larger sizes for pan fish. Some I tie with the traditional 2 or 3 wraps of hackle, most are more heavily hackled. Some are weighted with a bead, others aren't. This is one I tied up for a CFR retreat last fall. It's weighted with a silver bead in back of the hackle. Body is clear ribbing that I colored pink with a permanent marker coated with UV resin. Hackle is purple guinea hen. It's tied on a size 8 Partridge Klinkhammer hook.

 

post-309-0-49597300-1553529309_thumb.jpg

 

Normally, when I this style, I use a strand of spinner bait skirt material to give me a segmented body. Gives me a nice selection of colors for the body. Very effective for pan fish, and the occasional bass.

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I find wet flies indispensable for trout fishing and always carry a modest assortment.

Most streams I find the Royal Coachman and Brown hackle to be the most taking under ordinary situations. Others that work well for streams are Lead-wing coachman's, two of my own design, flies with an olive hue to them in the body and sometimes a gilded Coachman.

 

In lakes I find their appetites are either for buggy looking wet flies or the attractor type, rarely both, then it's a matter of figuring out what they want. Some of my favorites for lakes: Gilded Coachman (top fly for last spring in several lakes), Alexandrea, Brown hackle, Yellow Montreal, Silver Montreal, March Brown, Gold Ribbed Hares Ear (also good for streams), Lead-wing Coachman, one of my own design and Lady of the Lake.

 

If you are in to Bass fishing, I keep a completely different wet fly box. Lakes I generally use a wider selection because I almost always use a wet fly for lakes, sometimes nymphs, but with streams I go back and forth with wet and dry flies and haven't found much need to stray from the shorter list of wet flies.

 

Hope this helps,

Jeff

 

 

Do you have a pattern for "Lady of the Lake"? I haven't been able to find it unless it's an old name for Alexandra.

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Yes, here is the patterns formula:

 

Wing-white

hackle - white

Body - peacock herl fore and aft with silver in middle (I like to use silver flat

with silver oval rib)

Tail - peacock swords.

 

If I remember, ill try to get a photograph. I've always used a number 6 mustad

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White Miller. This are not my best examples but it will catch bluegills for me almost anywhere, anytime. Also used for trout during the White Miller moth hatches.

 

DSCF3022.JPGDSCF3024.JPG

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