Calf Tail Brown Trout

SIMPLE BUT DIFFERENT

Neighborhood Favorite

nothing very fancy here

NEIGHBORHOOD ORIGINAL

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.. Although it's possible to buy "Little Brown Trout" streamers, the neighbors have devised this one for our local streams.
.. It's used primarily in the Spring and Fall for large fish that migrate out of Hebgen Reservoir and into the tributaries of the Madison River.
.. The original "Little _______ Trout" series was devised in the 1970's by Samuel R. Slaymaker II. They were first tied for production by the Weber Tackle Company of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Since that time many variations have cropped up. Some more successful, some less. This variant woks very well locally and must be tied at home. None of the local feather merchants have picked it up.

RECIPE:
Hook: sizes 2-10, 2xl -4xl,
Thread: Black,
Tail: Light elk-ear hair,
Body: Light green Angora Goat - spun & dubbed,
Rib: Flat gold tinsel,
Wing: Dyed calf tail, (colors progressing from light to dark green and brown as stacked,)
Beard: Calf tail - white, red,
Eyes: Herter's celluloid, (not necessary,)
Head: Black - long.

.. The local tradition calls for soaking the fly in water overnight. It is fished on the swing - OR - jerk-stripped upstream near the bank - OR - with a riffle hitch jerk-stripped downstream. It's being used with success on the South Fork of the Madison River right now.

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NEIGHBORHOOD VARIANT  

A Simple Bug

THE FLY OF THE HOUR

For All Open Water

swift or still

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.. The neighbors are smarter than we are. They are also way smarter than the trout in our neighborhood. They are even a wee tad more intelligent than the itinerant guides and feather merchants that will soon show up for their share of the pie, (just a few weeks from now.)
.. As we speak read write this, the catchers of fish are using one fly; to the near-exclusion of all others.
.. It's a simple fly. It's easy to tie. It has no fancy name. It's not in any catalog. AND, it's catching fish in all the open water around the neighborhood.
.. You won't see it in any fly shops: it uses no exotic bits of fluff, it is a standard nymph form, it is not "innovative," it's not designed to catch fishers, and it is very pedestrian in appearance - bless it's metallic soul.
.. Unless you see it here, you will never know about this fly. There is no drum and bugle corps touting it as the wonder of the moment. There are no high priced celebrities endorsing it as a miracle of invention for the exotic fish of the exotic waters nearby.
.. It is tied in just about all sizes. The larger ones are cast with ultralight spinning rigs and 4# test line. [[40' of fresh 4# test mono is an exceptionally good shock absorber.]]
.. The little ones are chucked to the edge of the ice and pulled into the water and sink slowly to the gaping maws of submerged trout.
.. The others are greased and floated like a dry fly. Some are fished just like a nymph ought to be fished. Such a delightful bit of fish foolery.
.. Right now, in the runs, and riffles, and pools, and glides, and cavitation sinks, between the lakes on the Madison River it is a "KILLER FLY."
.. In the legal bits of the extended tongues of various estuarine waters poking into Hebgen Lake, it is a "MURDEROUS FLY."
.. At both the inlet and outlet of Earthquake Lake it is a "DEVASTATING FLY."  It is even in competition with the garden hackle for take rates. Now that's an endorsement for ya'.

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