Tue
Aug
19
Trout Lures
My passion for trout fishing started when my family and I moved into the English Lake District some 16 years ago.
I am so lucky with the vast number of streams, rivers and lakes to fish in the area.
I have always enjoyed researching different flies, both suggestive and imitative and I have recently started writing about them, mainly as a consequence of younger and most inexperienced trout fishermen asking my advise on flies.
I hope that you enjoy my blog and find it both interesting and useful.
I am so lucky with the vast number of streams, rivers and lakes to fish in the area.
I have always enjoyed researching different flies, both suggestive and imitative and I have recently started writing about them, mainly as a consequence of younger and most inexperienced trout fishermen asking my advise on flies.
I hope that you enjoy my blog and find it both interesting and useful.
Royal Humpy Fly
Trout Lures - Searching Flies
Trout feed mostly what is put in front of them rather than selectively on a specific hatch. In general circumstances therefore, searching flies will produce better results than imitative types.
So what are the differences between selective and imitative flies? Searching trout lures are those which you use when trout are not feeding selectively. Searching trout lures at least have a passing resemblance to something in nature – and these should be sought out as the best type of searching flies.
Good examples of searching flies to be sought out are the Royal Wulff Dry Fly which is the most popular dry fly for fishing in rough water, having the shape of a mayfly dun. The classic Adams dry fly, which was originally tied by Lenard Halladay of Mayfield, Michigan in around 1922, has been dyed to imitate deer flies, mayflies, caddis in flight and in smaller sizes gnats and mosquitoes. The point being that its mayfly shape adds to its effectiveness as a good all around dry fly.
The brilliant Elk Hair Caddis Fly was first tied by Al Troth in Pennsylvania in the 1950’s. It is so good because it resembles a large number of adult caddis fly in two ways. Firstly, when the adult caddis hatch they rise to the surface and try to scuttle to the bank as quickly as possible. They have a very distinct ‘V’ shaped wing, which is reproduced in the Elk Hair Caddis Fly. Secondly, they make a small ‘V’ shaped wake on the surface of the water, which is perfectly mimicked by the Elk Hair Caddis Fly when it is being retrieved by the angler.
The Royal Humpy which was devised by Jack Dennis and Charlie Ridenhauer over 30 years ago suggests a beetle or grasshopper on the surface.
Things are similar beneath the surface to. The Gold-Ribbed Hare’s Ear nymph resembles many species of nymphs when they shed their skins as they progress into the next stage of their life. The fur below the thorax is teased out to resemble legs and the fur is left untrimmed so that it moves in the water suggesting to the trout that the fly is alive in the water. The Red Fox Squirrel nymph imitates mayfly nymphs, crane fly nymphs, and small bait fish. It is tied in the round to look the same from any direction. The guard hairs from the thorax make the fly look like it is moving.
Therefore, in most circumstances ensure that your fly boxes are well stocked in different sizes with these wonderful suggestive all rounder’s.
