ADAMS (FRESHWATER, DRY)
- 20180424 Jim MacDonald recommends for Victoria area lake fishing, hook size 14 & 16. JP orders doz of both sizes on FlyDeals.
- STORES: FlyDeal US Webstore (http://www.flydealflies.com/flies/adams.html)
ANT, BLACK (FRESHWATER, DRY)BLOB (ATTRACTOR, FRESH STILL WATER, WET)
- DESCRIPTION: A 1cm fluff ball of fritz wrapped around a short shank wide gape hook, usually with little or no tail and usually no wing. Most common is orange, Tequila Blob has yellow back.
- BACKGROUND Cousin of Booby, almost considered illegal as very efficient, fish by trolling, trout strike hard.
- METHOD - GENERAL: Fished as same as cousin Booby.
- METHOD - SHALLOW WATER: Good in shallow, switch line to a clear intermediate sink which can be beneficial with super picky trout, especially in clear water on shoals. Using a slightly longer leader of about 5–7ft and having the clear intermediate line will allow you to entice even the pickiest of trout as the longer leader and clear line just add to your stealth factor and give them one less thing to see or shy away from.
- METHOD - STATIC #1: Blob below an indicator, on a windy day, using the wind to drift a blob fly in the shallows, or out in the deeper water, can help turn a slow day into an extremely productive one! On a windy day the erratic nature the choppy water can enact on the blob fly works just like another type of retrieve, but with a whole lot more hang time and a whole lot less casting.
- METHOD - STATIC #2: Use a relatively short few ft leader, cast our your sinking line and wait for it to hit the bottom, every so often give a little tug on the line, but generally don't retrieve at all, the low lying trout are attracted to the movement.
- 20180823 GRR Member Colin Chadwick catches 6 rainbow trout on Prospect Lake from float tube full sinking line trolling orange Blob.
BOOBY (ATTRACTOR, FRESH STILL WATER, WET)
- DESCRIPTION: Two large foam eyes that look like boobs, most popular is orange, Tequila Booby has yellow back.
- BACKGROUND: UK invention, and made illegal in UK tournaments as very efficient, fish by trolling, trout strike hard.
- RIGGING: Fast 6 or 7IPS sinking line, and to the end use a 4-6ft 8lb leader (4ft in shallow water).
- METHOD - SHALLOW WATER: Use the fast sinking line to drag the booby fly under, even letting the line lay on the bottom, while taking advantage of the foam in the booby eyes to float the fly up off the bottom in front of the fish. Want erratic movement so retrieve the booby with quick 1–2in short strips, longer 4–6in strips, or a fast figure of eight hand twist. Keep the booby moving in the water as action is the key! Contrary to most of our BC Interior stillwater retrieves, try to shy away from pausing to much.
- METHOD - DROP OFF: Anchor on the shoal right near a drop off and cast into the deeper water, let it sink, and then quickly strip the booby up the drop off.
- METHOD - DEEP WATER: Anchor in deep water, dissecting the water column can be a very important part of fishing the booby, use the countdown method can be extremely helpful to determine the depth at which the fish are cruising. Counting the sink time on your fly will allow you to cover the water column pretty effectively and when you hook a fish you should then be able to repeat the process by waiting the same amount of time to begin your retrieve after each cast. As with shallow and drop off booby fishing, alternate retrieve methods and speeds until you get dialed in to what the fish seem to like.
- 201805 JP gets two from Jim MacDonald and trolls on Prospect Lake and gets two rainbow.
BULLHEAD (SALTWATER)CADDIS/SEDGE, ELK HAIR (FRESHWATER, DRY)CADDIS/SEDGE - GODDARD (FRESHWATER, DRY)
- Two long antenna, deer hair body.
- Go to fly for Corbet Lake near Merrit BC
- 20180516 Gus gave John 2 to use at Cowichan River.
CHIRONOMID - SNOWCONE (FRESHWATER, WET)Hook 14, 2.8mm white Tungsten bead, Clear Cure Goo Hydro $18.
CUTTHROAT (SALTWATER)Easy to tie
FRY - GENERAL (SALTWATER)FRY - HUMPBACK (SALTWATER)GNAT - GRIFFITHS (FRESHWATER, DRY)
- 20180425 Jim MacDonald recommends for Victoria area lake fishing, hook size 14 & 16. JP orders doz of both sizes on FlyDeals.
- STORES: FlyDeal US Webstore (http://www.flydealflies.com/flies/griffiths_gnat.html)
MARABOU STREAMER (FRESHWATER, WET, ATTRACTOR STREAMER)MARCH BROWN (FRESHWATER, DRY)
- 20180424 Jim MacDonald recommends for Victoria area lake fishing, hook size 14 & 16. JP orders doz of both sizes on FlyDeals.
- STORES: FlyDeal US Webstore (http://www.flydealflies.com/flies/march_brown.html)
MAYFLY - DUNN (FRESHWATER, DRY)For trout use hook 12-14.
MUDDLER - MINOW (FRESHWATER, WET, ATTRACTOR STREAMER)NYMPH - BEAD-HEAD PRINCE (FRESHWATER, WET)NYMPH - GOLD-RIBBED HARE'S EAR (FRESHWATER, WET)NYMPH - PHEASANT TAIL (FRESHWATER, WET)NYMPH - STONEFLY (FRESHWATER, WET)NYMPH - ZUG BUG (FRESHWATER, WET)ROYAL COACHMAN (FRESHWATER, ATTRACTOR, DRY OR WET)
- 20180424 Jim MacDonald recommends for Victoria area lake fishing, hook size 14 & 16. JP orders doz of both sizes on FlyDeals.
- STORES: FlyDeal US Webstore (http://www.flydealflies.com/flies/royal_coachman.html)
ROYAL WULFF (FRESHWATER, DRY)
- 20180424 Jim MacDonald recommends for Victoria area lake fishing, hook size 14 & 16. JP orders doz of both sizes on FlyDeals.
- STORES: FlyDeal US Webstore (http://www.flydealflies.com/flies/wulff_royal.html)
SCULPIN (FRESHWATER, WET, ATTRACTOR STREAMER)SHRIMP (FRESHWATER)Vancouver Island lakes are alkaline thus shrimp flies don't work.
SHRIMP - MYSID (SALTWATER)SILVER BROWN (SALTWATER)SILVER LADY (SALTWATER)SUMMARY: Catching Cutthroat
Note = Very tough to tie
STICKLEBACK (SALTWATER)WOOLY BUGGER (FRESHWATER, WET, ATTRACTOR STREAMER)
- SUMMARY: The most popular Trout fly, as an attractor (doesn't imitate a specific bug, just looks attractive to fish to eat) hook size is not very important. Common colours are olive green, black, brown.
- HOOK:Use hook size 6 or 10 long shank (#8 doesn't add enough variance in size).
- TAIL: Marabou feathers.
- BODY: Chenille.
- OPTIONS: Tungsten bead, weighted.
WORM - SAN JUAN (FRESHWATER, WET)
- SUMMARY: Worm patterns have reputation as one step above bait which is undeserved as they match the hatch, and work for any size fish, especially trout. They work year-round in any water, but best in spring when higher creek waters erode banks and release worms. Often waterlogged or dead, they are immobile and drift in the water and don't require much pursuit for a large amount of protein. Most popular pattern is classic easy to tie San Juan worm. Second popular patter is Wiggly Worm using thin rubber tubes. In low water, you can drift a worm weightless, letting it ride just below the surface. In high, dirty water, sink it with some split shot. Also fish Czech style or under an indicator. Can use Tenkara style.
- HOOK: Nymph or Curved shape to give some character but can use straight shank as less chance of wrapping around hook. Size #8-18 curved hook, 12 is good. Weight Extra Heavy.
- THREAD: 70 denier red.
- BODY: Thin Ultra-Micro Chenille unless using large hook ie #6 then Medium Chenille, lightly burn ends to taper and avoid unravelling. Most popular colour is red then purple, hot pink. Length is ~2.5-3X length of hook with shorter in front & longer in back.
- OPTIONS: Tungsten bead or lead wrap. Add strand of purple UV crystal flash.
20180520 JP makes 8: 2 regular on #8 hooks, 2 with red Krystal Flash on #8, 2 regular on #12 hooks, 2 with red Krystal Flash on #12.
WORM - SQUIRMY (FRESHWATER, WET)
- SUMMARY: Similar to San Juan Worm, nick name "Squirmy Wormy" as uses red Squirmy Wormy thin soft rubber hose material and red thread with red dubbing to thicken otherwise thread cuts hose when tie-onto hook.
- USE: Very simple but productive imitation of a worm fly for Trout & Steelhead.
- HOOK: Nymph or Curved shape to give some character but can use straight shank as less chance of wrapping around hook. Size #8-18 curved hook, 12 is good.
- THREAD: 140 or 210 denier red, need thicker so as not to cut worm.
- BODY: Thin wiggly tubular silicon, most popular colour is red then purple, hot pink. Length is ~6-8X length of hook with long in front & back. Tie on with pinch wrap, not tight.
- OPTIONS: Tungsten bead.
- 20180823 JP trolls on Prospect Lake with full 3 IPS, gets 3 small Bass.
- 20180520 JP makes 4: 2 on #8 hooks, 2 on #12 hooks, found that 140 denier thread cut tubes, and nail varnish melted tubes resulting in front end falling off. Found easier to use red Micro Chenille instead of thread to tie on last worm and be very judicious with nail varnish.