So I got this BOX… and decided to fill it with soft hackle fly patterns for our trip to Montana ( me & Michael).None of these patterns were tied with lead so that they would be legal to use on Yellowstone National Park waters. I finished the box just before going up to the Sierras with my family and with the express purpose of getting my Grandson Miles into his first Trout. He was enamored with this fly box and got me to let him use a couple of flies herein. Good move on his part, one of the below fly patterns just wiped ’em out… 🙂
Sierra Brookie…(8,23.2017)
Hoover Wilderness….
Michael says bring MORE soft hackles… :)…8.23.2017
COMPLETED FALL SOFT HACKLE BOX…
RICHARD WHEATLEY 6″ BLACK BOX…
Somebody was on Willowemoc Creek on July 29 – 30… 🙂
Something to get flies down quick that is not lead (suggested for 4x leaders and larger)…Lead is a big No-No in YNP, in flies or on leaders and tippets…
This batch is just about ready to go into the box…
INTERIOR…
Many of the patterns going inside will be hackled with THIS:
…and THIS, because Fall is a great time to swing soft hackle fly patterns in the waters in and around Yellowstone National Park…Everything in this box will be soft hackle patterns…Starting with this:
MICRO FLOSS IN LIGHT OLIVE SH…
HOOK: TMC 5262, #14 – #18
THREAD: Tiemco 16/0, Olive
ABDOMEN: Micro Floss, Light Olive – Cascade Crest
RIB: Ultra Wire, Olive, x-sm
THORAX: Ice Dub, UV Light Olive
HACKLE: Grizzly Hen Neck, Olive – Wapsi
Just a tiny Olive soft hackle to match tiny Olive bugs in the drift…
Materials MICRO FLOSS IN LIGHT OLIVE SH…
MICRO FLOSS IN LIGHT OLIVE SHs…#16’s…
YELLOW SOFTIE..
HOOK: Daiichi 1560, #12 -#14
THREAD: Veevus 16/0, Black
ABDOMEN: Ice Dub, Fl. Yellow
RIB: Ultra Wire, Brown, SM
THORAX: Hare’s Ear Plus, #2. Dark Hare’s Ear
HACKE: Brown-ish Partridge
I purloined this pattern from Fly Fishing In Yellowstone National Park. It is reported that it works well on the Firehole. I’ll try it next time I go when the wind isn’t blowing sideways and it isn’t snowing…
Materials YELLOW SOFTIE…
YELLOW SOFTIEs…#14’s…
BARKER’S BAETIS – McGee
HOOK: Daiichi 1560, #18
THREAD: Tiemco 16/0, Black
TAIL: Coq De Leon, Dark Speckled
ABDOMEN: Black thread
RIB: Fl. Chartreuse Veevus Body Quill over Ultra Wire Chartreuse, x-sm
HACKLE: Purple Starling
BEAD: Tungsten Nickel, sized to hook or oversized to drop faster
Allen McGee and I are the only people I have seen tie with the Dyed Purple Starling from White Fox Fur & Feather Co. This is his creation and I doubt it has anything to do with the Barker’s found on these posts….
Materials BARKER’S BAETIS…
BARKER’S BAETIS…#18’s…
BWO UV2 TRANSITION FLYMPH – McGee/Variant …
HOOK: Fulling Mill 35050, #18
THREAD: Tiemco 16/0, Olive
SHUCK: Zelon, Olive Brown
ABDOMEN: Polish Quill, Olive – * Coat with UV Resin
THORAX: UV2 BWO Dubbing
HACKLE: Dun Hen Neck – Metz #2
Small, generic Olive Mayfly imitation good in this size and smaller for Baetis/ BWO hatches
Materials BWO UV2 TRANSITION FLYMPH…
BWO UV2 TRANSITION FLYMPH…#18’s…
GOLD PROSPECTOR-McGee/Variant …
HOOK: TMC 3761, #12 – #16
THREAD: Danville 6/0, Gold – Underabdomen / Tiemco 16/0, Olive – Thorax forward
TAIL: Grizzly Marabou, Tan
ABDOMEN: UTC Wire , Hot Yellow SM or Brassie
THORAX: Mink, Natural Tan 42. –Wapsi, combed off hide and chopped
HACKLE #1: Grizzly Marabou Tan, 1 turn
HACKLE #2: Grizzly Hen Neck, Brown – Wapsi
BEAD: Gold Tungsten, sized to hook – * I placed a tiny dubbed wrap of Mink behind the bead
I am on the Firehole River, it is snowing, I am freezing, I tie on one of these and cast it to the far bank quartering downstream. As the fly begins to rise, on it’s swing downstream – BAM!!!…and so it was…
On the Firehole…swinging soft hackles…
Materials GOLD PROSPECTOR…
GOLD PROSPECTORs…#12’s…
SHUCK EMERGER (Nectopsyche albida) McGee/Variant…
HOOK: TMC 102Y, #15
THREAD: Tiemco 16/0, Olive
SHUCK: Straight White Zelon
ABDOMEN: Fine & Dry Dubbing, Creamy White
UNDERWING: Mallard Flank, Natural
OVERWING: Marc Petitjean Select CDC, White
HACKLE: Grizzly Hen Neck – Wapsi
Tis is an merger imitation of the famous “White Miller Caddis” that one sees in the late Spring and Fall on the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park. We didn’t see many of these fellows skittering around over the surface of the water while we were there – it was snowing…
Materials SHUCK EMERGER (Nectopsyche albida)…
SHUCK EMERGERs (Nectopsyche albida)…#15’s…
MADISON DRIFTER…
HOOK: McGee/Variant – TMC 5262, #12 – #16
THREAD:Danville 6/0, #47 Tobacco Brown
TAIL: Strung Marabou23. Brown – Nature’s Spirit
ABDOMEN: Haretron Dubbing, Dark Brown
RIB: Holoshimmer, #6055, Cranberry
THORAX: Ice Dub, Chocolate Brown
BEAD: Copper Tungsten, sized to hook
HACKLE: Hungarian Partridge, dyed Brown
A mid-bead, generic soft hackle. Michael used this as a dropper on a two fly rig while fishing the Madison in YNP, in the snow….
Materials MADISON DRIFTER…
MADISON DRIFTERs…#14’s…
KINGFISHER PEACOCK SH…
HOOK: Alec Jackson Covert Nymph Hook, #11 – #15
THREAD: UTC 70 Denier, Black
ABDOMEN: Dyed Peacock, Kingfisher Blue – Spirit River (now Hareline)
RIB: Ultra Wire, Gold, SM or Brassie
HACKLE: Partridge
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner. My Grandson Miles made me pull one of these out of the soft hackle box on our family trip up to the Eastern Sierras. I can’t even tell ya’ how many Trout we caught on this fly…it was unbelievable…
Materials KINGFISHER PEACOCK SH…
KINGFISHER PEACOCK SHs…#13’s…
STRUNG RED & PINK SH…
HOOK: TMC 113 BLH, #12 – #14
THREAD: UTC 70 denier, Black
TAG: Datum Glo-Brite #3. Red
ABDOMEN: Peacock Herl, strung Red – Wapsi
RIB: Ultra Wire, Fl. Pink, SM
HACKLE: Partridge
Another in the progression of Peacock and Partridge. I particularly like thee TMC 113 BLH hooks. The heavier version of the TMC 103 BL Hook…
Materials STRUNG RED & PINK SH…
STRUNG RED & PINK SHs…#12’s…
UV2 3P’s SH (Purple) …
HOOK: TMC 5262, #14 – #18
THREAD: Gordon Griffith 14/0 Sheer, Wine
ABDOMEN: Ringneck Pheasant, Dyed Purple
RIB: Holoshimmer Opalescent Metallic Thread
THORAX: UV2 Peacock, Purple – Spirit River (now Hareline)
HACKLE: Partridge
Something thin and in purple pheasant tail. Another good attractor for lakes and mining water…3 P’s being Pheasant, Peacock & Partridge
Materials UV2 3P’s SH (Purple)…
UV2 3P’s SHs (Purple)…#14’s…
CHARTREUSE TAG P & P SH …
HOOK: Daiichi 1560, #12 – #16
THREAD: UTC 70 denier, Black
TAG: Datum Glo-Brite Floss, #11
ABDOMEN: Strung Peacock Herl
RIB: Ultra Wire, Chartreuse, SM
HACKLE: Partridge
Another variation on the Peacock and Partridge theme using chartreuse floss for a tag. These kinds of soft hackles work very well on Montana Rivers. On some occasions, Tout will key in on the tag color so I tie a lot of them using silver, gold, red, chartreuse, blue, pink and copper wire as well as different colors of floss…just experiment…
Materials CHARTREUSE TAG P & P SH…
CHARTREUSE TAG P & P SHs – fourth aisle from the left – # 14’s…
DMC EMERGING BWO SH…
HOOK: TMC 100 SPBL, #18 – #20
THREAD: Benecchi 12/0, Olive
SHUCK: Gray spooled Antron
ABDOMEN: DMC Embroidery Floss # 640
THORAX: Hareline dubbing, Olive Brown #30.
HACKLE: Metz #3 Hen Neck, Dun
A small, emerging, BWO soft hackle to swing. Grey-is colors are predominate in some areas of the West so it it wise to have some of these in this color when one encounters them…
Materials DMC EMERGING BWO SH…
DMC 640 Floss…
DMC EMERGING BWO SHs…#18’s…
BLEACHED FALL FURNACE SH…
HOOK: TMC 5262, #12 – #16
THREAD: Danville 6/0, Yellow
TAIL: Hungarian Partridge, Brown
ABDOMEN: Bleached PT Fibers – Nature’s Spirit
RIB: UTC Wire, SM, Rust
THORAX: UV2 Natural Peacock
HACKLE: Hen Neck, Furnace – Wapsi
A Pheasant Tail attractor, soft hackle. Like to use these in both moving and stillwater…
Materials BLEACHED FALL FURNACE SH…
BLEACHED FALL FURNACE SHs…#14’s…
AMBER TRILOBAL SH …
HOOK: Alec Jackson Covert Nymph Hook, #13 – #15
THREAD: Danville 6/0, Hot Orange
TAG: Working thread
ABDOMEN: Nature’s Spirit Emergence Dubbing, 70. Amber – use a sparse dubbing loop, brush out and trim
HACKLE: Hen Neck, Ginger – Wapsi
An attractor style caddis-y soft hackle which, when done sparsely, allows the tying thread to stand out under the dubbed abdomen…I like this for Fall and Spring Trout fishing…
Materials AMBER TRILOBAL SH…
AMBER TRILOBAL SHs…#13’s…
UV2 DATUM #3 COACHMAN SH …
HOOK: TMC 5262, #12 – #16
THREAD: UTC 70 Denier, Black
TAILS: Stripped Goose Biots, Brown
ABDOMEN: 2 separate wrapping of peacock herl
MID-SECTION: Datum Glo-Brite Floss, #3 Red
HACKLE: Grizzly Hen Neck, Brown – Wapsi
A simple Coachman type attractor, soft hackle. A time tested format that works just about anywhere Trout dwell…
Materials UV2 DATUM #3 COACHMAN SH…
UV2 DATUM #3 COACHMAN SHs…#12 & #14…
SMOLT N’ STEEL SH …
HOOK: TMC 113 BLH, #12 – #14
THREAD: Abdomen – Gordon Griffiths 14/0 Sheer, Black / Head – Gordon Griffiths 14/0 Sheer, Red
ABDOMEN: Veevus Iridescent Thread, Smolt Blue
RIB: Ultra Wire, Blue, SM
THORAX: Ice Dub Blue Steelie
HACKLE: Natural Grizzly Hen Neck – Wapsi
Another “off-the-wall” blue attractor, soft hackle fly pattern. I like to employ these guys where I am quite confident that the fish have never seen anything quite like them before…the results are usually very positive…
Materials SMOLT N’ STEEL SH…
SMOLT N’ STEEL SHs…#12’s…
DIVER SH (B. americanus) …
HOOK: Daiichi 1130, #16 – #18
THREAD: Tiemco 16/0, Olive
EGG SAC: Nature’s Spirit Emergence Dubbing, 20. Caddis Green
ABDOMEN: Buggy Nymph Dubbing, Brownish/Olive – Metz
WING: Hi-Vis Antron, White
HACKLE: brownish Partridge
This pattern is to match the Fall Grannom which appears her in the West. Major hatches occur in September and October in the Eastern Sierras and in Montana as well. This is the female diving version which may be fished deep and swung…
Materials DIVER SH (B. americanus)…
DIVER SHs (B. americanus)…#16’s…
GOLD TAG P & P SOFT HACKLE …
HOOK: TMC 5262, # 12 – #18
THREAD: Gordon Griffiths 14/0 Sheer, Red
TAG: UTC Gold Wire, Sm or x-sm
ABDOMEN: UV2 Peacock, Natural
RIB: UTC Gold Wire, SM or x-sm
HACKLE: Partridge
A simple Peacock and Partridge Soft Hackle with a gold tag. I have used these around Varney Bridge on the Madison River in September and they have been very effective…
Materials GOLD TAG P & P SOFT HACKLE
GOLD TAG P & P SOFT HACKLEs…#16’s…
PURPLE PEACOCK & PARTRIDGE SH …
HOOK: Daiichi 1560, #12 – #18, TMC 5262, #12 – #18
THREAD: Ultra 70 Denier, Purple
RIB: Lagartun Silver wire, Fine or X-Fine
ABDOMEN: Purple Iridescent Peacock Herl – Spirit River
HACKLE: Partridge
This is one of the most useful fly patterns I have used for high elevation, stillwater Trout over the last five years. I wanted to have an ample supply for my grandson Miles and Michael to use up in the Sierras…
PURPLE PEACOCK & PARTRIDGE SOFT HACKLES – TMC 5262, # 16’s…
Materials PURPLE PEACOCK & PARTRIDGE SOFT HACKLES
NEXT: MONTANA/BRIDGEPORT Trip
PT/TB
PLANETTROUT: Fly Fishing, Fly Tying and LIFE
