My all time top producing chronomid is with a flashabou body -gunmetal, #4 Glo Brite floss collar , peacock green wire rib, silver bead ! Try it , it’s a killer !
Scuds and daphnia are a staple source of food besides chironomids when it's cold and the other hatches are over. They must have overlooked them in that suitcase of flies. 😀
Interesting info, although the species of fish and stillwater location make a big difference. i.e. a reservoir in Utah (ick!) vs a brook trout pond in Maine. in Maine you could easily get by with 3 flies, a Maple Syrup, a Hornberg and black Wooly Bugger....That being said I may try the the boob flies.
As a UK Stillwater fly angler. I also suggest including the following. Hares ear nymph. Pheasant tail nymph. Muskins. Caddis. Crunchers. Cormorants. Diawl Bachs. Invictas. Zulus. Kate McClaren. Hatching/emerging sedge. Crane fly. (as we call them daddy long legs) in smaller sizes and assorted colours we call them hoppers. (Yes us Brits being difficult) They are dressed to comply with competition rules about hook size and total length of dressing. Emerger patterns. Hawthorn flys.
As I gather, we Yanks “imported” the blob and booby fly patterns from the UK. Thank you, Gordon Fraser for the booby. Fly Fish Food was among the first shops in the US to offer true materials for these patterns including imported fritz. For what it’s worth I concur with your additional suggestions. I’ve had particular success with elk hair caddis in the High Uinta Mountains of Utah (FFF’s backyard). Cheers.
The first appearance of the booby utilised expanded polystyrene balls wrapped in a couple of layers of material from pantyhose. Unfortunately they rarely survived more than a couple encounters from trout’s teeth before becoming exboobied. The turning point was the introduction of high density foam This material was later used to evolve the blob to a FAB Foam AR@@D blob. A useful modification is to make a vertical cut to the foam. The resultant increase in surface area improves the buoyancy factor while improving the water disturbance action of the fly. If you make your own flies you can either cut during the process. Or use a slightly smaller diameter cylinder of foam and fold it before adding it to the dressing. One final twist that is worth adding into the mix on some dressings. Add a some folded fluorescent floss, yarn, or wool as a tail between the split. That hot spot now makes it a fire spiting FAB. This also works on the basic blob. Either it draws the fish to spot the fly from a greater distance. Then the fly triggers an attack reaction or the fish when drawn in takes a more natural fly or nymph part of the team of of flies that it would not have even seen without the FAB. Hope my input helped.
Great info! I’ve caught a lot of Stillwater trout on the Grumpy Frumpy.
Gonna have to add these to the box for sure!
Great stuff, Curtis!
For myself leeches in the fall and chronomids, zebras, and top water midges especially small Griffith gnats and parachute adams in spring.
My all time top producing chronomid is with a flashabou body -gunmetal, #4 Glo Brite floss collar , peacock green wire rib, silver bead ! Try it , it’s a killer !
Scuds?
Scuds and daphnia are a staple source of food besides chironomids when it's cold and the other hatches are over. They must have overlooked them in that suitcase of flies. 😀
Interesting info, although the species of fish and stillwater location make a big difference. i.e. a reservoir in Utah (ick!) vs a brook trout pond in Maine. in Maine you could easily get by with 3 flies, a Maple Syrup, a Hornberg and black Wooly Bugger....That being said I may try the the boob flies.
If you learn to fish nymphs in Maine ponds you success will triple
Yeah I wanna know what kind of boxes those are Curtis. They are ginormous
Thanks 👍
And I love Ants😉
As a UK Stillwater fly angler. I also suggest including the following. Hares ear nymph. Pheasant tail nymph. Muskins. Caddis. Crunchers. Cormorants. Diawl Bachs. Invictas. Zulus. Kate McClaren. Hatching/emerging sedge. Crane fly. (as we call them daddy long legs) in smaller sizes and assorted colours we call them hoppers. (Yes us Brits being difficult) They are dressed to comply with competition rules about hook size and total length of dressing. Emerger patterns. Hawthorn flys.
As I gather, we Yanks “imported” the blob and booby fly patterns from the UK. Thank you, Gordon Fraser for the booby. Fly Fish Food was among the first shops in the US to offer true materials for these patterns including imported fritz. For what it’s worth I concur with your additional suggestions. I’ve had particular success with elk hair caddis in the High Uinta Mountains of Utah (FFF’s backyard). Cheers.
The first appearance of the booby utilised expanded polystyrene balls wrapped in a couple of layers of material from pantyhose. Unfortunately they rarely survived more than a couple encounters from trout’s teeth before becoming exboobied. The turning point was the introduction of high density foam This material was later used to evolve the blob to a FAB Foam AR@@D blob. A useful modification is to make a vertical cut to the foam. The resultant increase in surface area improves the buoyancy factor while improving the water disturbance action of the fly. If you make your own flies you can either cut during the process. Or use a slightly smaller diameter cylinder of foam and fold it before adding it to the dressing. One final twist that is worth adding into the mix on some dressings. Add a some folded fluorescent floss, yarn, or wool as a tail between the split. That hot spot now makes it a fire spiting FAB. This also works on the basic blob. Either it draws the fish to spot the fly from a greater distance. Then the fly triggers an attack reaction or the fish when drawn in takes a more natural fly or nymph part of the team of of flies that it would not have even seen without the FAB. Hope my input helped.
My top five is pretty much the same list but reversed LOL. A black balanced leach is my number 1 and I have 100% confidence in it. Good stuff.
What would be your guys fly recommendation for the Provo river? not having any success on there!
A non weighted marabou leech, various colors, 3xl hook in sizes 4-12. More importantly, how deep are the fish?
Callibeatis nymphs and dries… over boobies and blobs. To date I’ve not caught squat on those flies.
What type of box is that? It looks beautiful filled with all those flies.
You beat me to it
I think it is the C & F Designs guide box
New box system coming from C&F in the fall. It is a GAME CHANGER
@@FlyFishFood is it the one I’ve seen on Amazon for like $280?
That is some gross misinformation.
Super super gross.