The Season Begins: Fly Tying Phase

I find myself thinking less these days about fly tying just for fun, and more about tying up something that the trout this summer will fall all over themselves trying to get at. In that sense the season has begun, as I begin to plan and research with the lake firmly in mind; and, most importantly, as I visualize being on the lake throwing these flies to those trout.

Both of these flies show promise. I saw them tied on two separate local fly tying shows on TV, and in both cases a little bell went off in my head. They've been around for awhile, but I had never tied them, or fished them.

Now I've tied them, and I can't wait to fish them.

The Bugmeister. Developed by John Perry, a Montana guide. (At least that's who Orvis credits for the fly.) A classic attractor pattern that can be adapted to imitate anything from skwala to stoneflies to hoppers. I found three very different versions of this fly in one quick check on the internet. The common denominators are the deer hair tail and wing and the wingpost and parachute hackle. This version is pretty simple, but the trout at the lake have simple tastes. This could be the Carpet Caddis of 2012.

The Lady McConnell. Originated in 1979 by Brian Chan, British Columbia chironimid guru, and named after McConnell Lake near Kamloops, where it was first tested. This is a lake fly, designed to imitate an almost fully emerged adult midge. Seems to me there might be, oh, about a million times next summer on the lake when this could be the right fly to try.

Now back to that exhausting research.