Tuesday, July 3, 2012

More Redheads

I have failed to discover what is the key success factor of my "Redhead" pattern: is it the gold ribbed hare body? subtle movements and translucency of the CDC wing? the red head? the way the fly lies stuck inside the water film?
Most likely it is the combination of all of the above.


On the other hand I could not fail to notice it outfishes my other imitations by wide margin. It has been the most productive dry fly for the mixed hatches period of late spring.

I therefore refrain from tampering with a design that works and keep on churning more and more copies to replenish my boxes (and to share a few with deserving friends).

4 comments:

  1. Jindra.

    So you fish this fly to a rising fish, or will they come to the fly when they are not feeding?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On small & shallow streams I often use these to fish the water - fish are opportunists, and they will take a dry fly if it is not too far (about knee deep water is OK)
      On bigger rivers it pays to target rising fish. In my experience fish on water about waist deep and more will not take a dry fly unless they are already close to surface. If they are hugging the bottom a nymph is (unfortunately) required.
      Cheers!
      J.

      Delete
  2. That is an awesome tip, thanks for sharing a productive fly. The results on the river Úpa were a few Grayling and a couple of brown trout in 30 minutes. Trying other flies did not work, switching back to your redhead got them rising again. Amazing.
    Thanks again

    Roman

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Romane, děkuju za milá slova :)
      Zajíce vážu rád, ale červenou hlavu jsem zkusil v zásadě z legrace - okoukal jsem to vazačů lososích much, kde je to normální. Výsledek mne velice příjemně překvapil...
      Ať to na Úpě láme pruty!
      J.

      Delete