I need some inspiration. Please help.

[lx-88]

Hey Guys,

I'm a college student at the Univeristy of Montana, new to tying (although I'm learning fast), and new to fishing Montana rivers (though not to fly-fishing).

Ih've tied Princes, Rubber Legs, a few Adams, San Juan Worms, and Zonkers. I'm tired of tying patterns that I have tied constantly for a while now. I need some ideas for flies I could / should tie for the rivers out there (especially the Clark Fork and Rock Creek) for winter and early spring before runoff. Tying some more dries would be fun.

Thanks for the help in advance!

[Mark Ritari]

Skwalas! and the MA flyshop is starting their tying class on the 23rd. are u game??? Oh yea the pike action should start to pick up early spring (when the pike move into the shallows to spawn) so big bright streamers would be a good bet too.

[BFK]

Back in the day, the Clark Fork was a great place to fish in February...off the main channel. We had pretty good luck on GRHE or versions thereof, and a largish black leech was also good for brookies and browns.

If you want to prep for the coming season, I would tie a bunch of Kolzer Oranges as they were my go-to for faster water. Spent wing Adams were also good in the side channels after the water warmed a bit...Also a Hairwing Royal Coachman, tied Wulff style, was another good option.

Have fun.

BFK

[lx-88]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I think I'll be tying skwalas tonight and look up the Kolzer Oranges.

[Anil]

My friends who guided in Montana turned me on to the hot pink San Juan Worm, years ago. It has always worked well for me during run-off.
Anil

[dominic7471]

royal trudes and royal wulfs are good for the fast water dry fly season out there nut tie up some vinyl lightning, pheasant tails, copper johns, hares ears, wd- 40/50's, and brassies..... that will give you some inspiration

[lx-88]

Once again, thanks for all the ideas!

[1morecast]

You might want to tye up some March Brown dries, and soft hackles. March browns can come off pretty good in March and April on the Missoula area rivers...

[Willie Bodger]

I like a yellow Madame X on Rock Creek

[johnmetcalfe]

Royal Wulffs for sure. Maybe an Elk Hair Caddis.
I love the Clark Fork.
Jm

P.S. Do you know where Superior is?

[dominic7471]

yes, i have heard of superior... didn't the government declare that a wasteland because everyone was so inbred that they did more harm then good????




P.s. isn't your family from there john????

[Rory McMahon]

check this site out: http://www.flyfishingconnection.com/statemontana.html
Its got hatch charts for each river which should give you an idea what to tie for the rivers you'll be fishing.

[lx-88]

Thanks for the link and more ideas! I think I'll be busy tying for a while.

[Preston]

One of my favorite hatches on the Yakima is that of the Skwala stonefly (Skwala americana); mainly because it's the first good opportunity of the year to fish dries. The trouble with most Skwala imitations that I've seen is that they don't resemble Skwalas very much. Here are a couple of pictures of the Skwala and one of my patterns (Slackwater Black) that has proven to be pretty successful. Why don't you try your hand at coming up with a good imitation?

[lx-88]

Preston, Thanks for the pictures of the real bug and your pattern.

Turns out I actually found the picture of your fly before and modeled my own after it. I used a foam underbody with dubbing on top to try and make it float higher, biot tails, and moose antennae.

The two questions I do have are what type of dubbing are you using and what sizes do you tie?

[Preston]

I tie them in size 8 or 10 on a 2x long dry fly hook. I use Burke's Big Bug stonefly dubbing in either black, brown or dark gray.