Its Almost Skwala Time

Hey all, for anyone that lives on a river that has a skwala hatch you know how exciting it can be this time of the year watching the water temps slowly rise to that magical rage. The fish are also excited to start feeding like crazy after a long cold winter of low merabolism. For my friends on the Yakima river it's a time for looking ahead to more action packed days and a broader range of fly selection...which is why I'm posting my question. I've been tying a bunch of pat stone nymphs and they work great, but I would like to start tying nymph and dry patterns that are a little bit more complex and might work a little better on this system. Any first hand experience or advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Derek nice skwalas

Thanks Kelvin - I've whittled away at this pattern with the glass bead head for a couple of years now, incorporating some more natural materials along the way - the nymph is muskrat and pheasant. The dry hasn't been tested but I've tried to make it as sparse as possible yet still sit in the water correctly. I've also tied the nymph with biot instead of the rubber legs, but the fish seem to prefer the pattern with rubber legs.

Those look nice Derek. The amber bead is a nice touch.

I think this little heat wave might get those bug moving towards the shallows. Anyone been out turning over rocks lately?

I was at the slides yesterday and there wasn't much under the rocks, I threw a pat stone and and a San Juan (aka turd and the worm) and had some luck. I thought it might have been a little early for such a meat an potatoes approach but I've been surprised before.

Where are the slides?

This one's worked pretty well:





This one gets a tryout in a few months:




regards,
Scott

The rock slides around mile post twenty in the canyon.

I like using Beads on Skwala patterns

We must shop at the same glass bead store, Kelvin...

Here are a few that Mcnasty tied for me.

Those are some sweet ties guys! Kelvin I like the bead body and the shape. Mind putting an SBS together for a newb like me? Or just the recipe would be cool.

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Derek that caddis will be killer. In the late summer when I was flipping rocks there were thousands of them. I'm not sure when they hatch but they are definatley there.

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saw the first empty skwala shuck on a rock yesterday along with the first BWO on the yak. tyin up some hopper juan's in blackish/green for skwala dries.

A little bit more complex than a pat's stone...Probably equally effective.

Brad- you should do a step by step video of that fly- so I can steal it and catch all the fish.

I always find it interesting that while many patterns for Skwalas have an olive hue, but to me (and I'm a guy so my color palette is limited...) their bodies have a more yellowish hue, contrasting with the black. Ones that I have collected on the Yakima seemed much more yellow than olive, but the classic patterns from Montana are generally olive.

Steve

i agree most the ones on the yak have a yellowish/tan hue to them, though i've found some very dark blackish and dark olive ones before as well.

Brad, that fly looks awfully familiar...