Key Flys For Calgary

[Guest FishForLife]

Hi

what are the key flys for fishing in calgary area to you. If you could only carly say 10-15 fly patterns or one box what would they be. I would like to hone my skills on a few of the must have flys for this area.

 

THANKS

[fishinglibin]

PM Sent What, The Bow has fish in it !!!

[WyomingGeorge]

That's one of those beguilingly simple questions that could unleash magazine-length articles, like "At what ski area am I most likely to find powder?" But to get the discussion going...

 

An argument could be made that being limited to 10 flies means you might as well leave out dry flies altogether in favour of a fuller nymph selection, since being off by one size, shape or colour factor with the dry often means you might as well not fish at all.

 

I can already hear the screams of dispute and derision building up, so assuming the 10 MUST include some dries, here goes:

 

Dries:

--big yellow foam hopper

--tent-winged brown/buff caddis, size 14

--olive spinner (not dun), size 18 (I find a spinner will take fish feeding on duns, but not vice-versa, so since it's about ruthless choice here...)

 

Nymphs:

--SJW, not wire but chenille or chamois, tan/brown or dull red rather than bright red (I find brown works great on bright days and so-so on dull days, but the bright red usually only works on dull or off-colour water days)

--rubber-leg stone or "turd", mottled brown (hard to pick one colour here)

--flashback pheasant tail beadhead, size 16

--zebra midge, size 20

--soft-hackled caddis pupa (can also be fished as a wet fly on the swing), any colour, size 14 or 16

 

Streamers:

--Coffey's sparkle minnow, tan/olive, any size

--Sculpzilla, olive with red gills, larger size

 

Merely writing the list makes me realize how much I'm leaving out. I use at least 20 nymph patterns on the Bow that would be core or go-to patterns rather than just occasional uses. Probably half a dozen streamers over and over. But with dry fly fishing, the list is almost endless, not so much the number of basic patterns but the variations of size, colour, hackle and wing treatment that you need, with tiny changes often making the difference between success and failure. But every fly fisherman knows that.

 

OK everyone, now start jeering!

[Gil]

That's one of those beguilingly simple questions that could unleash magazine-length articles, like "At what ski area am I most likely to find powder?" But to get the discussion going...

 

An argument could be made that being limited to 10 flies means you might as well leave out dry flies altogether in favour of a fuller nymph selection, since being off by one size, shape or colour factor with the dry often means you might as well not fish at all.

 

I can already hear the screams of dispute and derision building up, so assuming the 10 MUST include some dries, here goes:

 

Dries:

--big yellow foam hopper

--tent-winged brown/buff caddis, size 14

--olive spinner (not dun), size 18 (I find a spinner will take fish feeding on duns, but not vice-versa, so since it's about ruthless choice here...)

 

Nymphs:

--SJW, not wire but chenille or chamois, tan/brown or dull red rather than bright red (I find brown works great on bright days and so-so on dull days, but the bright red usually only works on dull or off-colour water days)

--rubber-leg stone or "turd", mottled brown (hard to pick one colour here)

--flashback pheasant tail beadhead, size 16

--zebra midge, size 20

--soft-hackled caddis pupa (can also be fished as a wet fly on the swing), any colour, size 14 or 16

 

Streamers:

--Coffey's sparkle minnow, tan/olive, any size

--Sculpzilla, olive with red gills, larger size

 

Merely writing the list makes me realize how much I'm leaving out. I use at least 20 nymph patterns on the Bow that would be core or go-to patterns rather than just occasional uses. Probably half a dozen streamers over and over. But with dry fly fishing, the list is almost endless, not so much the number of basic patterns but the variations of size, colour, hackle and wing treatment that you need, with tiny changes often making the difference between success and failure. But every fly fisherman knows that.

 

OK everyone, now start jeering!

[Gil]

 

That's one of those beguilingly simple questions that could unleash magazine-length articles, like "At what ski area am I most likely to find .....

 

OK everyone, now start jeering!

Actually I like your list.

[reevesr1]

Wow, tough question. I'd be hard pressed not to have a 16 or 18 parachute Adams in addition to the excellent list above, but what to remove? Uh, the olive spinner maybe? I'd replace the worm (sacrilege!!) with a small black leach if some kind I can nymph or fish as a streamer. Maybe I'd keep the worm and replace one of George's streamers with the small leach. Gotta have a prince to nymph and double as a boatman pattern, can't figure out what to replace. Maybe the pt? Oh, that feels wrong! I would go with a 20 tungstud instead if the zebra. Fun!

[SilverDoctor]

And of course when you get one the water thier bighting on what you didn't bring.