Anyone want to share their stillwater boxes?

[Shaun Solomon]

I have just started thinking about fly fishing again, after several years of almost full time bass fishing. My wife and I have been taking day trips into central Oregon to get a better feel for the area, and have visited several lakes reputed to be excellent for stillwater fly fishing.

I fished the Delany Buttes, Elevenmile, Spinney, and a few other less well known trout stillwater trout destinations in Colorado, so I am not without a background, but I kept it stupid simple. Olive buggers with a scud dropper accounted for about 80% of my reservoir or lake trout on the fly rod.

I am interested in what folks are using locally, and would love to see either patterns or boxes. I just started a stillwater box, having never had a dedicated box before. I'm just going for the usual suspects, chironomids, callibaetis, scuds, leeches, dragons and damsels. I have noticed some honking big hexagenia emergers the last few times I was out on places like Cottage grove or Hagg for bass, and filed that away for future use. Any big fans of the Hex? How many folks use softhackles? Are the common lake patterns like AP Emergers and Zug Bugs in rotation, or are we all on to bigger and better things these days?

I started tying today after a LONG time of not tying, and I am more than a little rusty, but I guess I can show what I have so far. Extended body damsels, AP variants, and a flash/impressionistic olive nymph I have caught a few on in the past. Hard to not incorporate a little partridge on stillwater bugs, I find.

 

[C_Run]

I don't fly fish but I was at a stocked lake at the coast yesterday along with a bunch of guys in float tubes and fly rods. You know how voices carry out there. I heard them yell "brown wooly booger" about a hundred times. Later I talked to one guy and he caught about six times more fish than me with my hardware.

 

[Shaun Solomon]

Haha sometime that is how it goes. I remember the first time I saw a fly angler getting down to business. I was about sixteen years old, and my girlfriend at the time and I had been staying at a cabin owned by a family friend. It was on a pretty good stretch of the Thompson river, but I confess I was not 100% focused on the fishing opportunities at my disposal in that particular situation.

At any rate, my companion and I wandered down to the water and sat watching a fellow really put a hurt on the local trout population. Of course I was impressed, and after a while, I had to ask the chap what he was up to.

It was my first introduction to high-sticking, and I was transfixed watching him roll cast the nymph rig along the edge of an eddy. The current would grab his rig and swirl it back upstream, hovering for a split second before it rejoined the downstream rush of water. About every other cast, his little tuft of yarn would hesitate, and he would set the hook on yet another trout. I was very impressed. The only real-life fly fishing I had seen up to that point had consisted of half dead trolling of wooly worms behind a pontoon boat on a private lake, and the results had not been impressive. The fact that I recall the particulars is testimony to the impact that event had on my psyche.

 

[Billamicasr]

Like the post... great explanation of impressions from years past. A few are fortunate to have memories of years ago when some thing jolted the thought process enough to recall the feelings of that time in place, years later... I love that; rather like Deja vu of something that really did happen.

In another thought, I keep thinking I'd like to tie a few flies; after all, I am quite experienced (years ago). Problem is; the first one on my list is just too complicated, #2 Lady Caroline. I've got all of the materials, I just need to get motivated enough to tie the first one (epic fail!)... so I'm still thinking about it.Oh well, maybe someday.

A very good fishing partner and friend, back in the 70's used to fill commercial orders for 10 - 20 dozen flies, of one size, of one pattern. It was fun to watch him prepare each piece of the puzzle before even tying the first one. When I see flies that are uniformly consistent, such as yours, I know I see professionally tied flies... Kudos!

 

[Shaun Solomon]

Uniformly consistent? You are much too kind. :lol:

I can tie consistent bugs, but it takes me tying at almost a production level (about a hundred pack of hooks) before they start to turn out the way I want them to. My big problem tying flies is that I love developing new patterns, but I despise production tying or replenishing my boxes. ADHD strikes again, I guess.

Anyway, I am of the opinion that you will do just fine tying any pattern you wish. The first might be horrid, or the third or twenty third, but you ABSOLUTELY WILL tie a good one. And that first good one will not be the last good one if you keep tying them.

I had a little trouble getting proportions right on Copper Johns at first. They have a lot of different materials and building a smooth thread underbody before wrapping the wire is important. But I think anyone can and will learn to tie any pattern they tie enough of.

I will never be a great fly tier, because I simply don't put my butt into the chair often enough. But I can turn out a good bug after I twist up a few dozen, good enough for most trout I suspect. I have a great admiration for the skills of production tiers, but my talents lie another direction.

Cheers!

SS

 

[GungasUncle]

I don't have dedicated lake boxes for trout - I use the same in lakes as I do streams - I use a lot of buggers, leaches, and soft hackles. Olive, tan, peacock, black, black/red are favorite colors for both. I do have a bunch of chironomids tied up of various sizes, and have some success with them.

I also have a dedicated streamer box that has bucktails, buggers, marabou streamers, clousers, and some nasty articulated stuff inspired by Kelly Gallup. I have a dedicated bass box also that is a mix of streamers, worm flies, poppers, sliders, and foam gurglers.

 

[TheKnigit]

I am in the same situation as GungasUncle. I don't have a dedicated "lake" box for trout. Mine are separated out by fly type for the most part. I would be lying if I said that I always keep my fly boxes straight and tidy. I have a box for big bugs (mice, leaches, salt flies), two boxes for strictly dry flies, a box for nymphs, a box for my personally tied flies I am "testing", and a box for tested flies that have actually caught fish. I am just starting to get back into tying my own after about a 10 year laps.

I tend to use a lot of elk hair style caddis flies on lakes. The orange stimulator, in varying sizes, has always been a good one (I am still working on tying my own. I can never seem to get it quite right). If it is closer to the evening then I like to through woolly buggers, or muddler minnows (another pattern I am trying to figure out how to tie).

 

[JonT]

Mine is black and olive wooly buggers