I have been inspired by this beautiful spring time weather of the past few days to share one of my most successful spring time patterns.  I don’t really know what it is called, but I know it catches fish.  I first learned this pattern from a guy in the fly shop I used to frequent when I was a kid.  I have come to call it the compar-a-merger.  I guess because it is a little like a compar-a-dun but the wing is tied back and the body is a little fatter.  I have had trips on the San Juan River in NM, as well as the Green and Provo Rivers in Utah where this little fly caught fish after fish.  I tend to fish it, like most emerger patterns near the surface, but have also had success fishing it deeper, particularly when the only fish that are up are the little guys.  Getting it down 18-24″ under the surface can really get you to the bigger fish.

Compar-a-merger baetis

The compar-a-merger, like most of my flies, is a fairly simple pattern.  I start with a basic nymph style hook in sizes 16-20.  The recipe is as follows:

• Thread: Olive or brown
• Tail: dun colored microfibetts, 3-5 pieces tied flat, together
• Body: olive dubbing remove guard hairs (I prefer olive died squirrel)
• Ribbing: fine gold, brass, or copper wire
• Wing: deer hair length shouldn’t exceed the hook bend
• Thorax: olive dubbing with guard hairs, tied slightly fat

Brown trout enjoying the taste of the compar-a-merger

The dubbing, thread, tail colors and hook size can all be adjusted for various mayfly species … Continue Reading

Ok, so I have fished a lot of flies in 25 years of fly fishing and since nymphing was one of the first ways I learned to successfuly catch trout on a fly I suppose I have a greater connection there. I keep a pretty extensive nymph box (actually two of them) with probably 40 fly designs in different variations. However, I seem to use one of about 5 flies every time I fish as one of the two flies on my rig. One is almost always a tried and true bug, usually on the larger side and and then my second bug is my explorer fly and could be just about anything, but usually something small.

My tried and true bugs are the classics like pheasant tails, some kind of caddis larva, or my beloved red fox squirrel nymph or RFSN.  For some reason I have never really fished a hare’s ear which might rank among other’s top nymph.  The RFSN was one of the first flies I used to consistently catch fish and since then I have used it just about everywhere I have fished and I have enjoyed much success with it.

The pattern was invented by fly fishing/tying legend Dave Whitlock.  It is a simple pattern and can be tied in various profiles to be generally suggestive of a nymph or larva.  The best I can guess is that it mimics a caddis larva or a mayfly, but who am I two try and assume why a pea-brained, cold -blooded creature eats something.  I’m not so sure how close my version is to the original, but it is pretty simple to tie so I would think I am pretty close.  I tend to tie them in sizes from 12-18.  I think the original uses squirrel for the … Continue Reading