Jeremy Hunt

The baby is healthy and Summer is doing great. Thanks for asking. I know you're a midge fisherman, I figured you have a new pattern tied with copper beads. It’s just a hard color bead to really come up with fly variations. I also tie zebra midges with different color flash. Red seems to work just as well as the p&p. But I'm still wondering beside zebra midge patterns, what else is out there. See, we keep talking about zebra midges with copper beads etc, not what I’m talking about. You can use any bead on black zebra midges and they will work, but where's the other patterns. Is there anybody out there..........

Great example and exactly what I'm talking about. thanks for sharing. I'll give it a try.

That's funny you say that. Again, another pattern that works well with a tungsten black bead. I guess copper will work with just about anything, but out of the four colors it is the least effective. I used to test every bead with the same pattern and compared the strikes and copper was always the least productive. I just wonder is there another “hot” pattern that people really have a TON of confidence in like the Primrose and Pearl. That pattern, I wouldn’t tie it with any other color bead besides copper. This could turn out to be a great topic related to midges. Lets hear some other thoughts.......

I've tried the rusty midge with the copper, but the black does way better. Where do you fish it and what time of year does it work the best, or is there a time that it works better than others. So the other one you tie is a brown v-rib midge? What's the underbody, as far as the thread goes? Any other comments would be greatly appreciated.

So I have a quick question. Besides the Primrose and Pearl (P&P), what other midge patterns are go-to patterns tied with copper beads. This is something that has bothered me for quite some time. Out of all the other midge patterns I throw I just don’t have the same luck with copper beads. Any thoughts would be helpful. I’m sure there a few of us that would probably agree on this theory, but would really like to know.

Your funny Brian......I need a 4wt line.

Well, if some of you are debating coming due to the fishing, I would say come. I fished a little bit today and it was on fire. I'll definitely be there, but who is bringing what. I was thinking about bringing some brisket. I’ll also bring my boat if anyone is up for some fishing, and if you’ve never fished Taney out of a boat this would be a great way to learn it. We could take turns. What do you think?

Zack, Great photo, detailed. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks

I heard alot about you from your good buddy Tim at Roaring River. Looking forward to meeting you as well. Are you still going to have a tying set up in the back of the shop?

John, have you been fishing the Norfork lately. How's the fishing? Any big browns still hanging around? Thinking about heading that way.

I couldn't agree more.

Nice club sandwich!

Great idea......

Dido that, it's kind of like using a whip finisher for the first time, but it gets easier.

Just to let you know, that particular one is still the best trout producer out of all I've thrown.

Add more herl. I use 4 and twist them before tying them down. Like the others said, tie them in by the tips, (not the very ends of the tips, about midway) its better materail and will make the fly turn out better. Also, don't forget to tie some with the bottom being flash instead of thread bodies.

I’m not taken sides, but I have to go with Leonard on this one. Joe came up with the idea of dying pine squirrel, yes. But Joe didn’t come up with this particular pattern. The idea about adding marabou is something we could’ve all came up with, but Leonard promoted it and to be honest I didn’t see anyone with the same tie until Leonard gave me one. I could be wrong, but if I am then I would like to know who originated the pattern.

This is the revised circus peanut that Kelly Galloup came out with. He calls it the peanut envy, I'm pretty sure thats what they call it. This is the one Kelly actually sent me via email. These are version that really work for around here.

I actually tied a few more right after I got done uploading the steps. These are a lot of fun to tie. I did different color variations to the wool head, change it up a little…. I also painted up the head with a black & brown prismcolor marker to keep the mottled look going.

Great points, which I think are all good for wadable opportunities. I think it will help with the crowding, but I also think it boils down to who wants to walk that far. I think that’s a lot of why people don’t go down lower sections, which is great water and less crowded. It’s well worth the walk.

Oh, any big rock they do put in needs to be flat on the top. They also created the rock to be more in a pyramid shape. The trees should be along the banks. From what I notice the trees in the middle of the river are washing away, but along the banks they seem to be fine. For the streamer guys out there, this would definitely help get more browns to come out of the wood work. Once they did this to the White, the streamer bite was a lot better up top. And that is something this tailwater system is lacking if you ask me. I would love to see big streamers work in the upper section, the only reason why they don’t for the most part is its just a big open body of water.

Phil, those are ALL great ideas. One thing I will mention from guiding at Bull Shoals Dam after the project was complete is, yes we have to get use to those boulders. But I can tell you from experience you will hit them with your prop that’s a fact. Everyone who guides on the White will tell you they have hit them. The only problem is when they are just under the water and you can’t see them. People who are not from here will have a rude awakening if they don’t know about it. I’ve seen boats get stuck and we have had to pull them off. With saying that, I think we need it and it is a matter of getting use to it. I personally didn’t like what they did to the White, but now I’m starting to like it. This year we noticed more warm water fish holding behind the structures so if there is any hold over fish from Table Rock they will certainly like it.

I do indeed.

Thank you. Now that everything is calming down I'm ready to throw some of this years ideas on the vise. I'm tweaking a few patterns that could do wonders. I've learned lately that trout see UV colors BIG time. I used to fish the normal UV scuds with the Hareline dubbing, but now I'm incorporating UV in several patterns. I'm even tying with only threads that have UV in them. This works really well on bright sunny days. I discovered a new dubbing technique that can really blend some nice synthetics in your dubbings. Using a old 5 gallon jar with an air blower is amazing. When you use a coffee grinder or a blender the dubbing comes out with little hair balls and you end up loosing a lot of your dubbing this way. This new way is the only way to go.