Today's Report

[trout fanatic]

Well, finally made it down to BSSP. Water was lower than normal as was flow and crystal clear. Very few anglers out which is a good thing. Wrist not entirely healed. I lost my first 5 hook-ups because I was dropping my rod tip in response to the pain. Finally sucked it up and dealt with it and did much better. Ended with 8 trout-non were huge, and 1 huge sucker that ate a red zebra midge-he even got airborn (I have caught suckers on flies before but this is the first that broke water). Midges, soft hackles (partridge and olive-sz 16) and glo balls worked the best. Crisp clear morning good day to be out. Kudos to the folks who did all of the post flood work. Bennet looks great, lots of fishies-DGJ

[rcguy]

Thanks for the report! I'm tying soft hackles like crazy now because I have read how well they work. Last week Partridge and Yellow was the ticket I read.

I wonder if they work in the winter???

[trout fanatic]

I haven't had much occasion to fish BSSP in the winter because I've always worked on weekends. Now with monday fishing allowed, that may change. But I don't see why soft hacks wouldn't work, after all the spring will keep the water temps fairly stable. Looks like I may get a chance to let you know because I love to fish them

[troutchaser]

It's one of my favorite flies, too. I tie them in every color you can think of. I noticed where the zebra midges were really great on most water around here, so I just copied the most popular midge patterns for soft hackles. Guess what? They're dynamite.

At BSSP I really like to use these:

insect green

yellow

peach

orange

yellow with peacock rib

pheasant tail

At Taneycomo, I use the above, plus:

red

black

rust

I'll even share a secret with you about them. I use streamer hooks to tie them and don't put any extra weight on. They sink just right, but they're light enough to rise through the water column at the end of the drift - which is extremely effective.

[rcguy]

Thanks for the great info! I assume Pheasant tail is like a pheasant tail nymph but using partridge hackle?

I just found the recipe!!

[dave potts]

Troutchaser,

What size streamer hook are you tying them on?

Thanks

Dave