More on Dave Hughes’ Wet Fly Techniques

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I’ve been reading Dave Hughes’ book “Wet Flies” recently, and it’s caused me to think a lot more about how I fly fish.  On a brief outing to the Middle Deschutes River last week, I took my 8′  0″  5 wt slow action rod to swing some of Dave’s recommended patterns for the local browns.  The “Silver Invicta” in a size 14 proved to be a great fly to swing through shallower riffles, and it brought many feisty browns in the 7″ to 12″ range to the net.  I think I’ll be using Dave’s wet fly techniques a lot more in my fishing outings, especially on smaller water.  Check it out:

Wet Flies by Dave Hughes

The Silver Invicta

The browns in the middle Deschutes River couldn’t resist a swung fly.

 

Fly Fishing Bamboo with Dave Hughes.

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Mary Ann and I had the wonderful experience spending time on the Middle Deschutes River two weeks ago with noted Author and Fly Fishing Expert Dave Hughes.  I put one of my 7′  6″  5 wt Signature Series bamboo fly rods in his hand for the afternoon and watched him swing winged-wets and soft hackles through the shallow riffles.  I worked at Czech Nymphing with stonefly nymphs and small mayfly nymphs.  While neither Dave nor I were overly successful at landing fish on the day, it was still a fun time.  Mary Ann out-fished us both, landing 4 or 5 trout and whitefish.  Dave commented that my Signature Series rod was the finest bamboo rod he’s ever swung flies with….wow, what a compliment.

Last week, I was down in Northern California meeting up with some fly fishing friends on Hat Creek, a place we’ve been fishing together for 34 years.  We did well fishing golden stonefly dries late in the evening, but the largest fish I landed over the 4 days of fishing was using the swinging techniques Dave outlined in his latest book, Wet Flies – Second Edition.  His techniques and wet fly patterns certainly worked for me, and helped me land a beautiful 21″ rainbow on a swing Partridge and Yellow soft hackle one evening.  Here are a couple photos.

Mary Ann and I with Dave Hughes showing off our bamboo fly rods on the Middle Deschutes River.

A beautiful 21″ rainbow taken on Hat Creek, California on a swung #16 Partridge and Yellow.

 

More Bamboo on the Deschutes River

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Mary Ann and I got out again two days ago on the Deschutes River to see how the Salmon Flies were doing.  I chose my 7′  6″  5 wt Freestone Series bamboo rod for the day.  While there were lots of Salmon Flies and Golden Stoneflies on the bushes, and a few flying around, the fish seemed pretty disinterested in them during the sunny afternoon.  Instead, I again caught several nice rainbows on a #18 Tan Lafontaine Caddis drifted towards the bottom.  I may have been the only angler on the river during the day who was not throwing big ugly bugs.  But, once the sun went down, the fish turned on to a #8 Clarks Stonefly on the surface.  This pattern has proved to be the most effective adult stonefly for me lately.  Even when the giant Salmon Flies are out, the trout have always seemed to prefer the smaller Golden Stonefly imitation.  Here are a few photos of our day.

Golden Stonefly

Giant Salmonfly

#16 Tan Lafontaine Caddis

Clarks Stonefly

A nice rainbow putting a big bend in my 5 wt bamboo.

One that came to the net.

Salmon Flies on the Middle Deschutes River

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Yep, the Salmon Flies are out on the Middle Deschutes River.  I hit one of my favorite sections of the river today for 2 hours to see if I could tempt a few fish.  The river is in fantastic shape, clear and perfect for wading.  While the adult salmon flies were out and flying around, I couldn’t get any interest in the big dries from any fish.  But, several browns and rainbows were happy to take a black rubber legged Kaufman Stonefly drifted on the bottom.  I used my EuroNymphing bamboo rod, a 3 ft bicolored sighter, and about 4 ft. of 5X tippet.   Here are a couple of photos of my morning.

Middle Deschutes River

A big Salmon Fly.

The rubber legged Kaufman Stone that worked well today.

A pretty brown that took my black rubber legged Kaufman Stone.

Drifting the Deschutes River

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Mary Ann and I braved the high water on the Deschutes River yesterday and drifted the Warm Springs to Trout Creek stretch of the river.  Yep, the water was fast and high (6500 cfs), but the color was decent and we found a few spots where we could get out and drift our nymphs.  It’s still too early for the legendary salmon fly hatch on the Deschutes but we found some willing rainbows interested in a tan LaFontaine Caddis drifted near the bottom with a Czech Nymphing style.  We didn’t get any huge fish, but it was still fun to get out and tempt the smaller ones.  Here are a couple photos of our day.

Mary Ann on the sticks!

A small immature stonefly that crawled up on our boat.

The hot fly of the day….a #16 tan LaFontaine Caddis.

A nice rainbow for the day.