For new fly anglers, perhaps nothing about flyfishing is more intimidating than selecting the first fly of the day. This is our scene: you pull in at the River Access parking lot, put together your kit, and walk up the bank a bit to get away from the entry point. The day is nearly clear, temperature in the 80Õs. The cold tailwater at 58¡ is making a bit of river fog with the warm air. At the boat ramp you can see a few small fish rising, but the water upstream is glassy calm. Across the way is a dark pool with a partially submerged tree crown in it. You notice a kingfisher working about two hundred yards upstream, and a few swallows are flitting over the water. You hear a plooshing splash and quickly turn your head thinking that a large trout has risen, but you see instead a muskrat trailing a strand of green grass around its head as it swims back to its den.
I have seen this picture many times. What is occurring on this part of the river? What fly do you tie on to begin fishing? All of the things I described are signs of a healthy river--a river of cold water with ample fish and insect life in it. The kingfisher is feeding on small fish, which are feeding on still smaller insects. The small trout you saw near the ramp were rising but since you did not see what they were rising to, it was probably a midge hatch. The muskrat and the grass are a sure sign of health in the river. The grass is food for the muskrat. It shelters fish, adds oxygen, traps silt, and offers shelter to invertebrates. The grass and the gravel beneath your feet also anchor the food chain at the microscopic level. The trout here will feed through all the zones of the river--bottom, main current, surface.
My choice at this point would be to tie on some type of nymph, probably a weighted #14 Gold-Ribbed or Flashback HareÕs Ear. The HareÕs Ear is a basic invertebrate imitation, a flybox standard. It mimics not only the nymphal state of mayflies, but with gold ribbing or mylar flashing to give it a bit of sparkle or color, can even be fished as a small crustacean--scud--imitation. The general shape of this fly in green or gray with flashing can also imitate a sow bug. It is a very versatile fly, and I use it as I start out to locate fish. On 4x tippet the #14 casts well and does not make a big splash. It sinks but not too quickly so it is not fouled on the bottom or in the limbs of snags. As opportunistic feeders, trout will take a variety of foods. The HareÕs Ear is a Òwide spectrumÓ fly and covers a range of food types. Since about 90% of trout food is taken below the surface, the HareÕs Ear is right on target much of the time.
I fish it Òacross and down,Ó quartering away, and I pay close attention to my line as the fly approaches the end of its sweep. I have found with this fly that fish hit it just as it enters the water or as it begins to wobble a bit in the turblence of the drag created as the slack is pulled out of the tippet. If the line stops for even a half second near the end of the sweep, I raise the rod tip quickly because that is a sure sign of a feeding fish. I work my way along the stream--up or down--taking a few steps and casting three or four times before walking again. This way I can cover a wide path of the river as I go. I work the fly into weeds and grass. I test the edge of snags, and wherever there is a riffle, I cast above it and let the current pull the fly through the riffle.
One morning, I was fishing a stretch of water like that described above. There were a few small mayflies hatching, and there was a swirl about 15 yards away, downstream to my left. I made a quick calculation--guess!--and cast on a direct line above that swirl and let a Flashback HareÕs Ear touch down. A large brown trout hit it right on the surface before it had time to sink. This brown was cruising the morning hatch, feeding on mayflies just as they were emerging. The bit of sparkle from the flashing was enough to mimic the nymph as it struggled at the surface, sunlight catching its new wings. That brown trout came to hand at about 3#, and I wear that HareÕs Ear on my hat as a reminder of how effective that fly can be.
Later in the day, I switch on to other flies, but as I start out, most days I tie on the HareÕs Ear.
Gerald L. Smith
Sewanee, TN