More Selected Fly Patterns of the Mt. Hood Area

This is a follow up to my "Selected Fly Patterns of the Mt. Hood Area" post. Here are many other interesting flies that have all been successful fishing the streams of the Mt. Hood area. Of course, these streams are fast flowing, so I made numerous ultra-buoyant hair and foam bodied flies. I also have some soft hackles and nymphs as well. All of these flies have worked, although some differ in effectiveness depending on the circumstances.

I made my own pattern I call the Kam's Caddis. Some guy in Jackson Hole or Montana has probably already invented it, but I really don't care. It's like a Goddard's Caddis with spun deer hair. Spinning deer hair can be frustrating, messy, and time consuming, but it's pretty fun once you get the hang of it, which is why I made this fly. It is buoyant and fish love it.

Kam's Caddis

One major material I liked was foam. Foam is rare in that it is buoyant no matter what, unlike the usual deer and elk hair which sink after a while. So, I made some foam-body caddises and terrestrials.

Standard Indicator Beetle

The black sheet foam was really easy to work with and secure for the beetle pattern above. I also added some orange antron yarn so it would be more visible.

Foam Body Caddis

 The foam body caddis was tied with that translucent gummy wing with the scale design on it. I forgot what it was called. Although it seems to look good to the fish, I worry if it sacrifices buoyancy.

Chernobyl Ant

I liked the foam body for the terrestrials, but not so much for the Caddis. It worked, but I felt it had a less realistic profile on the water than my standard Caddises. However, I remembered that foam makes a really sturdy parachute wing, and I set that to work on numerous flies.

CDC Parachute Caddis

I like CDC because it's buoyant and really easy to work with, so I used that for one of the patterns. It also had the added advantage of having a more natural footprint on the water's surface.

Standard Parachute Caddis

 I also tried a standard one with brown calf tail. It seems to have less of a profile than elk hair, but it's easier to work with. The body was tied with orange dubbing.

Parachute Caddis w/Translucent Wing

Again with the strange translucent wing. I really need to find out what that stuff is called before I make a fool of myself at the local fly shop.

Kam's Caddis Parachute

This pattern is probably one of the single most frustrating and annoying patterns in history. Combining a parachute post wing made out of foam, of all materials, a hair wing, and spun deer hair on a size 14 hook is like having to box Paquiao for twelve rounds. It's an effective fly, so I use it frequently, but THIS one you won't want to snag too often.

In addition, I tied some variations of the Royal Coachman. For those who don't know, this pattern is a time-tested classic that I also happened to catch my very first fish on. It has been used to fool trout of all species since the beginning of time (or beginning of fly fishing, but they're pretty close). Nowadays it's largely considered an outdated pattern, disdained in favor of the similar Royal Wulff. However, I still use it today on the numerous rivers and streams of the area, and catch plenty of trout too.

Royal Coachman Dry

Although the original Royal Coachman used white duck quills as wings, I almost never use this material as it is fragile and difficult to work with. Instead, it is better to select different materials, including brown or white hackle tips, CDC, Wood Duck or Mallard flanks, or even white foam. You can use white calf tail, but at that point it becomes the Royal Wulff.

Royal Coachman Soft Hackle

 In addition, I tied up a few soft hackled versions of this fly. I know I included this pattern in the first "Selected Fly Patterns of the Mt. Hood Area", but that one was rather poorly tied. I used dry fly hackle instead of genuine partridge or hen flank, and the result was a fly that would not fish properly or catch anything. The versions above and below are much better patterns.

Bead Head Royal Coachman Soft Hackle

Lastly, I tied another classic Eastern wet fly, the Picket Pin. It's a simple, all-purpose wet fly used to fool the microscopic brook trout the East is famous for. As a result, it also works very well for the microscopic brook trout we have over here. Mine is tied with a larger wing than normal, but I believe that increases the overall effectiveness of the fly. Of course, you are welcome to try a shorter wing.

Picket Pin