Casual Dress - A Variation on a Theme

Flies made from natural animal hair are a favorite of mine. Which means Polly Rosborough's "Casual Dress," ranks high on the list.

Very high. If you are unaware of Polly Rosborough, well... we can fix that. You can learn about him, here: Polly Rosborough - A Life Well Lived If you are unaware of his pattern, the "Casual Dress," well... lets say that's too bad. It is one of the best patterns I have in my box. So you should get to know the Casual Dress. Why does it rate so high? Well, it is tough, it is adaptable, and it works wonders on the panfish in my local waters. If we were to categorize the Casual Dress, we would call it a nymph, and nymphs are excellent fish catching flies. Perhaps the single best type for trout and panfish. So there's that.

But going beyond, Rosborough further defined it as a, "fuzzy nymph." This is because the fly is crafted primarily from animal fur; the originals used muskrat and ostrich herl. The sparse materials list alone should earn this pattern some points. There is, in fact, an entire range of these fur-tied nymph patterns designed by Polly Rosborough, and even a book titled, appropriately enough, "Tying and Fishing The Fuzzy Nymphs." Don't think that because these nymphs only take two materials that they can be thrown together any old way. In fact, Polly was quite specific about how they were to be tied, from the way the muskrat fur was worked, down to the ostrich herl at the head. He even insisted you use an old hacksaw blade to scruff up the bodies once complete! But, while the pattern TYING PROCEDURE is well-defined, it is also adaptable. The idea is to tie a fly that represents something a fish would want to eat... that was what Polly Rosborough was shooting for. To do that, you can use a variety of material types that fit into the pattern style. That's the beauty of the thing, and that's what I've done here. The pattern has been tied in the proscribed manner, but with variations on the theme.

The Original Idea courtesy of John Teft

The Variation

I'm not going to detail the tying of this fly - there are a lot of instructions for that on the internet, or in the books. Here is just one of many: How To Tie The Casual Dress However, fly tyers tend to wander off track when at the vise. They like to add changes, or use materials that differ from the pattern. It is adaptation, more than disrespect. One guy referred to it as "riffing," and I like the sound of that. In this case, I stuck with the usual plan for the tail, body, and collar. But I "riffed" down a wide fork in the road after that.

1. The fur in this particular variation is mink, not muskrat. This gives it a fine, fluffy look. What is wanted is a hair that's not overly coarse, and which possesses a good bit of underfur. I tried it with fur from a fox tail once, and it made a very rough, ragged looking fly. Not normally what I am after, but in larger sizes, I'm sure it would work quite well.

2. The tail is the guard hair from the chosen pelt, with some of the underfur left in. It's tied about shank length.

3. The dubbed body is that portion of the underfur taken from the tail, with a little flash dubbing mixed in. It is dubbed tightly onto the thread, then the noodle is wound onto the hook.

4. The hair collar is done using the split thread technique, and also spun very tightly. The hair is stroked back as it is wound on. On this one it almost disappears.

5. The pattern calls for ostrich herl at the front, but I snagged a small pheasant feather for this and left the ostrich herl off.

It gives a buggy, leggy, variegated look.

I tied this one after being away from the vise for awhile - week's, I think. I'm never sure what'll happen after such a hiatus...

Will I muck it up?

Tie down my fingers?

Jab myself with hook or bodkin?

Happily, none of these happened with this effort. My riffing doesn't look too bad, either. Try this pattern, as a variation. Use whatever soft animal fur you might have available, and tie up a few of these. Then fish them. You'll find them to be just what I say: a top notch fish catcher. And a fine variation on a theme. Thanks for reading Tight Lines David Palmetto Fly n Fish © all rights reserved Visit us at by following this link: Palmetto Fly N Fish

Polly Rosborough and The Casual Dress

Another in the Fishing Personalities Series

A Life Well Lived: Polly Rosborough and The Casual Dress

Wherein we come to know the man, himself

    In the annals of fly fishing lore, many personalities loom both large, and notable.

On the other hand, there are significant people only dimly remembered as we copy-and-paste our way to knowledge.
    Among this latter group is possibly one of the greatest, mostly unknown luminaries in the field..., Ernest Herbert, "Polly," Rosborough. 

Ernest "Polly" Rosborough

    While a man of modest means, appearance and demeanor, Polly Rosborough accomplished much and set the sport on a path that still runs firm today.

Leaving Home for The West

    Ernest "Polly" Rosborough was born in Mammoth Springs, Arkansas, in 1902. He grew up, like most people in that area, fishing for warm-water species like bass and catfish.
    But he left his Arkansas home in 1919 and made his way towards the western mountains, working his way around the harvests and logging camps of the American and Canadian West.

    One of his trips through northern California in the early 1920's found Rosborough fishing in the mountain streams, and this started his lifelong interest in cold rivers and trout.
    In 1928, at age 24, he moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon, in the southwestern part of the state. Shortly thereafter, he settled into his lifelong home in nearby Chiloquin, on the banks of the Williamson River.
    Here he went to work as a lumber mill operator, and traveled throughout the region at this occupation. As happens to most and many men, this line of work would provide him a livelihood for most of his working life.

    Ernest acquired his nickname, "Polly," from coworkers, early on, while working at a box factory in Northern California. It seems he was a garrulous sort, and talked an awful lot -- "Polly the Parrot," became his sobriquet, and it stuck.
He later said he came to like it, as it was a good name, and was good for business.

The War and The River Man

    But it was one river that Polly was to become forever tied to - Oregon's Williamson River.
This stretch of water joins the Sprague River just south of Chiloquin and winds its way to Upper Klamath Lake. He was often heard to say that the Williamson was as good as any trout water, anywhere, and he came to know it like no other man. It was there that he began to study the fish and habitat of the river.

    
    When World War II burst on the scene, Polly enlisted and served with honor as a gunnery instructor in the Army. At that time he was around 40, and one supposes he was a bit too old to fight in the active combat theaters. But he did his duty, nonetheless.

    Upon his discharge from military service, he returned to Oregon and went back to his practical work in lumber mills around the region.

    Meanwhile, he occupied his spare time by fishing, and more importantly, he kept studying the trout and its environment. 
    Polly became a well-schooled student of the aquatic insects that form the bulk of any trout's diet. Like prominent Eastern anglers such as Art Flick, or the Catskills' Harry Darbee, Rosborough developed into a bona-fide entomologist.

    Rosborough didn't have a formal scientific education; he never finished high school and was a working man. However, that didn't hinder him. He lived in a time when a man was respected for what he did and for what he had learned, as much as for having a sheepskin on the wall. He knew all the insects in his home range, particularly the aquatic species, and could rattle off their scientific names on command.

His Writings

    Eventually, Rosborough left the lumber mills to devote himself exclusively to angling, and fly-tying. In time, he became a frequent contributor on flies and fly-tying for magazines such as "Trout," "Fly Fisherman," and, "Salmon, Trout and Steelhead."

    At a later point in his rather storied life, Polly earned money by both tying flies and fur trapping marten in the winter. At the ripe old age of 80, he published a how-to book on trapping, called, "Marten I have Known."

    But it was another, earlier book that forever became synonymous with his name.

The Book

    In 1965, Rosborough wrote, and self-published his first book, ''Tying and Fishing the Fuzzy Nymph.'' 

    It was his seminal work, and is now regarded as a modern angling classic.
If longevity at the printing press is any indication of a book's worth, then ''Tying and Fishing the Fuzzy Nymph'' is a pot of gold - it is now in its fifth printing.

    The book culminated his entire life-study of the aquatic insects upon which fish feed. 
It introduced the tying and fishing of nymphs like mayfly, caddis, and dragonfly to a generation of anglers, and so debuted Rosborough's own versions of these, which he called, "Fuzzy Nymphs."

    These flies were a contrast to previously known patterns, in that they were relatively simple, and tied from common materials. These were not "artsy" flies like many of the well-known wet patterns, nor were they exacting imitations of real insects. Rather, they were what we today call, "impressionistic patterns."

    These "fuzzy nymphs" got the name becasue they were tied primarily from animal hair and fur, crucial elements in their design.

The Fly - The Casual Dress

Original Pattern Casual Dress

Courtesy of Fly Fish Ohio

    The "Casual Dress" is probably Polly's best known pattern. It symbolizes Polly's belief that the SIMULATION OF LIFE is the ultimate goal of any fly, since flies themselves are inherently lifeless things. 

    It is basically a hook, some small wads of muskrat or other fur, a little ostrich feather… and a lot of life. Rosborough said it was thrown together casually, one day, thus the name, "Casual Dress." 

    This is one of those flies that doesn't look like much; most would not call the fly "fishy" looking. It’s just a fuzzy, scruffy bunch of fur in a vaguely cylindrical shape. But its intent was not to look like anything in particular, but like many edible insect creatures in the water. 

    
    Polly achieved his aim of simulation by using simple materials that possessed inherent movement of their own, instead of creating lifeless, precise duplicates of aquatic insects.

    Rosborough himself is quoted as saying his intent for these was not to copy anything in particular, but to make them look like something a fish would want to eat.

    The book, ''Tying and Fishing the Fuzzy Nymphs," also put many of the area rivers around his home on the map, so to speak. Additionally, it was the first to enter the modern, mainstream fly-fishing literature by a Western author. 

Other Patterns 

    While the "fuzzy nymph" collection highlights his nymph patterns, Polly was also a prolific tyer and innovator of salmon, steelhead and other flies.

    One of these, “The Silver Garland,” was lauded in 1953 by no less than A.J. McClane in his keystone work, “The Practical Fly Fisherman.”

Silver Garland

Courtesy of Fly Anglers Online

    This fly, like most of Rosborough's patterns, used common materials in a unique way. True to its name, the 'Silver Garland' employed metallic Christmas garland to form the body!

    You can read more about it here: The Bass Flies of A.J. McClane, part 2

    Another of Polly's books, ''Reminiscences of 50 Years of Flyrodding,'' was printed in only 600 copies, in three cover versions. 
    This was a truly limited series, with each copy numbered and signed by Polly himself. It was a personal memoir that harkened back to an era of fishing not to be seen again. 
    As you might imagine, it is now pretty rare and costly. Anyone who has a copy can call himself lucky.

    In 1975, at the age of 73, Rosborough was honored to receive Buz Buszek Memorial Award for making, "significant contributions to the art of fly tying."

Personal Life

    Polly was married once for 13 years; the records I can find indicate her name was Goldie. But a lot of water had passed under that particular bridge, he would say, and he spoke little of her.
    Rather, Polly's eventual love was a young woman named, Carol, who worked for him tying flies. But, alas, it was a May-December relationship; he was 47 years her senior. He thought it unfair for her to waste her life on an old man, as he put it, so they ended the relationship.
    He never remarried, and he had no children.

    However, Rosborough was not a bitter man; he loved living, and he took advantage of it. 
He built a tidy nest egg from his books and fly tying, and he was grateful for that. 
    "I don't have to hunt orders anymore... it's nice to be famous in your own time. Seeing us early guys being appreciated is the most valuable thing I have," he once told an interviewer. Gratitude was a quality of his personality, and his many friends and acquaintances were proof of that. The entire town of Chiloquin considered him their own.

    Polly was also a hard worker. "I left home when I was 16," he said, "and made my own way ever since." 

    He worked every day of his life, and was a renowned night owl. His usual routine was to sleep quite late, and work from noon until well into the night, except when he was fishing or prospecting.

    "I never give myself a day off, just to goof off," he said.

    A willing teacher, he would sit and help anyone at the fly tying desk. He also corresponded with many people through the years, famous and not famous. He didn't look down his nose at folks and he was a man who liked to talk, after all. 

He enjoyed sharing his vast knowledge.

    He had another passion, too, as an amateur mineralogist. He knew the geology of the land around him, intimately, and he always harbored hopes for another big silver find in the Oregon Cascade.

    Ernest Herbert, "Polly," Rosborough passed away in December of 1997, at a nursing home near Klamath Falls, Oregon.

He was 95.

----- <~> -----

Writers should strive for a job well done... even half-baked ones like me. If you found value in this article, please like, comment, and share it. 

Do you want to add any of the flies seen here to your own fly or tackle box?
Do you have questions, compliments, or suggestions?
Email me at...dahutist@gmail.com

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Thanks so much for reading, and...

Tight Lines,

Dave Hutton

© All rights reserved, David Hutton and Palmetto Fly N Fish, 2020/2023

References

1. http://castingaround.anthonynaples.com/2010/02/casual-dress-some-variations-on-a-theme

2. Rosborough Casual Dress Nymph, http://www.johnkreft.com/rosborough-casual-dress-nymph/

3. Fly Fish Ohio, http://www.flyfishohio.com/Casual_Dress_Nymph.htm

4. http://articles.latimes.com/1989-07-12/sports/sp-3583_1_polly-rosborough

5. https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/28/sports/ernest-rosborough-95-pioneer-of-modern-fly-fishing-is-dead.html

6. You Tube Video: Hans Weilenmann https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRhmqHOaaZI

7. YouTube video Tim Flagler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58st39qvH-M

8. YouTube Joe Cornwall FFO Dubbing loophttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niVlJD8glVA

9.  http://www.spencerewert.com/WesternTroutFlies/PollyRosborough.html

10. Casual Dress - http://www.rogueflyfishers.org/otf/may04.htm

11. https://natgreeneflyfishers.com/biographics.htm#pollyrosborough

Craft Fur Casual Dress Nymph

Faux Fur Casual Dress

July 8, 2018

"Lets stop at the Goodwill - we haven't been there in a while." 
Lori likes to shop, and we were already in that part of town. 
We don't spend big money on clothes, toys for the grand kids, or other household things, anyway, and we watch our money.
Besides, my wife is always on the lookout for a bargain.  
    To be honest, I don't really mind a bargain, myself. I can usually find something useful at thrift stores, so it was easy enough to agree.

The Shelves Provide
    Some of the things I've found at such, "charity shops," might even surprise you - fly and spinning reels, rods, cases, line and tackle, clothing suited for fishing and many other things for the cause. Yesterday was no different. 

    As I shuffled among all the items, I ran across what looked like a piece of animal fur...

    I first hoped it was a mink or muskrat neck wrap; I've found similar things there, and keep an eye out for them. What I got, however, was a "faux fur" collar that was once part of a jacket. The jacket was long gone, but the collar held promise.
    Basically it is brown craft fur, and it was only 50 cents.

    "What you gonna do with that?" Lori asked. 
    I started to describe my plans, when she said, "Oh, for fly tying? How about that? And only 50 cents. Nice."

    She shrugged approval.
    I nodded.
    We were good to go.

The Fly Within
    My plans were for a Polly Rosborough, "fuzzy nymph." More specifically, his classic, "Casual Dress" fur nymph.

Original Rosborough 'Casual Dress' nymph
foto courtesy of Fly Fish Ohio

    The Casual Dress is tied from muskrat, traditionally, as seen above. I've also used squirrel, fox and even mink. So its versatile in its material needs.  
    I should also add that, to date, it is one of my best fish-catching flies, and this season it's proven to be a can't miss addition to the fly box. Added to this are these other attributes:

• It's hardy

Its made almost entirely of natural or synthetic fur, so it can take some punishment. 

• It's cheap  

If you want to use muskrat, a whole skin costs about $12 and yields hundreds of flies. 
How about craft fur, like this stuff? Well, 50 cents for an awful lot of them is pretty danged cheap, brother!. 

• The tying isn't too complicated 

Just one special dubbing loop method is needed, along with a few other basic techniques. 

• The fish go for it big-time.

This is the best part.

    Comparing the faux fur to the mink and muskrat I'm used to, I see it's more coarse; but not by much. It was close enough to try, at least. And at the price, I could hardly leave it behind. 
It if it worked, I could be in nymphs for a long time!

Success Is In The Details

Faux Fur Casual Dress

    The vise work went pretty smooth; the fake fur is a little harder to clean and prepare than natural furs. The fly itself turned out a little scruffy, as you can see above. But that never hurts this sort of pattern.... it usually helps.

    I added an orange dubbing thorax, and its ribbed with red copper wire. There's no extra weight, so this will be a near surface/slow sinking pattern.

Dressing The Casual Dress

• Hook - #6-#10 Aberdeen 
• Tail - Faux fur "hairs," sorted and evened
• Body - Underfur dubbing combed out from the fake fur 
• Ribbing - Soft red wire, double wrapped in the thorax area
• Hackle - Faux fur hair, applied using a split-thread loop

    Water testing shows this pattern sinks with a horizontal posture, which is how nymphs in general behave - they swim, or scurry, or scamper... and then they kinda glide.

    It's dressing flows readily in the water, much as a nymph tied from natural furs, and I'm especially happy with the glide.    That sometimes takes a little experimenting to get it right.

The Action

    I'm a big fan of nymph patterns, and I find they normally fish well around cover. Weed, rocks, bottom clutter and wood are their natural home. 

    You'll notice I've made this one fairly large by nymph standards - size #6.vThis is because in our Southern lakes, we have some big nymphs. I've found the shucks of dragon fly nymphs in the 2" range...

Swimming Dragon Fly Nymph

    I've also seen the shucks of burrowing dragonfly nymphs as big as your thumb! 

    What this means is...

A. The fish, both bass and sunfish, are accustomed to feeding on such massive critters 

B. Their reaction is usually quite strong when they strike. 

    The fly, as tied, sinks at around 3 seconds per foot, so that's just about right for the depths around the shore. On a long leader, a little tungsten putty on the tippet ring should get a few feet more. 

Fished in the clear water around the mid-lake regions, I suppose I could go to a sinking line and get down to an easy 8 foot depth.

Other Uses, Other Materials

    It also occurs to me that this "Faux Fur Nymph" could mimic a baitfish, at least in some small part. Imagine this same thing tied from light grey, grizzly or even white craft fur. Now squint your eyes and picture this swimming around like a minnow.

    Do you see it?

    But, its main intent is as a stillwater attractor nymph.

    One that is dirt cheap, long lasting, and effective. 

    I don't know if Polly Rosborough envisioned his fuzzy Casual Dress being modified in this way, but I'd like to think he would approve.   

If you liked this, please share it with your friends, and thanks so much for reading.

If the Faux Fur Casual Dress interests you, contact me about getting some for yourself ... dahutist@gmail.com

As always, Tight Lines! 

David Hutton

Palmetto Fly N Fish

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All rights reserved, David Hutton ©2018, 2023

Of Sleeping Late and Fuzzy Nymphs

Of Sleeping Late and Fuzzy Nymphs

The air is muggy; a weeks worth of rain has left the ground soaked and spongy. 
What's worse, weathermen and facebook pundits say we're in for more of the same. 

And after the work week I had, sleeping til noon on a rainy morning sounds like a good plan. But, my eyes pop open, and 7:00 am will have to do. 
I look at the clock and groan; hey, it beats my usual 5 o'clock in the morning.

After making the coffee, I look outside and see it ISN'T raining right now. Seems like a perfect time to mosey down to the neighbors pond, aka, "Fly Lab II," and wet a line.

Yes, I really do mosey. This is South Carolina, after all. 
People here mosey.

The Season is Here
Approaching the pond, its obvious Spring is well underway. The surrounding grass is high and lush, the underbrush has grown to choking fullness, and the pond is sporting a fringe of green algae weed. The tadpoles of a few weeks ago are now conspicuous by their absence.

However, dragonflies are out in force. Their darting flight and swooping moves create a flying circus all around. I count a number of types I recognize, and one or two that are new to me.

The big boys of the bunch are the Rusty Dragonflies. These guys span your hand with their wings and you can hear their humming as they power by your head.
Small blue damselflies flit here, and there, their black, helicopter wings beating the air.
Swarms of very small dragonflies, the size of a thumbnail, well, they're new to me. 
My favorite, the Eastern Whitetail Dragonfly, makes a welcome appearance. 
And I watched, fascinated, as a 2" green female dips her abdomen and deposits eggs among the algae weed.  

Warmth and a lot of rain have transformed the pond and its environs into a new place, and I wonder if the fish are still here. 
As if in answer, a large, "KERSPLASH"  is heard from across the pond. Something has blown up the water in the far shallows; something is chasing something else, over there, and I mutter to myself, "Well, well, and hello. Lets get to it!"

The Business At Hand
Today I'm fly fishing. I've brought an assortment of flies, seen here

They are, from top to bottom:

1. Flip Flop Popper (black)
2. Old Faithful Popper (green)
3. Moodah Poodah (tan)
4. Casual Dress nymph (left)
5. Mink and Pheasant (a Casual Dress variation, right)
6. Bullys Bluegill Spider
7. Reverse Tied Black and White Soft Hackle

I tie on "Old Faithful," a small, #10 popper I've had for, well..., come to think of it, I don't really know how long I've had it.
It has been repaired a few times, has had a couple of color changes and dressing versions, and it keeps on popping along. Today it is chartreuse, with a faded red mouth, leering eyes and a jaunty feather tail of tan Indian neck hackle. 

I un-spool some line about the length of my 9 foot, 5 wt. fly rod and prepare to cast the fly. 
Ready....set.... and.... STOP!
I'm tangled up in the leader. I have to put casting on hold while I first sort out the mess. 

Its like that in fly fishing.

You get all ready, everything is set, but you lose just a split second control of the line. 
Then, it's BAM! and you've got a mess on your hands. 
Something they don't tell you about in fly fishing is you need patience and a cool head. 
Don't do anything in a hurry with the long rod. 
I suppose this is why only a few people do it well, and for very long. To coin a phrase; "if it was easy, everyone would do it." 

Back To The Business At Hand
It was just a minor tangle (as tangles go), so I was soon sorted and back at it. A swirl of the rod tip, a few flicks of the wrist and voila! the line was stretching toward the far corner of the pond and Old Faithful was back on the water where it belongs.

And that's pretty much were it stayed.
Untouched by fishy mouths.

Its also like that in fly fishing. What you think is gonna work, well,... it doesn't.

Over there, look - it's my perfectly good popper, floating all buggy and googly-eyed! 
I can see it, and I gently twitch it.
I stall it, waiting.
I pop it.
I wait some more.
I make it dance a jig.

And the quarry ignores it. The game is a bust.
Every other writer and fly man in the world seems to be filling their creels on these "bugs," and I get nothing. 
Not even a courtesy swim-by.

Well, something else you learn to do in fly fishing is adapt.

"Alright you buggers, if the popper wont do - lets see what will."
I tie on a Mooda Poodah, which is a craft foam and deer hair, bug-thing with rubber legs. 
"What do you think of THIS?!" I shout, and cast it back into the same spot. And that was the trick.

The fly sat for a few seconds, quivering, legs dangling. Then, there was a splash, and it was taken under, savagely. The line straightened out and I was dumbstruck. 

But in fly fishing, you have to be ready for this. 
I woke up, grabbed for line and started stripping. 
I got the situation under control. The rod is bent, the fishes weight is felt.
At that moment, a 1lb. 'rocket bass' leaped from the water, flew about 4 feet and tore off across the pond.  This was more like it.

Now, I know a lot of you like to see bass flying through the air. That big head flailing, those red gills flaring. 
Why, the more aerial displays, the better. 
But I'm the opposite. I try to keep them below as much as I can, with tension firmly maintained. 

"Keep the hook in their mouth, not waving around with their head, out of the water" - that's my motto.

And I did exactly that. 
And that feisty 'green trout' still managed an LDR (long distance release), despite my best effort to the contrary. 

Just like that, the fish was gone and all I got back was the fly. 

At that point you say, "Sometimes you catch them, and sometimes you don't."
The fly was taken, the fish got hooked (briefly), and I got my fly back. That's a good start.

Working the Water Column
I wasn't planning to be there all day; in fact, I only had about 45 minutes to fish. If I was going to work the water column, from surface to the bottom, it was time to switch up.

"Okay, the Moodah Poodah caught a fish," I said. "But, I've fished them for a few years; that's old news. Let's see what we can do below the surface, with something new."

Because I also tie my own flies, I usually have an assortment of untested ones ready to try. I reached for my fly holder and took a look at the offerings. 

Besides the poppers and surface bugs, I also brought along a couple of sub-surface nymph and soft hackle patterns to test out. 
I took one of the "Casual Dress" patterns loose from the holder.

The Nymphs Are the Ticket - Again.
Something I've learned from this freshwater fly fishing business is this: If you're not fishing nymphs of some sort, you're missing fish.
They don't have to be exacting mimics, either. Representative of the type is enough. The "Casual Dress" nymph is of the latter sort. 

Its tied from muskrat hair and a little ostrich. This makes it fuzzy, wiggly, and, well, just plain nymph-y. Natural fur is arguably the best material for these flies.

And the fish were nailing them every second or third cast. They liked a slow retrieve with a sink-and-quick lift. Their take was either a rip-snorting snatch and run, or a gentle heaviness in a sideways direction. 

Nymph Mouth Rocket Bass

I also noticed something unexpected with the Mink & Pheasant version of this nymph. Call it one of those, "Ah-ha moments" that often happens.
The M&P nymph, like the Casual Dress, is a hair-and-feather job. What happens is, it dries out a good bit during line-out (false casts), and then floats for a while in the film. It then submerges to fish wet.

But, while it was still at the surface, I noticed fish were coming up to slap at it. I assume these are bluegill, as this "smack and stun" trick is the bluegills M.O. They do it to knock the wind out of bugs that hit the water; they then come back and pick them to pieces. It was the only sign of bluegill I saw.

Mink And Pheasant Nymph

I also fished the one soft hackle I had, a Black and White Reverse Hackle.
It's a body of heavy black thread, ribbed with krystal flash, and a collar of reverse tied fibers stripped from a hackle feather.
It's a very basic fly, but very adaptable and a good fish catcher. 
It is also a way to use the cheap, non-descript hackle feathers that might otherwise be too long for the hook size you're using. 
I'll detail this one in another post, so make sure you subscribe.

Soon, it was time to go and get busy with the days non-fishing business. We need new tires on the car, preparations for the family Memorial Day are in the schedule, and .... well, there seems to always be something else.

But that's okay. At least I got to sleep in.

Tight Lines and Thanks,
David

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David Hutton, © 2018
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