Think back to a day when you were fishing a hatch that you matched perfectly. You tied on the exact pattern that your buddy recommended, the fly size was perfect and you were catching fish. After a few fish caught you noticed that the bug you tied on was getting mangled but the more mangled and gnarly looking the better it fished. This brings me to the point about fishing ugly flies that we continually pass up in our fly boxes. Even though the bugs look ugly to an angler those same ugly critters have been shaped by nature and the fish that we are attempting to fool and catch every time. So continue to match the hatch but also begin using those ugly flies that nature has naturally sculpted by tying them on before and through the hatch. You will find that the perfect imperfections created by those fish can help increase your hook up rates.
Your process to fishing ugly flies can begin at the tying vise. Instead of tying up bugs exactly how the recipe calls for, branch out and add some loosely tied dubbing. Start using bushier materials like SLF Spikey dubbing, or Hungarian partridge to add movement to your flies. You may also consider utilizing a dubbing brush to create a more pronounced and bushier look to your flies. After a successful day of fishing I like to go through my fly box and examine the flies that caught fish. I’ll take those flies and put them on the vise and simply retie them by adding thread or retie on the dubbing to make the fly fishable. The more frayed the bug looks the better. Use what nature has given you and mimic it to perfection. Here are a few examples of fly patterns that I like improving on or keeping fishable after having much success with them on the water.
After a successful day catching fish with Lance Egan’s Frenchie I take time to see how the flies look and I go back to my fly box and make the dubbing on my unused frenchies a little bushier or frayed looking. I look to see if the wire on the Frenchie has been bunched up or if the pheasant tail or the thread has been frayed. Recently Eagan posted a video on flyfishfood.com about the Thread Frenchie, that is a great pattern that is durable but when you’re tying the pattern really ease up on the UV resign of the body. You want to have the thread slightly exposed so that the thread can have the chance to be frayed. Once again you are trying to match nature’s perfect imperfections when fishing ugly flies.
Craig Mattews’ Iris caddis with its dubbed body is a great fly that gets really frayed and bushy looking after catching a few fish. The recipe even encourages tiers to give it a “scraggly” look and shy away from giving it a clean look. I can’t tell you how many times during the summer and fall that I fish the pattern during the evening hatch and then keep that same fly on for the morning and have clients continue to catch fish with the slightly used and frayed Iris Caddis fly.
My ultimate ugly looking fly is a crane fly pattern. It’s a variation to the Barr’s crane fly larvae (a fantastic pattern). I begin by not using the scud back wrap over the back of the fly and instead use Solarez UV resin to create a slick back on the fly.
The slick back serves two purposes; one to create a faster sink rate and two to give it a sleek shimmering look. I typically tie on a shiny DNA microflash back on the fly that gives it a translucent look. I also began using a combination dubbing of SLC spikey dubbing with Trout Hunter’s CDC dubbing to create a much more scraggly effect when wrapping the dubbing loop around the shank of the hook. The CDC dubbing really adds movement to the fly underwater and periodically the fibers capture air bubbles within the CDC fibers which also adds to the look and feel of the fly underwater.
So the next time you’re out on the water continue to match the hatch but also begin utilizing those ugly flies that nature has naturally sculpted for you by tying them on before and through the hatch. You may surprise yourself how well nature’s perfect imperfections will increase your hook rates and make your trip. Tight lines and keep em ugly!