Dry Flies for October

[cardfly]

Hi everyone,

Looking for a dry flies to drop off a Smokie Mountain Blackbird along with other wet flies. Will be there the first weekend of October. I need something that I can
see. (Getting old is not for SISSIES)

Thanks for any suggestions you can give.

[Jim Casada]

Cardfly--That early in October it isn't too late for easily seen stimulators or terrestrials with a parachute for aging eyes. Even later though, when surface activity begins to decline, you can fish something readily visible with a nymph dropper. On a personal basis, I fish a two-fly rig the vast majority of the time. One other thought--Roger Lowe has a handy little hatch/pattern book (I feel fairly certain LRO has it in stock) which tells you, on a month-by-month basis, what to expect and what flies to use to match hatches. Roger cut his teeth on mountain streams and knows his stuff. Jim Casada
www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com

[Waterborn]

I like parchute #18 BWo or a little black caddis - though they may be too small for a heavy wieghted dropper, but a simple bead head the same size or smaller could work. If you plan on fishing pocket water or something with a little more current, you might get away with a larger, bushier pattern....also, though I'm not intricately versed on the times of hatches, (over the years my box just gets cluttered with enough junk that will eventually work besides just the basics) a nice big orange elk hair caddis (october caddis) say a #12 or so can bring strikes as there are some october caddis about on certain watersheds/elevations...

[cardfly]

Thanks for the responses. I think that October Caddis looks really good.

Jim, I am reading your book (I love the book and advise everyone to get a copy) and I'm going to give a muddler minnow a try while I'm there. What size would you recommend?

Thanks again and I'll let you know how it goes.

[Carlito]

Originally Posted by Jim Casada

Cardfly-- Even later though, when surface activity begins to decline, you can fish something readily visible with a nymph dropper. On a personal basis, I fish a two-fly rig the vast majority of the time.

Awesome advice. Why fish a nymph with a strike indicator when you can use a dry fly instead and double your odds?

[Jim Casada]

Cardfly--Try a size 8 or 10. Larger ones are fine, but they are more difficult to cast, especially if you are using split shot or twist-on weights to get the Muddlers down deep. When it reaches the "chuck and duck" stage of casting the fly is too big (for me). I have used everything from 2s to 12s in Muddlers and don't notice a lot of difference, although I should also say that I don't use them as much as I should. On top of that, probably 50 percent of my use of Muddlers is right at dusk fishing them as a living insect. Maybe not the intended use but mighty effective on larger browns when fishing in the gloaming. Jim Casada
www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com