On The Water Guide Flies « currentseams.com

What’s this? Two posts in one week? Yessir, campers! As promised, we are trying to return to a regular posting schedule on currentseams.com. I want to thank everyone for their patience and loyalty over the past year. Let’s get to it.

The Iso Soft Hackle is a wet fly I prototyped several years ago. Then, I test it on the river for months or years to prove its worthiness before I pass it along to you. This is an outstanding pattern (he said, modestly). The past two summers, it has accounted for some of my biggest trout taken on wet flies. It’s easy to tie, and the materials are readily available. Here’s the fly and the recipe as outlined by Tony Lolli in his outstanding Guide Flies column from On The Water. So what are you waiting for? Get to the vise. It’s Iso time!

A jpeg and pdf for your viewing pleasure.

The Soft Daddy is an impressionistic, soft-hackled streamer that imitates the rusty crayfish. It’s currently featured in On The Water magazine‘s “Guide Flies” column, written by Tony Lolli. (Thanks, Tony, for letting me play!) The concept of a guide fly is twofold — it’s a pattern that is typically simple to tie, and is also a consistent producer. Like most of my flies, The Soft Daddy starts as an idea; is rendered on the vise; and goes through extensive field testing. Tweaks are made as needed, and the end result goes into the rotation. Like many of my patterns, you can see the wet fly influence in its construction. Smallmouth eat this fly like candy…or is that crawdads…or crawdaddies…?