The Q2 Fly Club selection contains a batch of flies to set you up for success over the summer. This time of year you get the best of both worlds—excellent dry fly opportunities and fish still eager to eat nymphs below the surface.
2. Elk Hair Caddis —Brown, #14
3. Yakoda Balanced Leech—Black, #12
4. Carlson's Purple Haze—#18
5. Psycho Prince—Green, #12
6. Trina's Bubble Back Emerger—PMD, #18
7. Bender Baetis—#16
8. Yakoda Quick Caddis—#16
9. Beadhead Scud—Orange, #16
10. Silverman's Craneffly Larva—Cream, #8
Huge compared to other nymphs and larvae, it’s a fantastic point fly, especially in faster moving water, since it gets down so quickly. Any nymph in this box will work as a trailer—we recommend trying the Yakoda Balanced Leech spaced about 16” behind the cranefly larvae.
If the big fly combo isn’t ideal for the place you’re fishing, tie on the tried and true Psycho Prince Nymph with the Yakoda Quick Caddis as the trailing fly. The bling of the psycho prince will grab the attention of fish and if they choose to not eat it, the more natural quick caddis is a subtle offering that will give them another opportunity to eat.
One of our favorite ways to fish dry flies is with a nymph trailing as a dropper. The Yakoda Chimera in black is a great do-it-all dry fly, loosely imitating hoppers, beetles, gnats, and even caddis. Trina's Bubble Back Emerger, the Psycho Prince, or our Quick Caddis are all good candidates for your dropper pattern. Try fishing the dropper anywhere from 24”-30” below the Chimera.
The Elk Hair Caddis and Carlson’s Purple Haze are both excellent options for classic summer dry fly fishing. Similar to a dry dropper—but keeping both flies on the surface—it’s possible to fish the Elk Hair Caddis as your first fly and trail the Purple haze 12-16” behind it, also on the surface. This doubles your offering and the more visible Elk Hair Caddis acts almost like an indicator for the smaller Purple Haze. You’ll notice that all of the recommended pairs of flies have the larger fly as your point fly followed by a smaller selection. This is key to proper presentation, better drifts, and more eats.
We encourage you to try different combinations of flies throughout the day on the water. Most of all, enjoy your time outside as fishing in warmer temperatures is a lot more enjoyable than colder months. And make sure to pack a rain jacket with you, as early summer often is punctuated by late-afternoon storms. Take it from us, there’s nothing worse than getting stuck in the rain without something to keep you dry. Have fun out there and thanks so much for being a subscriber of the Yakoda Quarterly Fly Club.
