If you could honor a fly what fly would it be?
Mine would be a caddis. They are a great fly!

Riley

I just like the looks and the name "Royal Coachman"
Mom

Riley,
I'd have to go with the Egg Sucking Leech... its a hit for almost all species Brother Dave and I have fished for in Alaska. From steelhead to coho.....

Nice pictures!

If I could honor one fly it would be the AuSable Wulff for several reasons.

1. Because I caught my largest trout on one.
2. Because of Lee Wulff who developed the Wulff series of flies and is the father of catch-and-release.
3. Because of Fran Betters who developed the pattern for use on his home waters.
4. Because of the beautiful Adirondack river for which it is named.

Qtip
Soli Deo Gloria!
To God Alone Be The Glory!

I'll go with the egg sucker as well....

The Adams. It is the quinitcential classic dry fly. Depending on how picky the fish are, tie it in sizes from 10 to 24 and it can be used for BWOs, PMDs, Red Quills, Green Drakes, and many more. It is one dry fly that I won't be without.

Elk Hair Caddis.

Okay, since you didn't like my other answer, I'll see what you have to say about Coho flies. We catch lots o' fish on coho flies! Gotta love 'em!
Mom
(and for those of you reading this I got the heavy sigh and rolled eye treatment from AkGrayling on my first answer <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />)

I have different ones for different fish.

Sticking with trout, I am a hair wing kind of guy.

Love Royal, Ausable and Blonde Wulffs, and also Elk hair Caddis and Goddard Caddis for on top. Muddler Minnow and Wooly Worm for below, and a pheasant tail nymph for a dropper.

Clouser's, Bendbacks, Poppers, and the Eat Me fly for salt.

I'm with you MissTreated (Mom) regarding the Royal Coachman. Love the name and it's an elegant fly that has caught a lot of trout for me, including my first trout on a fly. My favorite version of it is called a California Coachman, that I've only seen in a steelhead size that I used for big rainbows in the Interior of BC.

The names of flies delight me. With names like Silver Doctor, Yellow Sally, Doc Spratley, 52 Buick, Skykomish Sunrise, Alaskabou and Pixie's Revenge, who could resist fly fishing, even if a fish never bites? If I ever take up fly tying more seriously, it would be to give them names.

By the way, a WOW! to your big Kenai king on a fly rod that Sitka Deer mentioned. Great skill knows what to do with a smidge of luck. Most excellent

Oh, many thanks. That big king was caught on a coho fly. He was fun. I don't know who was more tired when the "fight" was over, the fish or myslef! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
M

The orange comet for Salmon

The river we live on isn't much different than the Ausable and I use the Haystack as well as the Ausable Wulff. In the fall after the salmon have died big sculpins and other dredgers do the trick.

Qtip;

At one time, I would have said the AuSable Wulff for the same reasons.

That is, until Mr. Betters lost the two split cane rods that I delivered to him for restoration. Cost-wise, I wasn't out much money, but the rods were originally owned by my paternal grandparents (one rod Granddads, the other Grandmas). Betters lost them, gave me the run around about it, then tried to give me someone elses rods as my own. His b!tch (daughter/younger wife, whatever she was) got all defensive when I got a bit upset due to this clusterf'k on his end.

I hope that SOB roasts in the worst regions of Hades, and I wouldn't piss down his b!tches throat if her guts were on fire.

So, my honors go to the lowly Wooly Bugger, in standard, conehead, or beadhead form. If it absolutely, positively has to get caught, this is my go-to fly. Standard, it can be floated and twitched as a terrestrial or attractor, or can swim just under the surface. Weighted, it does just about everything.

Second place is a tie between the Adams and the Elk-hair Caddis. If it can be caught with a dry fly, these two will do it.

I agree!

Riley

#16 Elk Hair Caddis, dark olive body, no hackle, fuzz it up so it looks old. 6x, 13ft. mono leader, time the rises, cast 3 ft. ahead of where he's rising...

Tate bug

This is a deer hair frog used for smallmouth bass but will work for large browns and largemouth bass. It was one of the first fly tying manuals I purchased back in 1970. It explained in detail how to ty deer hair to a hook and how to trim it.

In 1976, I was discussing my variation of the muddler minnow and a stone fly copy for the Salmon River hatch with a coworker in Utah whose name was Bill Tate. It was his fly in the manual. I was pleased to present him with my copy of the manual.

Gold-ribbed hares ear! My favorite phrase is "if it can't be caught with a hares ear, it can't be caught." Seems to work on everything from steelhead to warm and salt water panfish. I have to admit, however, that it's not my first choice on the steelies. 1Minute

The Adams, although I readily admit that I seldom use it in its orginal form any more. Mostly I'll use some variation on it such as a Parachute Adams, Adams Wulff, Hairwing Adams, Adams Trude, etc.

A close second would be the Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, sort of the sub-surface equivalent of the Adams.

I've already posted on this but a quick look on my flypatch reveals a bunch of parachute and irresistable Adams in various sizes.

Riley,

I've meant to post on this subject for a long time and just never got back to it. My favorite fly for all time would have to be the venerable Muddler Minnow! I have fished it as a swimming, dredgeing, floating, and waking fly and it rarely fails.

One of the most exciting methods of fishing it for bows on the Kenai is to "wake" it across the surface. I like to cast across and then flip as much line downstream as I can in order to have the current start pulling on the belly of the line. When the tension starts dragging the fly, I just follow the line with the rod tip, lightly bouncing the tip, as all the above drifts. When the Bow hits the fly, it is an awesome explosion! The fly is smallish, #8 or so, and is heavily greased. I suppose that this method creates the illusion of a caddis laying it's eggs on the surface.

This is a very effective method of catching trout in that "harder-to-catch" time period of early July on the Kenai. I would guess that a elk hair or humpy would achieve the same results; however, the action lasts for a short enough time and then the trout go to the bottom. The Muddler works double duty there as well...and no retying is necessary.

This fly has accounted for so many hundreds of fish for me that It ceases to amaze anymore. It gets my vote certainly!

best,
bhtr

Another thing about fishing for bows in the Kenai with small dries are that some of them are HUGE! They will rip the curve of a dry right off!

Riley

BearHunter,
Here is a link to some fish I cought in the Kenai.

Riley

AKGrayling,

I remember those pics and they are nice!

Back in the day when it was legal to fish with droppers, I once had a double: a pair of 5 pounders! One a Dollie and the other a Rainbow. The dollie took a glo bug and the bow took the muddler. I'm still amazed that I was able to land both of those fish on 2x tippet!

That combo was deadly for weeks. It became so easy to take large fish that I started busting the barb off of all my hooks and just counted the takes!

Somewhere, I have a pic of my older brother and a dollie he caught. It was a real pig! Only 24 1/2" but had an 18 1/2" girth and weighed over 11 pounds! It's head would have fit a normal 3 or 4 pounder but the rest of it looked like the largest male pink you've ever seen!

One of these days, I'll bust into the pic archives lying around the house and pass some along. I wouldn't be suprised if we have caught the same fish before.

best,
bhtr