By John Zimmerman
Plucking the right flies from your boxes when you’re on a Delayed Harvest stream can be a real test—especially in the spring—especially with so many different flies calling your name. Here’s why: After the first new stockings in March and April, the Delayed Harvest streams and rivers are populated by two very different fish—the fish that were stocked in October and November and have had their fair share of being caught, and the ones that are fresh from the hatchery, learning to eat stream forage in real time. The holdover fish have learned to eat real bugs and are weary of drag and splashy casts, while the new recruits have only ever had to grab pellets from the top of the surface in their raceways at the hatchery for sustenance and almost have to be stimulated to eat the bugs we throw at them. It’s in this way, that my fly selection evolves over the arc of the delayed harvest season and here are the top five flies I always have with me on a Delayed Harvest stream.
Squirmy Wormy: Invented by Dave Hise of Caster’s Fly Shop in Hickory, North Carolina, the Squirmy Wormy is one of the most successful patterns I have ever fished. In it’s origin, it only came in a few colors, but these days, new colors abound. Fresh fish eat this fly with abandon—it’s a crucial pattern to have in your box for the first two weeks or so after a stocking on the Delayed Harvest streams. That said, once fish get stuck several times with this pattern, they start to refuse it pretty quickly. I’ve noticed this to be equally true on the private water I manage in Mitchell County—once a few of my members have run Squirmies for a while, the fish turn off of them until they have forgotten its deadly allure. But if freshly-stocked fish are in the area, you should definitely have plenty of these flies in your box. My go-to colors are earthworm brown, bubblegum pink, bloodworm red, and lavender. You can tie it in any number of ways, but I prefer to tie mine with just one tail coming off the back onto a jig hook armed with a big slotted tungsten bead.
Blood’s Egg: Delayed Harvest fish, especially the new recruits, are junk-food-aholic trout. They grew up being fed trout chow and eating the remains of their pals that didn’t make it, and the eggs their other pals dropped in the raceways. Jeff Blood’s blood dot egg is the most effective egg pattern I have ever tied or fished, and Delayed Harvest fish eat it with leisure. It’s especially effective in chartreuse green for the main body of the fly and fluorescent orange for the dot. Make it even more effective by adding a pink Heavy Metal Nymph Head Evolution Bead from FlyMen. This fly takes freshly stocked fish as well as fish that have been in the river for a while-through early to mid-April when fewer and fewer natural eggs are in the water going into summer. As the water temps start to warm and bug activity increases, more and more fish start to turn off the junk food and on to naturals.
Frenchie: Probably the nymph pattern I turn to most, the Frenchie is basically a simply-tied pheasant tail. I keep these tied in sizes 12-18. With just a little bit of effort, you can tie a patch of flies to match the size and color shape of just about any mayflies in the water you are fishing—mix and match pheasant tails died to certain colors…feel free to vary up the color of the copper wire that you’re using for ribbing. And get creative with dubbing collars! Fish that have been freshly stocked are less likely to eat this fly on a dead drift, as it doesn’t have any moving parts to it. But the old guard will, for sure, eat this fly on the dead drift, and the freshly stocked fish will pounce if you jig it, strip it, or just hold it in the current with a few jig motions. If you don’t tie your own flies or just don’t want to tie this one, any simply tied pheasant tail will suffice—no rubber legs or crazy colors. This is a fly that will catch all classes of fish in DH water if fished in different methods—dead drift through runs for the fish that have been schooled…and jig back through for the ones who don’t really know what they’re doing yet and need to be stimulated to eat.
Iron Lotus: Another of my favorite patterns from Lance Eagan, the Iron Lotus, is bombproof and catches fish on command. I keep the fly tied on jig hooks myself but you can purchase the fly from Umpqua. I keep the fly tied in several dull colors—the original olive, browns, yellows, and dull pinks. Like the Frenchie, this fly doesn’t have a lot of moving parts and will really wreck the fish that have been in the water for a while, especially in the smaller sizes (think 16s) but given some action with the rod tip, the newly-stocked fish will also respond well.
Perdigons (Root Beer, Please!): The Perdigon flies are my new addiction. With NO moving parts, this fly sinks straight to the bottom of the water column and has nothing to turn off well-schooled trout that have been in the river system for a long time. Definitely tie this fly up with Root Beer Crystal Flash as the body!
Here’s the deal folks—most flies in the fly shops are tied and marketed to catch fishermen—not fish. All the rubber legs in the world…all the bright flash and bling that catches our eyes…after fish have been stuck a few times on these stimulating additions…just turn them off and often send them swimming for the closest rock to hide under. If you’re armed with my recommendations, however, I’m confident you’ll be in good standing for your next trip to a Delayed Harvest stream.
For tying instructions on these flies, you can visit Upper Creek Angler’s YouTube Channel:
tinyurl.com/UCASquirmie
tinyurl.com/UCABloodDotEgg
tinyurl.com/UCAFrenchie
tinyurl.com/UCAIronLotus
tinyurl.com/UCAPerdigon
John Zimmerman and Taylor Sharp are the co-owners of Upper Creek Angler, a fly-fishing guide and custom tackle service based in Morganton, North Carolina. John and Taylor are also the founders of Casting for Hope, a regional nonprofit organization based in Morganton, Asheville, and Bakersville that serves women and families in western North Carolina battling ovarian and other gynecological cancers. through fly-fishing retreats and financial assistance.
Find them on the web at www.uppercreekangler.com or www.castingforhope.org