By Jeff Durniak
Unicoi Outfitters
Summer is a great time for picnicking. It’s true for our finned friends, too, which look forward to fresh crops from streamside gardens for their summer calories. Here are a few favorite groceries found in our Unicoi Outfitters summer picnic basket, a.k.a. our fly box.
First and foremost are ants, both dry and wet. Pick the size and color, black or red, to match the hatch on your favorite waters. We really like a Parachute Ant as the surface pattern because that vertical, white parachute post is easy to spot in pond shadows and creek riffles. Other good patterns are composed of foam and are virtually unsinkable, especially when coated with dry fly floatant. All ants don’t float, and many fish are scared to rise in summer’s clear waters, so go down to them with a sunken ant. This is one of our favorite droppers, rigged two feet under our surface bug. Try a black fur ant in sizes 14 or 16 for soft waters and a tungsten-beaded ant to sink faster in swift or deeper flows.
Next up is a nice beetle pattern. Beetles come in all shapes and sizes, but if you arm yourself with black foam beetles in sizes 8, 12, and 16, you’ll have the bases covered well. The patterns with a parachute post or a small strip of bright indicator foam on top will let you track your bug during its float. The bigger sizes must have rubber legs, while a few winds of black hackle will make the smallest beetle very leggy. A good size 8 beetle will also cover our third picnic basket item, crickets. Toss the bigger beetle along shaded, woody banks and let it drift along.
Once you’re out of the woods and into the fields, you’ve entered hopper habitat. Hopper fanatics pray for some wind to “chum” ponds and lakes and have fish on the hunt along grassy banks. Grab a few hoppers in size 10 for bream and big trout and size 14 for headwater trout. Most are made of foam and float like a cork, especially when slathered in floatant. For picky fish, I really like the stealthy Schroeder’s Parachute Hopper, so give that pattern a look.
We have a few groceries left in our basket. To imitate inchworms, stock a few Green Weenies or green Mop Flies to match this hatch, especially in the first half of summer. And if it rains hard, count your blessings. Be ready for the “spaghetti” hatch as earthworms wash in and stream fish gorge. Try a red Squirmy Worm or hot pink San Juan Worm on heavier tippet in turbid stormflows, and do NOT forget your net. Toss in a few #16 Adams dries to imitate mosquitos and a couple of #14 Yellow Stimulators, and your picnic basket is complete.
Have a great time picnicking in waters near and far this summer. Stop by either of our UO stores and we’ll help you fill your basket.