3 Flies for the Week: November 6 2024

#1: Tungsten BH Pheasant Tail - sz16

I bet all of you get sick of me putting basic flies on these lists, but in all honesty they seem to work better than the fancy flies. I’m going to stop myself from going down an absolute rabbithole on this topic, but I’ll say briefly that the more I’ve fished through the years the more I’ve come to appreciate and fish the bread-and-butter flies. They just work.

But I digress. The tungsten pheasant tail in a sz16 is a killer lead fly on freestones right now. Freestones are flowing low and clear right now, so being subtle with your lead on a nymph rig is going to be key to your success. The PT looks like just about anything, but I particularly like it for its ability to mimic a small stonefly or large mayfly that got knocked out of its home.

 Fish will happily eat this fly due to its realism, but even if they don’t, the fly is big enough to draw them into your smaller midge flowing behind it. The tungsten bead on this fly is also an important component as it helps get your rig down, allowing minimal use of split shot. It’s important to note that this fly does not have enough weight to be fished without a split shot, but it will allow you to use less of it which prevents the disruptive splash that split shot is known for.

#2: Foamie Homie - Brown sz20

You may have noticed in the previous fly description that I mentioned fishing a midge behind the PT. Midges are going to be very important in the remaining weeks of open water on freestones. Water temperatures have gotten low enough where BWO’s are no longer hatching (with maybe the exception of the lower Arkansas) and now midges are going to be the predominant food source. The nice thing about fishing freestones is that you can get away with fishing bigger midges. The majority of the time a sz18 larva or sz20 pupa pattern is perfect. I’ve never personally encountered a fish on a freestone that would refuse a midge pattern that size. 

The foamie homie is a perfect midge pupa pattern for both freestones and tailwaters. The sz20 is great for fishing freestones, while the sz24 is at home on the techy tailwaters. Additionally, this fly is a perfect balance between a natural and attractor, it flawlessly resembles an emerging midge with its sleek natural body and foamback, while still having plenty of flash to it to grab a fish’s attention. I’m personally fishing this fly as my last fly on my nymph rig, no matter if it’s a two or three fly rig.

#3: Mercury Midge - sz18

Shoutout Pat Dorsey! This simple midge pattern is about as basic as it gets. Hell, it’s just a zebra midge with a different bead. But, that bead is what makes the world of difference. Not that the silver bead incorporated on a zebra midge is bad by any means, but the mercury bead adds a special pop to this fly. 

Mercury beads do a great job of doing two things; one is adding flash to the fly in a very natural manner, two is creating a gas bubble effect on the fly. Emerging and pupating insects often get a gas bubble on their body created from the metamorphosis, and heavily pressured trout use this gas bubble to help differentiate the real bugs from the fake bugs.

Well Mr. Dorsey found a way to overcome this challenge many years ago and found the mercury bead to be a game changer. He has many mercury patterns, but the basic mercury midge seems to be his best. Due to the coloration of this pattern, it can be both a larva and a pupa simultaneously which adds to its effectiveness.