Getting the right drift is a bit hit or miss, but when you nail it, the fish will let you know. Everyone that I fish with has had those days when he or she put on a clinic, hooking one big fish after another while everyone else was looking for the scraps. It invariably comes down to stumbling into the perfect drift through a productive stretch of water, and it rarely continues in the next run down. Though having said this, know there are ways of maximizing your chances of getting fish to eat.
The three most productive methods of fishing a fry pattern are on a dead drift, on the swing, and letting the fly hang in the current. Stripping the fly is rarely useful because real fry just don’t exhibit that type of behavior. My typical cast is across the current into a seam that likely holds trout, followed by an upstream mend to orient the head of the fly into the current. As the fly drifts down and begins swinging, I continue mending to keep the fly from prematurely dragging across the current. I don’t worry about drag from directly upstream, because that is the direction the natural swims. Once the line quarters below me, I swim the fly across the river, pausing it over any place that looks productive or where I have spotted fish. At the end of the swing, I let the fly simply hang in the current for as long as my limited patience allows. Two of the most successful fishermen I know rarely fish fry patterns in any method other than hanging it dead in the water, directly downstream, and I’d venture to say the “hangdown” method is usually the most productive way to fish any stream where the trout haven’t keyed into migrating fry.
I use a floating line and nine to twelve foot leader, with a tippet strength sufficient to hold a large trout hitting against a tight line, typically 3X. I also keep a light grip on the line, so a big fish will have enough resistance to hook itself, but will pull the line from my fingers before the tippet breaks. I want the fly hanging a few inches deep. If the current is so fast that the fly disturbs the surface on the swing, I put a tiny split shot partway up the leader. I use a non-slip loop knot to maximize the fly’s movement in the water.
Fry Ties
The fry patterns I prefer have specific characteristics. A fish eye’s view of natural fry shows several key factors that act as triggers, and the most effective flies incorporate these triggers. For starters, fry have prominent eyes, they use their entire bodies when they swim, and, regardless of the color of their backs, their bodies are bright with a touch of flash. Overall, they are typically about an inch long—a little smaller when they hatch and a little larger by the time they are making their way downstream.
Katmai Fry
HOOK: Gamakatsu C14S, size 10.
THREAD: White 140 denier.
BOTTOM WING: White rabbit fur.
THROAT: Red holographic tinsel.
MID WING: Silver Angel Hair.
TOP WING: Dark olive marabou.
EYES: 1.5mm stick-on eyes.
HEAD: Clear, UV activated finish.
Fry fly eyes are easy. You can use either painted or stick-on eyes. Stick-on eyes are a lot less trouble and very effective, but you need to protect them or the first fish will strip your fly blind. To keep peepers in place, I coat fly heads with UV-hardened cement. If you are a belt-and-suspenders type of person, you can super glue them on first.
Motion is more difficult to mimic. One solution is to incorporate materials that have a lot of inherent action, like rabbit fur or marabou. Depending on the current and your retrieve, these can be very effective. The other option is to create the illusion of movement. The seminal fry pattern is a small, sparsely tied Thunder Creek. The bucktail is relatively stiff, but the fly’s silhouette flickers as light shines through and the fly appears to be actively moving. Commercial patterns are usually tied much too full and are far less effective. In my opinion, only two Alaskan fly shops, Mossy’s or Mountain View Sports in Anchorage, sell properly tied Thunder Creek flies.
Regardless of the material, the basic color for the bottom of the fly is white or a variation of white. Although I carry flies tied exclusively with Krystal Flash, most of my fry-fly selection is relatively subtle, at least by Alaskan standards, and usually incorporate a wrap of mylar tinsel around the hook shaft or a few strands of silver Krystal Flash in the body. The all-flash flies are more effective fished deep for Dolly Varden.
Thunder Creek
HOOK: 2X long, straight eye, size 10.
THREAD: White 140 denier.
BODY: Silver tinsel.
BOTTOM WING: Sparse white bucktail.
TOP WING: Sparse brown bucktail.
THROAT: Red thread.
EYES: Paint, yellow with black pupil.
I tie most of my flies on a size 10, 2X long hook though some patterns seem to fish better with a short shank hook. It also helps to use a straight-eyed hook to prevent the body from cocking at an unnatural angle on a tight line. Some of my favorite fry-fly body materials include bucktail, rabbit fur, marabou, craft fur, and various synthetic flash fibers. But with the advent of UV-activated cements, I’ve slightly altered the way I attach material to the hook. The classic Thunder Creek pattern calls for the materials to be tied in facing forward, over the hook eye, then folded back to create a narrow neck. I no longer tie the materials behind the head, which creates separation between the head and the body. Instead, I pull the fibers back and take a few turns of thread directly over the butt ends (the head of the fly) to hold it all in place. This results in a larger base for the stick-on eyes. Then I use my fingers to hold the materials in the position I want and add a thin coat of cement to the head. When I have the body shaped correctly, I hit it with the UV light to set everything in place. The result is a more accurately shaped body. The rear two-third of the body is uncoated and retains the natural movement of the materials.
Fry flies are essential for fishing Alaska in early summer, but they can be surprisingly effective in other situations. If you are headed to Bristol Bay, bring a few dozen. If not, stick a few in your fly box and give them a try on your home waters. Big fish love little fish.
Will Rice lives in Alaska and is the author of Fly Fishing Secrets of Alaska’s Best Guides and co-author of Fly Fisher’s Guide to Alaska. You can see his photos at www.willricephoto.com.