The bulk of my swing-style trout patterns are 3 to 4-inches long. Recently, I’ve had pretty good luck swinging smaller bugs, particularly when colder water makes fish less willing to chase streamers. The nice thing about these light, 1.5-inch long flies is their versatility: you can dredge them with a skagit and 12′ of T-11 or twitch them across the flats with a scandi and clear intermediate polyleader.
RECIPE
Tube: Pro Sportfisher Micro Tube (black) + Medium Pro Hook Guide (black)
Tail: 1.25″ Pine Squirrel Zonker (black)
Body: Hareline’s Pseudo Hair (black) and Ice Dub (Black Peacock) combined in dubbing loop
Wing: Arctic Fox (black)
Horns: Hareline’s Grizzly Flutter Legs (black/chartreuse)
Eyes: X-Small Brass Dumbbell (black nickel)
Head: Senyo’s Laser Dub (fl. chartreuse) in dubbing loop
Hook: Gamakatsu Octopus #8
***Other proven color combos: white with red head, olive/rootbeer, brown/rust, and brown/UV pheasant tail.
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