Reimagining The Bugs 03Apr15

As we prepare for steadily improving fishing conditions I reviewed and reimagined some of my "go to" flies for springtime. My "weight" is a spring (bigger, darker, purplish) mayfly nymph, the Reimagined Black Ice - derived from Larry Kingrey's ice nymph... I tied some this year with legs. My dry springtime BWOs are the Shucked Up Snowshoe BWO (added sparkle to the thorax) and the Yummy Paraloop BWO (bigger thorax profile on the water). Previously declared and instantly productive as my best midge (displacing the KF Flasher variants) is the Awesome Midge... an all natural black brown (stripped peacock herl) with thorax of grizzly hackle duff dotted with peacock trimmings and tiny flash wings, fashioned off of Frank Smethurst's work when he fished the Gunnison. As the Arki caddis hatch looms close, the chosen dry could well be the Caddistrophic, a variant of Mike Mercer's stuff, reimagined with blue dun underwing and some flash in the thorax. For the caddis swing subsurface, a variation of John Barr's Graphic, tied with a bright butt to mimic egg laying... the HotButt Swinger. Of course an Arki chartruese clone of the CJ was prepared, but easier to tie, the New Style Tung CJ includes light & air catching antron in the thorax dubbing. You can't get this stuff in a store... my pics are still so variable and sketchy but I don't want to spend too much time on that versus tying right now. See you on the rivers.