Fall patterns

[Chappy]

I've been having good luck on sparkle pupas and cdc+elk caddis patterns and really good luck on ant and beetle patterns. I will more than likely fish these into the fall allong with the tiny bwo's and midges but what are some of the patterns that you guys and gals like to throw in the fall?

[Hot Tuna]

I love throwing big Isonychia patterns...my current favorite is the Harrop hairwing dun in the appropriate colors...I have also found that when trout on the Housatonic are refusing your 26 BWO's a size 16 tan Neff caddis will often get their attention.
Hot Tuna

[2Weight]

You named the ones I like to fish in the Fall on both the Farm and the Housy. 2WT

[Chappy]

Isn't the Neff caddis similar to an elk hair or deer hair caddis minus the hackle on the body? If it is I love those. I tied some in size 18 black and have had great luck on them. I'm kinda of new to dry fly fishing and started out with mostly elk hair and light deer hair just for the visibility. By early summer I could judge strikes better and follow flies on the water better and eventually went smaller and darker. Some flies ie. midges I still have a hard time tracking. I've been reallly into chernobyl ants, trout up here destroy them and you can hang a 5 pound dropper off them before they start sinking. I have been having luck consistently with this pheasant tail emerger I have been tying using cdc for the legs and a small amount of krystal flash budding from the wing case.

[Hot Tuna]

Yup...the Neff has no hackle. Coastal deer hair works great for the wing on the larger ones 16 and up. I use CDC and sometimes a down wing of wispy poly on the smaller ones.
The fly works great drowned too...I've caught a lot of fish on the Hous just letting it hang in the surface film 30 feet or so below me.
Hot Tuna

[Chappy]

yes a very sick fly. I too use it double duty when it's drowned.

[Housy Dave]

Ok, get ready......I'm about to ruin your whole thread here Chappy :lol:

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EGG FLIES!

A yellow egg works great on the hous from October all the way up till there's too much anchor ice to fish. Seeing as how I am such a purist :roll: , I make my own by super-gluing little yellow pom-poms to hooks.

From November till end of December scuds also work great. As a matter of fact, from November on, all I even bring to the river is a small box with scuds and egg flies. A black stone nymph or midge larva can also work, but I seldom need to use these patterns because scuds and egg flies seem to catch just about any fish that is willing to eat.

Of course, when the olives are on, I have a whole selection of size 18 & 20 mayfly nymphs. From early sept - oct, an iso nymph trailed by a small olive nymph is a good combo.

[Hot Tuna]

Housy Dave...I tried to come up with a witty fly fishing analogy similar to the "this is your mind, this your mind on drugs" with the egg in the frying pan....something like this is flyfishing, this is flyfishing with eggs.....lol
Hot Tuna
Seriously it can't be any worse than that salmon flesh fly they use over on the Salmon in Colchester.

[Hot Tuna]

...we could throw a handful of gravel in the handicapped pool of the Salmon and then flip in a reddish brown pellet of foam glued to a hook!

[Housy Dave]

:lol:

A long time ago I used to think those types of flies only worked on freshly planted hatchery fish. Then I started using them on the housatonic (in the fall) and was catching trout everywhere when there was no fall stocking and all those fish had been in the river for > 6 mo. In the fall of 2004 (the last time the fall fishing was good) I was even able to get a few big fish ~20" on egg flies. That convinced me it wasn't just a pattern for stupid hatchery fish. Eggs from other fish are common in the drift, and are like junk food to a trout...they see them, they eat them, even when they're not hungry. On less educated fish, it may simply be taken as an attractor. Give it a shot sometime!

[SloNDeep]

I have to echo the sentiments of Housy Dave, adding that I have found that the scuds work really well all through the winter.

Additionally, and specifically in the Fall, I like to throw streamers that are tied in Autumn colors. Mostly brown colors with orange yellow and red mixed in. Don't know why they work so well but I have had great success with these through October.


I would add a Parachute Adams and a small Golden Stone nymph to the list. The Stonefly pattern, like the scuds, work all through the winter on the Hous.

[Chappy]

I'll have to give the egg fly a whirl maybe throw a bacon dropper off of it. :lol:

[steve]

I'll confirm Housy Dave's recommendation on egg flies and scuds, especially on the Housy. On the Housy, I like to tie on a size 8 or 10 golden stone nymph, and hang the egg or scud off of that. Best fish I caught two winters ago, in February, was on the golden stone, but most of the trout hit the egg.

As for the Farmington, I had my best winter ever this past winter, using a size 22 midge larva, tied like a WD-40 with light grey thread for the body and olive dubbing for the thorax. Picked up 18 trout one day in January, that's better fishing than a bunch of day's I've had in the peak of the season. Last fall egg flies worked well for a while on the Farmington, but as it slipped into December I had to go to small (18 or smaller) PT's and midges to do well.

I have also found that as the water temp gets into the 30's I have to put on enough shot to make sure the nymphs are drifting substantially slower than the surface current.