Emerald Water Anglers

Fly Fishing Seattle and Worldwide

Seattle Fly Shop, Guide Service

& Global Travel Outfitter

•A Carbon Neutral Company•

fly fishing climate alliance

Visit our Seattle store

Shop our online store

Sign up for our Newsletter

one percent for the planet
  • Seattle Fly Fishing
    • Puget Sound
    • Yakima River
      • Cle Elum River
    • Mountain Creeks
    • Snoqualmie River
      • Middle and South Forks of Snoqualmie River
    • Cedar River
    • Warm Water Fly Fishing
    • Olympic Peninsula Steelhead Rivers
      • Bogachiel River
      • Hoh River Steelhead Fly Fishing Guides
      • Queets River
      • Sol Duc River Steelhead Fly Fishing Guides
    • Puget Sound Steelhead Rivers
      • Sauk River
      • Skagit River
      • Skykomish River
      • Snoqualmie River
      • Stillaguamish River
    • Columbia Basin Steelhead Rivers
      • Cowlitz River
      • Grande Ronde River
      • Kalama River, WA
      • Klickitat River
      • Methow River, WA
      • Wenatchee River, WA
    • Albacore Tuna
    • Our Seattle Fly Fishing Guide Staff
  • Women’s Fly Fishing
  • Classes & Schools
    • Private Fly Fishing Instruction
  • Travel
    • Fly Fishing Destinations
      • Alaska
        • Intricate Bay Lodge
        • Wild River Guides
      • Colorado
        • Black Canyon of the Gunnison
        • Roaring Fork River
      • Hawaii
      • Oregon
        • Deschutes River
        • John Day River
        • Oregon Coast Steelhead
        • North Umpqua River
      • Africa – Tiger Fish
      • Argentina
        • Salta – Golden Dorado
        • Tierra del Fuego – Sea Run Browns
      • Bahamas – Bonefish
        • Abaco Lodge
        • Bair’s Lodge – South Andros
        • H20 Bonefishing – Grand Bahama
      • Belize
      • Bolivia – Golden Dorado
      • Brazil – Peacock Bass
      • Canada
        • Skeena River Meadows, B.C.
      • Christmas Island
      • Cuba
      • Greenland – Arctic Char
      • Honduras – Fly Fish Guanaja
      • Iceland – Atlantic Salmon
      • India – Golden Mahseer
      • Mexico
        • Tarpon Caye Lodge
        • Zihuatanejo
      • Mongolia – Taimen
      • New Zealand
      • Russia
        • Kamchatka – Rainbow Trout
        • Kola – Atlantic Salmon
      • Scotland
      • Seychelles – Giant Trevally
      • South Pacific
      • Spain – Pyrenees Mountains
      • Venezuela – Los Roques
    • Hosted Fly Fishing Travel
  • Reports
    • Blog
    • Puget Sound Tides, Wind and Food Forms
    • Yakima River Hatch Chart
    • CFS – Washington River Flows
    • CFS – Oregon River Flows
  • Shop
  • About Us
    • Our Seattle Store
    • EWA – Environment and Sustainability
    • Upcoming Events
    • Contact Us
    • In the Media
You are here: Home / Contact/Reservations / In the Media / Fishing & Hunting News – Two Flies That Save the Day

Fishing & Hunting News – Two Flies That Save the Day

Fishing & Hunting News

Guide Flies
February 27, 2003
by Tony Lolli

East Coast or West, the same problem arises: what to do when the fish aren’t cooperating? Here are two flies guides use to save the day.

Trout HORS D”OEUVRE
Dave McCoy of Emerald Water Anglers (ewa.wpengine.com) in Seattle says this is a “does it all” fly.

Tying Instructions
1. Slide a pearl colored glass bead on the hook.
2. Wrap a thread base, ending halfway down the bend of the hook.
3. Tie in red wire halfway down the bend of the hook and wrap a body ending at about the midpoint of the shank.
4. Whip finish, cut off the thread and cement the end of the wire wraps.
5. Position the bead against the wore.
6. Tie in the thread ahead of the bead.
7. Tie on four or five strands of peacock herl.
8. Twist the herl using hackly pliers.
9. Wrap a herl collar the same diameter as the glass bead.
10. Tie on a single partridge hackle ahead of the herl and take two turns. The partridge fibers should extend just beyond the bend of the hook.
11. Whip finish and cement.

Dave reports that this fly is the product of guiding where caddis is king for the majority of the fishing season: Colorado, Idaho, eastern Oregon and eastern Washington. It is basically a blend of the best attributes of several different flies that already exist. Quite often this aproach is a successful one and I’m surprised more tyers don’t try it more often when inventing new patterns.

Dave says this fly is meant to be fished in nearly every different condition you can think of for trout in a river. That’s quite a claim, but since his clients keep returning, he must be onto something important.

In deep, slow-moving water he fishes it either on a dead drift deep or as a dropper behind a larger stonefly nymph. In the same water he’ll also fish it with a steady or erratic stripping movement as the fly swings through the prime holding spots in the pool. It also works well behind a hopper or salmonfly, fished up against the banks during the summer or simply on the swing.

Contact Us

  • Reservations/Contact
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Speaking Engagements
  • In the Media

Emerald Water Anglers

4502 42nd Ave. SW
Seattle, WA 98116
10-7 Mon-Fri, 10-6 Sat, 11-5 Sun
206-708-7250

Contact Us!

Reports and Blog

  • Scales : Our Blog
  • Events
  • Fishing Reports
  • Dave McCoy Photography

2021 Copyright © Emerald Water Anglers. Global Fly Fishing Specialists

4502 42nd Ave, SW Seattle, Washington 98116

Copyright © 2021 · EWA Genesis on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in