FIT TO BE TIED
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BY JOEL EVANS
The Old Becomes New Again
A
ren’t we always looking for something new? What we have may be just fine, but we are tempted that we might be missing out on something better. Take for example that nice sweater you got for Christmas a few years ago. You like it a lot, you wear it regularly, and take good care of it. So even though it has been around awhile, that comfortable sweater still looks good on you. But this year, there you were in the clothes department of your neighborhood store and a new sweater caught your eye. Gotta have it. Suddenly that old favorite sweater gets pushed back in the closet and forgotten. Well, fly patterns have a way of getting pushed back to the corner of your fly box. Old favorites get mentally lost in favor of the latest new pattern. You were catching fish just great with the old pattern, but, just like the sweater, something new came along. Gotta have it. Same here. Being not just a fly buyer, but a fly tyer, it is easy to experiment with
one pattern will give me an advantage I’m missing out on. Well as much as I like to cruise the fly box counter of my local fly shop, or tie the new pattern that my fishing buddy just invented, I am a believer that on the list of things that matter as to catching a fish on a fly, other things such as stealth, presentation, casting accuracy, and reading water matter more than pattern selection. So what about that old favorite pattern that worked just fine, but you haven’t fished for a few years? You can probably think of one from your past river days. One that comes to mind for me is the Halfback. It’s primarily intended as a stonefly pattern, but given its proven material and enticing shape, could be other insects, all the way to just simply an underwater attractor pattern. So this winter I have vowed to myself to tie a few dozen Haflbacks and place them prominently in my box. I’ll tie the standard size 10 on a long shank hook. But I’ll also tie some down to a 14—some with a bead head, some with rubWATCH FLY new materials and new techber legs, but the basic patTYING VIDEO niques that tempt us with tern of years ago will get the thought of maybe that the most quantity. Being a nymph, I expect to lose a few to snags and bushes HOOK: 8-14 NYMPH, 2X OR 3X LONG along the way, so I’ll need THREAD: BLACK, BROWN, OR OLIVE 6/0 more than a few, anyway. BEAD: GOLD BRASS OR BLACK TUNGSTEN, OPTIONAL If you are not familiar with the Halfback, give it a UNDERBODY WIRE: LEAD FREE 0.020, OPTIONAL try. Also, think what that TAIL: PHEASANT TAIL forgotten pattern is for BODY: PEACOCK you. Move it to the front of ABDOMEN BACK: PHEASANT TAIL OR TURKEY, CEMENTED the closet. HACKLE: BROWN SADDLE HACKLE, PALMERED
HALFBACK
About The Author Joel Evans is a fly fishing writer, photographer, and long-time member of Trout Unlimited from Montrose, CO. You can contact him via the HCA editor at frank@hcamagazine.com. www.HCAezine.com
Winter 2021 • High Country Angler
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