Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”
by Rusty Dunn
The year is 1892. A young attorney casts dry flies to rising trout on the River Itchen in southern England. His creel is empty, and his spirits are low. The angler’s flies are recommended for these very waters by fly fishing’s leading experts. His presentations are good, but his flies are ignored. The angler hasn’t touched a trout all morning, yet they continue to rise. He then notices one small dark olive mayfly on the water and ties on a Dark Olive Quill dry fly. The angler makes a crucial miscalculation however. He bought the fly in haste at a store, and it is cheaply made. Instead of being tied with stiff rooster hackle, it is tied of soft hen. After a couple of casts, the fly is soaked and floats poorly. Another couple of casts, and it sinks. Whoa! Fish on! Another cast … another fish. Four brace of lusty trout follow quickly, each hooked as the soggy fly sinks below the surface.
The angler is puzzled, because such behavior is not described in the literature. Preeminent authors of the day teach that casting dry flies upstream to rising fish is the only way to take chalk stream trout. An angler should wait for a surface hatch, identify the species, and match it with an imitation. As one supposed authority wrote in the Fishing Gazette, unless trout are feeding atop the surface you “might as well chuck your hat at them” as cast a fly. Later, while reflecting on the day’s events, uncertainties and doubts creep into the angler’s inquiring mind. Uncertainties about the relative merits of sinking vs. floating flies. Doubts about the wisdom of fishing dry flies in all circumstances. Could advice of the experts be wrong? The angler then resolves to experiment in future trips with subsurface flies and presentations.
The angler of this true story was G.E.M. Skues, and his book Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream (1910) marks the beginning of nymph fishing as we know it. Skues’ studies of wet flies are detailed in Minor Tactics, five later books, and dozens of published journal articles. More than any other angler, Skues made fly fishing with nymphs an imitative science. He described insect and trout behaviors at all stages of an emergence, imitative flies that match specific nymph species and stages, and effective methods for their subsurface presentation. Skues’ writings are the foundation of modern nymph fishing and are as fresh and relevant today as a century ago. He is one of history’s most original and insightful fly anglers and tyers.
Skues brought fresh ideas to a fly fishing world that, at least in some high-profile locations, had become obsessed with the dry fly. Dry fly fishing dominated the angling literature for decades beginning in the second half of the 19th century. The period is often described as the golden age of fly fishing, but the philosophy of the “dry fly school” was rather dogmatic and inflexible. Dry fly purity ruled the day, and fishing by any other method was harshly scorned.
Skues pierced that veneer and challenged prevailing dry fly doctrines. He argued that subsurface imitations are at times more effective than dry flies and, by imitating all stages of the insect life cycle, nymphs and dry flies complement each other. Skues was vilified for such heresy, but his gentle manner, respect for the dry fly, sparkling intellect, and lively style of writing disarmed detractors and steadily won over converts. Skues did not invent upstream angling with a wet fly, as it had been practiced for countless decades in the English north and Scottish border country. Skues, however, was a visible, prolific, and persuasive writer who educated a worldwide audience and popularized charms of the “dark arts”.
Skues described the Dark Olive Nymph in Minor Tactics. It imitates a mayfly species not found in North America but similar to many of our blue-winged olives. Fish it just under the surface during a BWO emergence or more deeply early in a hatch or during non-hatch periods. Once the fly is soaked and its wispy fibers breathe in the current, be prepared for a little “Whoa! Fish on!” of your own making.
Copyright 2023, Rusty Dunn
Dark Olive Nymph
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Hook:
Wet-fly / nymph hook, #16-22
Thread:
8/0 or smaller, lemon yellow; a few turns of thread showing at the tail
Tail:
A few barbs of dark dun hen hackle, tied fairly short
Rib:
Fine gold wire
Abdomen:
Light olive/brown nymph dubbing, applied lightly with silk showing through
Thorax:
Dark olive/brown nymph dubbing, bulging modestly to suggest a wing case
Hackle:
Rusty dun hen, tied short to imitate legs but not wings
Dark Olive Nymph
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Last Updated: February 7, 2023 by Drew Kasel
by Rusty Dunn
The year is 1892. A young attorney casts dry flies to rising trout on the River Itchen in southern England. His creel is empty, and his spirits are low. The angler’s flies are recommended for these very waters by fly fishing’s leading experts. His presentations are good, but his flies are ignored. The angler hasn’t touched a trout all morning, yet they continue to rise. He then notices one small dark olive mayfly on the water and ties on a Dark Olive Quill dry fly. The angler makes a crucial miscalculation however. He bought the fly in haste at a store, and it is cheaply made. Instead of being tied with stiff rooster hackle, it is tied of soft hen. After a couple of casts, the fly is soaked and floats poorly. Another couple of casts, and it sinks. Whoa! Fish on! Another cast … another fish. Four brace of lusty trout follow quickly, each hooked as the soggy fly sinks below the surface.
The angler is puzzled, because such behavior is not described in the literature. Preeminent authors of the day teach that casting dry flies upstream to rising fish is the only way to take chalk stream trout. An angler should wait for a surface hatch, identify the species, and match it with an imitation. As one supposed authority wrote in the Fishing Gazette, unless trout are feeding atop the surface you “might as well chuck your hat at them” as cast a fly. Later, while reflecting on the day’s events, uncertainties and doubts creep into the angler’s inquiring mind. Uncertainties about the relative merits of sinking vs. floating flies. Doubts about the wisdom of fishing dry flies in all circumstances. Could advice of the experts be wrong? The angler then resolves to experiment in future trips with subsurface flies and presentations.
The angler of this true story was G.E.M. Skues, and his book Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream (1910) marks the beginning of nymph fishing as we know it. Skues’ studies of wet flies are detailed in Minor Tactics, five later books, and dozens of published journal articles. More than any other angler, Skues made fly fishing with nymphs an imitative science. He described insect and trout behaviors at all stages of an emergence, imitative flies that match specific nymph species and stages, and effective methods for their subsurface presentation. Skues’ writings are the foundation of modern nymph fishing and are as fresh and relevant today as a century ago. He is one of history’s most original and insightful fly anglers and tyers.
Skues brought fresh ideas to a fly fishing world that, at least in some high-profile locations, had become obsessed with the dry fly. Dry fly fishing dominated the angling literature for decades beginning in the second half of the 19th century. The period is often described as the golden age of fly fishing, but the philosophy of the “dry fly school” was rather dogmatic and inflexible. Dry fly purity ruled the day, and fishing by any other method was harshly scorned.
Skues pierced that veneer and challenged prevailing dry fly doctrines. He argued that subsurface imitations are at times more effective than dry flies and, by imitating all stages of the insect life cycle, nymphs and dry flies complement each other. Skues was vilified for such heresy, but his gentle manner, respect for the dry fly, sparkling intellect, and lively style of writing disarmed detractors and steadily won over converts. Skues did not invent upstream angling with a wet fly, as it had been practiced for countless decades in the English north and Scottish border country. Skues, however, was a visible, prolific, and persuasive writer who educated a worldwide audience and popularized charms of the “dark arts”.
Skues described the Dark Olive Nymph in Minor Tactics. It imitates a mayfly species not found in North America but similar to many of our blue-winged olives. Fish it just under the surface during a BWO emergence or more deeply early in a hatch or during non-hatch periods. Once the fly is soaked and its wispy fibers breathe in the current, be prepared for a little “Whoa! Fish on!” of your own making.
Copyright 2023, Rusty Dunn
Dark Olive Nymph
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