Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”

by Rusty Dunn

‘Stoneflies’ are named for the stony-bottomed, well-oxygenated streams that the insects inhabit.  ‘May­flies’ for the month of May, during which hatches of histori­cally famous English species reach their peak.  But what of ‘caddisflies’?  How were they named?  To­day’s term ‘caddis’ originated in the middle ages from the root word ‘cod’, which is a husk, bag, or pouch.  Larvae of many caddisfly species live within such cods, known today as ‘cases’.  Read More

Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”

by Rusty Dunn

Tie an Iron Blue Nymph on a #16 hook, and you’ve recreated the most famous fly of perhaps the most famous angler to ever cast a wet fly before trout.  Walk into a fly shop and ask for an Iron Blue Nymph, and the clerk will probably look at you funny.  “A what?” he might ask, to which you should reply, “Young fellow, per­haps you know it instead as a Dark Watchet, Dark Whirling Dun, Little Blue Dun, Iron Blue Drake, Little Purple, Little Dark Blue, or Iron Blue Quill.  Got any?”  You won’t get the flies you’re looking for, but at least you will have made the point that nymph fishing was refined long before the Pink Squir­rel reigned supreme.  Read More