The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Hey Ralph, question on the curved shank bit... do you shy away from curved shanks on all patterns because of the dropped fish bit, or is it just on this particular pattern? I've long suspected that I drop more fish with a curved shank, but it seems I hook more since it looks more realistic. I've come to tie all my PT's on curved shank hooks just because they look so darn buggy. Of course, you fish with what you have confidence in, so I don't know if it really has an impact.

B-

Reverse tie E/C caddis! Very cool idea Eric. Now you have my mind spinning.
Thanks,
R

The geometry of a curved shank does not lend itself to stabbing something deep when the eye is pulled. Lots has been written about this (check out some of Darrel Martin's stuff).

The TMC 2457 makes gorgeous flies and I find myself returning to the hook because the flies LOOK so sweet. That said, after a few sessions with the cool looking flies, I'm back to straight shank hooks because of missed fish. Many of the landed fish on the 2457 are only being held by the smallest piece of issue. Bead anglers gravitate towards this hook, so there must be something about dragging it across the side of the trout's face that makes it snag better than a straight shank.

The whole idea about an inverted midge emerger is the bent shape, and the scud hook seems to fill the bill unlike anything else I've seen so far. We are far from the perfect pattern yet!

There seem to be several emergers that at are relying on curved hooks to stick the butt through the film like (Klinkhammers, Wyatt's deer hair emerger, and a ton of others). I wonder if some of these newer styled emerger hooks will develop into something that will leave the gape more exposed and have a front length inline with pull.

Seems to me that a wiggle midge pupah might be in order. I have noticed that the caddis larva in my area swim in a similar fassion.

MN

Partridge makes a Klinkhamer hook that I use for Klinkhamers and E/C Caddis. I woner if it might work for an inverted midge. I think the alignment of the point is pretty good. Sometimes hard to find, but Marriotts has them today.

http://www...t.aspx?CategoryID=10166. It's the regular, not the extreme short shank.

I see MidCurrent.com has the midge segment featured on their site as well. Nice work, Ralph, keep it up. Who woulda ever thunk all that time spent in scuba gear with a camera would pay off for non scuba folk as well. Thanks for putting out the DVD. Everyone that I know that has seen it are totally amazed. It is the must have video to own if you only had one to buy/own related to entomology and aquatic insect behavior. This tops your Fish Food. Can't wait to see what you come out with next.

Marshall sent us an email yesterday telling us it would go up on his Midcurrent site today. I'm blown away by how good he made it look. He converted the fuzzy Quicktime clip to Flash which makes the YouTube clip we put up look like a comparative piece of sh*t! These techie guys are amazing. We have an article coming up in Flyfisherman magazine at which time they'll put the clip on Flyfisherman.com. I'm stoked!

I'm glad people are enjoying it. Lisa and I are working on the sequel, (how to imitate and fish the bugs) hopefully it will be out this time next year. . . maybe!

best,
R

Thanks for the tip Ed. I just placed an order.

Ralph wrote:
Thanks for the tip Ed. I just placed an order.

You're welcome!

Eric, what a great idea. E/C 's are among my top 3 favorite caddis patterns. Putting all the messy stuff on back is a great idea. thanks
Betty