Stillborns

[RAW]

I'm rereading Swisher/Richards, "Fly Fishing Strategy," chapter 7 on stillborns. I am intersted in what your experiences have been with stillborn mayflies? I'll be looking for 5 or 6 good dry fly fishers this spring and summer who will experiment with a stillborn BWO and PMD pattern. You must be on the water during these hatches and report your results to me. I'll post closer to the spring when I have the patterns ready to accept names. Right now I'm interested in your experiences. Swisher/Richards claim that their success went way up when they swithched to the stillborns. Thanks!

[platypus]

I don't know if this counts as stillborn, but last spring on the Green my Dad and i fished with a BWO quiggley cripple and found that it performed really well. We are going back at the end of April this year and i already have a bunch tied for the trip. I don't know if the Cripple is considered a stillborn or an emerger but I thought i would let you know.

[Jason]

I've noticed that stillborn patterns really aren't that effective unless it's a prolific hatch where there are 1,000's of bugs on the water and the fish are selectively feeding. I think we've all been there before. It's so frustrating.

I've used a 'Tipped Over' PMD pattern a couple years back on the Lower Provo but it didn't seem to work during a monstrous hatch. Every fish in the river was feeding on top but nothing seemed to work that well. It just might not have been a good pattern. I've never used it since.

I've always opted for the Quiggly Cripple style patterns for picky trout. I have read and heard that Floating Nymph patterns can be killer during those prolific hatches when the fish are being picky. If you can get your nymph to float just right, I think it would be a good stillborn/emerger type pattern. I've tied some up in the past but have never really been in the situation to fish them yet. Doug Swisher and Carl Richards swear by them.

I don't know if this even helps or answers your question. These were a few of my first thoughts when I first read your post.

[mike b]

as the hatch goes on - say from mid hatch until it dribbles out,
a still born is much more effective than any form of dry fly. email
me and i will give you a recipe for baetis and pmd stillborns.
mike b