The Oligochaete Worm

[nightfish]

I came across this article while surfing. Found it pretty interesting. Is the Oligochaete Worm found locally?

[nightfish]

oops... here it is.

http://www.rackelhanen.se/eng/10190.htm

[Larry S.]

Is that the one found in the bottle of Mescal?

[Ouzel]

LOL, I've never felt I was tough (nor drunk) enough to have the last belt out of the bottle. :-) Ugh.

Nightfish: I think any of us needs to be cautious (like you) when we read about someones good fortune with a "new fly" or one we have not seen or tied before.

Flies are suppose to be imitations of river/lake life of water we fish locally and there lies the hinge point of the matter. After I relocated I found many flies useful in the upper midwest were patterns I was familar with 'except' all were a couple of sizes larger; with a few new locals thrown in.

We all know that local climate changes the flora so it will also change the fauna and the various species of life that can live there. At least for the species without opposing thumbs.

Fish can be pickie enough without throwing something at them they may have never seen before.

[nightfish]

Sure, fish can be picky, but I'm sure quite a few of us have had a fish hit our yarn or foam indicators before.

I'm not sure what you're saying here...you dissaprove of trying something unconventional? What about Gary Lafontaine? Or Fran Betters' Usual? What about Walk's delving into older patterns...in his own way, he's unconventional too. Maybe this guy was just the first of us thumbed ones to observe what the fish see daily. I don't see the harm in trying something new. Even if you don't catch a single fish, you would still learn something, right?

Are there SJ purists now? Or is it that the curly-Q worm was born in Arkansas?

Ouzel, hope you don't take offense here, but I don't see the need to be cautious with pattern experimentation. If we did that, we'd all be turning our noses up at a Parachute Adams. Where would that leave Cary?

[Lonnie]

NF,

Oligocheate worms are found here and were quite common in the Mid. Provo insect sampling after the reconstruction work. If I remember correctly, the worms (and leeches too) "like" (O.K, I'm being anthropomorphic (Cheech --> instilling human qualities on an animal :-) )) to be in contact with something preferably the substrate. When dislodged, they quite often will fine a small piece of organic material and wrap themselves around it, not unlike what was described in the article. So tie up a few and let us know how they wok for you.

Personally, I don't fish with worms (anymore), tied or otherwise....:-)

Lonnie

[cheech]

On FAOL I saw an article about a SJW that was looked like a corkscrew. I guess a guy (a SJ worm "purist") really did some research, and found that they twist up whilst under water. I still need to try that one out. Maybe I need to try nymphing this year..... Or maybe not. Thanks Lonnie, you dirty animal.

[Lonnie]

Hey man,

I was just giving you the definition of "anthropomorphic" (I did promise to help your vocabulary....) Sorry if you missed my meaning there, I'll be clearer next time....

Lonnie

[cheech]

Hey man,

I was just giving you the definition of "anthropomorphic" (I did promise to help your vocabulary....) Sorry if you missed my meaning there, I'll be clearer next time....

Lonnie


I love it. I forgot to put a smiley there you dirty animal;) Now I know the term for what I have to do when I fish with MWS. He's also an animal. invertebrate....

[Stoney Clarke]

Cautious with a new fly pattern? What are you afraid of that it won't work and you just wasted a few hours? or that it will work? Some of my best success are from "local" patterns of different rivers in different regions use on our local rivers. I also believe that patterns can run their coarse and become ineffective once they become "the new hot pattern". About 6 years ago WR had received a small shipment of the Stalcaps Diving Caddis. It became my go to fly in the summer and fall. The past 2 years it has become tough to land anything on it. While Cary and other will always have success with a paraadams. We need new patterns because the fish in these rivers just get punded with the same fly over and over.

Very interesting article Nick.

SC

[walksinwater]

I read the article on FAOL back in December.

I was excited about it. So I tyed up a couple. I only had the dark red colour.

It was the first fly to hit the water Christmas day, with fish rising all about. After a while I realized the fish were rising and laughing at me.

Maybe I was using the wrong colour for the time of day as the author suggested. So I will try it again.

I thought the article was well written based on observation of a creatures behaviour.

[Ouzel]

some of the flies I've tied and tried I doubt 'conservative' is a operative word. But I will admit varitations I've tried have been to a locally useful fly that represents local food.

Trout and other fish also experiment (we think) with food stuffs and they have hit leader knots for a long, long time. We know now that tiny leader knots look like 'Knats' or floating midges.

I have even experimented with 'Hemingways Diving Caddis' and found when the caddis were out that it worked well.

I guess Lonnie settled the matter in stating this worm is a local and should work on various waters.

Still I submit some caution in tying and using flies that may be effective in other waters and may not have a food base locally. We all try to tye flies that look good and by that I mean a fly that imitates (look likes) and local food. Even though there are multiple reasons to go fishing at any given time, for the most part it remains enjoying ourselves by catching a few fish.

Tying and fishing old flies is not experimentation as they are in fact older mouse traps that have proven themselves; it is just that someone said they had a newer/better fly and they fell out of current use. Other flies like the Adams imitates so many different foods I doubt will even fall from favor.

An Adams fly to me is like a 30-06 is in hunting. That is why I reinvented the 'Droop Butt Adams'.

[walksinwater]

I was still fishing with an olde (2300 year old) tryed and tested pattern.

One of the first documented flys came from the Roman era describing a thread of red wool wrapped around a hook.