Skate Bait
Cheech - August, 2018
Well, I was more of a BMX type of kid back when the Schwinn Predator came out and we were watching the movie Rad about three times a day. Cru was a beast, and the backflip was pretty groundbreaking, but I digress... This is about fishing - and skating. As the day wears on and the sun goes down and the caddis hatch so thick that you dare not open your mouth, it is indeed time to become a skater. You know that time... No amount of swatting at your face and head will relieve the problem, and don't even think about breaking out that headlamp to re-tie because it will cause a mass gathering of caddis right up in your face. (If you have scratched your head, neck, etc while reading this, I'm driving my point home.) At 0 Caddis:30 is when you should try casting out your fly, lightly twitching it right when it lands, and then dead drift it for a bit. You can also cast out, hold your rod tip high in attempt to keep most of your leader off the water, and lightly skate your fly across the surface... The first massive take will scare you a little bit, but it's something that you can easily get used to. These late caddis nights will make you all but forget about all the other bugs in your boxes for days at a time.
This fly is designed so the back half of the fly sits lower in the water, the front sits high out of the water, and it's on a beefy hook to make sure you have the steel to poke fish when they are straight up savages and hit the fly swimming at full speed. I typically fish this fly with 4X tippet and make sure I treat it with Loon Lochsa before fishing it. Skate on people... Skate on.
~ Cheech
- Hook: Ahrex 511 Curved Dry Fly Hook - 14
- Shuck 1: MFC Premium Fly Tying Thread - Chartreuse - 8/0
- Shuck 2: Sparkle Emerger Yarn - Brown
- Soft Hackle: Nature's Spirit Premium Hungarian Partridge Skin
- Wings : EP Trigger Point Int'l Fibers - March Brown
- Skate Deck: Fly Tying Foam - 2mm - Brown
- Body: Nature's Spirit Snowshoe Rabbit Foot Dubbing - Brown
- Ribbing: UTC Ultra Wire - Copper - Small
- Tools Used: Hard As Hull Head Cement, Dr. Slick Razor Scissors - 4, Tiemco Midge Whip Finisher, Hopper/Caddis/Ant Foam Body Cutter - #14, C&F Design Hackle Pliers, Tiemco Tying Tweezers,
