Fly du'jour: LBW (Little Brown Worm)

If you're new to fly tying, here's a pattern that's sure to please. It's simple to tie, requires almost no material, and is guaranteed to catch big fish on the Big Horn River in Montana (probably other places as well). When I'm on the Big Horn, this is my #1 go to fly of choice.

My friend, Mark Lance, introduced me to the LBW, and taught me how to tie it (that took about 5 minutes, as you'll see if you read on below). Mark and his wife Sharon are die-hard trout hunters, and have some absolutely incredible fish stories from incredible places. I strongly recommend you take a look at Mark's fly fishing photography web site, River Light Images (www.riverlightimages.com). He has photos from all over the world, and all are spectaticular.

Mark and Sharon have spent many a day on the Big Horn, and probably know every trout up there by name. If you're new to the Big Horn, and want to get up to speed quickly, head on over to TroutMap RiverGuides (www.troutmap.com). They have some fantastic laminated river maps of the Big Horn (and many other rivers as well). These are definitely something worth considering. When floating the Big Horn, some of the take outs are poorly marked, and can be difficult to find if you're out on the river at dusk (or later). TroutMap RiverGuides have GPS coordinates of all the take outs, and a handy grid system that allows you to accurately determine your location on the river to about 20 feet, even if you don't carry a GPS system while floating.

Now, on to the Fly du'jour...

Here's a list of materials:

• Hook: TMC 200R, size 16-20. The 200R is a double-length hook, so a size 20 is about right.
• Body: Hareline Dubbin SLF or SuperFine, in a light color such as light cahill. This fly works better with finer material. The standard Hareline material has a lot of guard hairs, that really isn't ideal for a worm pattern.
• Head: Black Thread

Put the hook in the vice, tie on the thread.

Use a small amount of dubbing, and dub a body on the hook. Since there isn't any wire wrap on the body, I prefer to tie this body with a dubbing loop. It takes a little more time, but is much more durable and looks better.

Make a loop with the thread. Apply dubbing wax to both sides of the thread loop.

Apply dubbing material to one or both sides of the loop.

Spin the thread loop to lock the dubbing material in place.

Wrap the dubbed thread forward to form the body.

Build up a sizable head with the black thread. Whip finish and apply head cement.

Total tying time: About 1-2 minutes. You can tie an army of these in an afternoon.

This fly is so simple to tie, but looks incredible in the water. The Big Horn is full of small midges with jet black heads that look nearly identical to this pattern. The dubbed body takes on a translucent look in the water. If you tie the body with less dubbing material, the thread will show through the dubbing, which adds a life-like look to the fly.

Gregg wrestling with another Big Horn slab, that was fooled by the LBW...

Black Tail Deer Creek, Montana

Last summer, my wife, my father and I took a trip to Montana to visit some of the most incredible fly fishing destinations in the Rocky Mountain region. If you have never been to Paradise Valley, you owe it to yourself to pack your bags. Unfortunately, we were a bit eager, and run off was still going on strong on many of the larger rivers.

What to do? Mope? Nope. Instead we headed for some of the lesser known creeks in the area, such as Black Tail Deer Creek, about 35 miles south east of Dillon.

View Larger Map

Black Tail Deer Creek is a tiny stream, that meanders through brushy willows. When we first arrived, I didn't think there would be any fish living there. The water was pretty cloudy, and you could jump from one side of the creek to the other.

Rather than driving back to Dillon with our tail between our legs, I did what any self-respecting trout bum would do - rigged up my fly rod and started thrashing the water!

I tied on a caddis, and tossed it in. A 10" rainbow hammered my fly on the first cast. That was the last Rainbow I caught all day (the rest were Brookies).

My father and I spent the next several hours throwing caddis flies around every bend in the creek. A stealthy approach, and careful casting to avoid the brushy willows was rewarded with a hungry Brookie.

Sometimes, the smallest creeks hold the biggest rewards. While the fish weren't huge in Black Tail Deer Creek, the location couldn't be beat. My wife doesn't fish, but does enjoy painting. She has produced some really great pictures, and are good reminders of my fishing adventures.

The picture below was the setting for one of her paintings. You can see how it turned out by visiting Sherri's blog.