Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 22
Tie Your Next Secret Fly
by John Allen
photos by the author
Flash,
color, and
movement all
in one fly.
Regardless of the conditions, we all have that one fly in our
box that will find its way onto the line before the day is over.
You probably tweaked this fly a few times and one outing
changed everything. You have the utmost confidence that
this fly will produce anywhere and anytime. When someone
asks you what you are catching fish on, you find yourself
hesitant to be completely honest and probably just go with a
generalized term, " Just using Woolly Buggers. " If any of this
matches the description of a fly in your box, then you have
yourself a " secret fly. " What goes into making a secret fly?
Surprisingly, most secret flies are not all that secret. They all
seem to follow one of these patterns. Secret flies are either
developed based on fishing experience, keying in on a fish's
instinctive nature, or are stream specific.
Fishing experience
The best secret fly pattern will not be developed the
first time you sit down at the bench. It takes trial and error
22
both at the bench and on the water. Before fly fishing, I
fished mostly gold spinners and spoons. When I started
fly fishing, I wanted to find a fly that would match that
same level of success. I soon realized I was not going to
find it in a fly shop, so I had to get to work and figure it
out on my own. It took about 6 years of trial and error
with different materials to come up with what is now my
go-to gold streamer. I started out with about six different
pattern types, all with minimal success. A few years later,
I was steelhead fishing, and a fellow fly angler showed me
a flashy white streamer pattern. He let me have one, and
it did everything I wanted in a gold pattern. I spent time
finding the same materials in gold, and even then, I went
through about four variations. A successful morning
on a heavily fished trout stream confirmed that I found
my pattern. From there, I had the confidence to try that
pattern anywhere. I caught dozens of different species
on it, and it is always found inside my fly box no matter
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * November/December 2021
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021
Contents
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - Cover1
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - Cover2
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - Contents
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 4
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 5
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 6
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 7
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 8
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 9
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 10
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 11
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 12
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 13
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 14
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 15
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 16
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 17
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 18
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 19
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 20
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 21
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 22
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 23
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 24
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 25
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 26
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 28
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 30
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 31
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 35
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 37
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 38
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 40
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 41
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 42
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 43
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 45
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 49
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 50
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 51
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 53
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 54
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 55
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 56
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 57
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 58
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 60
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 61
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 62
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 63
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - 64
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - Cover3
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2021 - Cover4
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