Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, fishes one fly for a year?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

http://www.flyfisherman.com/fly-tying/yvon-chouinard-lessons-from-a-simple-fly/?utm_content=bufferac6fc&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer#ixzz4GwgSsXrH


Found this post on Dan Blanton's message board.

Video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PMr4dAnCco

[bigfly]

I think he is making a point....
Presentation trumps fly choice... (sorry, not poltical usage.)
He bagged an Atlantic Salmon on a Tenkara rod as well.
Some folks can fish..........
Jim

[Troutstalker55B]

I think he is making a point....
Presentation trumps fly choice... (sorry, not poltical usage.)
He bagged an Atlantic Salmon on a Tenkara rod as well.
Some folks can fish..........
Jim

I agree Jim, The first thing my dad taught me in 1972 was reading water, and presentation over pattern. I realize things have changed since then then, and on more pressured waters a different pattern (or something the fish have never witnessed) can make a difference. Sill, the basic fundamentals hold true. - J.

[bigfly]

J...I love matching the hatch...
But also feel confident just swinging or high sticking with a buggy fly...
I often fish his choice.......because most don't, which helps........
And, let's not forget...this style precedes our dry fly fixation...

Jim

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Don't forget, Yvon fishes some of the best places in the world.

[TroutBurd]

Yvon also fishes the Tenkara with a lot of "action" -- a kind of quick pulse, to make that reverse soft hackle really breathe. Agreed on the importance of presentation, along with where the fly is in the water column, in still or moving water. Some trout are hungrier, but all are opportunistic, in my experience.

[cyama]

"Yvon also fishes the Tenkara with a lot of "action" -- a kind of quick pulse, to make that reverse soft hackle really breathe." Troutburd has a good point. If you read the article in Fly Fisherman Yvon says fishing soft hackles is a trigger. They breath they open up when you stop and often times get slammed with a pause. I like the pheasant tail soft hackle, but have much more success with a hares ear type of soft hackle. The key though is the partridge hackle. You can tie them from size 18 to 6 and catch fish all day long. Sometimes they act like dry flies when they land and fish will grab them as they land or in the air. They can represent mayflies and caddis. There is some guy that has a website dedicated to soft hackles. He is the son of a famous fly fisher. I think it is called the soft hackle journal.

[cyama]

I looked it up. Website is http://soft-hacklejournal.blogspot.com Steven Bird who I am pretty sure is related to Cal Bird famous for the Bird's nest. Some really great soft hackles on the site!!!

[UC Steve]

I looked it up. Website is http://soft-hacklejournal.blogspot.com Steven Bird who I am pretty sure is related to Cal Bird famous for the Bird's nest. Some really great soft hackles on the site!!!

Flattered, but curious: Why are you "pretty sure" I'm related to Cal Bird?

Steve
Soft~Hackle Journal

[cyama]

I remembered reading the interview about you in Cal Fly Fisher in June 2014 and somehow was thinking you were related to Cal. I just re-read the article and there is no mention of Cal Bird, so I am guessing you are not related. Sorry about that! In any case you tie some very nice soft hackles that match the hatch! It is great to look at how guides tie flies and see that they catch big fish on your site. I blame my mistake on La Quinta... I knew I should have stayed at a Holiday Inn last night.

[UC Steve]

Cyama, legends are made in La Quinta bathtubs. Thanks for the kind words.

Steve

[bigfly]

So Steve....now that I have tipped my hat....I'd like to ask your considered opinion......on one fly?

Jim

[Frank R. Pisciotta]

Interesting...Is there a possible resurgence for soft-hackles?

I personally became enthralled with fishing soft-hackle flies after I purchased a signed edition of Sylvester Neme’s The Soft-Hackle Fly (1975). We spoke briefly when I purchased the book during the late-70’s at the ISE San Mateo show….now defunct.

I used soft-hackles a lot after building my first home in Truckee in ’79. So much so, that the most salient technique mentioned from my perspective to Stephen Rider Haggard for his 2002 Fly Fishing the Tahoe Region; I touted the method. When he wrote about the Truckee River he said:“…Frank Pisciotta, a local guide, tells his customers, if there’s one consistently successful method, its swinging soft-hackle wet flies, probably because emerging caddis are the most common item in a trout’s diet.”

I included soft-hackles in my spring 2002 essay in Northwest Fly Fishing entitled Truckee River CA…A Lesson in Patience:

“Simply put, the most prolific aquatic insect is the caddisfly. The most important are the Spotted Sedge and Green Sedge (Hydropsyche and Rhyacolphlia, respectively). …Be especially attentive to the emerging pupae. Avoid be esoteric and keep it simple. Think presentation, and use soft-hackles, such as size 14-16 Partridge & Green or Grouse & Peacock classics. Down and across is the preferred method.”

Frank R. Pisciotta

[UC Steve]

So Steve....now that I have tipped my hat....I'd like to ask your considered opinion......on one fly?

Jim

Sure. For what it's worth.