» Steelhead Flies for the Brule #2 Trail Flies Gray Goat Fly Fishing

CDC Caddis #12-14

The second fly in a two fly system can be a blessing or a curse. This second fly or trailer fly provides the fly angler with an advantage of a second food offering to the fish. This second offering could imitate a progression to the next stage of life from that of what your lead fly represents. Example: Your lead fly is a nymph and your trail fly is an emerger. This can be a deadly combination when insects are actively changing from one stage to another. The trail fly can also be a smaller version of the first or lead fly. An example of this would be using two different size stone flies, since the biology shows there are numerous sizes of stones living in the stream at the same time. You can also use two identical flies in the two fly rig under the “create your own hatch theory”. Another example of how I view the trail fly would be to use a completely different fly as the trailer. An example of this would be to use a stone fly imitation for the lead and an egg pattern for the trail or a stone fly nymph for the lead and a mayfly soft hackle for the trail. You get the idea, there are gazillions of combinations.

Ice Copper #12

A note on the two fly rig I fish; the second fly is tied off the bend of the hook with a separate piece of tippet and not as a dropper left as a tag line off the eye of the lead fly knot. The hooks are both rendered barbless to reduce the injury to the fish and to provide a modicum of fairness in the fight. I feel that barbless hooks or pinched barb hooks have enabled me to become a better fish fighter. In almost all situations your reactions during a fight with these gigantic, ultra hot fish must be decisive, calculated and test the limit of your tackle. You must remain calm (I know it is tough)and think about what the fish is trying to do to get the advantage over you. You must counter his/her moves and try to keep tension on the fish during every twist, turn, tail walk and jump. With barbless hooks I do give the fish an advantage to shed the hook much easier than those who fish using barbs. After all I am not hunting these fish for meat to put on my table, and I have seen the flesh damage that barbs inflict in comparison to barbless. Brule River Steelhead, and all fish for that matter, are held by myself in the highest regard. These fish are the keepers of an underwater world we know little about. I just prefer to do as little harm as possible while I learn as much as I can. Lead flies are tied to 2X trail flies to 3X. I sometimes go to 4X but it almost always leads to a break off.

Here are some trail flies: