Zeph's Water Boatman
Curtis - March, 2015
Until a few years ago, I had never fished nor really appreciated the lowly water boatman. I'd seen them in the water and knew the patterns existed, but just didn't realize how important they could be to trout on the prowl. Combine a few trips where I got some good Water Boatman samples from trout and a couple of tips from a good friend who'd seen the same thing and I was a lot more motivated to whip up a good pattern for my stillwater box. If you want some good info on the insects themselves, check out our friend Phil Rowley's excellent write-up of them here. This imitation was patterned after some of the naturals we were seeing and I also wanted to include the magical fish catching dubbing that is Ice Dub from Hareline. Tan UV in this case. It's basically fish magnets chopped up and all shiny. Anyway, the pattern is pretty simple and also incorporates more Loon UV Clear Fly Finish like we did on the previous snail pattern.
- Hook: Fulling Mill 35005 Heavyweight Champ, Barbless - 12
- Thread: UTC Ultrathread 70 Denier - Black
- Bead: Plummeting Tungsten Beads - Fl. Chartreuse - 7/64" (2.8mm)
- Body: Hare'e Ice Dub - Hare's Ear
- Legs: Midge Flash - Rootbeer
- Shellback: Thin Skin - Black
- Coating: Loon Fluorescing UV Clear Fly Finish
- Tools Used: Loon UV Infiniti Light, Stonfo Comb/Brush Tool,
