slight tweaks

[col]

Have you made any "slight tweaks" in traditional flies that have replaced the original in the box and  that you believe enhances there catch rate? One that stands out in my own box that Ive been using on riveres for about 6 seasons is a hares ear nymph (tyed American style) with a pearl under rib, whats yours?
Col

[haresear]

I've been using Krystal flash as a tail/shuck on my parachutes and sparkle duns this year, as has Harelug and we've done very well with them. The guide who took us on the float trip down the Elk in Canada was impressed by how well we were doing too and nicked a couple to copy.

I've also been using a copper rib instead of a gold rib on my GRHEs for about 15 years now (I found out later the "hare and copper" is a Kiwi stalwart) and it does well for me too.

In fact I never use a gold rib on my home-tied trout/grayling flies. Copper is as flashy as it gets.

Alex

[haresear]

Well, to be honest, there is no PT involved :?

I thought that they didn't in many instances, get deep enough, so I now use UTC brown wire for an abdomen in place of PT and I've substituted nymphskin (or somethinglike it) for the wing case/thorax cover. Thorax is brown possum or whatever is lying around.  These seem to work very well and are much more durable than the PTN.

I have no qualms about using a dark nymph in deep fast water. The naturals don't have gold holo tinsel and the fish seem to find them ok ( you may counter with "so what is with the Krystal shucks on your dries then?" and I can't answer that :lol:

Alex

[Wildfisher]

I can’t think off-hand of any real original tweaks I have made. What interests me more than the tweak itself is the thinking behind it. Is it a case  of sitting a the vice bored and thinking – "I'll put a green tail on this and see what happens" or is there a logical / design process going on?  Alex's shuck-tail I can see, but I'd like to know the thinking behind  other tweaks

[garryh]

A few tweaks on this fly "the palmered march bown" which i think really improves it , Brian got the idea from the auld boy that worked in Country Life. This fly works really well in that difficult to fill  middle dropper position. Works well when either olives and shrimp are on the menu.
Hook: 10-14
Tag : holographic gold
Tail: golden pheasant crest
Ribs: fine flat gold holo (as a under rib) with gold wire or oval as an over rib wound in the opposite direction.
Body : yellow sealsfur mixed with harelug 50/50
Hackle : red game
head hackle: brown partridge

one of my favourite flies is almost identical except mine has a tail of mixed flashabou(gold & pearl) which when wet looks almost olive i got this from someone at loch leven (forgotten who) but it became my favorite fly for the usually unproductive middle position on a three fly cast

[haresear]

What interests me more than the tweak itself is the thinking behind it.

With the Krystal Flash tail/shuck on my parachute olive, I compromised a bit on the idea of the Antron or Z-lon shuck on the standard sparkle dun. Rather than use the recommended 12 or so fibres of Antron, I used three strands of Krystal Flash, which I thought could pass for either a tail or a shuck. Seems to work.

Alex