Since my Dad got me my first fly rod at age 12 and taught me how to cast I’ve been fascinated with flies. More than 40 years have passed during which I’ve purchased hundreds of flies, tied thousands at my own vise and even created a few patterns of my own design, and why certain colors, shapes and styles consistently draw strikes still baffles me. It’s simple to understand why a mosquito or olive dun or a grasshopper dry fly incites a trout or salmon to feed on a summer evening, these patterns resemble real insects.

Bottom-hugging patterns such as an olive marabou leech, a Clouser’s crayfish, a black hellgrammite and an orange bellied woolly bugger all draw strikes for the same reason, each resembles a real and natural aquatic creature. A sculpin streamer imitates a type of solitary bottom-dwelling baitfish, a muddler fly resembles another species of flat-headed minnow and a gray ghost was tied to duplicate a smelt; all normal food sources of regional gamefish. It’s no great stretch to understand why replicas of a dragon fly, ant, green drake, hexageniea, caddis, stone fly, gnat, cricket, bee, beetle and dozens of other feather and fur concoctions tied on a hook work, they all mimic real creatures.

How then, can the consistent, dependable and long term effectiveness of a fly like the venerable Mickey Finn be explained? I don’t believe any such vividly colored organism exists in or near Maine waterways. The same is true of Miss Sharon, red and white bucktail, parmachene belle, morning glory or cock robin streamers and wet flies, yet these brightly hued patterns take fish when other more authentic flies will not. Let me relate a couple of spring fishing episodes that verify how essential vibrant attractor patterns are to Pine Tree State trollers.

Flies versus lures

Thanks to a milder than normal winter and an early spring, the Aroostook River was ice free and fishable in early April. A friend called one afternoon inquiring if I was available for an evening of trolling that very night, and apologizing for the late notice. I advised him that as long as I had time to put a rod together and find my tackle box it was never short notice and to pick me up at 4:30.

Over the last several years, brook trout fishing on the Aroostook River has improved with every season, and 15- to 18-inch beautifully marked, hard fighting brookies are fairly common during April and May. Small Sutton spoons in all silver or copper/silver combos, as well as Yo-Zuri pin smelt and Mirror Minnows are proven fish takers, and streamer fly favorites include a gray ghost, black-nose dace and a supervisor. We tried them all during the first hour with only one puny 8-inch trout to show for our efforts.

Trolling upstream, downstream and even slowly cross current through the best pools and dragging every minnow imitating plug and fly at hand failed to improve the action. Then, in a flash of desperation I tied on a 6X, No. 6 pink ghost, and within 10 minutes hooked the first of several fish. As I played a second trout a few minutes later, my partner wondered aloud why smart fish would refuse lifelike minnow imitations for a gaudy creation that resembled nothing in the river. We had only one pink ghost between us but by the time I was into my third brookie, my pal was industriously rooting through his fly box for any reddish streamer.

Far back in my felt-lined fly wallet was a golden red, an old pattern my father gave me that I’d never used. It was the closest feather wing single hook streamer fly to my pink ghost, so he gave it a try. Within five minutes he had a strike. We caught and released nine trout in 21/2 hours and hooked and lost or had strikes from several more, all on reddish pink flies. Who’d a thunk it?

Sunset salmon

Just in case there’s some doubt about this being a one- time incident or that the Aroostook River trout were addle minded due to cold water, let me relate a similar salmon story. Long Lake in St. Agatha is known far and wide for its super-sized silver leapers, and these trophy salmon attain their weight and football shape from the healthy population of smelt in the lake. It only stands to reason then that the best plastic baits should resemble a smelt and of course the most productive streamers should also resemble the salmon’s favorite silver entr?e.

Jack Smola and I nearly wore the paint off our lures and plugs for more than an hour with only one short salmon and a 12-inch trout to show for our efforts. During that time I trolled a gray ghost, Magog smelt, counterfeiter and a Joe’s smelt to no avail. Since I was using a two fly dropper rig, it finally dawned on me to try an attractor pattern rather than two-smelt imitations, so I selected an old favorite, the brightly hued Ouananiche Sunset. In several provinces of Canada the natives call landlocked salmon Ouananiche, so the fly is aptly named.

On a wide turn, about 15 minutes later, a hit and run fish made my fly rod tip do a dippity do, and less than 30 seconds later the pole took a real bow. An immediate leap left no doubt I’d hooked a salmon in the 2-pound range and after some give and take, a couple of more jumps, and some head shaking, I guided the silver leaper to the net. As I reached over the gunnel to unhook the fish I noted that it was indeed the bright sunset fly, not the smelt pattern, that had been devoured. I also saw that the salmon had coughed up a previously eaten smelt of about four inches into the net, and while I was removing the hook, another even larger smelt was disgorged.

I’m sure that salmon had still more smelt in its belly, a fact that answered a lot of questions for me. Salmon weren’t taking plugs and flies because the artificials didn’t look of act like the real smelt at hand, or perhaps the fish were already stuffed. Over the next couple of hours Jack and I got four more salmon between 11/2 to 31/2 pounds and a 171/2-inch trout, and three of them spit up at least one smelt. This led me to the conclusion that even when full of food a game fish will still take a fly, quite possibly due to irritation more than hunger. This is why colorful attractor flies work when many old standby bait-imitator patterns are ignored.

Fly the colors

Over the years I’ve verified the fact that bright flies work when other drab patterns won’t draw a strike. I’ve compared experiences with other anglers and found considerable support for this theory. I will qualify this statement by saying that such occurrences almost always take place in April, May and June and with trolled or cast streamers and large wet flies. It can’t be overlooked that during this trio of spring months, the streams and lakes are most murky and debris-filled, therefore colorful flies show up better in the water.

After ice out, the smelt runs begin as well, offering plenty of natural food for game fish to fill up on, but that doesn’t preclude striking a attractor fly out of irritation or reflex action. What actually causes game fish to attack a gaudy pattern that resembles neither prey nor threat is hard to say, but the fact that it happens regularly means bright flies are an asset to each and every angler. Unfortunately, over the decades the herd of attractor patterns has been thinned to about half a dozen favorites. Perhaps it’s time to rebuild the collection.

Streamer flies are generally feather wing or hair wing in composition although a few hybrids combine both materials in the wing and/or throat. In most cases, hair wing patterns actually use bucktail to comprise the wing, and the names are used interchangeably. Feather wing flies move through the water with a very different motion than bucktails, which is almost certainly why one style works on a certain day or specific waterway while the other is ignored, and vice- versa. To be prepared, stock several each of both feather and hair wing streamers.

Among the most recognized color guard will be a Miss Sharon, a red and white bucktail, a pink lady, a red-gray ghost, and a Barnes Special. In tandems I prefer a size 4 front hook and a size 6 back hook, with the trailer hook turned upward. For single hook streamers, sizes should run from No. 2 to No. 10 in 4X to 8X shank lengths, offering a fly for any height and speed of water on streams and rivers.

For anglers who don’t tie their own flies, the following patterns may be difficult to obtain, but among them are some of the tried and true attractor flies of years past. Beg, borrow or buy these streamers at any opportunity as they have proven their worth to me spring after spring, and will do the same for you. Have on hand a Ouananiche sunset, an orange sunshine, a purple streak, a golden red and a fire smelt. Just in case some of you do tie flies or have a friend that does, I’ll leave you with a favorite pattern seldom found in sporting goods stores or fly shops.

QUANANICHE SUNSET: Hook: 6X to 8X long, size 2 to 6; Thread: Black; Body: Flat gold tinsel; Rib: Oval gold tinsel; Veiling: two golden pheasant crests, one above and one below; Wing: from inside out – two yellow, two orange and two purple hackle feathers; Throat: Red schlappin next to body, then a layer or purple schlappin; Cheeks: Jungle cock eyes

Sticking to old fishing habits and fly patterns may be the way to begin any spring fishing trip, but experimentation and bright colors are the steps to reviving a floundering outing. I still can’t explain how or why these vividly colored, showy patterns work, but I’m a better fisherman when I have them along and use them, and you will be, too.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached via e-mail at bgravesoutdoors@ainop.com