Editor’s note: This is another in a series of favorite flies used by members of Schuylkill County Trout Unlimited.
By the time any lingering spring-like days of June are replaced by the summer weather of July, fly anglers begin to observe plenty of small, green worms suspended from stream-side trees.
Observing with even more interest are the trout swimming in those streams just below the surface of the water for inch worms hanging above, waiting for them to make a fatal mistake. Streams with a heavy canopy of trees are best for these bugs, and both Clarks and Pine creeks are noted for their excellent hatches of inch worms.
One of the best things about fishing imitation inch worms is that some of the main problems encountered fishing dry flies are avoided when presenting this hatch. Most notable is that the problems with drag with dry flies that cause the presentation to not look natural are avoided.
Inch worms suspended from webs often float on the surface of streams and at times even show a bit of a wake. Thus, there is no problem with these flies having a pronounced drag.
Another normal problem with dry flies is keeping them floating with the use of floatants, and plenty of false casting is usually needed to keep flies on the surface. With inch worms the naturals often sink and are taken underwater by greedy trout, so these flies produce when floating or sunken.
Casting far enough to reach feeding fish can be another problem, but with inch worms falling from trees that are often near shore, distance casting is not necessary. Another common fault is slapping the fly onto the water. And because inch worms make a bit of a “plop” sound at times when they fall to the water, making a sloppy cast that slaps the water is more forgiving and can be an asset when fishing this bug.
To match these worms, use flies tied with dyed deer hair, foam, balsa, chenille, cork and feather quills. Back in the early 1940s, a cork inch worm pattern originated by George Harvey was so productive it was banned for a few years on the Fisherman’s Paradise section of Spring Creek. He responded by coming up with a trimmed deer hair pattern that was just as effective.
Within a few years the cork pattern was again made legal, and 1/16- or 1/8-inch foam cylinders in a green tied to a size 16 or 14 hook with either green or monofilament thread make a very effective match of these worms. Deer hair, usually white belly hair dyed chartreuse, can make super imitations.
A very tightly packed and spun deer hair body can be trimmed to make a very effective match when the spun hair is packed tight because the fly must be tightly trimmed to match the small inch worms. Using a hair packer such as the one made by Chris Helms is the way to go on this fly.
Sharp scissors or even a razor blade works to trim the body to avoid unwanted loose hairs sticking out from the fly. Another way to use deer body hair is to tie it parallel to hook shank using either white or mono thread, using 50-70 strands of hair depending on the desired thickness of the body.
Extend the hair beyond the hook and wrap thread around the hair bundle to make a smooth body. A bit of head cement is helpful for the rear wrap, and the popular fly the Green Weenie is often used to match the inch worm.
Perhaps the best feature of the inch worm is it usually shows big numbers later in the day. So turn off the alarm clock, take time for a good breakfast and things should work well after hitting the water.
For information about Schuylkill County Trout Unlimited, access the chapter’s page on Facebook.