My first favorite fly on the South Platte was The Brassie. Then, Pat Dorsey’s Miracle Midge and Mercury Black Beauty. Then, I fell in love with Greg Garcia’s Rojo Midge.
This was followed by a step back in history, when I went back to Sawyer’s Pheasant Tail and his Grey Goose, as my favorites. And, by favorite, I mean the fly that has caught the most fish over time (which is always my upper fly fished with an RS2 as the point fly (in about 6 different sizes and 6 different colors, as Rim Chung has done for 30 years, as it is still my most productive fly ever when you have those colors and sizes available to select from, which also changes throughout the day).
Then, I became enamoured with Andy Kim’s Yong Specials, his Yong Blood and recently Rim Chung’s Plebby. Then, back to Andy’s Improved Yong Specials and YKnot, as my most recent favorites.
But, now I have finally had an ephiphany after some 40 years of fishing and I have combined them all into the single best pattern that I have used in recent times, which I call The Calgon Fly or Ancient Chinese Secret. It’s killing it in local Western waters. But they are all great midge patterns and have been extremely productive for me throughout the years, and they are all quite similar when you look closely at them. Do the trout know, or do they just like something a little different once in a while on our heavily pressured tailwaters?
