The Water Floatman - designed by Phil Rowley
Hook: Daiichi 1170 or 1550, #10-#14
Thread: MFC 8/0 Black
Shellback: Booby Cord or Black Rainy’s Float Foam (Medium)
Body: Pearlescent, Silver, Light Olive or Peacock Crystal Chenille
Legs: Olive or Brown Stretch Floss
Tying Note: Use a white shellback and peacock green Crystal Chenille to suggest larger backswimmers.
After the first frosts off the fall fly fishers can expect the first boatman falls of the season. With a lifecycle that is the reciprocal of most insects water boatman reach maturity in the fall and are finally able to take flight in order to mate and migrate.
A typical scenario involves an angler basking under the sun of a crisp fall day, as all around raindrops appear to fall from a cloudless sky. Upon closer inspection these "raindrops" are actually water boatman crashing headlong into the lake. Stunned and perhaps knocked half senseless the boatman spin wildly at the surface as they attempt to break through the meniscus. This overt behavior does not go unnoticed as trout key into this newfound surface fare.
At times trout can become selective to this behavior and will only prey upon the spinning adults at the surface. The Water Floatman was designed with this scenario in mind. Using a floating line simply cast the fly into the path of a marauding trout and begin a brisk twitching strip retrieve. Hang on, as strikes to boatman are seldom subtle. The patterns buoyant nature also lends it self to probing the near shore shallows using a clear intermediate or hover line. By late fall trout are keyed onto boatman and they are well worth the effort when probing likely looking areas.
By switching the foam color to white, using a dark olive or peacock green Crystal Chenille and upsizing the hook the Water Floatman also makes and excellent backsimmer imitation.
Add Daiichi hooks to your order and receive $5.00 USD off the purchase price. Use Coupon Code PRFB2015 at check out. (limit one per customer)
