I haven't tied many flatwing streamers, and have been disappointed with the results on my early attempts; so this has been an opportunity for me to work on this style. I'm pretty pleased with these flies - they look like ones I'd keep in the water, & my dad always told me that's the kind of fly you're gonna catch fish on. Chubs if nothing else. I'll let you know how they do next spring.
Copperquoddiwadamoggin:
The red/white/yellow color combination is pretty well-tried, and I thought it would marry nice with the copper body & flash. It seemed to need something at the tail, & the golden pheasant tippets were the closest I could find to extend the copper motif. I especially like the way the copper crystal flash reflects the red bucktail in the underwing.
About the name - I've carried my 19-1/2' canoe into some pretty
unpronouncible lakes in the West Branch (Penobscot) & Allagash watersheds, & I think one of them might have been named something like this ;^).
Coppermgaumic Smelt:
This is kind of a severely re-arranged Magog Smelt, sort of. At least
that's what I was thinking of when I sat down at the vice. The Magog is a sentimental pattern for me - I caught my first-ever Maine Landlocked Salmon on one, an aerial 17-incher from Long Lake on Mt. Desert Island. A small salmon, but huge compared to the brookies I was used to catching.
I like purple in a streamer, it seems to catch the color of a live smelt well; and like the red on the Copperquoddiwadamoggin, the purple bucktail uses the copper flash to good advantage. A little yellow feels essential; I like the glow of golden pheasant crest & thought it worked in better than bucktail would on this pattern. I left out the peacock herl, to let the copper flash dominate.
I was gonna call this the Copperple (cu-PER'-pul) Smelt, but thought it too pretty for a silly name. So instead, I've named this for one of the most beautiful streams (Caucumgaumic) I've ever dragged a canoe up.
