Free Fly Fishing Seminar
Free Fly Fishing Seminar
NYMPHS IN THE FILM
"When swinging for success, down and across is best"
On Saturday May 21 at 10 a.m., Terry Courtright will present his time proven patterns and successful fly fishing techniques at North 40 Outfitters in Great Falls. His presentation "Nymphs in the Film" will give you great insight into this highly successful fishing method with logic and reason at its inception. Courtright’s flies partake of Gary LaFontaine’s series of caddis ties, combined with Sylvester Nemes’ Soft Hackle patterns. He has been a guest speaker at numerous fly fishing clubs throughout the country.
Developed in the late 70’s and early 80’s on western waters, Courtright’s Caddis Purger series are a cross between the aforementioned ties, with some critical added details. They combine the size, color, and silhouette of LaFontaine’s caddis series with the swimming motion of Nemes’ Soft Hackle. Originally developed for the Madison, Gallatin, and Upper Missouri rivers, they also found favor on California and Nevada’s Truckee River in the Mid-Eighties. Terry began to tie these patterns commercially in Bozeman in 1986. They really took off as successful pre-hatch and emerger patterns on the rivers in that area. Simple to tie, they are more complex in the water and act like caddis nymphs as they drift with the current and emerge through the surface film.
When Courtright first came to the Missouri Tailwater sections below Holter, he fished his caddis dead drift and let the current swing the fly up to the rising fish with a lift. The results were smashing. He recalls being broken on 4X numerous times due to the ferocity of the strike. Thirty fish in two hour evening sessions were the norm.
Next Terry fished his flies deeper in the water column in the hours prior the actual hatch. Everywhere he fished them, they worked with amazing success. He soon developed them in three primary colors, grey, olive, and peacock.
Courtwright worked as a sales rep for Dennis Black, founder of Umpqua Feather Merchants in the early 80s. He saw all the ties available at the time and began to experiment with soft hackle patterns he thought would work. He soon developed new patterns including TC’s Yellow Sally nymph. He also developed his swimming Crawdad, looking for a pattern that resembled the silhouette and swimming motion a crawfish makes as they scuttled away from rock bottoms. TC’s Craw is the result of that research. His TC’s Tilted PMD’s and TC’s Tilted BWO are mayfly cripple/stillborn patterns that move in the film like the naturals.
Come on into the fly shop on Saturday morning and grab a cup of coffee a little before 10 am. Then we will head into our conference room for Terry’s presentation.