I have great hopes for this fly as soon our lakes open.  The body is a piece of plastic Q Tip handle.  Should float like a cork!  I'll make a larger version for Bass. 

Water is still a bit warm for C&R so I'm not taking pictures of the fish.  It is possible to encourage long line releases by not setting the hook and letting the line go slack.  I managed that four times the other day but two had to be let off at the tube quickly. 
This is my new version of the Orange Hammills.  It allows an inline arrangement and less tangling.  Worked well and caught fish.   Orange certainly seems attractive especially to Brook Trout. 

This a trout version of a new series of flies I am tying.  I'm still working on the bass and pike types which have been very successful.  Water is too warm for C&R on my trout ponds so I may have to wait but if we have a cool stretch before Fall, I'll be out trying it.  Theory is that it must be attractive to see a minnow with a leech attached.  Being a trout fly, I deliberately made it as slim as I could with only a bit of flash.  They can be easily spooked. 

Got out a couple of times last weekend.  Water is colder than normal for this time of year.  But the trout were biting!  And a few hatches of boatman and midges were seen.  Few rises.  It needs to warm up a bit more for any dry action.  Orange Hamills  is still #1 fly but my new LOM is working too.  More on that later. 

I always start by making sure my favorite flies are well stocked in the boxes.  If the flies from the past season are tattered, then they get dumped but some of them only need to be repaired.

The PT Nymph was again one of the best producers esp of brook trout.  This one got a new tail, some added PT to the body, another round of herl and new shell back with  legs. 

This year I am adding a translucent back which should reflect some light. It is made from "UV Knot Sense"

I'm also stacking them loosely in a fly box I inherited from my long departed dad who is fully responsible for my addiction.  It is a Cortland box and must be 60 years old or more.   I find the tails get easily damaged any other way. 

Of course Mayfly nymphs only have three tails but you are better off to start with five.  There will be three soon enough!

I have been negligent on posting but that does not mean I have not been out fishing. It has been a frustrating Spring as far as Rainbow Trout in our area, at least for me.  The late start extended itself to the trout lakes in my area.  However, the Brook Trout were biting.  It might have been issues with the stocking.  I only got one recent stocker and it was very small. 
They are putting in sterile Rainbows which are supposed to interested only in eating. They also might be easy to catch.  My bad luck may have something to do with the possible fact that there are few trout available.  I did not see very many rises and little on the scope. 
But now, summer is here and the bass fishing has been good but only on one lake that few people fish.  There are cabins on this lake but few occupants.  Nice modern, expensive cabins too.  They are starting to go deeper now.  Earlier you could cast right into shallow water close to the shoreline and bigger SM and LM were there.  Now they are mostly in 15 FOW.  But where there is a dropoff nearby, some are still close to shore.  It must be a genetic disposition to be close to deep water to escape from birds of prey which for the most part don't exist any longer except for the odd Osprey. 

It has been a long wait this year (by about 2 weeks on average).  Been fishing for couple of weeks with mixed results.  Some lakes haven't cleared up from turn over.  The O2 gets mixed throughout the water column making the trout almost comatose as they struggle to survive.  Normally it is layered with some areas of little breathable water. 
Orange Hamills seems still popular.  I heard a theory that brook trout like to nip at competitors fins which have orange.  I always thought it reminded them of shucked crayfish. 
Boatman are hatching and imitations are taken.  So far I haven't seen a decent midge hatch but that may still be coming.