I've Got Worms

Turn your last resort into your first choice

Spinoff of Mickey's UV Juan

Several years ago before the age of crazy work schedules and kids, I found myself fishing my favorite tailwater a couple times a week.  One day I hiked down to my favorite hole to find that the water levels had risen just enough to make the fishing more difficult, and I was hiving to re-think my whole strategy about fly presentation.  This was frustrating because my go-to super special sauce flies weren't getting the love that they surely required.  I found a slower eddy, and finally managed a pretty little brown that surely was starving.  When I reached down to take my fly out, I noticed that the fish had been absolutely gorging itself on aquatic worms - so much so that there were worms all caught in its teeth.  I reached for the box that I kept at the bottom of my pack (because it was embarrassing to have a box full of nothing but worms) and tied on what would save the day for me, but more importantly, that fish taught me that maybe my box of undesirables should see some playing time with the starting team.

Dumb fish?

Many years later, I still had respect for the worm, but it went to a much higher level after working in a fly shop with Mickey Anderson for a short time.  Mickey is one of the most analytic anglers that I know and he always takes into account many variables when he fishes.  I was asking him about his favorite nymph rig, and I was expecting to hear about some micro pattern that had several colors from the spectrum and a special way to present the flies.  His reply was "BIG, on a shallow rig."  He then showed me the fly called the UV Juan that was doing most of the catching.  I had the same reaction that many of the people I fish with now have - yeah right...  I tied some up, and was glad that I did because it is a legitimate fish catcher.  The UV Juan is now a production fly from Umpqua*, and I have tied many spin offs that work great.  The constant that I have found with worm patterns similar to Mickey's is that they need some type of UV quality.  In the case of the UV Juan, the UV "hot-spot" is created by adding a small section of cinnamon UV Ice Dub at some point on the fly.  

By adding worms to your starting team instead of bringing them off the bench, you can turn a bad fishing day into a good day and a good fishing day into a great fishing day.

*For you Salt Lake City anglers, the UV Juan is available at Fish Tech where Mickey works.

Cheech

Cream UV Juan

UV Juan

Hook: Gamakatsu Drop Shot 1/0
Body: Cream poly yarn
Hotspot: Cinnamon UV ice dub

Orange UV Juan

Pig Sticker

Wire Worm

 




UV Juan

Hook: Gamakatsu wacky worm 1/0
Body: Orange backing or twisted tying thread
Hotspot: Cinnamon UV ice dub







Pig Sticker

Hook: Gamakatsu Drop Shot 1/0
Underbody: About a pound of lead
Body: Maroon floss
Hotspot: Shell pink tying thread






Wire Worm

Hook: TMC 200R #4
Body: Red wire from the craft store
Hotspot: Shell pink tying thread

This is just dirty....