The search for the ultimate skwala pattern

My fly tying friends are at their vices already. They're tying skwalas - old favorites and some inevitable new ones. They can't help themselves.

And they can't help but add too much of this, and a dab of that to their flies.

Every flytier in western Montana where the early season skwala stonefly hatch occurs probably has at least one favorite skwala dry fly pattern, a fugitive from the accumulation of wild overdressed experiments gone wrong. Taken together, that scrap heap of abandoned flies would probably fill a room. But hey - we all had fun contributing to it. The skwala hatch will be here in a matter of weeks and as the anticipation builds, we're at it again.

If there were one pattern that worked well every time it was thrown in the water, it would reduce the excitement and anticipation of our fishing trips to a predictable monotony. And that would spoil our fun.

My best skwala patterns came when I'd walk the banks, turn over lots of rocks, shake the streamside willows, and just sit and watch. The flies that resulted from those non-fishing days, or breaks from fishing when I'd spend time sitting and watching, still produce.

I watched the nymphs migrate to shore, half-hidden if visible at all, due to their behavior of hiding under streamside rocks until they hatch as adults. They'll remain hidden near the waterline under half-submerged rocks for days.

I've watched this happen more than once. I've revisited the same sites daily, looking for the telltale shucks showing that some of the bugs have finally hatched, and found none. Then I'll find a few shucks, and then a few more.

Other big stoneflies, the salmon flies and golden stones that hatch later in the year, crawl out onto warm rocks, sit in the sun for a few minutes, pop through the wing cases on their backs, and crawl out as fully emerged adults.

Skwalas take longer to do this, and the newly emerged adults are more fragile than their later-season cousins. Their bodies seem pudgy, delicate and soft, especially at first when they're newly hatched. The females are weak flyers, and the semi-wingless males don't fly at all.

The egg-bearing females are most important to the trout. Their flying efforts are feeble at best - a weak flutter that continues after they hit the water. The trout notice.

More than once I've captured and tossed mature skwalas into the path of feeding fish. The trout let most of the dead-looking naturals drift by. But when a "live" one with fluttering wings hit the water, it doesn't last long.

My best skwala patterns have a sparse hair, CDC, or synthetic wing that looks like a fluttering wing in motion.

If you're tying a skwala dry, you might try to incorporate these things:

One: size and silhouette are critical. Keep it sparse. Those hefty, gaudy patterns have a short window of effectiveness. Thankfully, we've all but abandoned those toy battleship bulky foam designs. Foam has its place, but remember, skwalas are skinny bugs.

Two: the fly's body color can be a make or break factor - especially after the trout have seen plenty of imitations. The best patterns have body colors that bounce light around the way a natural insect does. Early in the hatch cycle the bugs are lighter, a pale willow green; as hatch progresses the hatching bugs morph from willowy to brown-olive hues that continue to darken as the hatch progresses.

Three: a wing that appears to flutter will get you more trout than one that doesn't. Like I said, trout like to eat "live" bugs. That wing can be hair, CDC or synthetic fiber - just so long as it simulates motion and isn't overdressed.

Four: the importance of a black foam egg sac is over-emphasized in local angling folklore. Any skwala pattern without it will receive a snooty rejection - from the in-group anglers and flytiers if not the trout. Foam is okay, but try a dubbing material with some sparkle in it or peacock herl instead.

An effective skwala pattern might have a few other things, like rubber legs to accentuate movement, but it won't be overloaded - it will be sparse. The color and wing silhouette will be right. When I sit down to tie my season's worth of skwala dries, I'll tie some like that.

Come to think of it, I have a couple of patterns like that already.