Oliver Kite's "Bare Hook Nymph"

[joaniebo]

Was fishing most of this past week in Cheese Country and while fishing the CC's sloughs, ditches and run-offs, I decided to fish the Bearded Bohemian's variant of Oliver Kite's Bare Hook Nymph.

While Major Kite's BHN was / is tied with nothing but a copper wire thorax, I tied (er, wound) a few with a copper wire thorax and a few turns of a hare's ear dubbing. To my surprise, I got quite a few hits immediately and caught 4 nice Spotted Dace ("There ain't no trout in Wisconsin") within a few minutes. Also tried a few casts with another variation using a hot pink wire and pink dubbing but the plain copper wire / hare's ear seem to work the best.

Next trip, will have to try Major Kite's "original" with just a copper wire thorax.

Bob

[Eric Peper]

Going a step further . . . or whatever . . . a friend fishes the San Juan very successfully with a red #20 hook -- no dressing at all.

Eric

[joaniebo]

Eric

If I remember from my readings of Oliver Kite's book "Nymph Fishing in Practice", he first came up with the idea of fishing the "Bare Hook nymph", when he had been fishing one of Frank Sawyer's Pheasant Tail nymphs and caught so many fish that the PT herls were gone and the only thing remaining was the copper wire. In addition, I believe fishing with a totally bare hook was considered to be poaching, so he made a wire thorax to be legal.

That being said, he once (or more) made a bet that he could catch fish using a totally bare hook ... which he did ... and won the bet(s).

Bob

[Ken M 44]

I believe fishing with a totally bare hook was considered to be poaching, so he made a wire thorax to be legal.

Am not sure if this is actually true (more likely that suspicion that a worm or alternative bait such as a minnow had been shaken off prior to retrieving the 'hook') but I did meet OK once a long time ago - he had found out about a breeder of English Game Cocks who occasionally sold the capes of (for the time) very fine hackles - I can remember my Father not being overly pleased about 'his' source getting discovered as he put it and it did increase the hackle price and difficulty of getting really good capes within a few months.
With regard to the BH nymph - it would be nice to relate that is was a fact but I suspect that OK took the view that little could be written (and therefore sold) about the fly dressing, etc of an absolutely bare hook nymph and found a small amount of elaboration well worthwhile.
But yes fish will certainly take bare hooks, over here the red ones are used to 'imitate' blood worms (midge larvae).

[pittendrigh]

On a vaguely similar note, I have made complex flies that caught fish, that had no hook (materials with no hook, rather than a hook with no materials). I don't recommend it. But it was interesting.

....specifically I made a big salmon fly adult with a wing made of nylon mesh. It didn't work well at all for rainbows. But when a 14" or larger brown trout bit the fly his teeth would get stuck on the nylon mesh. I devoted a whole day to it once and caught several fish. Sans hook.

[flyfishingpastor]

Beadster;

I've never fished any variations of the "Bare Hook" flies - I have enough trouble catching them on fully dressed flies.

BTW, it was great to see you again this past week. Sorry we didn't have a chance to fish together but my wife and I certainly enjoyed dinner/conversation. We managed to pick up the odd "Dace" ourselves. Missed catching up with GoFish60 though. I surely do enjoy watching you work over one of his prized fly rods!

Pat

[JeffK]

I get a kick out of very simple flies. My mentor in the 60's was a big proponent of "just fur on a hook" flies which were simply a little hare's ear or muskrat dubbing on a hook. Still do well compared to more complex patterns. Now the hare's ear one is called a Walt's Worm. Musky shrimp was Australian possum on orange thread.

The other super simple fly that is more effective than it should be is to glue a clear glass bead to a small hook.(I like the mirrored glass beads better).

I wouldn't touch on egg patterns or beads here.

[16pmd]

a friend fishes the San Juan very successfully with a red #20 hook -- no dressing at all.

Ditto. I've seen guys catching fish on the Bighorn on a plain red Gamakatsu bent-shank hook - like a naked red San Juan Worm. Fly shop guy confided that they have to wrap a few turns of thread and maybe some wire rib around a hook to justify charging for it as a fly!

[Flykuni3]

yeah well, they nibble at my barrel knots so how smart can a trout be? Hm, didn't nibble on them at Henry's Fork, hm.

[quashnet]

A.H.E. Wood successfully fished for Atlantic salmon with a bare hook, the shank of which was painted red. See Greased Line Fishing for Salmon (1935) by "Jock Scott" (Donald Rudd, who edited and compiled the book from Wood's notes).

Among several midge flies that I tried out one season many years ago was a tiny hook to which a single strip of gray ostrich herl was tied in at one end at about mid-shank; the free end of the herl extended slightly beyond the bend of the hook. It worked as well as the other slender but more traditionally tied midges.