Change of Pace Flies

Harry
The Murray's Housefly was the first pattern in my "change of pace" flies, all of which show the trout a new light pattern and a food they feed on late in the season.
The Murray’s Housefly was the first pattern in my “change of pace” flies, all of which show the trout a new light pattern and a food they feed on late in the season.

Large trout in heavily fished streams become very tough to catch this time of year. I believe part of the reason for this is that they have seen so many regular flies that they have become too wise to take them. Plus in many cases these flies do not match the natural foods the trout feed upon.
With this in mind I have developed a series of flies I call my “change of pace flies“. My goal was twofold. First I wanted to tie dry flies which produced different light patterns and silhouettes on the surface than the flies the trout usually see, and second I wanted to produce the natural foods the trout feed upon at this time of the year. This started with the Murray’s Housefly which is extremely productive in Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont and Virginia.
After many hours of study along the stream banks and a great deal of experimenting at my fly tying vise I came up with a number of very effective drys. These include the Murray’s Yellow Jacket Dry, Murray’s Horsefly, Murray’s Oakworm Dry, Murray’s Wasp Dry, and Murray’s Moth Dry, all of which we sell in our fly shop.