The Double Whammy

Nehil Keeley Monday, January 9, 2012 A Double Whammy has solved some of the toughest hatches. Our friends in England have been fishing soft hackles since the late middle ages (medieval times) as some suggest they date back to the 1400's or even earlier. The soft hackle was a little late in coming to the United States, the mid 1970's to be exact, at least that's when it was popularized, and like all new flies it was likely the "hot" fly for awhile. Fast forward to the present and you might get a response like this; "soft hackles, are you kidding??? Do they really work??? Everything's wrong with the technique, I'll stick with indicator nymphing". Ok I'll admit this may have been my own response several years ago. However, I have now realized that soft hackles are my friend and have solved the toughest hatches. A few years ago the Double Whammy was born on the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park. It was a miserable cold, snowy, gusty early June day, Blue Wing Olives were coming off in droves and I could not get a single fish to rise to my sparkle dun. I tried dead drifting nymphs to no avail, dead drifting emerger patterns in the surface film was hopeless as well. I was about ready to call it quits and was reeling in my emerger and "wham" a nice trout hit the fly. Suddenly the light came on....soft hackles ... I looked in my box and hidden in the dark recesses was a single #18 PMD soft hackle. I tied it on and fooled a couple of fish before it broke off on an aggressive strike. That night I tied up several BWO # 20 Double Whammy's, and enjoyed epic fishing the next day. The Double Whammy wasn't officially named until a few months ago when I was fishing one of my favorite spots on the Middle Provo River. A Blue Wing Olive hatch erupted and what looked like a lifeless hole before, was alive with porpoising fish, some real hogs in the mix. Tried a dry...of course no takes (I'll always try dries first). Next, tied on a Double Whammy and sweet success once again, and some of the bigger browns where pushing a respectable 18-19". Early on, I broke off a fish on the swing; it happens when fishing soft hackles. Later I netted a nice brown, and while removing the Double Whammy I noticed a BWO in its mouth and thought to myself "no wonder they eat this fly it looks just like the natural, but wait. ...that's an artificial, hey, it's my Double Whammy the one that broke off earlier". I caught the same trout twice, same fly, (a Double Whammy so to speak), awesome. The fly is now officially named. Here's a little secret, tie the Double Whammy in white #20 and you'll catch fish during one the toughest hatches I've ever experienced, the dreaded white drake hatch. The hatch is nicknamed the "white curse" and for good reason, many an angler has been humbled by that hatch. White drakes hatch similar to caddis; in that they explode off the surface, trout have little time to take the duns so in most cases they don't even bother, however a white #20 Double Whammy is absolutely deadly when swung in front of feeding fish. Soft hackle technique is quite simple, cast down and across the current, mending to achieve a dead drift allowing time for your fly to sink slightly below the surface. Towards the end of the drift a belly will form in your fly line and pull your fly broadside across the current. This is most likely when you'll get aggressive strikes so be ready. Keep a shock loop of fly line in your hand and let go when the fish strikes. It won't prevent break offs on the strike, but will greatly reduce them. Also, use 4X tippet minimum, go with 3X on larger flies. A softer action rod is also beneficial in bringing more fish to the net and losing fewer flies. Once you get good at it, you can cast to individual fish, and can actually see the strike, much like dry fly fishing. Double Whammy BWO recipe: Hook: TMC 100#20 Tail: Brown or Golden Straw Brahma hen Body: Olive Antron fibers tightly wrapped, (not dubbed) you want the body not much thicker than the hook shank Thorax: Killer Caddis glass bead Light olive midge size Wing: Golden Straw Brahma hen