A Fly for All Seasons

While many fly fishers would prefer to fish dry flies when given the chance, there are certain flies that work all year and no fly fishers’ box should be without them. The San Juan Worm is one of the most maligned flies of all time, invented on the San Juan River in New Mexico to imitate an aquatic worm that is native to those waters.  It is now probably the most fished fly on the Bow River.  Many anglers turn their nose up at it and refuse to use it but there is no doubting its effectiveness. It is likely tied in more combinations of styles than any other fly. Hook sizes range from huge to small and hook styles vary from curved to straight using an endless array of colours. They are tied with or without beads and with or without ribbing.  Some are made with acetate floss for the bodies, others use wire, ultra chenille, dubbing, and so on. The San Juan Worm is probably looked down upon because of the its title, but it was developed to represent an aquatic worm, which do reside in the Bow.  These are not the garden hackle variety used by bait fishermen. In my opinion, using a SJ Worm is no different than using a terrestrial like a grasshopper, ant and beetle or a Leech pattern such as the Woolly Bugger. I prefer to use a smaller version of worm pattern, size ten or smaller.  I find that they are equally as effective and do less harm to the fish than the larger patterns do.  Some of the larger curved patterns can go up into the eye or head area of the trout possibly harming or even killing them. Using a SJ Worm on a two nymph rig along with a different pattern, such as a Hares Ear or Prince Nymph is an effective set-up for the Bow River 12 months of the year.