Rubber Meets the Road

The Midwestern United States is an interesting place. Folks there are different than they are here in the Northeast. By and large, Midwesterners are more quiet, thoughtful, and reserved. They share a dry, sardonic sense of humor. Midwesterners are a very pragmatic people. Throw a New Yorker in the mix, and he or she is invariably the extrovert in the group.

This isn't necessarily the case, however, when it comes to tying flies. Midwestern bug chuckers love local patterns, and the local tyers like to mix things up. Look in the fly bins in any midwestern fly shop, and you'll likely see what I mean. This is especially true if the shop caters to Great Lakes steelheaders.

In every tray you'll find an abundance of rubber legs. They'll be everywhere, on every fly. You'll find Pheasant Tails with legs; Hare's Ears with legs. Stoneflies, caddis pupa, eggs, dries, and streamers ... all with rubber legs. All that squigglishousness can be a little overwhelming for a boy who was born and raised in the Northeast, and self-trained in the Catskill tradition. And while the experience may be a little overwhelming, that isn't to say that it isn't a valuable experience nonetheless. Mixing it up is a good thing.

This season we've been playing with these things ...

 

I suppose they're intended for bass bugs and the like, but they've been absolutely deadly mixed in with the usual the egg and nymph patterns. 

Squiggly goodness.