The Best Fly for the Smith River: The Crazy Goof
If I ever found myself in a one fly competition on the Smith River in Montana (which will never happen) I would most likely choose The Crazy Goof. In high school I was a pretty poor fisherman, I certainly didn’t realize it at the time but I was bad. There was a whole crew of us, and we were all bad at it. Relatively bad, as in we were probably better than most our peers but we just didn’t know what "better than what we were" should look like. I hope I feel the same way in 10 years about my skill level I currently have but… that’s off topic.
We fished the Smith River a lot. A friend of ours was the grandson of Bob Gruel who owned the Gruel Ranch in Montana, and on the Gruel Ranch there is a place called Franhaufers. If you’ve ever floated the Smith River, after you pass the Anderson Ranch (the place with a golf course, ice, and ice cream bars) on the river left you will see the Franhaufer cabins. That is where we tied hundreds of the Crazy Goof fly. We also shot potato guns and other stuff.
Bob Gruel actually taught us how to tie the fly, it being one of his favorite Smith River fly patterns. After we learned the original pattern endless variations began to develop. We really didn’t realize that it was originally supposed to be a dry fly. Only recently did I find this out. I got that information from a small book I got at a fly fishing auction published by the Spokane Fly Fishing Club. The book cannot confirm the original designer of the fly, or even its origin but maybe Bozeman?
We weren’t good casters yet so the fly quickly became a nymph. We heavily weighted it, added beads, and added rubberlegs. It was easier for us to catch fish on nymphs or slightly swung flies (mending?). We tied it in many colors, but yellow, at least on the Smith River was always best.
Sometimes we did fish it as a dry fly. I don’t know exactly what fish take it for because rarely on the Smith River is there a giant hatch of large stoneflies. Once in a while there is a big hatch but for some reason on that river fish like big dry flies almost all spring, summer, and fall regardless of the hatches. Maybe they eat as a hopper, or maybe Smith fish are just more open minded to culinary
adventures. I am not sure, nor is anyone else.
Our slight variation of the dry fly isn’t far from the original pattern, in fact, if you want to make it the original pattern just pull off the rubberlegs and remove the ice dub. However, we think the updates are a solid revival for this classic.
What makes this fly so good I think is the elk hair tail in the back. It makes the back of the fly float up high with air trapped in the elk hair on the back of the fly. The chenille on the underbody gets soaked and pulls the fly in to the water column, and the front hackle slightly sags in front like water logged wings. The fly floats well, and it’s very durable.
If you want to try tying it I recorded a short tying tutorial on the pattern as well.
If I ever found myself in a one fly competition on the Smith River in Montana (which will never happen) I would most likely choose The Crazy Goof.
In high school I was a pretty poor fisherman, I certainly didn’t realize it at the time, but I was bad. There was a whole crew of us, and we were all bad at it. Relatively bad, as in we were probably better than most our peers, but we just didn’t know what "better than what we were" should look like. I hope I feel the same way in 10 years about my skill level I currently have but… that’s off topic.
We fished the Smith River a lot. A friend of ours was the grandson of Bob Gruel who owned the Gruel Ranch in Montana, and on the Gruel Ranch there is a place called Franhaufers. If you’ve ever floated the Smith River, after you pass the Anderson Ranch (the place with a golf course, ice, and ice cream bars) on the river left you will see the Franhaufer cabins. That is where we tied hundreds of the Crazy Goof fly. We also shot potato guns and other stuff.
Bob Gruel taught us how to tie the fly, it being one of his favorite Smith River fly patterns. After we learned the original pattern endless variations began to develop. We really didn’t realize that it was originally supposed to be a dry fly. Only recently did I find this out. I got that information from a small book I got at a fly fishing auction published by the Spokane Fly Fishing Club. The book cannot confirm the original designer of the fly, or even its origin but maybe Bozeman?
We weren’t good casters yet, so the fly quickly became a nymph. We heavily weighted it, added beads, and added rubberlegs. It was easier for us to catch fish on nymphs or slightly swung flies (mending?). We tied it in many colors, but yellow, at least on the Smith River was always best.
Sometimes we did fish it as a dry fly. I don’t know exactly what fish take it for because rarely on the Smith River is there a giant hatch of large stoneflies. Occasionally there is a big hatch but for some reason on that river fish like big dry flies almost all spring, summer, and fall regardless of the hatches. Maybe they eat as a hopper, or maybe Smith fish are just more open minded to culinary adventures. I am not sure, nor is anyone else.
Our slight variation of the dry fly isn’t far from the original pattern, in fact, if you want to make it the original pattern just pull off the rubberlegs and remove the ice dub. However, we think the updates are a solid revival for this classic.
What makes this fly so good I think is the elk hair tail in the back. It makes the back of the fly float up high with air trapped in the elk hair on the back of the fly. The chenille on the underbody gets soaked and pulls the fly in to the water column, and the front hackle slightly sags in front like waterlogged wings. The fly floats well, and it’s very durable.
If you want to try tying it, I recorded a short tying tutorial on the pattern as well.
