Wike's Tailwater PMD Cripple
Words By Sam Wike
ANGLERS WHO SPECIFICALLY TARGET BIG BROWN TROUT ARE MOST OFTEN STERIOTYPED AS STREAMER DIEHARDS.
There is truth to the idea that large fish eat large flies, but there are exceptions, and the Pale Morning Dun hatch on Montana's Missouri River is one of them.
The PMD hatch comes off in June and this is one of the few times of the year that large brown trout hold in the shallow shelves, tucked in amongst waving weed beds, gently rising to a mix of PMD’s, spent caddis, and any number of clumsy terrestrials. During a strong PMD hatch the largest browns don’t care too much if it’s full sun, full clouds, raining, or whatever . . . they are there to eat.
When people tell you that the Missouri River is a technical fishery, they aren’t lying. During the PMD hatch you can find those big browns holding in the grass, but getting them often requires long casts and perfect drifts, beginning with your first cast. Any thing less and those fish are onto you. Those fish get big by being wary and they aren’t changing their tunes just because some PMDs are floating over their heads.
Over the years, I’ve discovered that fly patterns also matter a lot during the PMD hatch. A Rusty Spinner will outfish a PMD dun almost every time. Why? I can’t say for sure, but the most logical argument is that brown trout are lazy and they know a brown colored body is dead and it won’t fly when they rise up to take it. I would never make a “never” statement, because there’s always a possibility, right, but Missouri River browns often ignore the pale-yellow colored body of a PMD dun for a crispy dead brown one with spent or crippled wings. They like their PMD’s “well done.”
A friend, Kris Keller, and I started fishing a PMD cripple pattern, Todd Smith’s Freestone PMD Cripple, sometime around 2008. It was, and still is commercially tied by Rainy’s Flies of Logan, Utah. Fish ate this fly in full sun, mid-day, on the Fourth of July, even when we were surrounded by a parade of innertubes and kayaks, or as writer Greg Thomas would call them, “The Splash and Giggle Crew.” Smith is from Boise, Idaho, and his sophisticated fly patterns are generally infused with biot bodies and CDC wings and have been an inspiration to my fly tying and designs.
My version of this fly isn’t too far off from Smith’s original pattern, but as all fly tyers do, I made some slight tweaks. Is my PMD Cripple better than Smith’s? No, it’s not better, but it is slightly different, and it fishes well on the MO and other technical waters. Still, both the House of Fly in Great Falls, Montana, and The Trout Shop in Craig, Montana, carry both patterns.
I also carry both patterns in my arsenal of rusty bodied PMD flies because both work and some days I want to fish one, and the next day I might fish the other. My variation uses a slightly toned-down yellow thorax of pale-yellow Ice Dub and a grizzly hackle in place of dyed yellow hackle. I also use EP Trigger Point fibers on top of a wood duck feathered tail. I want the fish to see the wood duck tail and not the fibers, but I do need it to float well. Lastly, I like to use very thin deer hair on the crippled wing, which allows the fly land as softly as possible. Stealth is where it’s at on the Missouri River.
I don’t know why Todd Smith called his pattern the “Freestone PMD Cripple” because it’s deadly on flat surfaced waters, too. In the end, maybe he should rename it the “Extremely Deadly Tailwater PMD Cripple”.
Photo: Paul Considine out fishing with Sam on the Missouri River and another brown trout that was duped by the Tailwater PMD Cripple
Sam Wike’s Tailwater PMD Cripple Material List
Hook - Genryuu 406 Dry Fly Hook- https://flyproject.us/the-fly-project-genryuu-standard-dry-fly-hook
Tail – Wood Duck - https://flyproject.us/tom-gagnon-lemon-wood-duck-flank
Tail – EP Trigger Point Fibers (Rusty Spinner or Cinnamon Caddis color) - https://flyproject.us/ep-trigger-point-int-l-fiber
Body – Turkey Biot (Rusty Spinner color) - https://flyproject.us/hareline-turkey-biot-quills
Thorax – Grizzly Hackle - https://flyproject.us/whiting-saddle-hackle
Thorax – Ice Dub (Light Yellow) - https://flyproject.us/ice-dub
Spent Wing – Deer Hair (Extra Fine) - https://flyproject.us/varners-extra-fine-deer-hair
Thread – Nano Silk 12/0 (Brown) - https://flyproject.us/semperfli-nanosilk
