Clark’s Stone
By Gary Lewis
The fish were coming up with regularity now and my shaking hands fumbled with the knot to the sound of swirls and heavy splashes as trout took the big salmonflies and stoneflies that drifted to them on the current.
I cast upstream and along the bank, setting the fly down along the seam where the riffled water met with the smoother, slower current. The last fish had taken the fly and 12 inches of tippet when I set the hook. This time when the water boiled I raised the rod tip with a careful jab and felt the fish surge, breaking out into faster water. He was 18 inches in length and as big around as a football.
The Clark's Stone is a good stonefly pattern to use late May through mid-June on the middle and lower Deschutes. A sparse pattern, tied on a #6 or #8 dry fly hook, the Clark's Stone fishes dry in faster water where a heavier fly might be swept under.
Using orange tying thread, wrap flat gold floss for the body, tying in frayed orange yarn for an underwing and sparse deer hair. Secure the deer hair with the orange thread and finish by wrapping ginger hackle to the head.
