Blog

@anna_on_the_fly is on the water constantly. She is constantly trying new things -- new flies, new techniques, and new gear. We are grateful that she's an Ambassador for DiscountFlies. And, we're grateful that she shares her knowledge and adventures with us here in the "Fly of the Week" (or month during the "off" season) Column.

January 9^th 2023

This week’s fly is one I have almost used for “FOTW” probably 5-6 times, it’s just an amazing fly that time after time has brought be some of the best days of fishing I’ve ever had!!

One cold February day I caught 21 fish at Deckers with my dad and I’d say probably 17 of them where on this - THE “TOP SECRET”!!

The Top Secret Midge was created by Pat Dorsey, a fly creating genius! Pat has over 25 years of guiding under his belt and a lifetime of fishing and studying aquatic insects. Part of the reasoning for the name is Pat was out fishing on a winter day in 2001 with some friends - catching all the fish while his buddies were struggling. They asked what he was fishing and he said “Top Secret” - the other part of this is because of the name of the material used to make the wing casing - “Top Secret Midge Wing Material”. Being as though the wing material is a key to this tie @discountflies version of this is GREAT! I have found other companies cut the wings too short or that they use a longer hackle material. DF offers the true version of this tie and will be getting a new order in soon so you can stock up on EVERY SIZE!

This is a midge pupa so I fish it as an emerger, Feb-March 9/10 times this will be my very last fly. I’ll change out the attractor or middle fly and sometimes fish this as my middle fly but most of my success has come from drudging the bottom of deep holes. Both Helen and myself fished a Top Secret this weekend, size 22 and 24 as our last flies and Saturday we caught 5/6 fish on the TS!

I like to fish it in a size 24 & sometimes I’ll put a size 22 as my middle fly. (If they are eating it why not put two of the same fly on )

This is probably the only fly I’ll fish two of at a time and it’s a testament to how effective it is.