The "Tequila Sunrise"

Last year I was tying a few polar bear flies to use on Shuswap Lake when I asked Sheena to pick a colour combination of her very own so that I could make her a custom fly. She of course chose a peach coloured hair for the top, a yellow angel hair centre followed by a white under belly. I looked at this and chuckled to my self once the Frank-en fly was created. I said what fish in its right mind will ever take this thing?

We made it out on the lake a few days later, and it was beautiful out. Clear blue sky with that cool April chill in the air and the sun rising up out of the eastern mountain range. I being the more experience fisher-person of the two chose a more tradition approach to catching a fish and picked the grey ghost to start the day off and Sheena on the other hand chose her newly tied Frank-en fly. Well, let me tell you, it wasn't long before she had her first fish to the boat, shortly there after followed by her second, third, fourth and I was wishing I had tied a few of those bright minnow patterns! I was only there to steer the boat and net fish for her apparently. I finally managed to hook a couple of fish but only after running through my entire bucktail collection while Sheena put on a clinic for me. She jokingly named this fly the "Tequila Sunrise" because it matched the sky line on that fateful morning in April and as the colour combo was a bit of a laugh, so was the name was but it has stuck. I brought this story back to the shop and asked Todd to tie some Bucktails that were close to this using deer hair. He had a pattern that was similar called the "Creamsicle" but it hadn't really done much because it didn't get the water time that it deserved. Once word got out, the "Tequila Sunrise/Creamsicle" started flying off the shelves and became one of the most popular flies in the store. This year it has made skeptics believers and appears to be out fishing all other colours at the moment when it comes to bucktails and big rainbow on the Shuswap. A type 6 wet line on your fly rod matched to a slow troll is landing fisherman some amazing rainbow into the 10+ pound range.

Some times there is no rime nor reason as to why fish hit a particular lure, fly pattern or colour but I have learned that everything is worth trying because you just never know what the next hot thing is going to be. I think of it like this, I love a good rare steak but I couldn't eat it every day and fish may be the same way. They may get tired of seeing the same patterns, the same old lures day in and day out presented from multiple fisherman. Some times you just need a chicken leg or a pork chop to change it up and add some variety to life.