Favorite Flies for the Naugatuck River

Clockwise from top left: Same Thing Murray,
Sugerman Shrimp, Mickey Finn, Claret Shrimp

That's right, it's almost time to fish for those dirty water brutes again. These are my four favorite flies for Naugatuck River broodstock Atlantic salmon fishing. The Mickey Finn (#4-#6) works well for me while there are still leaves on the trees. Once the leaves fall, I see more action on the Same Thing Murray(#4-#8) or the Sugerman Shrimp (#1/0-#6). I find the Claret Shrimp (#2-#6) works well in the last hour of daylight. Maybe it's the high contrast between the front hackle and the dark body?

Honorable mention goes to Ally's Shrimp. The trout like them, too. I didn't hook a Naugy salmon on one last season, but I caught a good sized holdover brown with a big kype.

Honorable, honorable mention goes to the Sunray Shadow, which seems to be a good fish locator, and the Butterfly with a red butt (which I caught a Naugy salmon on my first day of fishing with a two-handed rod).

UPDATE - 9/4/2013: Since originally posting this, my tastes have changed a bit. The Mickey Finn and the Same Thing Murray are still at the top of the heap, no doubt. For some reason, I do less and less with the Sugerman Shrimp every season (for CT broodstock fish...it's still my favorite fly for wild salmon). The Claret Shrimp has moved down to honorable mention. Moving up the list are the Sunray Shadow and the L.T.Special. Ally's Shrimp is a solid fly and I always have some with me. Some fles are hotter than others certain years, but the Mickey, Murray and Sunray have become my mainstays.