Fly Fishing Jazz: Recognizing “Mood Indigo”

June 15, 2012 By: Marshall Cutchin

When it comes to flies, we all like alternatives, especially when the fishing seems to have shut down or our favorite patterns aren’t pulling their weight. In this week’s Fly Fishing Jazz column, Kirk Deeter lets out a little fly-color secret that can turn a slow day into a productive one.  Fish, like people, have those “Indigo Blue” moods, and sometimes respond best to unnatural and muted colors.  “In those situations,” he says, “it’s often less about tempo than it is about tone.”  (And by the way, this same strategy works well in saltwater.)