Jeremy Hunt Miracle Fly

Jeremy Hunt’s Miracle Fly Truly Produces Remarkable Results

There is nothing worse in my world of fly fishing than when an “amateur” fishing near me is hammering fish while I am struggling to get a bite. The ego of a fly fisherman is very fragile, so it does not take me long to come up with some type of justification for this shaming. “He must be cheating” or “He’s using a fly I would not be caught dead with on my line” are the immediate thoughts that come to mind. Eventually, I will leave to go find a more private area to humiliate myself, but I often run into the guys who were smoking my tush in the parking area at the end of the day. Nine out of ten times, their magic fly ends up being some form of egg imitation. I’m not a big fan of using these types of gaudy patterns unless it is absolutely necessary, but I am starting to see that the “ugly stuff” is not without merit. When catching a fish is the primary objective, pride needs to be pushed aside sometimes.

Jeremy,

I had a chance to get in a couple of last fishing trips in before the end of the year. You and I got a chance to talk first, when you were helping me plan out a trip to the White River this past spring and you recommended some flies for me to use. One of the flies you made for me, was the miracle fly. I didn’t get a chance to use this fly until my trips to Rockbridge last weekend and my trip to Montauk the last two days and I wanted to report back to you on how they performed:

1) Rockbridge in October

The bows are in full spawn and when we hit the water on Friday, the weather was very cloudy and the cold front moving in was keeping the fish focused on one thing, spawning. The fly of choice for me down there is always a Woolly Bugger in some of your basic colors. This fly always produces fish and is usually the first thing I tie on to start fishing. The males were chasing each other around, but wouldn’t give the Woolly’s a second look. I tried color after color and then I remembered in my tackle bag, I had some of Jeremy’s miracle flies from my spring trip. I tied one on and my entire weekend changed! I was getting strike after strike. I was even approached that night down at the mill on what I was doing that was producing fish. Reluctantly I gave away a little taste of what I was doing, but not the full story. Saturday was even better, I hooked into two of the biggest rainbows caught down there all week and even the weather had warmed up and it was sunny out all day. I am not saying this fly changed the weather, but it certainly changed my weekend.

2012-October-Fishing-Trips-012-1024x768-portrait

2. Montauk State Park

This was my first time ever venturing out to Montauk and I had heard rumors about some big browns that they stock in the park and down in the current. We arrived yesterday and scouted a few spots, but weren’t finding any fish. At around 3:30, we hit a spot up in the park where we saw a lot of decent fish and a few bigger dark shadows sitting on the bottom. We threw a few lines in and unfortunately the cold front hit us right as we were getting our rhythm and it started to pour on us. I stayed out a little while longer to see where these fish were sitting and where they would go to hide or feed and swore to come back to that same spot first thing in the morning. Friday morning, I was the first fly fisherman into the entire stretch and the weather was much more clear and I could sight fish to several big fish. The only thing I even considered throwing on was a yellow miracle fly and for the next two hours I was getting into some nice browns and even a few smaller rainbows. The browns all went over three pounds and at least 17 inches. As my crew finally arrived, I was casting into a deep pool where I saw some fish moving in and out of the current feeding on the top and in the middle water column. I turned my head to shout out a comment about the fish I had already landed and before I knew it, my line was getting pulled off my reel. I love that noise! I set the hook and as the fish hit the surface, I saw it was the big brown I had seen the day before. He just nailed that fly and all I can say, is that is the biggest brown I have ever caught.

So here is what I will say about that fly. It catches fish and the reason why is that it is different than most of the glow balls or egg patterns you see out there. It gets down to the fish and has the most natural drift and sink to it than any other type I had used. And for those fly fisherman who do not think that is a pure fly to use when fly fishing, I would say this. The object of a dry fly, is to imitate a food source for trout. This fly does exactly that. Trout feed on eggs and trout that are stocked anywhere in the state of Missouri, grow up in a hatchery eating pellets that look exactly like the shape of an egg. So if the goal here is to replicate a food source and fool the fish into eating something that looks like food, the miracle fly does just that! I will have these in my fly box until the day I die. No BS! I went on these trips with men who are my father’s age who have never seen such a productive fly that worked in all types of different fishing situations. Jeremy, my Christmas wish list this year will have a bakers dozen of each color of the miracle fly. I have more fish to catch in 2013!

Tight Lines,

Ehren Hart

Miracle Fly

I got to poking around the Internet in search of more information on different types and styles of egg patterns, and I came across an interesting character named Jeremy Hunt. He is a full-time fly fishing guide who specializes in trout fishing on Arkansas’s White River and Lake Taneycomo in Missouri. These tailwater trout fisheries are known for big fish and unpredictable water levels. Jeremy has an egg variation he calls the “Miracle Fly”, and he claims that this pattern produces all sorts of trout during many different water conditions.

Unfortunately, there is very little information to be found on Jeremy Hunt and his Miracle Fly out there – even his incredible, content-rich Web site only mentions it in passing every now and again. I decided to give Jeremy a call to see if I could get some answers as to why his egg pattern is the only one an angler should ever need, and this conversation turned into an interesting interview. Below are some very enlightening answers that I received to my questions.

Ozark guide Jeremy Hunt tells all in this exclusive interview

Jeremy-Hunt-Fly-Tying-Station-1024x576-square

When did you develop the Miracle Fly?

First of all, I didn’t invent or come up with the concept of this fly, but I do like to think that I’ve turned a [novelty] pattern into a legitimate weapon. Truthfully, the way I got introduced to jig head eggs was at Roaring River State Park about seven years ago. Tim’s Fly Shop recommended this funky jig head egg, so I thought I would give it a try. That day, I caught a rainbow over ten pounds – my biggest ever, and I knew that there was something about this particular style of egg that appealed to large trout.

To make sure that [Roaring River] wasn’t a fluke, I tried this egg out on Lake Taneycomo during low water and caught a nice brown, and the rainbows were fighting over it. I was sold from that point on. The key is the 1/100th-ounce jig head…the fly seems to fall so naturally…like a piece of chummed corn. There is something in a trout’s instinct that makes it throw caution to the wind when they see falling food. I can’t explain it, but I sure wanted to take advantage of this bite.

What exactly is the Miracle Fly?

The Miracle Fly is simply an egg pattern tied on a jig hook. Yeah, I’ve played around A LOT with hooks and materials, but the real turning point was when I figured out some new strategies [that relate] to where I fish this fly. I do think it is important to use heavy hooks in order to land really big fish. The 1/100th size works best for how I like to fish, but occasionally I will go heavier. Most of the time, I would rather just use a split-shot to get the fly down instead of using an overall bigger fly.

What is the best way to fish the Miracle Fly?

I’m not sure I should get into great detail here, as guiding is my bread and butter, but I guess it won’t hurt to give a few pointers out. Like I said, you can confidently “blind-nymph” with the Miracle Fly, but I prefer to sight-fish on light to moderate flows when I can. This way, I can see the bites and get a really solid hook-set. I use my drift boat because it is so quiet, and I like to find really slow water, even if the river is up. By casting downstream, I can sneak up on bigger fish before the boat gets too close. Most people think egg patterns only work in faster water, but I think the opposite is often true for finding big fish – I’ve seen huge browns just pick this fly right off the bottom in slack areas. I prefer to have no knots between my strike indicator and the fly in order to get a steady sink-rate. Using 5x fluorocarbon tippet also seems to help in this department. If at all possible, I will focus on the slowest areas I can find, even if the water is high. The Miracle Fly catches plenty of fish as a traditional drifting fly, and I will throw a split-shot on my line if I have to get deep in a hurry because I’m fishing in current.

What do you say when people call using egg patterns “junk fishing”?

They can call it what they want. Believe me, I like fishing dry flies as much as the next guy, but I also like catching fish and so do my clients. The White River Basin does not really offer steady dry fly action except with tiny midges, so I need to adapt my fishing to the rivers I spend a lot of time on. Using egg patterns has never been about catching numbers of fish for me – I can do that with many different flies. Instead, I wanted to find a productive way to target and catch bigger fish. An egg appeals to a trout’s primal instincts, and I really think that the bigger fish will often take an egg without a second-thought. I’ve had so much fun since I started fishing with the Miracle Fly. I guess in this case, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure, right?

Are you embarrassed to fish the Miracle Fly?

I’m not any more embarrassed to fish with a Miracle Fly than I would be to fish with a midge. I mean, our trout feed on both of those food sources in their natural environment. As a versatile fly fisherman, it is important to have a “bag of tricks” ready to go. The Miracle Fly is just my go-to “trick” for guiding and for targeting large fish with nymphs. Some of my clients are skeptical at first, but once they see the bite and what I’m talking about, they are converted. Even some real purists have had a blast. I end up selling my on-hand supply of eggs after almost every guide trip I go out on to clients who want to try this fly on their home waters.

Does your fly work all year long or just during the spawn?

Well, I don’t fish for spawning fish on our rivers. I’ll save that discussion for a later date. Fishing the Miracle Fly is not about ripping trout off of the redds. I’ve caught fish on this fly all year because it triggers something in their instincts. Also, there are mixed up fish that try to spawn all year long on our rivers, so eggs are almost always an available food source. I’m not sure how much influence the hatcheries have to do with the fact that our trout love eggs so much.

Do you sell the Miracle Fly to the general public?

I just started selling the Miracle Fly. There are just some things you can’t hold in forever. Those interested in making a purchase or learning more about the materials I use can contact me through my Web site. The flies I sell are the exact same as the ones I use on a daily basis. Just having this fly in your repertoire will increase catch rates, but the real fun begins when you learn to fool the river’s bigger fish on the Miracle Fly.

What is the best way to fish the Miracle Fly?

As you can see, we really got down to the nitty-gritty during our talk, and I learned a lot. Sometimes, in order to have fun, we just need to catch some trout when we are out on the water. The Miracle Fly offers a way to fish with the utmost in confidence. I also understand that there are times when big fish get very picky about what they will eat – an “instinctual” pattern like an egg can elicit a response from trophy trout that would otherwise snub the most subtle of offerings. I used to think of myself as a “semi-purist”, but I like catching fish way too much for that to be true. Now, I realize that I’m just a guy who likes to get schooled using dry flies until I cannot stand it any longer. The next time that I am forced to admit defeat with respect to fishing to surface, I will surely switch to a Miracle Fly for some action. I would rather not watch others have all the fun, even if it means going big and ugly.

Jeremy Hunt maintains an extensive web resource called FlyandGuides.com. This website contains a wide range of content that explains every aspect of fly fishing White River Basin trout fisheries. Be sure to drop Jeremy a line if you have any questions about the Miracle Fly. He’s an easy person to talk to, and he obviously takes his trout fishing [and catching] very seriously.