Dragons and Damsels… Not Just A Fairy Tale by Ronnie Ladd Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there lived a dragon. The Dragon flew across the lake and took a damsel in his clutches.... The dragon was a Green Darner and the damsel was a Northern Bluet. Here I will be talking about Dragonflies and Damselflies, and not the dragons and damsels from the fairy tale books. In the summer we have dragons and damsels everywhere. Our yards and waterways become buffet tables as dragons perform strafing runs over them collecting mosquitoes and other insects. Dragons and damsels come in all sizes, shapes and colors. I had only noticed blue, green and brown with clear wings until I started doing some research. There are various shades of all kinds of body colors and many different wing patterns. It is amazing what you can learn with a little bit of research. Now, onto what this has to do with fly-fishing and fly-tying. I can recall most of the first time I had fished with an adult dragonfly "fly." I purchased some adult dragons and some adult damsels from a fly shop just because they looked pretty neat. I had heard stories about folks using them for fish, but really didn’t take it into consideration since I had never noticed fish taking dragons or damsels. I have this private pond I can fish any time I wish, so I headed down there one day for some practice and fishing fun. There was a lot of surface activity with fish blowing up often. I could see wakes all over the pond and I could tell the fish were feeding heavily on the surface. Being the novice that I was to fly fishing, I tied on a popping bug and cast it out. I worked the bug across the water and just waited for a bass to nail it. I got a hit and started reeling the fish in. Turns out it was just a Bluegill. I wanted Bass and wasn’t going to settle for bluegill….. not that bluegill aren’t fun. I took a knee and watched the pond, trying to key in on what the bass were feeding on. All of a sudden it came to me. Dragons and damsels would fly over the pond and dip down to touch the surface of the water quickly, and then take off again. Most of them were consumed by the bass. I took the popping bug off my line and tied on one of the dragons I had bought. I cast it out and it was taken quickly; so quick that I was not even expecting it. He ran deep, to the center of the pond. I don’t know how long I played that fish but it was a good while. He got hung in the moss right next to the bank and broke off when I tried to pull him free. I tied on another dragon and cast it out. The fish nailed it and headed away from me and quickly snapped the line. I then tied on a bigger tippet and one of the damsels. I made a false cast and, seeing how I was fairly new, the fly accidentally touched the water on the forward cast. A bass nailed it in the air on the back cast. I ended up catching a lot of nice fish that afternoon before breaking my last damsel off. Since then I've caught a lot of fish on dragons and damsels. I've found that they work great on lakes, streams and rivers in my area. I tell a lot folks about catching fish on dragons and damsels and they don’t believe a word of it. That is, until I take them fishing and dragons and damsels change their minds. There are several good recipes and patterns for dragons and damsels. I like the really simple recipes since they are easy to tie. I have lost more dragon and damselfly flies to fish than any other fly. For catching fish I can’t tell a difference between using a more elaborate recipe than one that is very simple. Normally the strikes are fast and vicious and the fly doesn’t sit long. I like the middle of summer, late summer and early fall for fishing damsels and dragons. Of course, I have seen them taken as early as May. Put a few dragons and damsels in your box. When you see a lot of surface action, try these flies. You might be in for a treat that would surpass any fairy tale. Hatches Magazine Subscription Price: $6.95 for each issue The Premiere issue is ready for shipping & the Fall 2008 issue will be available September 1st.