So I've been fruitlessly trying to land one of the many risers (6-9PM) in the South Bow River (from Southland all the way down to Deerfoot . . .) for weeks now without any luck. Until this week! With the help of this forum, I've discovered that I can get reliable hits with the following simple setup:
A size 14-16 caddis, followed by NO MORE THAN TWO INCHES of tippet (3-5x) and ending in a 14-18 green bead head chironomid. The chironomid is what they want. I haven't had a hit on caddis in a couple weeks. Really the purpose of that caddis is just to allow you to get the right depth presentation for the chironomid. You'd think that (being that it's only job is to float and not scare away fish) the dry fly would be arbitrary and that it would be nice to use something like a hopper that's easier to see, but I've had ZERO luck with anything but a smaller (caddis-ish) dry fly.
I wish I had PICS of my victory for you all but alas, the camera on my phone is effed thanks to my falling in the river last month . . . .
Good Fishing!