The 'ol Pink Squirrel

Any driftless area fly guys have heard of the pink squirrel, that’s for sure…but wondering if anyone has ever tried one below the ice for panfish? I tied a whole bunch of em today and am looking forward to trying them.

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Never tried them for panfish but I know driftless area trout love them. It’s actually a popular pattern in W. Wisconsin.

Sure is! I grew up in the greater La Crosse area but didn’t really start fly-fishin until college where I was only about 20 mins away from the Rush River. That’s when a buddy first introduced me to the pink. I made about 10 of em today, gonna see how they do. Might opt for tungsten beads with the ice fishing – we’ll see what happens!

I’d bet they should work fine. Maybe tip the hook with a waxie or spike if they aren’t aggressively feeding.

Did you go tungsten bead or standard? I’ve been pondering tying something with a horizontal presentation that incorporates CDC feathers but not sure what to go with yet.

Just the standard brass bead because I didn’t have any tungsten to work with. Thinking about ordering some and trying some color variations too. I’ve been hearing lots of to-do about the red-headed icy skunk fly pulling in loads of panfish down on pool 9, so I figured I’d try to PS on the ice. I’ll let you guys know how it goes!

I commonly use a pink or olive BH scud for my second hook on my rig. I’ve found that the bluegill and trout in a few of my favorite places are loaded with snails and scuds. I bet that fly would work pretty well in my home waters.