Monthly Archives: September 2013

September 30, 2013 · 1:21 pm

Brian Wise fly tying video – Nick Granato’s Chubby Muffin

Brian Wise of Fly Fishing the Ozarks has released a new fly tying video. This time he covers an articulated version of Nick Granato’s Chubby Muffin. Brian mentions that it’s a GREAT Sculpin pattern!

Recipe:

Rear Hook – TMC 9394 #4
Flash – Flashabou (Multi-Colored)
Body – Ice Wing Fiber
Wing – Rabbit Strip

Front Hook:
Hook – Gamakatsu B10s
Eye – Real Eyes
Body – Ice Wing Fiber
Gills – Red Schlappen
Pectoral Fins – Partridge
Wing – Rabbit Strip
Head – Craft Fur Brush (marked with PrismaColor Markers)

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Filed under Step by Step, Streamers

· 12:06 am

Geert Werbrouck fly tying

I noticed Belgium fly tyer Geert Werbrouck’s excellent fly tying over at http://www.classicflytying.com. Geert is a regular there and posts a lot of wonderful flies and is quite active on the forum. Geert has been fly fishing since 1968 and was a champion Belgium fly fisher back in 1982. He used to tie mostly for trout and grayling including dries, nymphs, and flymphs. These days his focus is on full dressed patterns.

One of his latest is a crossbreed between a freestyle salmon fly and a freestyle wet fly.

Hook is a size 8 wet fly hook by SAWADA.

tip or tag : none
tail : natural grey French ‘Perigord’ underflankfeathers (left and right)
tail veiling : some bloodred fluff/sprigs of a hackle
body : flat copper
rib : gold twist
bodyhackle : blood red
headwing : slips of natural grey French ‘Perigord’ under flank feathers
sideds or sidewing : each side a blood red hackle
topping (if YOU should like to call it like that) : a clipped in a V form little yellow feather of the blue and yellow macaw breast
front collar : grey heron (a bit a mix of a white and grey hackle)
head : red fly tying hread lacquered three times…

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Filed under Salmon

September 29, 2013 · 12:39 am

General Practitioner – John P. Newbury

John P. Newbury recently had an interesting blog post that grabbed my attention. He is taking a trip back in time like I enjoy doing quite often. John is heading back to a time in steelhead fly tying, to a time before the Intruder style fly.

“I would like to take a short time machine ride back to the days before the intruder style of fly dominated the real estate in a steelheaders fly box. I would like to go back to the simple grace and elegance of the classic steelhead wet fly. It wouldn’t be a long ride, less than a decade and a half would get you there. Once there, you would have a handful of decades to roam around searching for materials and pushing the envelope with dyed colors and mastering your tying skills.

#1 on the list is the General Practitioner as developed by Esmond Drury as an Atlantic Salmon Fly. This fly has been popularized by West Coast steelheaders and has undergone many transformations as creative as steelhead fly tiers are. I once tied this fly commercially to be sold in Portland Oregons fly shops. Bill McMillan had commissioned me to tie these on heavy 3/0 salmon irons for use with the dry line technique in vogue before spey rods marched onto the scene back in 1995. I now tie them as close to what I can find are the original dressing as noted by Esmond Drury — Mainly from memory and mainly by my own fly tying style.

I caught my first Pacific Salmon and Steelhead on a 2/0 General Practitioner and thats why it has earned a spot in the Essential twelve.”

Hook: Partridge Salar #3
Thread: Orange
Tag: Medium gold oval french tinsel
Tail: Dyed hot orange polar bear with a topping of golden pheasant tippets and golden pheasant flank feather.
Tag: Medium gold oval french tinsel
Rib: Medium gold oval french tinsel
Body: Hot Orange Seal fear tied in two sections. In the middle section a golden pheasant tippet feather and flank feather tied flat on top.
Hackle: Orange saddle hackle palmered through both sections.
Wing: Golden pheasant tippet feather and flank feather tied flat on top.

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Filed under Steelhead

September 27, 2013 · 12:08 am

Joppa Flats Special – Joe Calcavecchia

In the video below Joe shows how to tie one of this favorite flies and a fly that is used for stripers, but could be used for other species as well. Joe is a master fly tyer, is on the Regal Pro Staff and mainly concentrates on saltwater patterns. You can check out more flies by Joe on his website http://www.saltwatercustomflies.com/

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Filed under Saltwater, Step by Step

September 26, 2013 · 12:01 am

Hairdresser Mosquito

Markus Hoffman works his magic in a brand new video and if you tie this one you can get your hair cut at the same time! You just can’t beat that!

Markus says, “Tying a Swedish pattern called the Hairdresser Mosquito created by Patrik Johansson. The original pattern uses only thread to build body, but here I use a stripped peacock quill. As I visited Austria I brought along some of these flies. I managed to catch my first wild rainbow and Adriatic grayling on this fly!!!”

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Filed under Step by Step

September 25, 2013 · 6:54 am

Griz’s “Mr.Maggoo” Foamy Poppers & Divers

Tied & Created by Todd A.Schotts

Hooks: Gamakatsu S10 Stinger Hooks for 3/8” & 5/16” – Natural Bend Nymph Hooks for ¼”
Tail: Silicone Skirt Material #360750 from Jann’s Netcraft (See Below for Colors)
Hackle: Whiting Black Laced Soft Hackle (See Below for Colors)
Body/Head: Cylinder Foam – Sizes ¼”, 5/16”, and 3/8” (See Below for Colors)
Eyes: 5mm (for 3/8” & 5/16”) 7mm (1/4”) Doll Eyes (color is optional)
Jigs: Gary Krebs Popper Jigs (Bass/Panfish) from River Road Creations, Inc.
To Finish: After I attach the eyes; I coat the entire surface of the foam with Sally Hanson’s Diamond Strength, Hard as Nails Clear.

Tail	Hackle	Foam
Purple/Fuchsia#202	Red/Black	Black
Chartreuse w/Silver Flakes#005	Chartreuse/Black	Chartreuse
Brown w/Orange Flake #091	Orange/Black	Yellow
Orange Pepper#348	Orange/Black	Orange
Clear w/Blue & Crystal #066	White/Black	White
Purple/Fuchsia#202	Red/Black	Red

I use to trim these with a razor blade while holding the foam, and after a lot of nicked fingers and deep cuts, I started using the Jig set that was created by Gary Krebs. It did make cutting the foam a lot easier and saved my fingers. A good tip, normal razor blades do wear out really fast when cutting foam cylinders. I have switched to using surgical razor blades, they last longer and stay sharper a lot longer; and giving a cleaner cut.

To create a popper or diver, it is just turning the foam in the jig when trimming. Both styles work really well. As for the Tail/Legs instead of using marabou or any other feathers on the back, I prefer to use Silicone Skirt Material. The Silicone Legs hold up a lot better than feathers (especially with bluegills), and they give the fly great action in the water. The name for this fly came after the eyes were attached. The finished fly reminded me of the cartoon character.

schottsielogo

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Filed under Panfish

September 24, 2013 · 5:00 am

Queen of the Waters

While browsing the Web I ran across a couple of wonderfully tied flies that were in the style of Queen of the Waters. This type of fly is a very old fly dating back to the 1800s. Instead of rewriting that history here, I suggest heading over to Don Bastian’s blog post about Queen of the Waters to read about it. I have also added his Queen of the Waters Rangelely style Streamer below. Yet another example of fly tying craftsmanship. You can read more about it in Don’s same blog post.

After seeing these flies, I just had to post about them here. According to Mike Valla’s book, Tying Catskill-Style Dry Flies, palmer dry flies like Queen of the Waters evolved and were quite popular in the Catskills. Today the Queen of the Waters fly is tied more as a showpiece than for fishing. Around the time Catskill style dry flies were gradually developing, a version known as the fanwing became popular. This type of dry fly floated well and was easy to see.

The Catskill style Queen of the Waters recipe is as follows:

Hook: #10-14 Allcock 04991 or Mustad 94840
Thread: Tan 8/0 Uni-Thread
Wings: Mallard Flank
Tail: Medium to dark ginger
Body: Orange silk with fine gold tinsel ribbing
Hackle: Medium to dark ginger, palmered

Queen of the Waters Catskill style dry fly – tied by Karsten Neben

Queen of the Waters Fanwing – tied by Darrell Howard

Queen of the Waters – the hook is a size #2 – 8x long – Gaelic Supreme Martinek / Stevens Rangeley Style Streamer. – tied by Don Bastian

2 Comments

Filed under Catskill, Classic

September 23, 2013 · 12:03 am

Crease Fly

tied by JohnDe of stripersonline.com

The Crease Fly is a type of fly that was originated for saltwater by Capt. Joe Blados of Greenport, NY. It was created to target striped bass and bluefish but has proved to be effective on many types of saltwater species and freshwater species as well. I was recently searching for flies for dorados and the Crease Fly was one that was recommended.

A common mistake is thinking Crease Flies are poppers, but that was not their original purpose. They can be fished in this way, but won’t have as much splash as an actual popper. The Crease Fly is intended to be fished sub-surface on a steady retrieve preferably against a current.

Below is a good video describing how to tie a Crease Fly.