Hi FrankenFly readers! I’ve recently been hit with the carp fever and have been devouring anything I can read or watch to find out more about fly fishing for carp. One of the gems I found was that Mad River Outfitters released their Carpin’ DVD on YouTube. This is broken up into 10 episodes and is a wealth of information about fly fishing for carp. I’m not going to post them all here on FrankenFly, but you can watch this first one where Brian Flechsig tells more about Carpin’ and you can find the rest of the episodes for free on YouTube. It’s awesome, so check it out!
From Mad River Outfitters :
“Back to the 90’s with CARPIN’ – An Overview Of Fly Rodding For Carp. Join Brian Flechsig, Dave Whitlock, Jerry Darkes, Michael Bennett and Jim Andrix as they present a comprehensive and lighthearted look at fly fishing for this often misunderstood and underrated gamefish.”
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Svend Diesel has now dived into my Werewolf Hair and came up with a cool minnow! Check out what he had to say below and watch the video. Werewolf Hair is a half synthetic and half natural. The synthetic is a little like SF Fibers only not as stiff. You can read more about it by clicking the link at the top.
-Paul
From Svend Diesel:
“Less is more when tying with WereWolf Hair. The first few patterns I tied using it, I felt like I needed large clumps to get the profile so when it got wet, it looked like a tasty treat to any trout or bass. I quickly discovered that when adding more material, it was unnecessary and almost a waste of such an awesome material that doesn’t require the huge clumps.
Small clumps are crucial and still provide the profile that one desires, even when wet. I have tested them in the bathtub to see how they look and run under the pressure of a faucet to see how it would react and its unreal. The real benefit is upon one shake, it seems like almost all water is gone. This material will be ideal for casting a thousand casts for that Muskie or long days of tossing streamers at trout.
The materials come in lots of colors so tie some up in your favorite color combinations. I definitely have confidence in contrasting head colors of black, white and silver minnow bodies and hot color heads.”
The Recipe:
Hook: #Ahrexhooks TP610 2/0
Thread: #Semperfli nano silk 3/0
Body: #jstockard Werewolf Hair and #whitingfarms american hackle
Eyes: #spawnflyfish eyes
Resin: thick and #semperfli no tack UV
Brian, who is well know for Fly Fishing the Ozarks and his entertaining fly tying videos, has come up with his own articulated fly design, the Kucklehead. Brian has also started a Patreon page, so be sure to check that out if you are interested in more of his content.
From Brian
“Check out the Fly Fishing the Ozarks Patreon Page for the opportunity to join a monthly Live Stream of each fly in real time.”
Deer Creek has just recently released a brand new, totally unique UV resin. It is called Chameleon UV and it is decribed as tack free colour shifting nano pigment technology. As you can see by the photos below, you will be able to obtain some very cool results!
Chameleon UV comes in two different color shifts. Gold/Red and Blue/Purple.
I can vouch for the tack free part, because I have used Deer Creek Diamond Fine for years and it cures tack free. You can see my review of Diamond Fine here.
I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on the new Chameleon UV yet, but I have some on the way. If you are looking to make some realistic bugs or wild and crazy bugs, this stuff is going to be the ticket. Then there are beetles. Beetle flies are going to raise up to the next level because of the look of this stuff. There is also the imagination factor in using this new resin, so who knows what you can come up with.
If you are interested in purchasing some, you can get it straight from Deer Creek right now.
I have also posted some videos from Deer Creek below to show you a little more of the color changes.
Tied by Stu Medi
Tied by Stu Medi
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I’ve followed Joe’s tying for quite some time now and I think he ties excellent Intruders. He is an avid steelhead fly fisher and one of the tyers I was following closely when I was going through my phase of tying Intruders. Keep in mind that Intruders are not only good for steelhead, but for many other species too. Here is Joe’s thoughts on three of his Intruders that he had posted on his Instagram @joe__rutter
These two intruders were about 3.5 inches long. I used baitfish emulator flash and ice dub for a shoulder, then used a composite loop with Amherst and ostrich and a tiny bit of ripple ice fiber for flash with ice dub. Silver pheasant collar , then saddle feather wings and small pseudo eyes.
The rear station had the same materials, minus ostrich in a composite loop. I also included rubber legs in the rear station of the pink one.
Those two Intruders were tied for winter. They were tied a little lighter weighted and interesting to fish of higher flows and swinging closer to the bank when fish were holding closer to the bank.
Especially the bright pink one. I also like pink and blue for glacier silty colored rivers for some reason.
This purple Intruder is only about 2.5 inches long. I put Amherst and Ripple Ice Fiber in a composite loop with a schlappen collar and added a little weight. I added rubber legs in the rear station.
It was tied for low flows. I was going for more of a sparse buggy vibe and always dig purple for low flows.
If you were wanting to get a good look at my new Vampire Sheep Hair, here is a brand new fly tying video from Svend Diesel with the primary material being just that! See below to read what Erik had to say about it and the video.
-Paul
From Erik Svendsen
“I got a new product from J. Stockard Fly Fishing called Vampire Sheep Hair. This is a product made by FrankenFly and I have been excited to try it ever since I heard about it. I really like the blend ratio of flash to natural materials and it forms a pretty good minnow head. The colors that I bought seem very well thought out to patterns that I already tie so naturally why not make a rainbow looking minnow.
I tried to use as much natural material to flash ratio as possible. For the tail and profile I used the Whiting Farms American Hackle and for smaller patterns they have recently released a freshwater hackle series that would be perfect for some sizes 2-6. The Grizzly is a go to for me to imitate the speckled body of white to black ratio.
The color combinations are endless and the ability to create a perfect minnow pattern for your local waters are very achievable. Tie some up and have some fun fishing them. This is an unweighted fly, so I would recommend fishing with a sinking tip or full sink line. ”
The Recipe:
Hook: #Ahrexhooks TP615 in a size 1/0
Thread: #Semperfli waxed thread 8/0
Tail and body: #whitingfarms American Hackle grizzly with Krystal flash
Head: #FrankenFly Vampire Sheep Hair Eyes: 3/8
Eyes secured with Liquid Fusion and Semperfli no tack uv
Svend Diesel
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I thought this would be a good time to write an update. Things always get slow, content wise, around this time of year, but I have been extremely busy. First of all, Vampire Sheep Hair is in full swing now and on sale right now at J.Stockard Fly Fishing. This would be a good time to check it out, if you haven’t already.
Second, there is a fly I have been tying, fishing, and testing like crazy. I am calling it the Tombstone Hero. Basically because the head is gray and the flat part reminds me of a tombstone. Which is right down FrankenFly’s alley! Anyway, this might not be the most beautiful fly you have ever seen, but it sure is fun to fish.
This style of fly is more of a pusher/diver. You have probably heard of a slider or slider/diver. Sliders are types of flies that skim or skate across the top of the water. Pushers, which you don’t hear about as often, don’t skate on top, instead, they push the water in front of them and cause a disturbance that attract fish.
The Tombstone Hero will also go under water when stripped and float back up to the surface. This is another way it attracts fish. The other part about this fly that is interesting is tying it on your line and what that does to the action. If I tie it on using a Uni Knot which cinches up tight to the hook eye, it pushes water while on top and then when you strip it, dives down and comes back up. When I tie the fly on using a non-slip loop knot, this allows the fly to do some true action. What I get when I strip it in on top of the water is almost a walk the dog action, moving side to side, which is very nice. The fly will continue to dive if stripped quickly to get it swimming under the water.
So to me, this is very cool and gives you multiple ways to attract fish.
Gunnar Brammer has recently released a new material kit for a fly he designed this season, called The Chosen One. That means, if you buy his kit, you get all of the materials you need to tie the fly. Gunnar explains much more about this in the following two fly tying videos. See the link below for the kit itself. Gunnar provides information under each video.
“I’ve have spent the majority of this past fishing season designing a new fly called the Chosen One, and am excited to be able to offer a kit to go along with the fly and its various YouTube tutorials.
That being said, I didn’t just want to design a fly and sell those material, but I wanted to “design” the kit as well. This video breaks down the kits into its three components – Accessories, Hardware, and Color Combo – allowing you guys to purchase only the parts you need and nothing more.”
Note: Silicone is not included! I use GE II Household Silicone Clear To purchase Silicone, as well as Bob Popovic’s tying resource (Pop Fleye – which covers Silicone style flies) follow this link: https://www.amazon.com/shop/gunnarbrammer
Link to Material Kits: https://www.streamersbygunnar.com/material-kits
My Website: https://www.streamersbygunnar.com/
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gunnar_brammer/
“Kicking off the first tutorial in the series with the Bare Bones BULKhead version of The Chosen One.
This is the most basic platform and is the foundation of all the variations for this pattern. The goal here is to build upon proper technique and material handling which will lay the groundwork for all the other tutorials.
Although this is the simplest version, it is by all means a deadly streamer pattern and perfectly imitates round bodied baitfish such as Mullet and Chubs along with those with enlarged heads such as Suckers, Gobies, and Sculpins.”
Short video of me Fishing this version of The Chosen One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38BAK3hQki8
