Lucas Utrera’s flies

INTRODUCTION

My name is Lucas Utrera, I’m 36 years old and I was born in Córdoba, Argentina but currently I live in Miami, USA with my wife Angie and my little dog Annabel. I’m an industrial designer, art director and, of course, passionate about fly tying.

I started fly fishing in the mid-90s together with my father when I was just 12 years old and I only needed to watch a couple of flies being tied to be completely fascinated.

A few years later, I started participating in some fly fishing shows, as well as writing fly tying articles in specialized magazines. Then, for a couple of years, I dabbled in commercial tying, which helped me hone and hone my skills. At the beginning of 2000, I started to participate in some competitions, specifically in the “Patent Pattern Contest” of “Flyfishing & Tying Journal” magazine , in which I was lucky to win several times. Finally I started to tie special flies for collectors.

(If you would like to follow Lucas on Instagram you can find him @utreraflytying. Here is a link to his work: https://www.instagram.com/utreraflytying/)

FLY #1: “Utrera’s Sulphur Dun Inverted Parachute”

This fly has the particularity of uniting the past with the present of fly tying. On the one hand, it has the traditional duck quill wings of the classic dry flies of the early 20th century and on the other hand, it has an inverted parachute without a visible post. The result is a Sulfur Dun with a very slim silhouette with exquisite buoyancy.

Hook: Daiichi 1160 Klinkhamer, size 14
Thread: Veevus 14/0, pale yellow
Tail: Yellow Microfibbets
Abdomen: Magic Quill
Wing: Natural gray duck quill
Thorax: Ginger Superfine dubbing
Parachute hackle: Whiting Farms ginger cock neck
Head: Veevus 14/0, orange

FLY #2: “Utrera’s Flashy Caddis Emerger”

This emerger really does its job. The deer hair wing allows the fly to stay in the film of water while the body submerges slightly below it. Crystal Flash’s legs are the icing on the cake ensuring it doesn’t go unnoticed.

Hook: Ahrex FW510, size 12
Thread: Veevus 14/0, pale yellow
Pupa skin: Yellow Antron Yarn and peacock herl
Abdomen: White Hemingway’s Bug Flesh
Wing: Natural Cow Elk
Thorax: Ambar Superfine dubbing
Legs: Pearl Crystal Flash
Antennae: Coq de Leon

FLY #3: “Utrera’s Spent BWO”

This delicate fly was thought to fish in very demanding situations where the waters are extremely clear and slow. There, the trout have a lot of time to analyze their food so it’s necessary to be very precise with what is being offered.

Hook: Tiemco 2487, size 16
Thread: Veevus 14/0, olive
Tail: Lemon Wood Duck
Abdomen: Olive Polish Quill
Wing case: Olive Elk hair with Gulff Fatman UV resin
Wing: Golden Pheasant feathers
Thorax: BWO Superfine dubbing
Front legs: Moose mane

FLY #4: “Utrera’s Bubble Emerger”

I have been working in this concept for some time. I called it “Utrera’s Bubble Emerger”. I remembered the legendary Ken Shimazaki and his great technique “Marshmallow Body”. This is a wonderful way to generate volumetric structures that retain bubbles, which is fantastic in imitating some situations of insects emerging towards the surface.

Hook: Tiemco 2499SP-BL, size 14
Thread: UNI 8/0, rusty brown
Abdomen: Olive Polish Quill
Bubble Wing: White Antron Yarn
Wing case: Orange and olive Elk hair with Gulff Thinman UV resin
Thorax: Golden olive Superfine dubbing
Legs: Brown hen fibers
Antennae: Lemon Wood Duck

FLY #5: “Utrera’s Wiggle Caddis Larva”

This is one of my favorite patterns and it was designed almost 20 years ago. The main idea was to create an articulated case caddis that offered some movement to the larva and I think the result was quite fun. This fly was a winner design in the “Patent Pattern Contest” of the Flyfishing & Tying Journal” magazine in the summer of 2003. It’s also part of some private collections.

Hook: Tiemco 205 BL, size 18
Thread: UNI 8/0, black
Rib: 8x tippet monofilament
Shellback/Wing case: Natural mottled bustard Thin Skin
Abdomen: Light tan rabbit dubbing
Thorax: Brown rabbit dubbing
Thorax: Golden olive Superfine dubbing
Legs: Brown goose biots
Antennae: Brown goose biots
Head: Black thread

CASE:
Hook: Tiemco 5212, size 14
Connection: Wire loop
Thread: UNI 8/0, tan
Case: Natural, rusty brown and black deer hair mixed, spun and trimmed to shape