Tim Neal hails from Michigan and has been tying flies for 62 years. He is a well respected fly tyer in Michigan. Not only is he well versed and ties classic Michigan dry flies that are famous there, but he also designs his own fly patterns. Check out the three flies below that are available at Umpqua Feather Merchants and if you own a fly shop, you can’t go wrong by stocking up on some of Tim’s flies.
Below Tim briefly describes each fly.
Skopper
“My pet hopper pattern… I designed this by combing the best features of Madsen’s Skunk and Whitlock’s Hopper. I always liked Dave’s fly but found trimming the deer hair head to be a pain. My method of putting on the deer hair head is a 10-15 second procedure and you’re good to go. And those rubber legs attract fish. Dead drift or twitched, it’s a real fish catcher. I like a smaller one during low water, perhaps a #14 hopper hook.”
Neal Para Emerger
“This one came about because I like fur bodied flies best. Most emerger patterns have a shuck imitation but don’t truly capture the outline of the entire shuck with its cast abdomen and legs. The deer hair overlay flared at the bend on this fly does that very well and I believe is key to its effectiveness. Terrific fly dead drifted in any emergence tied in a wide variety of sizes and color combos.”
North Branch Drake
“An old pattern thought to be a caddis imitation. I greatly expanded on the original (medium deer hair, black thread, grizzly hackle) by lengthening the tail and using different shades of deer hair as well as different thread colors and hackle to imitate lots of bugs. I’ve discovered over the years that it works equally well for stones, caddis, and mayflies during an emergence. It’s best fished with the hackle trimmed and dead drift. I really believe this fly is the all time sleeper of Michigan dry flies.”
