Couple bugs...

Very busy work week ahead, but a week I'm looking forward to.  Big expo and a few seminars this weekend... Lots of fun and leads into a period with a few webinars I am looking forward to doing for USA Cycling as well... Fun stuff on the plate here!

With that knowledge in mind, I sat down to tie up a few bug's last night.  In particular, to restock my Marabou caddis population and some smallish (#12) black and chartreuse bead woolly buggers which are good small stream - and big stream bug's in these parts.

Like most fly tiers, I like to put my own twists on bugs.  It's hard to see on the bugger, but that's a combo of peacock ice dub and black opossum dubbing.  After I "finish" the fly I rough it up real well with a velcro covered Popsicle stick.  Give's it some subtle flash... and the bright bead gives it a nice little "hot spot" for fish to key in on.  Works well with pink, orange, chart., and plain metal beads... But really, it works because it's a bugger... And buggers and all their variants work.  It's really pretty darn amazing... I mean, what wont eat a bugger?  Salt water, fresh water... Brackish... big fish, little fish... EVERYTHING eats buggers!

Here's my marabou caddis. It's 4-6~ strands of marabou twisted round the tag of thread and palmered up the body.  Some grouse or partridge and a scruffy brown dubbed head... dead drift or swing and it's a really good fly!

Just a different view.  I'm convinced the scruffiness and the "flowy" nature of the palmered marabou are what make this fly "click".

Last, and most important... The sign of a nice evening :).  We moved over 10 years ago, and some how my procrastinating self has never figured out a better option than keeping my tying stuff in a bunch of bins, and then just taking what I want to the kitchen and tying at the island.  Thus, I use part of a box as a "base" so I dont get glues/CCG/marker or other stuff all over the island.  Easy cleaning too - just pick up my tools and materials, walk the cardboard to the trash, slide the scrap into the trash and put it all away...

I think because it works, I just have not "found" the time or effort needed to create a "spot" that I use all the time...

Have a great week!  

Will

Super stuff for dry fly fishermen and a few nymphs.

Couple odd's and ends.  One I keep meaning to put out there but, I think I've forgotten.

If you fish dry's, especially on tumbly waters... this stuff is amazing.  I was told about it last year while having a discussion with Andy, the owner of http://www.concordoutfitters.com/ which is an awesome fly shop about 30' east of me.  I was about to pick up more of my normal Gink floatant and Andy suggested trying this stuff - at least as a fly preparation product, though he said he uses it on the water as well.

I was unsure, but wholly smokes - it's amazing.  I keep it on my bench and every dry that's supposed to fully float (spinners, catskills, hoppers etc) I dip, then let them dry before boxing them up.  To this point, even after multiple fish I've found that the treated flies want to keep floating.  It's pretty amazing!  Where it has shined especially well, is when fishing small waters with flies like mini muddlers, bombers and other bushy drys.  Those flies soak up the "fly-agra" and end up fishing as if made of cork!

I do still carry some Gink or Loon Outdoors grease, but I use those only on emergers that only need some floatant on the wing OR to save a fly that's been eaten multiple times during a fishing trip and is starting to sink.  The difference, is that I may not have to break out the grease until I've caught several fish on a treated fly.  Pretty amazing stuff.

Now, on to fun stuff.  Below are a few flies I like to tie.  First is a little take on the trusty pheasant tail nymph that I like.  Black peacock krystal flash (one of the worlds greatest fly materials to me :)) as the wing case and folded over to make the legs as well.  Little CCG on their for strength and to bring the sparkle out.

This one is a little black stone nymph I like.  If you look at the nymphs of these little critters, they are actually sort of olive-yellow.  Troutnut has a great image up for example sake: http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/439.  With that in mind, i've tried to use some olive materials in my early stone patterns.  Here's one.  It's olive pheasant tail for the tail, with the same bit used as the wing case and folded over for legs (I like that strategy for simplicity sake).  Peacock black crystal flash is used for the body, and gold rib.  the thorax is palmered peacock.

It's a suggestive little nymph and works great.  It's dense, so it looks for bottom fast, even in quick early season waters...

Have a super day -
Will

Couple patterns new to me

I finally managed a little work on my vice - fly tying - the other night.  School and life just have been tough on the "habit" this winter...

I tried a few new patterns to me.  One I got off Don Bastian's blog last fall.  It's a modification of the Picket Pin which is my favorite wet fly.  This one uses a silver tinsel body, no hackle palmering and Don's version uses red squirrel tail for the wing... I didnt have any so I used gray squirrel.  As soon as I saw this last fall I thought: That's a killer on little streams... Seeing them in person sure adds to that notion.  they will get down fairly quick with the slim, dense body, and will swim great with the tail and wing materials... plus they have that awesome peacock "sheen".  Looking forward to swinging these soon.

These are on Size 12's.  the top one is a 2XL long wet fly/streamer hook and the bottom is a 1XL long size 12.

The amazing thing, is the smoothness, or lack there of, of the tinsel body.  With the "sun lamp" on the flies, the bodies look so bumpy in the pic.  It's amazing to me... to my eye's they look smoooooth.  I guess, that's what age will do to you - fuzzy eyes :) ha ha ha!  The truth, is in the film!

The next one is a fly I saw last week on the excellent vimeo.com channel of Tim Flager and tightline productions.  You can link to them on the right in my blog roll if you have not been before.  I believe the name is Hilga SOS.  It's a small (that's a #20) nymph, all black, with black pheasant tail tail, thread body, silver wire rib, red flashabou (2 strands) wing case, black possom dubbing thorax and black crystal flash legs with a tungsten bead.  Some flies "scream" about a certain tail water here in central MA to me.  Typically small flies, that are simple, and could be a lot of things - suggestive vs imitative.  This one did that to me, so I did these on a whim and hope to test em out soon.

Back to work, Q and A seminar tonight on run training, and sports nutrition with a PT colleague of mine... I need to review my notes... thinking about fishing was a nice break!

Will

Ahhhh, those first stone flies of spring!

Happy day's for fly fishermen.  I love to see the little stones starting to show :)... Spring is coming folks!  Whoop whooooo!

My wife called me outside while I was working to show me this little guy... The first of spring's "hatches" :)

Will