Category Archives: Fly Tying

Blogs related to tying flies

Klinkhammer BWO – 02/21/2022

Klinkhammer BWO 02/21/2022 Photo Album

Background information and a materials table may be found in the following two posts: 03/06/2021 and 02/23/2020. I lost my fly box during 2021, and this put a dent in my supply of Klinkhammer BWO’s, so I devoted some hours to replenishing my supply with six additional versions.

A Thing of Beauty

My primary BWO imitation is the CDC BWO, but on occasions where the trout ignore the CDC style, I resort to Klinkhammer BWO’s. Sometimes it produces, but at other times it is also avoided. I concluded that the tough blue winged olive days occur when the wind is strong, and the adult mayflies bounce and skip on the surface of the river. It is very difficult to imitate the erratic movement with a fly, but I have on occasion prompted a response with a quick twitch or lift in front of a sighted trout. Even after forty years of fly fishing, I continue to experiment and learn new tricks.

Six New Klinks

Chubby Chernobyl – 02/12/2022

Chubby Chernobyl 02/12/2022 Photo Album

Just what the world needs, another large foam dry fly. That is an apt description for the increasingly popular chubby Chernobyl. My post of 02/08/2022 provides ample links to all things chubby, and I recommend that you inspect it, if you are intrigued by this awkward looking fly.

A Spikey Version

The chubby Chernboyl looks like a classic Chernobyl ant when viewed from below; however, the angler’s view is an image of a large clump of white poly yarn. Initially when I used this fly I was turned off by the tendency of the poly to get saturated with water, but after observing some guides, as they applied fly floatant to the wing, I found the solution to my limp wing misgivings.

Trout View

Over the past two seasons I placed a chubby on my line more frequently than a fat Albert, and I have experienced some success with it. My confidence began during several trips to the Yampa River in a previous June, when large fish crushed the gangly imitation bearing an ice dub tan body. Of course this was a development that I could not ignore, so I tied a batch.

Side View

I counted my supply of these monsters, and I realized that I had adequate quantities of the large attractors with yellow, gray, and green bodies; but I did approach my vise to manufacture three additional versions with ice dub tan bodies. Hopefully these flies will attract hungry trout during 2022.

Fat Albert – 02/06/2022

Fat Albert 02/06/2022 Photo Album

In a previous post on the fat Albert or pool toy hopper a reader asked me what the difference was, and I was forced to acknowledge that they are very similar. Both contain three layers of foam and both possess rubber legs. The pool toy hopper displays more materials for the rear wing, but this is probably a minimal difference from the trout’s vantage point. I got stuck in the routine of tying mainly fat Alberts in size 6 with yellow bodies; whereas, I tie pool toy hoppers in size 8 with tan bodies. Who knows? If I tied smaller fat Alberts with tan bodies, I might discover that it produces during hopper season as well as a pool toy hopper.

Overview

My post of 02/04/2021 provides the key links to a materials table and anecdotes regarding my usage and introduction to the fat Albert. I tend to use this fly as an indicator in the early season prior to run off, and I also default to it quite often during the edge fishing time frame, when the rivers are blasting downstream at a rapid pace and leaving only the ten feet along the bank as a target area for casting. The large foam body is highly visible and very buoyant, and these attributes are conducive to its role as an indicator fly.

Opposite Side

I tie mine primarily with a yellow underbody beneath a layer of yellow foam, and I am convinced that the fly gets consumed as a golden stonefly adult in addition to a hopper with a yellow body. This may explain its productivity during the early season and during late June and early July, as these time frames coincide with golden stonefly activity.

Fat Albert Cluster

For 2022 I refurbished two with missing legs and made an additional three from scratch to up my fat Albert inventory to a sufficient level for the upcoming season.

Pool Toy Hopper – 02/04/2022

Pool Toy Hopper 02/04/2022 Photo Album

The pool toy hopper is another Andrew Grillos creation that I have grown to love. This is my favorite grasshopper imitation and a frequent occupant of the surface position on a dry/dropper configuration. I also tie fat Alberts, Charlie boy hoppers, and hopper Juans, but the pool toy is consistently my top producer. The fat Albert spends a lot of time on my line, because it is even more visible than the pool toy, but during hopper season the pool toy outperforms the fat Albert in terms of eats on on the surface.

Nine Damaged Pool Toy Hoppers

My post of 01/31/2021 provides a comprehensive update on all things related to the pool toy hopper with links to a materials table and directions to a source for tying instructions.

Brand New Pool Toy Hopper

I inspected the canister that I maintain with damaged and unraveling flies, and I discovered nine pool toy hoppers. This is an indication of my frequent reliance on this productive fly. These flies were missing front and back legs, and I was able to refurbish them without stripping them down to the bare hook. In addition to nine repaired flies, I made three new ones. I have reduced my tying of pool toys to tan bodies with tan underwings in size 8. Bring on the hopper hatch in 2022.

Zoomed In

Chernobyl Ant – 02/01/2022

Chernobyl Ant 02/01/2022 Photo Album

In spite of the surge in popularity of the chubby Chernobyl, I continue to value and stock the classic Chernobyl ant. I have very little to add to my writings of 01/23/2021, so I refer you to that comprehensive report.

Counting Chernobyl Ants

As was the case then, I counted my supply and determined that I possess more than adequate quantities of size 8 and 10 Chernobyl ants. I passed on tying more and moved on to the next foam attractor on my list.

Hippie Stomper – 01/30/2022

Hippie Stomper 01/30/2022 Photo Album

I cannot find enough superlatives to describe this valued weapon in my fly fishing arsenal, so I will just say, “Wow”. Check out my post from a year ago, for an update and click on this link to my post of 11/18/2018 for a materials table. The story of my introduction to the hippie stomper can be found in my 01/13/2018 post.

My success over the past year surpassed even my highest expectations, and I am a confirmed believer in the hippie stomper. The stomper delivers results year round, and I use it solo and as part of a dry/dropper and double dry rig. It is small enough to minimize the impact on the water, yet buoyant enough to support two size fourteen beadhead nymphs. In a double dry fly configuration  I position it first and trail a smaller dry, and it enables me to track the smaller fly quite well. I recommend using a short dropper of six to twelve inches, should you wish to experiment with the double dry approach.

From the Side

What does a hippie stomper imitate? It is hard to know; however, I believe it is first and foremost a terrestrial. However, it could easily be taken for a stonefly or a green drake. During the western green drake season I often knot a hippie stomper with a peacock body to my line along with a nymph dropper or another dry fly during the hours that precede a hatch. I believe that the peacock hippie stomper is close enough to a green drake adult to draw attention or looks prior to the actual hatch. This technique enables me to hedge my bets, as I test for what the trout are tuned into.

A Clump of Stompers

As I generally forget the tying steps from year to year, I have settled on the fly tying video from Andrew Grillos to refresh my memory. Andrew is the creator of the hippie stomper, and it represents his signature fly and one of the most popular in the Umpqua Feather Merchants’ catalog. Simply Google Andrew Grillos to find the video.

A Different Angle

As you might imagine, heavy usage produced significant shrinkage, so I tied twelve new models with peacock dubbed bodies and five with olive ice dub bodies. The olive body flies are the first to go on my line during green drake season. I cannot recommend a fly more highly than the hippie stomper.

Sunk Ant – 01/21/2022

Sunk Ant 01/21/2022 Photo Album

If you visit my post of 12/21/2020, you will discover that I added sunken ants to my arsenal of trout chasing flies during the winter of 2020-21. The aforementioned post contains a materials table and points the reader to an online video by Kelly Galloup that provides the tying steps for his sunk ant. The brief report also explains why I adopted sunken ants, and they now represent a significant weapon in my search for wild trout.

Size 16 Sunk Ant

I made five size 16 and five size 14 ants last winter, and after I counted my remaining supply, I decided to increment my inventory by another five of each size. During the 2021 season I enjoyed continued success with my sunken ants. They seem to be particularly productive on small high mountain streams, and this seems logical, since trees and bushes tend to be closer to the water, and this in turn suggests a high probability of the ever present ants tumbling into the creek. I recall days on Clear Creek, South Boulder Creek and Lake Creek where the sunk ant was popular with the local stream residents.

5 14’s and 5 16’s

My goal for 2022 is to utilize the sunk ant even more, and in doing so I plan to test it in larger rivers and in all seasons. Ants seem to exist in spring, summer and fall; so why should they not catch fish in all three seasons? I plan to find out.

Crystal Stone – 01/18/2022

Crystal Stone 01/18/2022 Photo Album

I love the look of this fly, and I created it myself. Given the millions of flies out there, there may be another similar version, but I am taking credit for this small black stonefly imitation. For the story behind how it came into existence browse my post of 03/06/2021. This brief narrative contains a materials table and step by step tying instructions, if you feel the urge to produce a few.

Left Side View

I must admit that my intentions surpassed my actions with this fly. I did knot it to my line a few times, and I believe it delivered a fish or two; however, I would like to deploy it more frequently in 2022 to better assess its effectiveness.

Necessary Materials

Since last year it was purely experimental, I only tied five. Given my optimism for its productivity assuming more usage, I generated another ten for the upcoming season. I sincerely plan to give it a solid test run this year.

Arkansas Rubber Legs – 01/16/2022

Arkansas Rubber Legs – 01/16/2022 Photo Album

I last tied the Arkansas rubber leg nymph in 2013, and you can check out the post that I made at that time by clicking on 01/17/2013. This report also describes how I became acquainted with this stonefly imitation.

In the intervening years I lost sight of the Arkansas rubber legs, until last spring, when I pulled one out of my fleece wallet and knotted it to my line on a trip to the Arkansas River on 03/09/2021. The large weighted fly with rubber legs accounted for two nice brown trout, and I made a mental note to check my supply and resurrect its presence in my fly supply.

Angled Left Side

Apparently stoneflies go through a molting process in February and March, and the trout view the light-colored and soft-bodied insects as delicacies. This explains my surprising success on my early March trip. I am not certain why I abandoned the rubber legs for such a long time.

There are numerous videos for tying Pat’s rubber legs nymphs, and any will work fine for manufacturing a bunch for your fly box. Simply substitute an orange/yellow/light green chenille and also use rubber legs with a similar olive and yellow sheen. I particularly like the tying video by Tim Flagler at tightlinevideo. In this demonstration Tim shows how to form the antennae, tail and legs by using UV resin, and I feel this really simplifies the task of making the legs and weaving the chenille through the dangling appendages.

Three New Rubber Legs With Materials

When I counted my inventory of Arkansas rubber legs, I discovered that I had nine in my possession. I sat down at my vise and produced an additional three with conehead beads plus one that is weighted with wire but does not feature a bead. It will not be long before the stoneflies on the Arkansas River molt, and hopefully my Arkansas rubber legs will allow me to fool a few.

Prince Nymph – 01/15/2022

Prince Nymph 01/15/2022 Photo Album

The prince nymph is an old classic that remains an essential offering in my collection of nymphs. The peacock body, brown goose biot tail, and white goose biot horns are proven fish attractors. For more information of the prince nymph and my tying modifications click on this link to my 11/21/2020 post.

Angled and Closer

I counted my inventory of various sizes of prince nymphs recently and determined that I needed to tie only three to boost my supply to my goal levels. Within one day I achieved my target with three size 12 weighted prince nymphs. The prince nymph is a versatile fly that imitates stoneflies, green drake nymphs and egg laying caddis. There is some overlap with the 20 incher, but I utilize the prince in smaller sizes, when I attempt to mimic green drake nymphs and egg laying female caddis.

Three Additions

I am certain that I am prepared with prince nymphs for the 2022 season.