Category Archives: Fly Tying

Blogs related to tying flies

Parachute Green Drake – 02/05/2024

Parachute Green Drake 02/05/2024 Photo Album

My post of 02/05/2023 does an excellent job of summarizing my takeaways from tying the parachute green drake over many years. It also contains a link to the previous year post, and you can trace my parachute green drake evolution back through time should you have the desire.

It is no secret that I love fishing to western green drakes, and who wouldn’t? Slap a highly visible size 12 or size 14 on your line and be confident that any fish in the vicinity will search them out and crush your fly. I have experienced days, when I only observed a pair of naturals, yet the resident trout could not resist my offerings. The trick is locating western green drake emergences on western rivers and streams. The timing differs substantially between freestone and tailwater drainages, with tailwaters lagging the freestones significantly.

My supply of parachute green drakes dwindled a bit during 2023, so I manufactured six new imitations for the upcoming season. One of these was donated to Nate, and the other five replaced shrinkage in my fly boxes. I have four months to wait for green drake action.

 

Mini Chubby Chernobyl – 02/04/2024

Mini Chubby Chernobyl 02/04/2024 Photo Album

I encountered an Instagram video of a tier producing a mini chubby Chernobyl, and I was instantly struck with the desire to add a few of these to my collection of flies. Why? Because quite often I am frustrated by repeated refusals to the large surface fly in a dry/dropper, and this translates to the fish ignoring the trailing dropper flies. Could a smaller-sized chubby Chernobyl resolve this problem? Downsizing has often been a successful strategy for overcoming the large fly refusal syndrome.

The mini chubby is very similar to its larger cousin. The main difference is possessing only one large poly wing instead of two. In addition, the tying video I viewed did not take the time to cover the segment thread wraps with dubbed turns. These two modifications make this fly somewhat faster to tie.

For my first effort in mini chubby production I churned out six; five for my fly boxes and one for my friend. I am anxious to test my downsizing theory on trout in 2024.

Fat Albert – 02/03/2024

Fat Albert 02/03/2024 Photo Album

It is difficult to supplement my post of 01/23/2023 with relevant information. If you are interested in this fly click on the link to my previous year narrative. This fly receives quite a bit of usage as the surface fly that accompanies double nymphs in a dry/dropper configuration. In addition to serving as an extremely effective strike indicator, it attracts its share of eats along the way.

I counted my fat Alberts and determined that I needed six to replenish my supply for the 2024 season. I dumped my damaged fly canister, and four old fat Alberts with missing legs materialized. I refurbished the handicapped hoppers and tied three new versions, and this allowed me to gift one to my friend, Nate. I am now fairly certain that I have adequate fat Alberts to get me through the upcoming season.

Chubby Chernobyl – 02/03/2024

Chubby Chernobyl 02/03/2024 Photo Album

Every year, when I encounter chubby Chernobyls on my fly tying checklist, I vow to use the large foam attractor fly more frequently. During 2023 I probably deployed the large-winged foam bomb with the same frequency as the previous season.

For an informative read on my experience with the chubby, check out my post of 01/24/2023. This report also provides links to older posts, should you desire more information on chubby Chernobyls. Quite a few tying tutorials are available on YouTube, should you wish to travel down the road of tying your own.

I counted my supply of chubbys and determined that I needed to tie three additional flies. I approached the vise and cranked out three, and this included one for my exercise specialist, Nate. I accompanied Jane on a visit to a local Joann’s store, and I purchased five sheets of 2MM foam of varying colors. One of the colors was lavender, and I was so intrigued with the unique shade, that I produced two lavender chubbys with purple bodies. I gave one of these to Nate. It will be interesting to see, if I use the purple and whether a trout will succumb to the allure of lavender and purple.

Pool Toy Hopper – 01/27/2024

Pool Toy Hopper 01/27/2024 Photo Album

I have very little to add beyond my post from a year ago, which can be viewed at 01/22/2023. I probably deploy the pool toy hopper more than any other large hopper or foam pattern. It is only surpassed by the smaller and, in my opinion, more versatile hippie stomper. Ironically both flies were designed by the master of foam, Andrew Grillos.

When I counted my inventory of pool toy hoppers, I discovered that I needed to increment my supply by nine, and I added one for my friend, Nate. I also maintain some plastic canisters with mangled and damaged flies that I placed out of service during the season, and I discovered six flies in this condition. I approached my vise and replaced the missing legs on the damaged flies and then produced four new versions; three for me and one for my friend. I am certain that this fly will spend quite a bit of time on my line throughout the season, and I am equally sure that legs will fall off, and a few will be donated to trees and aggressive fish. I am prepared for every eventuality in 2024.

 

Chernobyl Ant – 01/23/2024

Chernobyl Ant 01/23/2024 Photo Album

For an excellent recap of my experience with and usage of the classic Chernobyl ant please review my post of 01/23/2021. It also contains a link to a materials table, and it does an excellent job of explaining the circumstances that induce me to tie a Chernobyl ant to my line. I am unable to build upon that narrative here in any significant way.

My usage of the Chernobyl ant has declined in recent years, as chubby Chernobyls, fat Alberts and pool toy hoppers now command the prime position as a highly visible and very buoyant surface fly in a dry/dropper configuration. For this reason my loss of this fly is negligible, and consequently I determined that I had adequate supplies for another year. In order to remain in practice and to provide some for my young fishing friend, Nate, I tied two. They turned out great, so hopefully Nate will enjoy them as much as I do.

 

Jake’s Gulp Beetle – 01/16/2024

Jake’s Gulp Beetle 01/16/2024 Photo Album

Check out my post of 01/17/2023 for more information and links related to Jake’s gulp beetle. This fly is quite easy to tie, and one of my historical posts provides step by step directions.

I deployed the foam beetle a few times during 2023, but I do not seem to revive its effectiveness similar to situations in past years. I suspect some of this shift resulted from my tendency to not use it, as I tend to default to the hippie stomper, stimulator or deer hair caddis before resorting to a foam beetle. This is perhaps a mistake on my part, so I will try to reverse this trend in 2024.

My supply was slightly depleted, so I tied an additional five with one going to my friend. The remaining four were split evenly between size 14 and size 12. I feel prepared for terrestrial plopping in the upcoming season.

Hippie Stomper – 01/12/2024

Hippie Stomper 01/12/2024 Photo Album

I opened my dry fly tying season with a hippie stomper, and why not? This fly is hands down my top producing dry fly, and I cannot even tell you what it imitates. I suppose that is the beauty of it; it looks like any number of natural food items, and most importantly it is simply buggy. I suggest that you read my last post from 01/11/203, as it has excellent background information and a link to an older post with even more explanation. My 2023 post is especially effective at explaining how and when I deploy the hippie stomper.

I began last year with twenty-five hippie stompers in stock containing my favorite body color, peacock; and I determined that my supply was severely diminished. In fact, toward the end of the 2023 season I began to worry that my valued stock of hippie stompers would be fully depleted. This level of shrinkage is a testament to heavy usage of an extremely effective fly. For this reason I approached my vise and tied twenty-eight new versions. I made three for my friend, Nate, and the remainder replenished my fly boxes. Of the twenty-five for me, twenty contained a peacock dubbed body and five contained an olive ice dub body. I was able to recover quite a few hooks by stripping old hippie stompers that were damaged through a season of heavy usage.

 

Sunk Ant – 01/02/2024

Sunk Ant 01/02/2024 Photo Album

You are able to read the story of my burgeoning romance with the sunk ant in my post of 12/21/2020. It contains a materials table and a mention of my favored fly tying video. An informative update is available on my 01/03/2023 post.

Sunk ants have earned a more prominent place in my fleece wallet after experiencing solid results on high country streams. I tried them a few times on the large down valley rivers, but I was not able to replicate similar results, although admittedly the amount of time on the line in these situations was not comparable. It does stand to reason, however, that small high mountain creeks are closer to bushes and trees bearing ants on both banks of the stream. I am a huge fan of sunk ants, and I only question why it took so long to become a proponent.

I made four size 14 sunk ants and two size 16’s, and I gave one of each size to my friend, Nate. My supplies of these flies should be adequate for 2024. Bring on the army of ants.

Pat’s Rubber Legs – 12/29/2023

Pat’s Rubber Legs 12/29/2023 Photo Album

If you are thinking about fishing Pat’s rubber legs during the upcoming season, but you are not convinced of its effectiveness, check out this post from 06/27/2022. Effective would be an understatement. This day on the Arkansas River convinced me to never overlook my stocks of Pat’s rubber legs. Additional useful information is available from my post of 12/22/2022.

I used my better judgement to count my rubber legs, and I concluded that I maintained an adequate supply, but I tied up two additional weighted nymphs in coffee/black and two in the olive/black color. One of each color was donated to my exercise specialist friend.