Category Archives: Fly Tying

Blogs related to tying flies

Charlie Boy Hopper – 01/24/2015

As I mentioned in a recent post on the pool toy, I became reacquainted with the Charlie Boy hopper during 2014. Several winters ago I tied approximately ten in my ongoing quest for an effective imitation of a grasshopper that also floats well, is visible, and supports a size 14 beadhead nymph. The Charlie Boys fulfilled the need for visibility and buoyancy, but I was dissatisfied with their fish catching capabilities.

Fish Eye View

If you read the pool toy post, you will learn that my dwindling pool toy supply caused me to fish a tan Charlie Boy simply as a sophisticated strike indicator, and I was surprised to discover that the old Charlie Boy was in fact a strong attractor. I landed quite a few nice fish that succumbed to the allure of Mr. Charlie, and in fact two of the foam specimens were mauled by a series of teeth cuts.

Three Life-Like Charlie Boys

With this new perspective on the Charlie Boy hopper, I manufactured another ten to replenish the supply that I created in 2012. Hopefully the foam hopper proves to be a lasting winner, and not just a one season flash. Stay tuned.

Accumulating a Bunch

Pool Toy – 01/17/2015

I’ve written several posts on the pool toy hopper imitation, and you can read them at Grillos Pool Toy and Pool Toy 02/14/2014. I’ll avoid being redundant by resuming my commentary where I ended on my post from 2014.

I made another four last winter to put my supply at around fifteen, and I carried three or four along with me on my trip to Argentina, but they never got wet. During the spring, summer and fall season I did indeed cast a pool toy as a top fly in a dry/dropper configuration more frequently than in the previous year. This resulted in a few more success stories, however, I still feel that a Letort hopper or parachute hopper would out fish a pool toy if used a comparable amount of time.

Top View

The pool toy does offer great buoyancy and visibility, thus, it spends more time on my line admittedly as a sophisticated indicator. Because of its ability to remain afloat while a size 14 beadhead nymph is suspended two feet below, the pool toy was used fairly frequently. This resulted in the loss of quite a few flies mainly in situations where a fish grabbed the nymph, and in its valiant efforts to escape broke off both flies.

Yellow Underside

By the end of August my supply of pool toys dwindled to the point that I began opting for a tan Charlie Boy hopper to preserve my few pool toys for September. Guess what happened? I rediscovered the tan Charlie Boy and experienced some hot hopper fishing in September and October on this forgotten fly that was exiled to the end of my fly bin. Days on the Arkansas River and Yampa tailwater stand out as two examples where the tan Charlie Boy yielded numerous good sized fish. In fact, the tan foam bodies became so mangled that I had to replace them.

Zoomed in on Pool Toys

The pool toy was effective enough to merit a decent supply for another season, so I tied thirteen over the last couple of weeks including eight tan, two gray and three yellow. I have approximately 15-20 in inventory, and I’m anxious to continue experimenting with the pool toy in 2015.

Chernobyl Ant – 01/06/2015

Nearly all that I can say about the Chernobyl ant is contained in my three previous posts on this workhorse fly. In my last post which can be accessed using the link above, I mentioned using a new method of tying the foam body that would hopefully eliminate the spinning problem that plagued my ants previously. After using flies constructed in this manner during 2014, I can report that the fold over method does in fact largely eliminate the problem of the foam layer spinning around the hook shank.

Chernobyl Ant Tying Time

The Chernobyl ant continued to be my favorite large buoyant attractor fly during the past season, and I deployed it often in a dry/dropper configuration. I cannot support this statement with statistics, but it did not seem to be as effective as previous seasons. There was a period during the early summer when I was having great success with size 14 stimulators, and then in late summer and early fall the Charlie Boy hopper surprised me with its effectiveness.

Closer Top View

Despite these deviations in performance, I remain an enthusiastic proponent of tying a Chernobyl ant to my line, and I will continue to do so frequently in 2015. For this reason I sat down at my vice over the weekend and churned out 15 new Chernobyl ants. In addition I refurbished three more that resided in my broken fly canister. I cut the black foam strip to a point and then tied the arrow point to the shank of the hook and then folded it over the top. For legs I used primarily barred sexi legs, and I cut them to 1/4 – 1/2 inch in length. I discovered that the longer legs cause the fly to land upside down more often than desired.

Underneath

I’m anxious to toss a Chernobyl ant on flowing water in 2015 because that will mean that milder weather has arrived, and fish are looking toward the surface for their meal.

The Ants Go Marching

Craven Soft Hackle Emerger – 12/29/2014

The Craven soft hackle emerger has risen from an experimental fly to a fly I select ahead of the trusted RS2 during blue winged olive emergence periods. I first tied a batch of these flies during the winter before the 2013 season, and I experienced quite a bit of success with them. Consequently I produced enough to begin 2014 with 50 in my storage bin. As a testimony to their improved status in my selection ranking, I consumed roughly half of my beginning inventory over the past summer, and as a result I decided to tie 26 new soft hackle emergers to bring my stock back to 50 for 2015.

A Completed Craven Soft Hackle

Despite my increased confidence in the soft hackle emerger, I recall several situations where the circumstances seemed perfect for the soft hackle wet fly, yet I was disappointed with the results. During one outing on the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon in April a dense hatch of blue wings evolved, but the soft hackle did not entice the numerous feeding fish to devour my offering. I fished it using a dead drift, but I also imparted movement with numerous line manipulation techniques.

Soft Hackle Emerger Without Bead

I gave these situations some thought and concluded that perhaps I was fishing the soft hackles too deep. Quite a few mayflies were emerging from the surface of the river, but because of the strong wind, they tumbled and skittered across the surface before the trout could respond. Perhaps the trout were tuned into blue winged olive emergers or wind blown cripples just below the surface. My weighted offering may have been drifting beneath the fish’s field of vision.

Another View

For this reason I tied ten new emergers with a tiny nickel bead, and the remainder were tied with no bead. In addition I completed ten on a Tiemco size 20 2457 hook with no bead. These are very small and hopefully will cover situations when the smaller broods of olives hatch on Colorado rivers. If I need to go deep with the emerger pattern, I can always combine it with another larger beadhead nymph as the top fly.

29 Craven Soft Hackle Emergers

Zebra Midge – 12/23/2014

My previous post on the zebra midge largely covers the effectiveness of this diminutive subsurface fly, and I have little to add here in late December 2014.

Black Zebra Midge

I counted 18 in my fly bin, so I decided to tie an additional two to bring my total to 20 as I approach the 2015 fishing season. In addition my supply of dark olive zebra midges dwindled to only a few in my fleece pocket, so I produced an additional three of that variety.

Olive Zebra Midge

How can fish see these tiny morsels as they drift in the large rivers of Colorado? It remains a mystery to me, but I do know that they produce, and I will continue to tie them to my line in likely midge feeding situations.

Hare Nation Update – 12/18/2014

First I imagined a fly that combined the best features of a hare’s ear nymph and a salvation nymph; my two top producing flies in 2014. Next I tied a single prototype, named it hare nation, and posted a photo of the new composite fly on this blog.

Hare Nation Nymph

As I prepared to tie thirteen beadhead pheasant tail nymphs to bring my inventory back to 60, I looked at my hare nation and decided that it was similar in appearance to a pheasant tail but offered some notable enhancements.The hare nation was tied on a size 14 2457 Tiemco hook, and excluding the space consumed by the bead, this yields a fly that approximates a size 16 which is the size range of pale morning dun nymphs. I tie my standard beadhead pheasant tail on a size 16 Tiemco 2457, and I have noticed on several occasions during pale morning dun hatch time periods that the larger nymphs outperform the smaller ones.

Underside

The hare nation contains legs in the form of brown pheasant feather fibers, whereas, my pheasant tail nymph pattern skips legs. Finally the hare nation uses flashy black peacock ice dub and the shiny flashback black and flashabou for the overbody and wing case. I suppose I could add legs to the pheasant tail pattern and tie them on a larger hook, but the most significant difference between the two is the durability of the synthetic materials compared to the brittle pheasant tail fibers.

Completed Cluster of Hare Nations

Perhaps I’m in love with the idea of creating and naming my own fly? At any rate I tied thirteen hare nations and added them to the 47 beadhead pheasant tail nymphs in my fly bin. I still have plenty of the old style pheasant tails as backup in case the hare nation does not yield superior performance and meet my expectations.

Emerald Caddis Pupa – 12/17/2014

Nice Fly

My relationship with the emerald caddis pupa began many years ago during several fishing trips to Pennsylvania, and you can read the background story at beadhead emerald caddis pupa – 01/01/2012. It continues to be a productive fly in my arsenal, and I always plan to have adequate quantities available.

Unlike the bright green caddis pupa which seems to peak in effectiveness around grannom hatch time periods, the emerald version is productive all season long. In fact, I’ve had success with this fly during late afternoon time periods when the water seems dead after a significant hatch. I attribute this to the emerald color. I’ve seen caddis adults bearing emerald tips on their abdomen, so I believe that the color is a significant triggering characteristic.

Six Completed Emerald Caddis Pupa

For 2015 I plan to have 30 emerald pupa in my beginning inventory, and this required me to produce an additional six. I experimented with two different dubbing materials for the collar behind the gold bead. One choice was hares mask fur, and I am quite pleased with the unruly buggy look of this modification. I’m hoping this appearance will convey the illusion of movement and emergence even more than the gray rabbit fur that I have traditionally applied. I have completed six new flies, and I’m ready to explore rivers and streams with emerald caddis pupa.

Great Scraggly Caddis Look

Bright Green Caddis Pupa – 12/16/2014

While still living in Pennsylvania early in my fly fishing career, my father and I rented a small cabin along the Beaverkill River in New York during the middle of May. During one day early in our week we encountered a dense grannom emergence, and I managed to catch some fish on a dark cahill wet fly, but I felt like a better imitation would have resulted in more fish landed.

When I returned to the cabin that evening, I pulled out my recently purchased Caddisflies by Gary Lafontaine and researched what patterns imitate grannom pupa. This was my introduction to the bright green emergent caddis pupa. I must have had fly tying materials with me, as I remember producing some caddis pupa as well as some egg laying adult patterns, and the next day I arrived at the river prepared. That following afternoon I was armed with the bright green caddis pupa, and I experienced one of the best days of fishing in the east prior to my relocation to Colorado. I recall two doubles where I had two fish on my line at the same time.

Great Proportions

After I moved to Colorado, I continued to knot a bright green caddis on my line whenever I spotted a fair amount of adults in the air or in the streamside vegetation. I discovered that the sparkle yarn pattern was just as productive in the west as it was in the east.

Historically I’ve experienced the most success with the bright green caddis on the Arkansas River in April and early May when the grannom hatch is at its peak. I fish the pupa on a tandem nymph rig with a split shot and impart various types of movement to the fly in the hours before emergence or egg laying, and this approach yielded a significant amount of success. Unfortunately due to unusually cold high murky water conditions during the spring of 2014, I never encountered the caddis pupa friendly conditions that I seek.

I did have some decent success on the Eagle River in early July during the post runoff time period. During one outing with my friend Todd I was landing quite a few nice fish over a short period of time so I gave him some to test. Todd quickly became a huge fan of the bright green caddis pupa.

Twelve Bright Green Caddis Pupa

I counted my stash of bright green caddis pupa and discovered that I had 28 carry overs in my bin, so I planned to tie an additonal twelve to bring my inventory level to 40. I’m happy to report that this goal has been reached, and I anxiously anticipate a more productive caddis season on the Arkansas River.

Hare Nation – 12/11/2014

In my 12/04/2014 post on the hare’s ear nymph I concocted a fly in my mind that I called a Hare Nation. I envisioned combining the best features of two of my most productive flies into one. I selected the hares mask dubbing for the abdomen and soft hackle legs from the hare’s ear nymph, and then borrowed the flash back black and flashabou from the salvation nymph along with the black peacock ice dub for the thorax.

A Completed Hares Ear

Very Nice Top View

I am happy to report that the hare nation is no longer a figment of my imagination. I tied one the other night. I like the look, but the final product strikes me as a close replica of a flashback pheasant tail nymph. That isn’t really all bad, as it may attract more fish during pale morning dun hatch periods.

Better Top View

What do you readers think? Should I tie more hare nations?

Hare’s Ear Nymph – 12/04/2014

Once I moved to Colorado and learned the effectiveness of nymph fishing, I discovered that a hare’s ear nymph was a magnificent producer in all seasons and all times of the day. Adding a beadhead to the hare’s ear nymph simply enhanced the fish catching appeal of this traditional fly. For the last four years I entered each new fishing season with an inventory of at least 100 beadhead hare’s ear nymphs; a testament to my trust in this productive fly.

During 2014 I noticed a shift in my favorite nymph option as I began to knot a salvation nymph to my line more frequently than a hare’s ear, and in the late stages of the season I selected an ultra zug bug ahead of a beadhead hare’s ear. I can recall numerous occasions when I fished a beadhead hare’s ear and salvation nymph in tandem, and the fish seemed to demonstrate a distinct preference for the salvation. Perhaps the position of the fly had an impact on their relative effectiveness, and I generally placed the salvation on the point with the hares ear presented as the top fly. I have always believed that the point fly tantalizes fish because it exhibits more movement as it is only attached to a leader on one end. Nevertheless I gradually concluded that the salvation nymph was outproducing the hare’s ear, and consequently I developed a higher level of confidence in the new flashy kid in my box.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-TGDVUCAetqA/VHjTLXlvhKI/AAAAAAAAtOU/ig8hjtxSPWM/s144-c-o/PB270001.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/11272014Thanksgiving#6086847088655565986″ caption=”A Clump of Hare’s Mask with Lots of Guard Hairs” type=”image” alt=”PB270001.JPG” ]

These evaluations are never very scientific, and I pondered why fish would shift from preferring one fly compared to another. Are trout going through some sort of evolutionary shift in appetite? This theory is highly unlikely. Did I shift the timing of my fishing to seasons or times of the day when fish seek a different food source? The Arkansas River has historically been a haven of hare’s ear gobbling brown trout, and I did not fish that river as frequently in the early season as in previous seasons. This may have been a factor. Could it simply be that much of the success stems from how much confidence a fisherman has in a given fly? Confidence yields time on the line, and time on the line results in more hours in the water in front of fish. In all likelihood all three flies are attractive to fish, and the relative success depends on how frequently I attach them to my line.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-RJ5KvK9doUI/VHjTM4PnDnI/AAAAAAAAtOs/8uPBoLqtvto/s144-c-o/PB270004.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/11272014Thanksgiving#6086847114600975986″ caption=”A Completed Hares Ear” type=”image” alt=”PB270004.JPG” ]

This discussion of hare’s ear effectiveness begs the question; what does a hare’s ear nymph imitate? I believe that it is a general nymph imitation that effectively represents various mayfly nymphs. In addition, the soft hackle legs, tan-gray color, and buggy guard hairs also make it effective during periods when there is an abundance of subsurface caddis activity. A salvation nymph is more narrowly an imitation of mayfly nymphs, but the one advantage it possesses is more flash and tiny rubber appendages. Perhaps the additional flash attracts more fish particularly when paired with a beadhead hare’s ear on the same line. In an effort to test this theory, I tied a few new hare’s ear nymphs this winter with a strand of pearl flashabou in the middle of the wing case. I have not resorted to the following pattern yet, but the idea is floating in my mind. I may combine the best qualities of a hare’s ear and salvation and call it a hare’s nation. I envision the buggy hare’s mask dubbing for an abdomen, but then I would use the flashback black and flashabou for a top layer and wing case that covers the entire fly. For the thorax perhaps I would use black peacock ice dub and then finish the fly with soft hackle legs instead of the fine silli legs.

I counted my remaining stock of beadhead hare’s ear nymphs and discovered that I had 51 in inventory. Given the shift in preference from hare’s ear to salvation, I decided to tie 29 and bring my season opening total to 80 rather than the historic standard of 100. In addition I tied 15 for my friend in Kansas City.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-c1i96kYJR0s/VHpxZ9JrwMI/AAAAAAAAtQ4/2LyU3cb90bE/s144-c-o/15%252520Hares%252520Ear%252520Nymphs%252520for%252520Gift.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/108128655430094950653/11272014Thanksgiving#6087302537070493890″ caption=”A Gift for Dave Gaboury” type=”image” alt=”15 Hares Ear Nymphs for Gift.JPG” ]

Will the salvation nymph continue to outshine the beadhead hare’s ear nymph in 2015? Will the ultra zug bug become my new hot fly? Can the beadhead hare’s ear rebound and return as the pre-eminent fly in my fly box? I look forward to spring so I can begin to determine the answers to these questions.