20 Incher 02/06/2014 Photo Album

Two of the buggiest natural materials used in tying flies are peacock herl and hare’s mask fur. The 20 incher combines both to create a fish catching machine. I’ve had a decent amount of success with the 20 incher pattern in the spring before snow melt and in the fall season. It may produce at other times, but I’ve only been using it for two years and haven’t experimented with it extensively in other portions of the fishing season.

Profile

I weight my 20 inchers with lead wraps that span 2/3 of the hook shank beginning at the bead, and this yields a large weighted fly that sinks rapidly. In the spring season I like to use the 20 incher as my top fly with another hatch matching fly such as an RS2 or caddis pupa below it as the point. The weight of the 20 incher enables me to forego crimping a split shot to my line.

I plan to tie eleven additional 20 inchers for 2014, and I made good progress last night with four remaining to be completed. I have been using copper wire to counter wrap the rib over the abdomen, but the standard pattern calls for a larger flat gold wire. I think I have some wire that fits that description, and if I can locate it in my fly tying desk, I will use it on my final four. Another deviation I make is to use Tyvek for the wing case. Tyvek is the material used in FedEx envelopes and is nearly indestructible. I color a section of Tyvek on both sides with a black magic marker and then cut a strip the width of the abdomen and tie it in where a turkey wing section is normally added.

Nice View from the Top

Hopefully I will use the 20 incher more in 2014 and enjoy great success. Do buggy materials equal a buggy fly? I thinks so, but the fish will be the true judge.

Iron Sally 02/04/2014 Photo Album

How can a fisherman ignore the allure of an iron sally? In my opinion this fly is the most attractive nymph ever invented with its abdomen constructed with woven gold ultra wire and black crystal flash strands. Using the remnant crystal flash strands for legs and the associated movement and flash was another creative stroke of genius.

Iron Sally

I first became acquainted with iron sallies when my friend Dave Gaboury and I booked a day of guided fishing with Taylor Edrington of Royal Gorge Anglers on private water on the Arkansas River around the middle of September 2012. After experiencing some solid fishing with the iron sally during this fun day on the river, I resolved to tie some for the 2013 season. I watched an excellent YouTube video demonstrating how to manufacture these beauties, and then headed to my favorite local fly shop to purchase additional necessary materials – gold ultra wire and black crystal flash.

From the Top

Last winter I tied five prized iron sallies and upon completion decided to add them to my flybox rather than convert them into earrings for my wife. They are that pretty. I fished the pre-snowmelt season without ever touching my new creations, but during a trip to the Arkansas River in early August when I was struggling to find a productive fly, I spotted the iron sally in my fleece pouch. It was a warm day with no cloud cover, and I was landing an occasional fish, but nothing seemed to produce any consistency. The iron sally is intended to imitate yellow sally stoneflies, and I spotted several fluttering above the river, so I decided to experiment with the glittering nymph. The decision proved to be a smart one as my catch rate improved, and I landed quite a few nice fish on the jewel on my line.

Now it is the winter of 2014, and I decided to produce ten more shiny iron sallies. They are completed and hang from my foam tool organizer near the window and reflect light from all angles. I can’t bring myself to stash them in my flybox because they are so beautiful.

Bright Green Caddis Pupa 01/26/2014 Photo Album

Emerald Caddis Pupa 01/26/2014 Photo Album

Caddis are very prevalent on all Colorado rivers and in fact in nearly every river and stream  that I’ve fished. Caddis adults are easy to recognize due to their wing folded like a tent over the abdomen and their erratic style of flying above the water. I’ve experienced some great outings when caddis are the preferred surface food, and on many of these occasions an active drift is required to initiate a take by the fish. The fish recognize the fluttering caddis and selectively seek movement in their prey.

Trout may devour even more subsurface caddis in the form of larva and pupa, but this activity is much more difficult to recognize as we fishermen cannot readily see the actions of fish beneath the surface. Through many years of experience and by reading reports and suggestions from the experts at fly shops, I have managed to achieve some level of success using caddis pupa. The period of time in April before the major caddis emergence on the Arkansas River is my main workshop, and the caddis pupa has proven to be a great fly to entice takes during this period.

Bright Green Caddis Pupa

The bright green caddis pupa which imitates the grannom caddis typically represents my strongest producer, particularly in the weeks closest to the main emergence of the adults. I have discovered that the best time to fish the bright green caddis is from 11AM until around 3PM, and success depends to a large degree on imparting movement to the fly. I typically fish a two fly system with a strike indicator and split shot during this time period with the bright green caddis on the point and either a caddis larva, emerald caddis pupa, or prince nymph as the upper fly. In some instances I fish the bright green caddis in combination with a RS2 since BWO hatches may overlap with caddis activity.

To provide movement to the pair of flies I use two techniques. If I cast directly upstream, I continually raise and lower my rod tip as the flies tumble back toward me. This creates the illusion of a rapidly emerging caddis pupa, and I’ve experienced quite a bit of success with trout grabbing the rising fly.

The second technique contradicts one of the universal laws of fishing; mend the line to allow the fly to flow naturally with the current. When fishing the bright green caddis pupa, I do the opposite and mend the line with the current. This generates a quick acceleration of the flies, and many times the fish slash at the pupa imitation thinking it is emerging and escaping their jaws.

Emerald Caddis Pupa

The emerald caddis is effective during spring, summer and fall but it doesn’t generate the frenzied feeding that corresponds to the bright green caddis and the April emergence. The emerald caddis is more of a distance runner compared to the sprint of the bright green caddis. I’ve caught several adult caddis that had a tinge of emerald color on their abdomen, so I believe that the emerald pupa offers a color that the fish have seen and recognize as a tasty meal. I can recall numerous instances when the water seemed dead in late afternoon, and I’ve tied on an emerald caddis and landed a few fish that snatched the pupa as it began to swing at the end of a drift.

These two flies are definitely solid producers, and I always attempt to enter a new season with a generous supply from which to draw. For 2014 I tied twelve bright green caddis to bring my inventory to 50, and then I added six emerald versions to my carry overs to reach 30 as spring approaches.

Prince Nymph 01/25/2014 Photo Album

Ultra Zug 01/25/2014 Photo Album

Prince nymphs are very productive flies in Colorado so it’s a good idea to have a supply in one’s fly box at all times. Unfortunately I do not enjoy tying these peacock body flies probably because of the temperamental white goose biots that never seem to cooperate when I mount them behind the bead and on top of the body of the fly. The splayed goose biot tails can also be frustrating, but I’ve improved my ability to attach these after watching a YouTube video.

I’ve had the most success with prince nymphs on the Arkansas River in April and May after the heavy caddis hatch arrives, as I believe the peacock body and white wings mimic egg laying caddis adults as they dive to the river bottom. I recall quite a few outings where caddis pupa and dries were not producing so I knotted a prince nymph to my line and began to enjoy some fairly fast action.

Ultra Zug from the Side

Several winters ago I was paging through my Scott Sanchez fly pattern book, and I discovered his ultra zug pattern, so I decided to give it a try. This pattern is a much simpler fly, but it retains the peacock body and presents a very shaggy buggy look. During visits to the Arkansas in the spring of 2012 and 2013 I substituted the ultra zug for the prince nymph in caddis egg laying situations, and I discovered that it worked quite well. As I planned my tying for 2014, I decided to produce more ultra zug flies and skip the more time-consuming prince nymph.

Refurbished Prince Nymph

As I prepared to tie ultra zugs I went through my canisters of damaged flies and set aside seventeen prince nymphs in varying states of disrepair! This is probably an indictment of my prince nymph tying capabilities as many were missing one or both of the white goose biot wings. I spent a few hours reconstructing these wounded prince nymphs on Saturday, and I now have some of the real thing in addition to the scaled down ultra zugs. Perhaps this spring I can perform some tests and alternate between the two peacock imitations to see which one delivers the best results?

Copper John 01/24/2014 Photo Album

The copper john came into vogue as a hot fly perhaps 15 – 20 years ago, and I jumped on the bandwagon and tied a batch at that time. They proved to be quite effective, and I can remember some hot fishing in the pocket water of the Eagle River with a copper john being the primary target of some nice brown trout. I attached the copper john to a yellow Letort hopper using a three foot dropper, and the fish gobbled the shiny nymph like candy.

Side View of Copper John

Aside from the flash of a copper john and a generally fishy look, they are also appealing because of their rapid sink rate particularly when used as a dropper in a dry/dropper arrangement. I tie some of my copper johns with lead wire wrapped behind the bead, and when combined with the copper wire abdomen and the bead, this fly sinks quickly upon entering the stream. The flash of the wire abdomen, the bead, the peacock herl thorax and the flash on the wing case make this fly difficult for trout to miss.

Completed Copper Johns Drying

For some reason I’ve strayed from using the copper john in recent years and consequently I have not needed to replenish my supply. As I prepared for my trip to Argentina; however, I realized that I was down to nine relics from the copper john heyday so I decided to replenish my stock. I dug through my fly pattern binder and found the John Barr materials list and tying instructions and quickly got in the groove of producing a fresh supply. After generating ten brand new copper nymphs I found four more in need of refurbishment. I was able to salvage the copper wire abdomen and reconstructed the thorax, legs and wing case on these unraveling flies. I feel comfortable with my 2014 supply now, and I plan to test the effectiveness of this solid standby particularly early in the season.

Zebra Midge 01/24/2014 Photo Album

Perhaps one of the easiest flies to tie is the zebra midge. I had 13 of these small flies in stock so I decided to tie an additional 7. I completed this project in less than half an hour as the most time consuming part of the process is centering the tiny bead over the point of a size 20 hook and sliding it around the bend to the hook eye without dropping the bead or the hook on the floor. Because these hooks and beads are so tiny I clamp the hook in my vice in a backwards J position and use my tweezers to grab the bead and position it over the point of the hook. I always try to hold my hand beneath the hook in case I miss because if one of these falls to the carpet, it is goodbye bead.

Once the bead is on the hook, I simply attach my black thread to the hook and then attach a length of fine silver wire. I wrap the thread up the hook shank making sure that the metal is covered and at the same time creating a gradual taper. Once I’ve covered the hook shank, I wrap the fine silver wire forward to form a rib and then tie it off just behind the bead. The final step is to whip finish behind the bead and this creates a bit of bulk that imitates the head.

Zebra Midge

The zebra midge is a fly I should probably fish with more frequently. I fall into the trap of thinking that the fish cannot see such a tiny morsel drifting in the current; however, I must say that on the occasions when I’ve used one, I’ve had a fairly high success rate. Generally I’ve used a zebra midge in the morning before I observe larger insect activity, and it has produced fish. I can remember instances on the Frying Pan River, Big Thompson River and Arkansas River where I’ve added a zebra midge to my line and experienced some success. I’ve added it as the point fly on a two fly nymphing setup with a strike indicator, but more success has resulted from using it as the second fly below a buoyant attractor with a larger nymph above it.

I seldom fish lakes, but I’ve also had good luck with a zebra midge dangled off a Chernobyl ant or similar large attractor when I’ve noticed adult midges fluttering above the water. Hopefully I’ll recognize midge situations during 2014, and the zebra midge will serve me well.

Salvation Nymph 01/06/2014 Photo Album

When I posted my last report on the salvation nymph a year ago around this time, it was mainly an experimental fly. I’d caught a few fish on it, but there were other flies in my arsenal that spent more time on the end of my line. After another year of fly fishing I can report that the salvation nymph has improved its ranking among the various flies in my box. There were several occasions during the year when this fly came through in a big way, so I decided to replenish my supply for the coming season.

I counted 13 in my large storage box plus a few in my fleece pouch so I decided to tie an additional 19 to bring my inventory to 35 entering the new season. Upon my return from Argentina and after taking a break during the holiday season, I returned to my fly tying desk with the start of 2014. I finished tying my supply of beadhead hares ear nymphs and launched into salvation nymph production tying mode. I followed the steps outlined in a previous blog post and completed the nineteen according to my plan. Similar to the hares ear nymph I added several additional points where I applied head cement to hopefully prolong the life of the fly before the thread unravels.

Closer Top View

Once I’d completed nineteen new flies I searched through the four or five canisters of unraveling and damaged flies on my desk and discovered four or five in need of repair. I refurbished these and brought my total stock to 40. Hopefully these will serve me during the coming year as I intend to use the salvation nymph even more frequently than in previous seasons. I love the look of this attractor nymph with numerous points of light reflection including ice dub, pearl flashabou, and flash back black.