Category Archives: Fly Tying

Blogs related to tying flies

Wiggle Damsel – 12/4/2011

Quite a few years ago I tied five to ten damsel nymphs made with light olive marabou on a size 12 long shank hook. I didn’t fish these frequently, but I liked having them available in my fleece wallet particularly for occasions when I visited a lake.

In June while waiting for the snowmelt to subside in Colorado I made a trip to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal warm water lakes. The first fly I tied to my leader was a damsel fly nymph as it was June and I observed a lot of aquatic vegetation. These were perfect conditions for damsel nymph migrations and hatching. I managed to land a small bass and decent crappie bass before losing my fly. At this point I discovered that only one damsel nymph remained in my fly wallet so I resolved to tie more during the coming winter.

Well that time was upon me, so I prepared to tie damsel nymphs. First I searched through my fly tying books and found a pattern in Charlie Craven’s book called the wiggle nymph, and another pattern called the twisted damsel in a book by Larry Tullis. Neither of these matched the ones I made previously, so I searched the internet and found one similar in style to the ones I tied before.

Next I made a list of the materials I required and discovered that I had dark olive marabou but none of the light olive that was listed in the fly recipes. The wiggle damsel was actually an articulated fly that required two hooks. I never made an articulated fly, but used several that were quite effective in Alaska, so I decided to experiment with a new damsel nymph.

I made a short trip to Bass Pro Shop on Friday night and purchased some small black beadhead eyes and 3X tippet to connect the two hooks, but Bass Pro did not have the desired light olive marabou. On Saturday afternoon after tying beadhead prince nymphs, Jane and I trekked to Old Arvada to Charlie’s Fly Box, and I purchased the highly sought after light olive marabou.

ComponentMaterial
HooksTiemco 101 size 14 or 16 and Tiemco 3761 size 14 for front hook
ThreadPale olive 6/0
Body/Head/WingPale olive marabou
EyesBlack bead chain (extra small)
Connection3X fluorocarbon tippet

 

On Sunday afternoon after watching the Broncos pull out another win over the Vikings, I sat down to manufacture wiggle damsels. I used a Mustad 9671 size 12 for the front fly and a standard size 14 dry fly hook for the rear. I tied 10 tails by tying down a clump of marabou fibers for the tail and then winding the clump forward to the eye. After whip finishing the size 14 hook I used wire cutters to cut off the bend and hook point and set these aside in a plastic cannister for subsequent use.

Next I clamped the larger hook in the vise and tied in the black mono eyes with figure eight wraps and then moved to the rear of the front hook. I clipped a one inch section of 3X mono from the spool, threaded it through the eye of the previously prepared tail section and then bound the monofilament to the front hook so that the tail now dangled from the rear. Finally I tied in a clump of marabou to the rear of the front hook just like I had done for the tail and then wound it forward, under the eyes and then back over the top of the eyes and finished off.

Wiggle Damsel

I can’t wait to fish these flies as they look like great fish attractors. The wiggle tail and undulating marabou fibers should make this fly appear to be alive all the time.

Weekend Production

Beadhead Prince Nymph – 12/3/2011

The prince nymph is another favorite fly of western fly fishers. This classic has great fish attracting features including a bead, iridescent peacock herl, and contrasting white wings. I always want to enter a new season with an adequate supply of beadhead prince nymphs.

In addition, I’ve discovered that a prince nymph is highly effective during the caddis hatches on Colorado Rivers. I’m guessing they are a reasonable imitation of egg laying caddis that dive into the river and swim to the stream bottom to lay their eggs. I’ve had some great success with prince nymphs late in the afternoon after the adult caddis have already hatched.

A Prince Nymph

ComponentMaterial
HookSize 14 nymph or wet fly hook
BeadGold
ThreadBlack 6/0
TailBlack or brown goose biots
RibFine gold wire
Abdomen/ThoraxPeacock herl
LegsBrown hen hackle
WingsWhite goose biots

 

I was prepared to begin tying damsel nymphs, but discovered I didn’t have light olive marabou, so I moved on to tying beadhead prince nymphs over the weekend. The first five were weighted with wire, and the next five were unweighted. Hopefully I now have an adequate stock of this reliable producer.

Olive-Brown Deer Hair Caddis – 12/1/2011

Early in the season, particularly on the Arkansas River, a caddis with a dark body is highly effective. Deer hair caddis with a peacock body are probably a better imitation of the caddis that hatch in thick clouds on the Arkansas; however, I’ve found that a dark olive-brown body caddis also fools fish. In addition this fly produces during other early season caddis hatches on various Colorado rivers so it is more versatile.

Underside of Olive Brown Deer Hair Caddis

ComponentMaterial
HookTiemco 100 Size 16
ThreadOlive
BodyOlive-brown dubbing
WingGray deer hair
HackleGrizzly neck feather

 

Since I was on a roll making 20 light gray deer hair caddis, I simply swapped out the tying thread and dubbing and continued producing size 16 deer hair caddis with a dark olive-brown body. I made 15 of these to go along with the supply that already occupied my fly box.

Light Gray Deer Hair Caddis – 11/28/2011

Another fly that I discovered I was in short supply of late in the season was the light gray deer hair caddis. This fly proved to be a huge winner in one of my late season outings on the Big Thompson River, and it was after this experience that I discovered my shortage and I tied eight more before visiting the South Platte in Wildcat Canyon.

Dark bodied deer hair caddis seem to be the desired fly of trout early in the season, but by August, September and October gray or light colored caddis seem to be a better imitation. The late season caddis I’ve captured seem to have a yellow hue, but the light gray poly dubbing that I use seems to work across a broader range of matching situations than yellow.

When I tallied my list of fly tying requirements, I realized that I needed to make quite a few light gray and olive brown caddis in size 16, so I purchased a $25 pack of Whiting saddle hackles rated size 16. These are extremely long saddle hackles with size sixteen along the entire length. What a pleasure it was to tie twenty light gray deer hair caddis with the long saddles as I used approximately 2.5 feathers to complete 20 flies.

ComponentMaterial
HookTiemco 100 size 16
ThreadGray 6/0
BodyLight gray poly dubbing
WingGray deer hair
HackleGrizzly neck feather

 

Twenty Light Gray Deer Hair Caddis

I tie my size 16 caddis in a very sparse manner with a narrow body and no palmered hackle over the abdomen. I make a full wrap around the deer hair before cinching it down on top of the hook to prevent the deer hair from rolling around the hook shank. I apply some head cement to the thread wraps that serve as the base for the deer hair, and I usually make four wraps of hackle in front of the deer hair wing. I’ve been in several situations where I caught fish with my sparse caddis when others failed or had less consistent success.

Sparse Light Gray Caddis

Woolly Bugger – 11/28/2011

The woolly bugger is a classic old standby that I hadn’t tied in many years. I lived off a supply that I’d made perhaps 5-10 years ago and given my reluctance to toss streamers, this sufficed for quite awhile. My best experience with woolly buggers was during the float of the Gunnison River that Dan and I did in 2007, and I lost a few there.

This summer after returning from Alaska I occasionally tied on a woolly bugger with a black marabou tail and olive chenille body, and during these infrequent forays into the world of streamers and woolly bugger fishing, I pretty much depleted my remaining supply. It was time for woolly bugger tying. I went to my iPad YouTube application and watched several videos of tyers making woolly buggers to refresh my memory. It remains fairly simple especially if one skips wire ribbing between the hackle wraps and reflective synthetics in the tail.

A Fresh Supply of Woolly Buggers

I dug deep in my hook supplies and uncovered some size 8 streamer hooks with a limerick bend. I have quite a supply of these unfortunately as it is almost impossible to slide a bead around the bend so I’ll have to resort to crimping a split shot on the line just above the eye of the hook. Everything else was there; .02 lead wire for weighting, green chenille, black marabou and large grizzly hackles from one of the necks where the tiny dry fly hackles were depleted.

ComponentMaterial
HookStreamer hook size 8
ThreadOlive 3/0
TailBlack or desired color marabou
HackleGrizzly neck feather
BodyOlive chenille

 

A Completed Woolly Bugger

I sat down and made five on one weeknight and completed the job with another five the next evening. Will this supply last me another five years? Hopefully not with greater dedication to streamer fishing.

Beadhead RS2 – 11/20/2011

Perhaps the second most productive fly in my arsenal after the beadhead hares ear is the beadhead RS2. Whenever I see any BWO adults in the air, I quickly tie a beadhead RS2 to my line. Sometimes the RS2 is a second dropper from a large buoyant attractor, and this can be a deadly approach. Other times I add a strike indicator and split shot and then a larger nymph followed by the beadhead RS2. When the fish are very active chasing emergers, the deep method seems to outperform the dead drift dropper approach.

ComponentMaterial
HookSize 22 straight eye
BeadSmall silver bead
ThreadGray 6/0
TailSeveral fibers from pheasant body feather
BodyMuskrat fur
WingGray fluff from base of pheasant body feather

 

RS2

This is another fly that I stocked too few of entering the 2011 season, and I was forced to tie an extra supply late in the season. Consequently I have only five in inventory and needed to tie an additional 25 to build my stock to 30. Happily this was accomplished over the weekend, and I hope to be adequately prepared for BWO hatches in 2012.

25 RS2's to Open Season

Beadhead Hares Ear – 11/20/2011

Fly ComponentMaterial
Hook Tiemco 2487 Size 14
BeadGold Sized to Fit Size 14 Hook
ThreadDark Olive
TailSmall Clump of pheasant feather fibers
RibFine gold wire
AbdomenFur from hare's mask
WingcaseStrip of Tyvek material (FedEx envelope for example) colored with black permanent market width of bead
ThoraxFur from hare's mask
LegsPheasant feather clumps

 

I began the 2010 season with 50 beadhead hares ear nymphs in my fly boxes and almost ran out. I actually had to take time away from fishing to tie an additional fifteen toward the end of the season. The beadhead hares ear is my absolute “go to” fly, and it seems to catch fish no matter where or when I’m fishing.

60 Beadhead Hares Ears

 

My goal for 2011 was to tie enough so that I had 70 in my fly boxes at the beginning of the season, and I’m happy to report that this goal was achieved. I scheduled some time each day to tie five flies after I arrived home from work and held to this fairly rigorously. If the season started tomorrow, I’d have beadhead hares ears, and I’m confident I’d catch fish.

Closer View of Workmanship

Fly Tying – 11/6/2011

Time: Sat. and Sun. off and on

Location: My desk

With the onset of colder temperatures and daylight saving time, my thoughts turned to tying flies for the upcoming 2012 season so on Saturday, November 5 I made a list of the flies I plan to have on hand to begin the 2012 season. I counted my inventory and subtracted to determine what I needed to tie.

Here is my list:

1. Beadhead hares ear  85 – 12 = 73

2. Beadhead RS2 30 – 5 = 25

3. Olive and black woolly buggers 10

4. Damsel fly nymphs 10

5. Light gray deer hair caddis 20

6. Dark olive deer hair caddis 20 – 5 = 15

7. Beadhead prince nymph 15 – 5 = 10

8. Tricos 10

9. Sunken tricos 10

10. Letort hoppers 25 – 5 = 20

11. Charlie boy hoppers 15

12. Green drakes – 10 – 2 = 8

13. Purchased irridescent pheasant tail nymph 10

14. Cream parachute hoppers 8 – 2 = 6

15. Emerald beadhead caddis pupa 25 – 14 = 11

16. Bright green beadhead caddis pupa 20 – 9 = 11

17. Beadhead pheasant tail nymphs 40 – 26 = 14

18. Jujubaetis – 10

From this list I generated a material shopping list:

1. Size 14 scud hooks 100

2. Beads for size 14 scud hooks 100

3. Camel (brown) thread

4. Yellow heavy thread for Charlie Boy Hoppers

5. Size 16 saddle hackles for caddis dries

6. Size 20 scud hooks for RS2’s 25

7. Silver beads for RS2’s 25

8. A way to weight the sunken tricos

9. Calf body hair patch for parachute hopper wings

10. Materials for puchased fly

11. Materials for jujubaetis

Jane agreed to accompany me to Charlie’s Fly Box in Old Arvada on Saturday afternoon, so we departed at around 3PM. A friendly salesperson greeted me and helped me gather all my materials in a basket. He also advised me on the materials required to make the irridescent nymph that I took along and requirements for the jujubaetis.

Fly Tying Materials from Charlie’s Fly Box

After making our purchase, Jane and I discovered a new micro brewery in Old Arvada so we checked out the tasting room and purchased a pair of Arvada porters. Next door was a new Belgian Frites (french fries) shop, so we shared a cone of fries along with a sampling of dipping sauces while we drank our beers.

On Sunday I got down to business and began tying beadhead hares ear nymphs. I managed to crank out 22 off and on around a bike ride and watching the Broncos.

Charlie Boy Hopper – 2/1/11

Suppose I could have a fly with the profile and fish catching abilities of a Letort hopper, but the buoyancy of a Chernobyl Ant? If such a fly exists, I would likely fish it every day all season long. It would only get removed when fish tuned in to specific insects or I needed to fish deep.

ComponentMaterial
HookTiemco 200R Size 10
Body2MM closed cell foam strip, color of choice
ThreadYellow 3/0 or color to match body
LegsYellow round rubber legs, medium
WingDeer hair

 

Charlie Boy Hopper

In one of my fishing magazines I spotted the Charlie Boy Hopper, created by local Denver fly designer, Charlie Craven. I love the fly shop owned by Charlie in Old Arvada called Charlie’s Fly Box. I checked out Charlie’s web site and printed off the tying steps for making Charlie Boy Hoppers and planned to create some of my own during the winter of 2010. Unfortunately, by the time I refilled all my proven inventory, I ran out of time.

Deer Hair Wing on Top

However, 2011 is a new year, and I prioritized making Charlie Boy Hoppers for the coming season. I had everything required to make these flies except Zap-A-Gap and a sharp razor blade, so I visited a fly shop and picked up these necessities. The tying instructions were quite voluminous, but once I’d done my prototype, I discovered they are fairly easy to tie. I was so optimistic that this fly will be a winner, that I made 15-20 of them in different sizes and color combinations. I tied 5 tan and 5 yellow in size 10, and then 3 bright green in size 10. I then added 3 tan and 3 yellow in size 12.

Segmented Foam Underside

I’m quite anxious to test these flies on the streams in 2011. The foam bend back style should really provide a lot of buoyancy, yet I feel like the profile is close to that obtained with the Letort hopper. If these work as expected, I’ll have no problem floating two medium size beadheads through delicious pockets and runs.

Chernobyl Ant – 2/1/11.

I was introduced to the Chernobyl Ant on the Green River below Flaming Gorge Reservoir ten years ago by my guide, Mark. We drifted all the sections of the river, and the most productive fly was the large Chernobyl Ant. Mark had me cast the large buggy ant near the bank and ahead of the drift boat. He was expert at maintaining the speed of the boat and instructing me on when and how to mend so that we held long drag free drifts in all the attractive eddies and currents along the bank. I experienced some of the best fishing ever during these couple of fall days on the Green River. I asked Mark if he thought the Chernobyl Ant would work in other streams in Colorado, and he guaranteed it would.

I began tying a few Chernobyl Ants to experiment with during my Colorado outings. Typically I used it as a top indicator fly due to the buoyancy of the foam body. During late summer when fish would refuse my Letort hopper, I’d substitute the Chernobyl Ant hoping that the fish would grab the trailing nymph and not pay attention to the top fly. Guess what? I discovered that the fish loved the Chernobyl Ant and rose to smash it as frequently as they nabbed the trailing nymph.

Peacock Flash on Underside

The only change I make to tying this fly compared to store bought versions is the addition of a peacock metallic chenille on the underside of the foam. My guide, Mark, featured this attractor quality, and I adopted it. I’ve also experimented with brown legs and fancier striped rubber legs, but the brown seems to perform as well as any. The first thing to get damaged from usage is loss of legs or appendages. After a Chernobyl loses two or more legs, I generally set it aside, and then in the winter I rehabilitate with limb replacements.

Refurbished Chernobyl Ants

I’m not sure what a Chernobyl Ant imitates, but the fish, especially bank hugging browns, seem to like it. Possibly it imitates large terrestrials that get blown into the water from time to time. It certainly looks buggy with its large black body, peacock chenille underbody, and dangling rubber legs. The yellow foam section on top of the fly is purely for the fisherman, and this fisherman loves its visibility.

Yellow Indicator on Top

This past summer I probably used the Chernobyl Ant more than any other season. In fact, I tied the Chernobyl to my line as the top fly first on many occasions where I’d previously opted for a hopper. The combination of fish catching ability, visibility, and buoyancy are difficult to surpass. My favorite application is on small headwater streams with dense vegetation reaching out to the casting area. When there isn’t enough space to execute repetitive backcasts to dry a traditional dry fly, I dig into my fly pocket for a Chernobyl Ant. This fly can simply be roll cast or dapped in tight quarters with no drying required. It works like a charm. Another benefit on small streams is that the fish that are too small, can’t get the large hook in their mouths and fall off, so I only tend to land fish worthy of counting.

New Chernobyl

During the summer of 2010 my best Chernobyl days were probably on Chalk Creek, Fooses Creek, North Fork of the St. Vrain, and Clear Creek. These streams are all small in scale and the ease of fishing the Chernobyl Ant created hours of fun. My son, Dan, and I hiked into the North Fork of St. Vrain Canyon from Meeker Park on a very hot September day, and caught numerous brown trout on the Chernobyl Ant. Dan is a believer in Chernobyl fishing!