Category Archives: Fly Tying

Catch me next, the Roughfisher’s creation brings the fish to heel

He tried to tell me but I wouldn’t listen, now I’m sitting here with a pleasant glow trying to put the proper spin on things.

A pal says, “go here, use this, you’ll kill ’em” – but we’ve heard that so many times it’s brushed off without conscious effort. Then all other options fail – we heed the advice, and we kill them.

Knowing of the impending confession, most anglers would choose to save face, “well, the spot was good, but then I noticed the post-coital phase starting to pop, so I used my …. and I kilt ’em.”

Us guys that fish the “stink water” have lost all self respect and much of our ego – so we cut to the chase and give credit where credit’s due.

Jean Paul Lipton of the Roughfisher’s Journal has created a monstrosity and should be punished. He calls it the X-Factor nymph, and claims it’s hell on Carp, I can’t vouch for the Carp bit, but it removed the thin veneer of selectivity from the fish I flung it at – and reduced them to primal eating machines.

It was traditional laziness at its best; I’d resolved to take the long trek up the Little Stinking to see what the sustained low water had done to the holes a couple miles upstream. I had time to putter and remembered Jean Paul admonishing me to try this bug.

As it is with every fly I lacked half of the materials, and improvised with what was laying around loose; copper Angelina instead of brown antron, varigated orange legs instead of clear, rust marabou for a tail, and copper wire rather than red. I banged out four #8’s – because they were closer than the #10’s, and tucked them in the vest.

Sunday morning was perfect, including a light breeze which would take us below the 100 degree mark for the first time this week. I was without drinking water however, thinking I still had some from Saturday and discovered both containers empty about a mile above the car.

I stopped at Old Nondescript’s hole and saw the beaver had restored his dam – giving that stretch an additional foot of water. It was a good place to start – the water was clear, 18″ deep, and I could see the nursery pods of Pikeminnow on the far bank.

I sidearmed the bug under the branches were Old Nondescript used to live and had a smallmouth on the line after the first yank. Figuring it was beginner’s luck I skipped the fly under the brush a second time, it didn’t have time to get damp before a larger bass came out of the water swearing.

I saw a swirl in the channel and laid the bug in above, and a 14″ Pikeminnow ate it, followed by four more bass, 5 sunfish, and a half dozen similar sized fast movers..

Gluttons, every one.

I moved up to the Big Bass Stretch and it was down low enough to wade, losing half its depth since the last time I’d visited. Two enormous carp were patrolling in circles, both would go 12 -15 lbs.

At this juncture I’ve landed about 20 nice fish, and could do no wrong. Merely dipping the fly into the water should have the fish rolling on the surface with little white flags.

The Carp are headed my way again, so I lay out a cast onto the clay of the far bank where it can’t make a splash. I tug it into the water so it can start to sink to the same level, and the tip of the floating line twitches.

A big bass will flare its gills to inhale a fly – just enough movement to show a twitch of the line tip – or disturb an indicator, but it won’t register on your fingers as the hook hasn’t contacted meat yet.

I set the hook on a 3lb smallmouth who streaked out from the bank and “T-boned” the incoming Carp right in the side. The Bass went south, the Carp went North and I’m laughing while trying to stay connected to the fish. I’d wind up with a leg full of water for my fun, and it was worth it.

Smallmouth bass are quickly surpassing trout as my favorite gamefish, they can be ornery, but they compete favorably with trout on every level, including aerial display.  Trout have tall pines and the Sierra’s in their favor, but Bass have the “Pumpkinseed” shape, and when you apply pressure to turn them, they shrug off your feeble flyrod with impunity.

I got “T-Bone” to pose briefly above, I never did see the Carp again, it’s likely they were still running for their lives.

Now all I have to do is figure some way to apologize to JP for butchering his creation.

One of those Internet nuggets I overuse with relish

Yes, I’m still giggling over the “DIY” (do it yourself feature) of despair.com, source of all those spoofs of motivational posters that stare at us from waiting areas and conference rooms, the bane of corporate America. 

Truer words were never spoke

Don’t let me have all the fun, if you can come up with something better (which shouldn’t be that hard), share … nothing like “bearding the prophet” and slinking back into the bushes before they draw a bead on you.

Knapek, Scientific Fly, and Dohiku – Competition manifests itself in your fly box

Knapek Hooks I’m relying on a lot of older hooks to compensate for what’s not available, and that’s never a recipe for long term success. What’s needed is a commercially available “extra stout” hook or a “2X short shank” that combines a nice gape and heavy wire.

I keep looking for something other than the traditional vendors and their limited offerings – as it appears hook makers have undergone both a consolidation and retrenchment on what used to be offered.

Scientific Fly, owner of Grip Hooks Last week I stumbled on the Dohiku hook, and through that had a chance to chat with Kevin Compton of Scientific Fly. He’s introducing Grip Hooks, of South African origin at an upcoming Denver Trade Show, and he mentioned the Knapek Hook as another vendor that had aspirations in this space.

A cursory look at their offerings suggests we may see some changes in the mainstream market, as many of these hooks are being adopted by competition anglers – something the US has always been reluctant to acknowledge.

The success of the Czech nymphing style and their dominance of the professional angling circuit in Europe has rods, lines, flies, and hooks under scrutiny. Longer rods are an asset as there is little casting – and with 25 foot monofilament leaders – it’s a cross between “high sticking” and spin fishing.

Grip Dry Fly Barbless hooks have always been available in only one or two styles; a model perfect bend dry fly hook, and standard nymph. Absent are all of the XL (extra long), XS (extra short), different bend styles, or anything else that makes tinkering fun.

That’s all about to change, as most of the vendor’s mentioned above are delivering quite a few styles and variations of barbless hooks for competition purposes – and if any of these features are credible, you can expect them to spill over into the mainstream shortly.

Features that separate these hooks from the current fare:

  1. Kirbed hooks – point and shank are offset from one another, typically found on bait hooks, the kirbed hook assists hooking.
  2. Long upturned points – these barbless points are much longer than we’re used to in conventional hooks, and they’re turned-up at the tip, akin to the classic “beak” point.
  3. Sproat bend – anchors the fish at a single point on the shank, rather than the “model perfect” style, which is an unbroken curve from point to shank. Sproat bends are common to nymph hooks but rare on dry fly wire.
  4. Black Nickel Finish – versus the age old bronzed hook, may resist rust better.

Rotary vise users will be a tad upset, as kirbed hooks will no longer provide effortless rotation of the vise head, they’ll rotate out-of-plane, but that can be mitigated.

Knapek D2 Barbless Dry Fly The decline in the US dollar affects pricing on all imported goods, it appears the target retail price of each vendor is around $5 per 25 hooks. A resurgent dollar would likely lower these costs significantly.

Scientific Fly offers what I’m seeking but they’re not yet available for purchase, a 2XS (extra stout) wired nymph hook, yielding the wire of a #10 on a traditional #14.

I might be the only fellow planning on hooking a 15 lb fish on #14, but my meager skills can stand all the buttressing they can get. No sense tempting fate further using wire that straightens on anything bigger than an enraged Twinkie.

If you’re not getting enough leafy greens and fiber, I may have a solution

I cracked open the padded envelope and immediately flashed on the scene from Top Gun, “Negative Ghostrider, not one pair, TWO pair ..” Seems in my haste to secure the Bernat Boa yarn in “Mallard”, I overlooked a trifling detail about 2 skeins for $5.

Now I’m looking at 351 yards of imitation pond scum hoping fish eat this stuff … If they don’t I’ll just do what fly tiers always do when they have a lifetime supply, strip naked and roll in it. 

It does look like weed, and that's what Sister Corley promised

I stopped off at the Little Stinking and flung it with trepidation, it didn’t absorb too much water to be unruly on a 5 weight, the brass bead sank it fast enough, and the effect when wet was perfection.

Something ate it on the first cast, but I was too busy chewing fingernails to react.

The creek is only a shadow of itself, and from the bridge only a single fish was visible, what little water present was coming from the horse barn and that restricted visibility to less than 6 inches.

The above flavor is tied on a Tiemco 3769, #8 hook – equipped with a 4mm brass bead. Beads 4mm or larger can be purchased much cheaper from a beading supplier than a fly shop, just make sure the hole is 1.5mm or larger to use on flies.

I’ll need a different venue to test the fly further, so I’ll head upstream after returning from this week’s foray into clean water.

To hell with tradition, them Carp have refined tastes

I’ve had ample time to get over them really monstrous fish kicking sand on my sandwich yesterday. I made a hasty pitstop at Joann’s Fabric’s and scored the necessary boa material – leaving the place in complete disarray…

All the old lady’s were having “hot flashes” when they found out the pear shaped male striding down the millinery aisle knew the difference between chenille and mohair, and when the aging starlet at the register asked, “Did you find everything you was sent for?” I leaned in close with my best “MacDaddy” squint, and said, “…sent for? Hell, ma’am I’m killing fish with this stuff..”

That set them hearts aflutter, and I beat a hasty retreat before I got called on the swagger..

I have to try this stuff out – and as I set the first hook in the vise, I’ve suddenly got cold feet. The San Juan Worm’s were for Minnesota, the good sister’s hydrilla fly was for Arkansas, and what I failed to consider was the influence of nouveau cuisine on them California fish. 

San Juan Sushi, California Carp Killer

Some modification was in order, and I set the boa yarn down reluctantly and start doodling on a napkin. A second cup of coffee vanquished my inhibitions and creativity came to the fore. The San Juan Worm was quickly adapted to California taste buds.

It would be so much simpler to live somewhere’s else…

There’s a fine line between desperation and inspiration

Help from Sister Carol Anne Corley Had to work straight through the weekend again, but I did get a chance to sneak out before dark last night to observe the “Carp Conundrum” and see if I could puzzle out a solution.

The issue isn’t their willingness to feed, it’s a combination of murky water coupled with what and how they eat.

I spent an hour on the bridge just watching and noted the two styles of fish available; a pod of fish facing the bank and eating what appears to be grass roots and weeds along the edge, and there’s the occasional solo fish that has a mud plume behind him – it’s slowly headed upriver in a traditional bonefish pose. Nose down into the bottom and tail just under the surface making an almost imperceptible disturbance.

I can’t get a fly into the bank fish, they’re facing the wrong way and there’s no water between them and their forage. The “bonefish” feeders are more skittish than trout and their mud plume can’t be seen when you’re down at the waters edge.

They’re creatures of habit, and once spooked they’ll return within 15 minutes, as long as you’re motionless. Makes for one hell of a difficult stalk – and I haven’t even got to the presentation part yet.

As I can’t get a fly into eyeball range of the grouped fish, looks like I’ll need to design something that’s heavy enough to ride along the bottom, carries the hook point up, and looks like whatever it is they’re feeding on.

Someone once asked, “If it costs so much more to tie flies, how come you do it?” Simple, if I could get a fly that looks like a severed stalk of hydrilla, with dull olive bead chain eyes, I’d buy snot out of them.

The Roughfisher blog has been kicking butt and naming names, and I’m thinking of trying his latest creations modified for my oddball presentation needs. He steered me to the above fly tied by Sister Carol Anne Corley that looks exactly like what I need – after I throw some copper bead chain eyes on it.

Bead chain will turn a hook over instantly so it’ll ride point up, copper is the dullest color commercially available, and if it fails to produce I’ll dip them in green “tool grip” – a fast drying latex rubber that’s used to dip tool handles. That’ll take the shine off the beads and hopefully I’ll have my Gutbusting BottomRoller Hydrilla Carp Killer.

Naturally I’ll forget all the help I got from the Good Sister and Jean Paul – claiming it “came to me in a vision…”

… which is the other reason you blow all that cash to learn fly tying, so you can appear humble and gracious when you take credit for someone else’s hard work … same as middle management, only with hackle pliers.

UPDATE: The Bernat Boa yarn used by the above fly is no longer made in the “Mallard” color. I found two skeins of it on eBay – at $5.00 each, and the vendor has a couple more at last look.

Dohiku Barbless Hooks – Black Nickel

Dohiku barbless fly hooks I saw these on a Slovakian fly shop’s web site, black nickel finish barbless hooks that look mighty interesting. Czech nymphing being all the latest rage, it always pays to see what everyone else is using just to keep abreast of change.

A slight upturn to the point and a hint of a Sproat bend makes these singular among the mainstream vendors, almost all of which are using Model Perfect bends – and have at most one or two styles of barbless hooks available.

Dohiku Barbless While the US dollar has suffered considerably overseas, and is nearing uncharted lows against most currencies, it’s something to keep in mind if you have unique needs and the conventional stuff just doesn’t apply.

I like the wide gape and narrow angle of the down eye, these remind me of old Partridge hooks of years past – and look strong enough to handle large fish in the small sizes. I would mention Carp, but they ignore my best efforts regularly.

I requested a price list in US dollars and Euro’s, anyone had a chance to play with these yet?

UPDATE: At the current exchange rate these are $5.28 per 25 hooks (3.32 Euro’s per 25) There are no import or export taxes associated with the purchase.

 

The Spinners in Spain fall mainly on the Plain

Fly tying under the Klieg Microscope It’ll be a spectacle akin to a Mafia Trial – dapper gentlemen holding the camera at bay with a folded newspaper or jacket pulled over the head to avoid embarrassment.

Fly tiers will become reticent and temperamental, shielding their work from the prying lens of HDTV, adopting large amorphous sunglasses to evade the paparazzi, and expounding the virtue of modesty.

A Pullman, Washington television studio has started filming a fly tying series in High Definition TV:

“The first time we worked in high definition, the show’s talent noticed the difference immediately,” said Don Peters, senior planning engineer for KWSU Media. “They couldn’t believe the detail they were seeing on the screen. We were able to show the individual fibers of the flies and really capture a richness of details that is so important to the avid fly fisherman.”

To the artist that means every misplaced rib, lumpy abdomen, anemic wing, and errant tuft of dander will be showcased prominently – they’ll be blushing profusely and backpedaling desperately to get out of the stark glare of the Kleig lights.

The rest of us will be completely ignorant of the artist’s inner turmoil, wondering why all the best tiers stutter so damn much… No more wiping your nose with a shirt sleeve, from now on it’s a speech coach and pancake makeup for you.

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The Meat Bucket meets the Peppermint Kestrel

The mouth is so thin you can see through it, just swear and keep castingIt’s a simple risk and reward gamble, all you’re risking is being a laughingstock – choosing a cold and blustery pre-dawn emergence over the sanctity of warm blankets.

“Fishless” fishing trips and me go way back, there’s no fear of censure and if I’m quiet enough I can even have the gear stowed before the rest of the crowd wakes up. On rare occasion a mixture of karmic debt and suffering means your number comes up and the reward outweighs all else.

It doesn’t happen that way often, but when it does you have to approach it like a veteran; no unnecessary false casting, keep your fingers warm so you can feel the running line, cast between gusts so you don’t take a fly in the cheek, and how long can you stand in waist deep water without a bathroom break.

Small Male Shad, the females are much bigger

Shad fishing is a social sport, someone catches one and everyone moves closer, and if you keep catching you’ll have a line of close friends looking to share your good fortune and your flies.

The “Meat Bucket” is usually only 2-3 anglers long, it’s a hole or depression that have the Shad stacked in like cord wood. In the old days neoprene waders allowed you to stay long enough to get near the fish, guys would gradually rotate out to warm up or use the bushes.

Shad aren’t known for gentleness, they’re a fast moving agile swimmer and the fly is stopped abruptly. The small males (1-2lbs) will often come to the surface, and the big hens (3-5lbs) will usually scream off with you attempting to get your fingers out of the path of a lot of fast moving Frog Hair.

The Silver Bullet hisself, and always guaranteed to splash you

It’s actually a lot of fun, especially when the guys around you are observant and skillful, you can pack quite a few anglers into a small space, and as long as your cast lands downstream of the fellow above you there’s no tangles.

This morning was payback for the last four weekends of fruitless casting, no fishermen to share the hole with – allowing me to cast and move with impunity. Knowing the general area of the hole allows you to zero in fairly quickly, once you start getting slammed, stop.

I got slammed a lot this morning, I kept the insane giggles muffled as I was alert to invaders, but no one came. It was just me, the Peppermint Kestrel, and a hole full of hungry fast movers.

The Peppermint Kestrel

I lost plenty of fish as Shad have paper thin mouths (see illustration), and it doesn’t matter how gentle you are a traditional “corner jaw” hookup will come loose every time. It’s unique to these fish – there’s no need to check your hook, just start swearing and keep casting.

Pink is the “hot color” for this year, and I always keep a couple dozen of the proven colors as a change up. It’s an odd phenomenon, and the only form of “selectivity” that seems constant. Shad feed on plankton and their ever-changing color obsession is not to be questioned, make sure you have plenty of choices and try them all.

The “Kestrel” is tied of “Aurora” Angelina fibers, with a ball of “Cotton Candy” two-thirds of the way up the shank. I Velcro the fibers to pull them off the thread and act as hackle. I lost a dozen of them in today’s obscene display, so I’ll be busy tonight making plenty more. Angelina doesn’t take a pounding too well – 15 or so fish and there won’t be many fibers left.

For those counting, I made it six and a half hours – then danced to the shoreline in a desperate race against time. I’m sure the folks living in the homes across the river were not amused, but modesty is overrated, especially after being kissed on both cheeks by good fortune.

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A Rose by any other name smells like controversy

It does get a little confusing at times I’ve seen much hand wringing and ire over fly names. Idle banter and fly fishing forum chat quickly turn to religious discussions over the ethical way to name your latest creation.

I’m puzzled why ethics should enter into it at all. Fishermen aren’t known as paragons of virtue, and fly fishermen are the worst of the lot.

At the crux of the debate is variations, how adding a green tail to a known pattern isn’t considered a new fly, merely a variant of whatever the tail got pinned on. I’ve no issue with the concept, just surprised how worked up fishermen get over the whole naming thing.

We could use a biblical scheme, laced with “begats” and immaculate conception – but we don’t use an oral history anymore, relying on books and printed media for hints of origin.

“Silver-Arsed Wombat Begat Green-tailed-silver-tipped Wombat begat Reduced-Low Water Wombat-with-egg-Cluster” seems overly tedious and would drive the guy labeling the fly bins crazy.

There’s the “Kentucky Derby” method, using Sires and Dams – but that’s  just as cumbersome.

Personally, I prefer the “Middle Management” naming schema – if the fly is deadly, I take credit for it – and if not, I blame someone else for its shortcomings.

I believe Darwinism holds for fly names as well, a hint of risque or fun is likely to make it more memorable than “that White fly.”

We’re not going to settle the issue here, but I’ve never cared for “tagging” flies with personal names – too many “Tim’s” and “Steve’s” for me to remember, and it lacks any of the flavor and energy that fly fishing represents.

Dave Whitlock started the “tagging” phenomenon back in the 1980’s, everything that came out of his vice was “Dave’s” or “Whit’s” – something or other – a practice that virtually guarantees oblivion. Old flies handed down from dusty tomes have catchy names and “Bob’s” or “Dave’s” isn’t among them.

I’m guessing immortality is the root of the practice, as vanity has no place in angling – especially after you smear insect repellant on your face using the same hand you dipped in the salmon egg jar…

Might as well name the creation whatever you like – and if you’ve just met the guy with his hand out for your flies – mention it’s a “Skunk with a Green Butt” rather than risk “Green Butted Skunk.” If you’ve just caught six fish and he’s caught none – no sense goading the fellow further.

But if you’re determined to inflict a new fly in everyone’s box – show some pizzazz .. I wouldn’t make room for Bob’s Stonefly Nymph on general principles – but I’d tie crap outta them if were called the “Snotty Dilettante” or “Rest-home Orgy.”

Think of the rest of us for once…

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