Here are some flies I've been working on for the AR. The first is actually Brian's first poopah and the same one that won him his new year's resolution to catch a fish on a fly he tied, congrats bro! We used some EP fiber to create a shimmering veil around the body and some olive krystal flash for the antennae. The next fly is a flashier steelhead version of the pulsating caddis. The third and fourth are leeches from Bernie Taylor's stinging fly series. I'm hoping to give some of these a go on Monday and Wednesday.
dude that first fly is the shiz-nit, anyways, dude those leeches are money. cant wait to try and tie one for me tuesday night. sweet flies bro. and thanks for showing me how to tie up a few things, being anal really helps when it comes to tying flies.
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Fishing isnt about catching fish, its not about who caught the most, or who caught the biggest, its about the experience that you have on the water, and the life long bonds you make with others on the journey to becoming a better person inside.
Nice flies. One quick tip: Pinch down the barb BEFORE you tie the fly. If you pinch it down after tying the fly and break the hook, you're out of luck. Also, you might forget you didn't pinch down the barb.
On a side note, I have been tying with barbless hooks for a while. I picked up a bag of hooks a few months ago and started tying, thinking they were barbless. I found out they weren't when one got stuck in Chuck's jacket. OOPS! Even if you're tying with what you think are barbless hooks, double check those barbs.
-- Edited by JT at 22:14, 2008-02-03
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Thanks for the tip JT. I try to pinch them down before I tie but sometimes I forget when I'm in a hurry! I have a few packs of barbless hooks that I really like. Not having to deal w/ the barb is a real plus. chuck
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"when you put your hand into a flowing stream you touch the last that has come before and the first of what is still to come" -DaVinci
hey, what kind of camera are you using to get those pictures? I tried taking pics of my flies with my digital camera, but it won't focus in on the flies.
Hey guys Size 10-12 nymphs are working the best right noe as well as some big leech patterns. Brian got a nice one today on the olive/chartreuse leech that I posted. Hey WT I think you are asking about the legs of that poopah which are just a clump of partridge. chuck
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"when you put your hand into a flowing stream you touch the last that has come before and the first of what is still to come" -DaVinci
Chuck - Thanks, you're right, now that I look closer I see I was looking at the legs. Is there a particular reason why you did not wrap the body down to the hook?
Hey WT, That pattern is actually not based on a Fox Poopah but on a pattern Brian and I found in the back of "Tying Nymphs With Speed and Efficiency," by Randall Kauffman. I can't remember the name of the pattern or the original creator but I will post them when I get the book in front of me. In this particular pattern their is no ribbing and the body is tied in as it is in the pic I posted. The veil around the body is supposed to be a material called salmo web but all I had was EP fiber which is much coarser but achieves a similar effect when wet. We also substituted ostrich herl for the dark brown buggy dubbing the original pattern calls for. Otherwise it is basically an exact copy. If you can find it Kauffman's book is great. It has hundreds of patterns and tips for tying faster, neater nymphs. I'd highly recommend it especially for all you hardcore Putah nymphers. chuck
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"when you put your hand into a flowing stream you touch the last that has come before and the first of what is still to come" -DaVinci
There was a good article last issue in California Fly Fisher about tying more efficient and simple patterns. The author believes that many flies are too over tied and are that way more often than not to hook fishermen into buying a pretty fly. His method is to keep it simple. For example, he ties a fox poopah with just the chennile body and osrtich hurl thorax, no under body, no ribbing, no antenna and no legs. His theory is that if you keep the flies simple it will still have the same profile in the water and that's what triggers fish to eat it. This makes flies easier and quicker to tie and work just as well as the fancier flies.
If you're a fly tier, it's fun to experiment and come up with different patterns. I like to take a known pattern and try it with different materials. One of my favorites is a birds nest that I tie with deer hair instead of duck flank for the wings. The deer hair gives it a tiny bit of bouyancy so it acts more like a real emerging nymph.
packrat do that in a size 10,12 maybe an 8, and that would be a steelhead killer, oh ya and maybe do it in olive as well. steelhead would thromp that bug.
sweeeeet bug bro
__________________
Fishing isnt about catching fish, its not about who caught the most, or who caught the biggest, its about the experience that you have on the water, and the life long bonds you make with others on the journey to becoming a better person inside.
Read same article--totally agree. My first tries at tying poopahs with wood duck antennae have been replaced with a wrap or two of partridge or hen cape. I found this substitution much easier/quicker.
Also, in this process, I discovered that fish still enjoy a simple soft hackle with flashabou and a little build-up of pea**** herl (instead of the ostrich herl that the poopah calls for)--so, see you later chenille. Lately, most of the flies that have come off my vise have been a very basic and fast assembly.
Good looking Bird's Nest, too! Very effective fly in the Sierra.
-- Edited by Flying Dutchman at 19:00, 2008-02-09
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