This very calming fly tying video by SMHAEN Fly Fishing shows how to tie a CDC Emerger. I especially like the way he ties the wing on this one. The fly is beautifully tied.
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CDC Emerger
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Holy Grail Nymph – Tim Cammisa
I thought Tim’s presentation of the Holy Grail Nymph from Orvis was really interesting this week. See what you think.
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Bill Shuck
Isoynchia Flymph tied by Bill Shuck
I’ve been following Bill Shuck’s fly tying ever since I saw an Isonychia Flymph he tied in Hidy style. Hans Weilenmann actually followed that up with a fly tying video showing how to tie the Isonychia Flymph that Bill had tied. Below, Bill gives us a brief introduction to his tying, which is followed by two more Hidy style flymphs. There will be more to come from Bill here on FrankenFly in the future.
I’ve been tying seriously for about 15 years, starting out with dry flies and streamers strictly for my own use on the Gunpowder River in Maryland where I live. A fishing buddy convinced me to investigate the world of nymphs, but eventually I discovered the simple beauty of classic soft hackle flies and have been more or less fixated on them ever since. Much of my interest along these lines has been sparked through active participation in a website called “Flymphforum”, a group of like-minded folks from around the world who willingly share their considerable skill and knowledge of both traditional North Country soft hackled patterns and more recent styles such as those introduced into the U.S. by Jim Leisenring and Pete Hidy.
Here are photos and recipes for a couple of flies I’ve tied in the last few months, during which time I undertook to learn how to replicate the patterns tied by V.S. “Pete” Hidy, a friend of James E. “Big Jim” Leisenring of Pennsylvania. These two gentlemen developed a fly type that was designed to imitate the transitional stage in the life of an aquatic insect where it is no longer really a nymph, but not yet a fully developed adult fly either; hence the hybrid name “flymph”. As you might suspect, these patterns have characteristics of both nymphs and adults, using blends of natural furs spun on colored silk threads and mobile feather hackles to give an impression of real life insects in a semi-helpless condition. As evolved by Hidy after Leisenring had died, Pete’s flymphs exhibit common physical characteristics, including wispy tail whisks, tapered bodies, flowing, full soft hackle, and conical heads. I would like to acknowledge that my efforts to master this style were aided immeasurably by input from Lance Hidy, Pete’s son and valued member of the aforementioned internet group.
Hidy Style March Brown III
The first is a pattern called “March Brown” as tied by Pete Hidy according to Donald T. Overfield’s book “Famous Flies and their Originators” (Adam & Charles Black, London, 1972)
Hook: Long shank mayfly, Size #10 or #12
Thread: Pearsall’s Gossamer silk #19, hot orange
Hackle: Brown Hungarian partridge
Tail whisks: Brown partridge
Rib: Gudebrod “D” rod winding thread as sub for primrose silk or gold wire
Body: Blend of hare’s poll fur and orange-brown wool spun in hot orange silk on a Clark block
Sulphur-PMD Flymph II
The second is a pattern of my design called “Sulphur-PMD Flymph” tied in the style of Pete Hidy.
Hook: Standard dry fly, Size #14 or #16
Thread: Pearsall’s Gossamer silk #3, primrose
Hackle: Medium blue dun hen
Tail: Blue dun hen whisks
Rob: Fine gold wire
Body: Blend of creamy fox fur and light yellow wool spun on a Clark block with a touch of orange in the thorax area
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Hidy and MOM
Bill Shuck sent me a couple more patterns, so I thought it would make a good follow-up post to yesterday’s. I’ll let Bill take it from here.
Hidy Style Tups Indispensable VII
The first is another Hidy-style flymph, this one a soft-hackle take on an old English dry fly pattern known as the “Tups Indispensable”. There are references in the literature to a truly offbeat combination of materials used for the original dubbing, but according to the recipe published by Overfield, those used by Pete Hidy were quite mundane: pink and yellow wool mixed with a small pinch of hare’s cheek fur. These components were arranged in the spun body (with Pearsall’s Gossamer #3 primrose silk thread) so that the amount of pink increased along with the taper, culminating in a nearly red thorax. This configuration is supported by examination of actual flies tied by Pete Hidy contained in the collection inherited by his son Lance.
(per T. Donald Overfield’s “Famous Flies and their Originators”)
Hook: Long shank mayfly, Sizes #13, #14, or #15 (Pete Hidy’s favorite was an up-eye version made by Veniard; I think this one is a Size #14 Mustad 94842)
Thread: Pearsalls’ Gossamer silk #3, primrose
Hackle: Medium honey dun hen
Tail: Honey dun hen whisks
Rib: Fine gold wire
Body: Blend of pink and yellow wool with pinch of hare’s cheek fur, spun in primrose silk on a Clark block
Jungle Cock Test Pattern
The second fly was a byproduct of a project I worked on a while back with Don Bastian on the fanciful wet flies of Mary Orvis Marbury. This made-up pattern combines two types of feathers from a Jungle Cock fowl serving as a wing on top of a silk floss body, a barred wood duck tail, a Greenwell-type hackle collar and a red Berlin wool head covering the snelled connection to a real silk gut leader. This type of connection was pretty much standard operating procedure in the days before eyed hooks were widely available. Although they may look unrealistic to today’s anglers, such gaudy wet flies were widely used by American anglers in the 19th Century for pursuing both trout and bass.
Hook: Mustad 3399, Size #4 with eye cut off
Thread: Uni-Thread 6/0, white
Snelled leader: #4 Silk Fishing Gut (4 lb test), approximately 6” long with Perfection loop on end
Tail: Barred wood duck flank slips
Rib: Braided silver tinsel, medium
Body: Alec Jackson premium silk floss, red
Wing: Jungle Cock flank feathers with J.C. nails overlaid
Hackle collar: Greenwell (light furnace) hen hackle
Head: Red Berlin wool
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Darbee Two Feather fly – Ted Patlen
photo by TC Geist
This Darbee Two Feather fly was originated by the great Harry Darbee and this one was tied by the very talented Catskill tyer, Ted Patlen. The pattern consists of a standard dry fly hook, Wood Duck Flank Feather (or Mallard), and dry fly hackle of your choice. Here are some tips from Ted.
This fly is a model of efficiency ….easy to tie, floats like a cork, even if the hackle gets screwed up.
The bottom hackles can be cut if the fly gets some refusals.
One thing I like about it….when fishing it on a flat pool with nothing rising this fly (like a variant) will get fish to react. It is easy to twitch and skitter , another thing, how many of these flies do you think the trout see, even in Roscoe, NY? Obviously, it doesn’t work ALL the time but more than a few times to warrant this as a good fishing fly.
Another thing, an extremely large mayfly can be tied onto a very small hook.
The people who wanna tie it for the first time…much care should be taken to find a good feather for the body/tail/wing feather. The feather on the left has fibers that are pretty even in legnth, not a hard taper from the tip to the base AND the fibers are very even …balanced is a better word as compared to the feather on the right ….the feather on the right would make an unbalanced wing. Look at the flues sticking out from the left side of the shaft. These are longer than the flues on its other-side . These unbalanced feathers can be used for the this fly but the even feathers are much easier to use.
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Hendrickson Flymph – Johnny Utah
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Pearl Caddis Pupa
On this episode of Fly Friday provided by MimicFlyFishing.com: the Pearl Caddis Pupa
Orvis endorsed guide Jan Nemec has 18 years experience on local NV/CA waters. Book a trip by calling 775-770-8227 or email: mimicfly@gmail.com.
Fly Fridays are a chance for you to learn the secrets behind the area’s best and tested patterns, including some of Jan Nemec’s patterns that are sold nationally in the Orvis catalog.
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HMG Mayfly – Joe Nicklo
Wind blowing constantly at 20 mph, gusting to 30…keeps me pinned to my vise again this weekend. Oh well, it forces me to be creative! I have made several attempts at an acceptable mayfly (ephemeroptera) imitation with an extended body. Finally, after trashing several that look more like godzilla, I have one that appears to have somewhat of a close resemblance to a natural mayfly. Keep in mind that this is a work-in-progress. I am open to any and all suggestion for improvement. Surprise! Surprise! The HMG Mayfly extended body, the thorax and the head are all hot melt glue. The tail is wood duck, the wing is cdc and the eyes are fabric paint. It is tied on a size 18 hook. The extended body is Uni wire coated with hot melt glue. When I put the HMG Mayfly in water to check its hook orientation, I expected to see the body submerged and held in the surface by the cdc wing. I was surprised and excited when I noticed the body and tail floating on top of the water. It appears the hot melt glue had become buoyant when heated and applied to the fly. I am certain the addition of the wood duck tail has helped with the buoyancy. Now, the question, “how buoyant and for how long”. That will be a test for another time.
BTW, my HMG Fly Systems Facebook page could use your support getting to 850. LIKE and share it at https://www.facebook.com/
Tight lines!
Joe Nicklo
HMG Fly Systems
11110 Vanderford Dr.
Houston, TX 77099-4662
713-822-8106
jnicklo@hmgflysystems.com
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HMG Super Midge
This is the HMG Super Midge by Joe Nicklo. Joe’s secret revealed…how to tie a “no-thread” fly using hot melt glue as the main component. This is one of the videos in the DVD included in the HMG Fly Systems kit which has innovative step-by-step instructions for tying 10 HMG patterns using hot melt glue. See 40 + hot melt glue patterns at http://www.hmgflysystems.com.
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Clacka Caddis – Walter Wiese
A highly effective caddis-style attractor dry fly for Parks’ Fly Shop guides and clients in 2009.
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Waste Troll Leech – Philip Rowley
This is one of Phil’s favorite leech patterns and he says it is an evolution of sorts of his Aftershaft Leech featured in his first book, Fly Patterns for Stillwaters. With the advent of Marc Petitjean’s Magic Tool he can now blend other materials together for his leech patterns. Phil mentions that the body technique for this fly also works well for dragon nymphs and thoraxes on caddis pupa patterns. Be prepared for takes on the drop with this pattern.
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Just-Emerged PMD and Spring Grey Tenkara – Bill Shuck
I love Bill Shuck’s flies, so I asked if he would send me a couple more to show off here at FrankenFly. So here they are. Bill briefly explains each below. Thanks Bill!
This one I call “Just-Emerged PMD” that I originally tied for an IBF swap in 2013. It is basically a soft hackle with a “wing” of CDC, whose purpose is to trap just enough air to give the impression of an insect in the final stage of becoming an adult.
Hook: Daiichi 1550, Size #14
Thread: Griffith’s Sheer 14/0, amber
Hackle: Light ginger dun hen saddle
Tail: Lemon wood duck
Body: Blend of light yellow/red/blue wool yarn fibers, twist dubbed
Wing: Greenish-blue CDC
The second is a version of a kebari-style tenkara fly. Tenkara fishing , which dates back for centuries in Japan, has become moderately popular in the USA over the past few years. It employs minimalist equipment (rods with no reels) and was developed to catch relatively small fish out of high mountain streams. The distinguishing feature of the kebari fly is the “reversed” hackle, an arrangement which promotes a life-like pulsing of the hackle fibers in turbulent water.
Hook: Daiichi 1150, Size #12
Thread: Pearsall’s Gossamer silk, #3 primrose
Head: Buildup of thread wraps
Hackle: Waterhen covert
Tag: Thread wraps
Abdomen: Grey goose herl
Thorax: Muskrat fur in dropped loop brush
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Green Butt Soft Hackle Diving Caddis
Ted Kraimer of Current Works had this nice soft hackle pattern in his enewsletter today. The pattern imitates an adult female caddis. Ted explains more below.
Black caddis are found in northern Michigan rivers anytime from late April through mid-July and can present themselves either heavily or lightly any day in between. It seems that as the season progresses, these “Mother’s Day caddis” or Grannom caddis tend to be heavier in density right at dusk and even into dark.
The adults bounce around on the water’s surface and don’t get much attention from fish because of their erratic nature of flight and the amount of wasted energy that sometimes goes into chasing them. But of importance are the adult female caddis with their bright green egg sack that oviposit/lay eggs by diving under water. These are the same caddis you may have witnessed crawling on vegetation or even your waders on a recent fishing trip – I often find them on my drift boat’s oar blades.
This easy and quick to tie pattern is effective for fishing wet any time the hatch is present, and even at times a day or two after a heavy emergence has occurred. The bright wire imitates the egg sack while providing some weight. Meanwhile, the soft hackle undulates under the water imitating the wing and antennae of the diving caddis.
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Goober Midge – Kelly Galloup
To find more check out Kelly Galloup’s Slide Inn.
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Flies Around the Net – 6-17-2014
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted Flies Around the Net, so I wanted to jump back into it this month. I also want to thank all of you for visiting and reading FrankenFly! I hope you enjoy these!
Adult Golden Stone – Al Ritt
Tied by Gerald Lee
Glass Minnow – Stoyan Filipov
Tied by Jason Taylor
Mouse – Sergio Rene Cordoba
Tied by Norbert Renaud
realistic nymph – Johan Put
Paul Young Special – Davie McPhail
Borchers Parachute – Paul J. Beel
Grandpa’s ChickenHawk – Paul J. Beel
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CJ’s Freaky Frog – Chad Johnson
Chad shows you how to tie a really cool pattern of his.
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Dust Bunny
Gates Au Sable Lodge had the recipe for this ugly little fly. Josh Greenberg mentions this particular pattern in his new book, Rivers of Sand. This book is a fantastic fly fishing read! I recommend you pick one up especially if you are into fly fishing for trout. Josh gives a brief explanation of the fly below. There is a step-by-step provided at the Gates Au Sable Lodge website.
Perhaps the ugliest fly that we sell at the lodge. While simple, it’s not as easy to tie well as it seems. This fly works so well in June it seems like you should buy it next to the salmon eggs and Berkeley Powerbait in your local bait shop. Put a shot of gel on it and go fishing. After you catch a fish, or the fly gets drowned, use the powder floatant to reinvigorate it. Fish alone or in tandem. To rising fish, or as a searching pattern. Definitely the most effective Iso emerger I’ve ever fished.
Hook: #12 Daiichi 1180
Thread: Gray or Olive Monocord
Tail: Dun Rabbit Foot
Body: SLF and beaver dubbing (Brown Olive SLF, Gray SLF, Light Gray Beaver)…use a coffee grinder
Wing: Dun Rabbit Foot
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Parachute Adams Dry Fly
Hans Stephenson shows us how tie a Parachute Adams dry fly. Note from Hans: This pattern is indispensable – tie it in sizes 12-22 and you can match just about any hatch.
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Barr’s Graphic Caddis
Hammer Creek Fly Fishing tackles John Barr’s Graphic Caddis. John created this pattern to imitate an emerging caddis pupae.
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Stone Fly – Massimo Gianneschi
Nice video here of Massimo Gianneschi tying a Stone Fly. Published by Confluenze Magazine.
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