Burrowing Mayfly Nymph
Burrowing Mayfly Nymph
Hook Mustad R73 9671 # 8-12
Tying thread Dyneema
Tail Olive ostrich herl
Body Olive brown Antron dubbing
Rib Olive Ostrich herl
Thorax Olive brown Antron dubbing
Wing case Floss or Antron body wool
Legs Olive CdC
Although many nymph patterns today are intended to imitate a much greater spectrum of aquatic foods, rather than the nymphal stage of one specific, this pattern imitates the final nymphal stage of the largest burrowing mayflies Ephemera guttulata (Green Drake) and Ephemera simulans (Brown Drake) and the European relatives Ephemera danica and vulgate.. These nymphs prefer soft organic or sandy and muddy bottoms, where they can live more or less buried for up to several years, only appearing occasionally to feed on decomposing vegetable and plant matter. They have been known to burrow as deep as fifty feet. These large nymphs that range from 12-32 mm in length, can be easily recognised by the breathing gills along the sides of the rear body, and over sized fore legs that are adapted for burrowing. The gills however are not only used for breathing but also function as a ventilation system for the tunnel they burrow keeping water flowing through it, which in turn keeps it open. If the nymph leaves its burrow or stops the undulating movement of the gills, the burrow collapses shortly afterwards. These nymphs, are for most of their life, unavailable for the trout, but one of these on your leader at the correct time can make the difference between great sport and no sport. When the time is right and they leave the safety of their burrows, swimming quickly with an undulating body movement, (something that ostrich herl and CdC imitate beautifully) towards the surface, trout can feed on this ascending nymphal stage for several hours before turning on to the subimago winged stage. The weight that is placed under the thorax of the nymph helps emulate this undulating swimming action when pulled through the water with short pauses.
When it comes to tying these large nymphs your hook choice should reflect the natural body length, so a 3XL or a 4XL hook in a size 8-12 works well. The dubbing used for the rear body and the thorax should be one that absorbs water and not a water repellant dry fly dubbing. Another trick that helps to get the nymph down is after you have tied it on your leader give it a few seconds in the water and then squeeze it hard between your finger and thumb to press out any trapped air that may be caught in the dubbing and CdC. I also like to use a UV treated dubbing and Ostrich herl. Although I have not had the same marked results that show trout prefer the UV patterns in fresh water, unlike the results I have had in salt water, it does no harm in giving the pattern that extra edge that may make a difference. Previously I have used golden pheasant centre tail fibres for the wing case but these have proved to be a little too fragile for the small sharp teeth of trout, so I have substituted it with Antron body wool.
1
Secure your 3 XL or 4XL nymph hook in the vice making sure that its horizontal.
2
Attach your tying thread and cover the whole shank until the thread is hanging between the hook barb and point.
3
When it comes to weighting flies I like to use a lead free alternative.
4
Wind on a short length of lead free wire under the thorax, covering approximately one third of the hook shank.
5
Once the lead free wire is wound and packed tight trim off the surplus.
6
For the tails of the nymph you will need some olive ostrich herl, here I like to use a UV treated herl to the the nymph an extra edge.
7
Select three herl’s with even tips. Tie inn the first herl on top centre of the hook shank. Again this should be about one third of the hook shanks length.
8
Now tie in the other two herl’s one each side of the centre tail.
9
Tie down the remaining herl along the whole hook shank and cut away the excess herl.
10
Now select another long herl with nice long fibres for the ribbing that will represent the nymphs gills.
11
Now spin some Antron dubbing tightly onto the tying thread. Make sure that this is tight so the finished body is dense.
12
Continue with the Antron dubbing and build up a tapered rear body along 2/3 of the hook shank.
13
Wind on the ostrich herl as a rib over the rear body part, making sure that the herl fibres stand out at 90 degrees from the hook shank. About 6-7 tight even turns, and tie off at the thorax.
14
Remove the excess herl and carefully trim off the herl fibres, only on top of the body as shown. This is not necessary but gives a little more realistic look to the nymph.
15
The trimmed rear body should now look like this from the side.
16
And like this from above with the gills prominent along each side of the body.
17
Now cut four lengths of floss or Antron body wool and tie these is as shown along the the top of the thorax these will form the wing case later.
18
Trim off the ends of the floss behind the hook eye and tie down. Wind the tying thread back towards the rear body.
19
Dub the whole thorax quite heavily and return the tying thread once again to the junction between the thorax and the rear body. Take care that you leave about 2-3 mm space behind the hook eye to tie off the wing case later.
20
Place a large CdC hackle in a magic tool clip, notice how the CdC fibres taper in length from long on the left side getting shorter to the right.
21
Transfer the CdC to the second Magic tool clip ready for use.
22
Now spin the CdC with the longest fibres at the top of the dubbing loop, these are to be wound in the thorax first for the longest legs.
23
Wind on the CdC dubbing brush in open even turns through the thorax to form the leg hackle.
24
Taking hold off all four pieces of floss, fold them over the thorax and secure with a couple of turns of tying thread. Once the floss is correctly placed pull once again to tighten up the wing case and secure properly with a few more turns of tying thread.
25
Trim off the excess floss and tie down the ends. If you are using Dyneema or another GSP thread you can colour it black with a permanent felt marker.
26
Whip finish and remove the tying thread. Finish off with a drop of varnish.
27
The finished olive mayfly nymph.
28
The finished brown mayfly nymph.
29
The finished grey mayfly nymph.
The Bee’s Knees!
The feather benders home grown and hand crafted fly tyers wax scull’s.
It’s not that long ago that pre-waxed tying thread was not readily available, and tyers, especially of the more classic stile patterns resorted to various types of wax to make tying more easy and the natural threads such as cotton and silk more durable. Because the majority of tying threads available today are pre-waxed, the practice of waxing your own tying thread has been somewhat neglected or almost forgotten for most fly tyers.
Apart from the obvious advantages as mentioned above, waxing your own thread makes easy work of applying and attaching materials to the hook, creating better friction between thread and material and anchoring them in place with only a couple of wraps of thread. Its also extremely useful when dubbing, if a little is applied to the thread before spinning your dubbing it will render the thread ‘Tacky’ and make the adhering of the dubbing material easier.
After recently starting keeping bees, primarily for honey production, I have also a surplus of natural bee’s wax which when mixed with three other totally natural ingredients is the recipe for my own exclusive tyers wax. A limited amount of sculls will be available for next to no cost, so if you are interested in obtaining one of these hand made tyers waxes, please contact me on, barrycl@online.no
Tying the Detatched body mayfly
This is a simple but but effective mayfly pattern that fly tyers of any level can tie with a little practice. Once you have masterd this technique all you have to do is change the size and colour to match most mayfly hatches.
The chioce of colours and sizes of fly to be used when tying this pattern is determined by what mayfly you intend to imitate and under what conditions. In still water fishing, trout can be extremly sellective when feeding on mayflies, they have good time to check them out before sucking them in.
Body form: Upholsterers needle
Hook: Standard dry Mustad 94840 # 16-10
Thread: Dyneema
Tail: Peccary or moose hair
Body: Flyrite dubbing
Wing: CDC fibres
1
Place the upholsterers needle in the vice. You can use a regular straight needle for this if you would like to make a body that lies flat in the surface like a spinner. The upholsterers needle can be bought from most good hardware stores.
2
Apply a little fly tyers wax to the area of the needle that you will use to make the body. This will make removing the body later much easier.
3
Attatch your tying thread and run a foundation of thread the full length of the intended body on the needle. I only use Dyneema tying thread, this is a multi filament thread that if spun in the bobbin anti clockwise will open the filaments and lie flat on the hook shank. If spun clockwise the filaments twist together and reduce the size of the thread down to 16/0. This thread comes in only one colour, white, but can be coloured with waterproof felt pens.
4
Sellect 3 long peccary fibres. I like to use Peccary fibres for the larger mayflies and moose hair for the smaller patterns. Tie in the peccary fibers as shown. Its a good idea to choose fibres that are long enough to run the full length of the body, and then some, this will make it stronger and more durable.
5
The dubbing that I use is flyrite, but you can use any synthetic dubbing that has long fine fibres. The long fibres help you wrap the dubbing around the needle and again make the body strong. If you use a straight needle, once you have tied in the tail fibers you can attatch the dubbing material and remove the needle from the vice. You can now roll the needle between finger and thumb of one hand while you feed on the dubbing with your other hand, this makes super fine and even bodies.
6
Attatch your dubbing to your tying thread and begin at the base of the body. Make sure that the dubbing is applied firm and even but not too tight, this will make it difficult to remove when finished.
7
Once you have made a couple of turns of dubbing you can now apply a little glue to the foundation of tying thread Copydex or super glue are best. The wax that you applied earlier will stop it being glued to the needle.
8
Now you can dubb the whole body. Make sure that you get the taper correct, and the right size for the speices you aim to imitate.
9
When you have finished your body tie it off at the base and make 2 or 3 half hitch finishing knots. You now place thumb and index finger each side of the body and carefully loosen the body from the needle by rolling it between your fingers and eas it off the needle. You will now see that the dubbing, tying thread and glue have merged into one hollowbody tube, that should have retained it’s shape.
10
Secure your hook in the vise and attatch your tying thread.
11
Half way down the hook shank you can now tie on your detached mayfly body.
12
Once your body is secure apply a little dubbing on your tying thread, and dubb the rest of the rear of the body. Again make sure that you take your time and get proportions correct.
13
Select a good bunch of long cdc fibres and tie these in almost paradun style to form the wing.
14
Once the wing is secure proceed with dubbing the rest of the mayfly body.
15
When the body is finished taper off the dubbing to form the head.
16
Whip finish and remove the tying thread. And there you have it, the finished cdc mayfly.
17
Front view.
Large dark olive trio
Large dark olive
The large dark olive (Baetis rhodani) are probably the most widespread of all the European may flies, being Multivoltine, where water temperature allows, having two or more generation cycles per year, makes it even more important to the trout and fly fishermen alike! When designing fishing flies its not the very small details that count, although aesthetically pleasing to the fly tyer, and an important part of our craft! its a combination of several that will be the deciding factor for the fish. Size, colour, silhouette, footprint, behavior.
One of the earliest hatches here in Norway that I tend to fish is on the Trysil river with my good friend Espen Eilertsen owner and head guide of Call of the wild Drift boat fishing.
Although the weather was warm, a light shower that lasted an hour or so had just tapered off and there where Rodanis mayflies hatching everywhere, and when I say everywhere, I mean everywhere, but this being the first day of the hatch, the famous Trysil grayling were not as eager as the gulls to take advantage of the a la carte menu. I couldn’t believe that fish where not rising! The whole river surface was covered with duns, popping up and floating like regatta of small sail boats down river. Espen reassured me that this was normal and it always takes a little time for them to start feeding on the surface when the hatch first begins. The first few hours of the hatch, they generally concentrate where the food is most plentiful and thats below the surface. Taking nymphs and emergers as they rise to the surface.
For the next three hours we had only been in contact with a few fish and drifted just about every type of river condition from shallow rapids to fast flowing channels to flat calm slow drifts, and the Clacka drift boat in combination with Espen´s expert handling of the craft is impressive, performing perfectly as a sturdy fishing and casting platform at all times. We drifted through breath taking Alaskan type landscape, with steep rising pine and spruce covered mountains on each side of us, that you only get full wide screen effect of from mid-river, the speed of the boat slowing down as we could see in the distance where the river opens out and widens into a large basin.
Fishing a LDO nymph on the point and an emerger on a dropper that was easy to see on the dark water, drifted perfectly 7-8 meters from the boat, quickly approaching two rolling grayling in the next pool, that we had had our eyes on for the last 80 meters or so, drift. When without warning another, previously unseen fish rose from the depths of a dark pool and enthusiastically disappeared with my dropper. Espen lowered the oars and began pulling, to slow our decent and dropped the anchor. I lifted my rod and it immediately assumed the golden arch position with the grayling diving deep into the pool. After a short battle my first grayling of the season was released.
After a little fly and leader attention, Espen was holding the boat steady and suddenly says ” nine o clock, 15 meters ” I lift my rod and make a couple of false casts to shake of the dry fly floatant and lie my line down in the nine o clock position, “perfect” says Espen. The fly drifts perfectly along with several naturals, one of which is 60 cm or so ahead of mine, when it slowly enters the steady risers feeding window and “sup” its gone. Mine is next in line ! and like a text book account of how it should be, the fish obliges and leaves only small rings in the surface where my fly once was. If there was only a slight breeze these rises would be impossible to see. I automatically lift the rod and my line tightens, I can feel immediately that this fish is of another class from the ones I have had contact with so far. The fish dives and enters the strong under current using his majestic dorsal fin to his advantage and holding his position deep on the bottom. After 2 or 3 minutes he succumbed to the overwhelming power of space age carbon. What a beautiful fish, 38 cm of grayling, a new personal record on dry fly.
Normally the style of rise observed, will give a good indication to what stage of the insects life is being taken! With emergers the fish almost seem to be anesthetized slowly and repeatedly sucking in the water under the target, or the surface film is pushed up in a small mound without the fish actually breaking the surface. When rising to dun’s the rise is more enthusiastic, slashy and splashy. When rises are sparse or the fish are playing hard to get, just taking one or another emerger. You can search pocket water or fish dead drift with an appropriate single nymph or even combined with a emerger dropper. This ribbed abdomen technique is an old one that I have revitalized with the help of Bug Bond and spirit based felt pens. Moose mane hair is not from the beard that hangs on the neck but the longest hair that can be found on the back of the upper neck. Being a elk hunter I have access to a huge amount of select material each autumn, but the skins being the size they are I only take smaller patches of the best and most useful hair for curing. These hairs are remarkably strong, practically unbreakable when pulled between the fingers!
Hook: Mustad R72 nymph
Tying thread: Dyneema
Tail: Fine deer hair
Body: Moose mane hair two dark and one light coated with Bug Bond
Wing case: Virtual nymph Felxibody
Thorax: Virtual nymph medium olive and black seal fur mix
Legs: Bronze mallard
1
Secure your 2 X long nymph hook in the vice, so the hook shaft is horizontal.
2
Attach your tying thread a few mm behind the hook eye and run all the way back to the rear of the shank.
3
Select 3 fine and quite stiff deer hairs. The ones I have used here are from a roe deer mask. Tie them in as shown in the form of a trident.
4
Take a tiny drop of Bug Bond and place on the three deer hair bases. Give this a zap with the UV torch. This will keep the three tails in place.
5
Take a patch of moose mane. The natural mane is a mixture of what they call salt and pepper coloured hair. If you can get hold of un treated (washed or tanned) moose mane this has much more durable hair.
6
Select two long dark hairs and one long light.
7
Tie in the hairs. Tie in the light one first at the base of the hook shank and then the dark hair.
8
Now take both hairs at once, make sure that they are parallel with each other and not twisted. Wind them on tight and even over the whole body of the nymph. Make sure they dont cross each other while winding on!
9
Tie off at the thorax.
10
Once you have cut away the excess give the whole body a fine coat of Bug Bond UV resin.
11
When you have cured the first coat colour the body with a olive waterproof felt pen.
12
Give the whole body a final coat of Bug Bond. This time you can apply a little more to give the nymph body a taper .
13
Now wind your tying thread a little back over the rear body as shown and tie in a small strip of olive flexibody for the wing case. Make sure this is central to the body and on top of the hook shank.
14
If you wish to add a little weight to the fly, now is the time before you dub the thorax. Spin a little olive seals fir dubbing and wind on over the base of the flexibody.
15
Select a small bronze mallard hackle and cut out the central stem and remove the down, as illustrated.
16
Place the bronzed mallard over the body so the fibers cover each side of the nymph body. Make a couple of loose turns of tying thread to hold these in place. Then you can pull on the hackle stem to adjust the length of the legs before tying down.
17
Once the legs are tied in remove the excess and make a couple more turns of tying thread tight into the dubbing so the legs flare out at an angle.
18
Take a little more olive seal fur and mix with a little black seals fur then dub the remaining thorax. Make sure that you leave enough room for the wing case and head.
19
Fold over the flexibody strip for the wing case and secure with 2 or 3 tight turns of tying thread tight back towards the thorax. Make sure the wing case is nice and tight over the thorax.
20
Carefully trim off the remaining flexibody and tie down. Whip finish and varnish.
Large dark olive emerger
Hook: Mustad C49S
Tying thread: Dyneema
Tail: Fine deer hair
Body: Moose mane hair one dark one light coated with Bug Bond
Wing: Bronze mallard, CdC and deer hair
Legs: Coq de Leon fibers
1
Secure your emerger hook in the vice, so the hook shaft is horizontal.
2
Attach your tying thread a few mm behind the hook eye and run all the way back to the rear of the shank.
Select 3 fine and quite stiff deer hairs. The ones I have used here are from a roe deer mask. Tie them in as shown in the form of a trident.
3
Take a patch of moose mane. The natural mane is a mixture of what they call salt and pepper coloured hair. If you can get hold of un treated (washed or tanned) moose mane this has much more durable hair.
4
Select two long hairs one dark and one light.
Tie in the hairs. Tie in the dark one first at the base of the hook shank and then the light one.
5
Now take both hairs at once, make sure that they are parallel with each other and not twisted. Wind them on tight and even over the whole body of the fly. Make sure they dont cross each other while winding on! Tie off at the thorax.
6
Trim off the excess and give the whole body a coat with Bug Bond.
7
Colour the body with a waterproof felt pen.
8
Tie in a small bunch of bronze mallard for the wing.
9
Spin a small amount of Olive CdC in a dubbing loop.
10
Wind on the dubbing loop to form the thorax making sure that most of the dubbing sits on top of the hook shank.
11
Now a small bunch of fine deer hair for the over wing. Try and use deer hair with nice markings.
12
Now take a few fibers of olive or yellow Coq de Leon and tie these in for the legs on the underside of the thorax.
13
Spin another small amount of CdC and wind on to form the head.
14
Whip finish and varnish.
Large dark olive dry
Hook: Mustad R30
Tying thread: Dyneema
Tail: Coq de Leon
Body: Moose mane hair one dark one light coated with bug Bond
Wing: Grey duck wing quill sections
Hackle: Golden Badger
Tying Long Flies
Blue Devil Custom
This is one of the many patterns from the legendary Rangeley fly tyer Carrie G Stevens. Most of her patterns where tied on 6 X long – 10 X long shank hooks although she did use some that where even 12 X long, these super long shank hooks is what gives these flies their unique profile and silhouette. In 1924 Carrie G Stevens caught a 6lb 13oz brook trout on a prototype streamer she had made herself. She entered her catch into the fishing competition in the well known American magazine “Field and Stream” shortly after her prototype streamer and the trophy brook trout it caught would be her spring board to international acclaim as the originator of this new style of streamer.
Hook: Mustad L87NP-BR #2 or Partridge CS15 #4
Tying thread: Dyneema
Tag: Flat silver tinsel
Body: Red silk floss
Rib: Flat silver tinsel
Throat: White buck tail with red/orange hackle or hackle fibres
Wing: Eight – ten strands of peacock herl, two red/orange hackles, two blue hackles.
Shoulder: Brown grey partridge hackle
Cheeks: Jungle Cock
1.
Secure your 10XL streamer hook in the vice with the hook shank horizontal.
2.
Attach your tying thread to the hook shank just above the point.
3.
Tie in a short length of flat silver tinsel and make 6 or 7 turns to form the tag.
4.
Tie in another longer length of flat silver tinsel at the end of the tag and run your tying thread neatly along the hook shank towards the hook eye. Now tie in a length of red floss silk just behind the eye.
5.
Wrap the floss silk in neat flat turns back towards the tag try and make these wraps as neat and flat as possible. Once at the tag reverse the floss and begin wrapping it back towards the hook eye, and tie off.
6.
Now take your flat silver tinsel for the rib and wind forward in even open turns, trying to make each turn the same distance and angle as the last. Tie off.
7.
Cut clean and stack a bunch of white buck tail for the throat. This should be about one hook gape longer than the hook. Tie in as shown.
8.
Select 8-10 straight strands of nice peacock herl, avoid strung herl, these are often bent or broken. Choose full bodied herl with nice points and good iredescent colour. Tie these in lying on top of the hook shank. Don’t worry if these flare a little you can position these later with the wing.
9.
Construct the wing by selecting all four components for both sides of the wing. Measure and strip off the un-needed fibres at the base so they are all the correct size.
10.
Typically these wings are constructed by glueing each component on top of each other. The glue or cement used should be thick enough so as not to bleed into the fibres of the feathers. The glue used here is a regular bottle of Veniard Cellire varnish that I have left the top off for a few days. This will make the varnish evaporate down to about 50% and result in a thick sticky cement that won’t bleed. Run a small amount of cement along the base of the hackle for the inner wing. Make sure that you only apply it to the area to be covered by the shoulder hackle.
11.
Now place the second wing component on top of the glued area of the first hackle.
12.
Make sure that the shoulder partridge hackles have a similar pattern.
13.
Cement the shoulder hackle onto the wing as shown.
14.
Followed by the Jungle cock cheeks.
15.
When both wings are constructed they should look balanced as with these, leave to dry for a few minutes.
16.
Prepare your throat hackle and tie in. Many use only fibres here but I find a traditional hackle better as the top half of the wound hackle makes a good buffer for holding the wing evenly positioned.
17.
Wind on the throat hackle and tie off.
18.
With wet fingers separate the hackle in two a little more on the throat part and position.
19.
Place a small piece of foam over the hackle as shown and hold this in place with a english hackle plier for a couple of minutes. This will form the hackle into the correct position and shape.
20.
Now you can trim the hackle stems on the wing sections. This should be done at a angle so you get a taper on the head of the fly.
21.
Position each wing section and tie in with as few wraps of tying thread as possible.
22.
If you are using Dyneema thread colour it black with a waterproof felt pen and finish the head with a whip finish.
23.
Give the head a few coats of glossy varnish.
Elasticaddis in the house!
The elasticaddis is a Impressionistic larva house built from rubber legs.
House building caddis larva are available in most waters all year round, and are an important segment of the diet of trout and grayling. There are many techniques that have been developed over the years from fly tying benches all over the world to imitate the house of the caddis larva, but this technique really gives the right impression. This is a pattern I believe was developed in the US, but other than that I cant find any other information about it. The great thing about this pattern is if you trim the rubber legs close to the body you get the impression of a caddis larva house built out of gravel, but if you spin the rubber legs not so tight and trim them a little longer it makes for a great house made of vegetation and sticks. Also the rubber gives that extra needed weight when you need to get down deep and not least extremely durable.
You may find that this isn´t the easiest pattern to tie at the first attempt as the rubber legs seem to have a life of their own, but after a few attempts is no more difficult then any other pattern. Try mixing colours and rubber types to achieve different effects.
Hook Mustad R72NP-BR # 12-6 with Bead head
Tying thread Dyneema
Body Rubber legs
Collar CdC
Head Course antron dubbing
- 1
Place a bead head on hook and your hook in the vice.
2
Attach tying thread to hook and run a foundation of thread along the whole hook shank.
3
Cut 3 small strips ca. 2 cm long, of double rubber legs in various colours and diameters if available.
4
Tie in the three rubber legs at the rear of the hook. If you are going to use heavy rubber legs, with a large diameter it is best to make a foundation of tapered loose dubbing on the hook shank first, otherwise the rubber will not flare as easy as fine rubber legs.
5
Once they are secure you can pull on them to split the double legs into single.
6
Carry on with the same procedure, mixing the colours as you go along the hook shank.
7
After each bunch of rubber legs is attached use the bead head to push the legs and pack them tightly. This will give a more compact body.
8
Attach more rubber legs until you have covered all but 3-4 mm of hook shank.
9
Now you can trim the house / larva case.
10
Continue all around the body of the fly until you have the desired size and shape.
11
Spin a couple of CdC hackles in a dubbing loop, just behind the bead head.
12
Wind on the dubbing loop brushing the CdC back over the body of the fly with each turn, so as not to trap the fibers.
13
Now dubb the tying thread with a little coarse dubbing with longish fibers and dubb the head of the fly tight into the bead head.
14
Whip finish and remove the tying thread. Using an old tooth brush brush out all the CdC and dubbing fibers, so they lie back over the body.
15
The finished elasticaddis.
No matter what you tie there is always room for artistic expression.
Making a fur hackle and dubbing tutorial
Once again this is a request I have had from several fellow bloggers for the fur hackle spinning technique. Although similar too the spinning deer hair article, there are a few pointers you should be aware of when mastering this technique.
Just about all natural and synthetic furs, feathers and hairs can be used as one form of dubbing or another. Before you start its worth considering what type of hair or material is suitable for the type of fly you are tying. There are several factors regarding the choice of natural materials.
1. Dry fly, nymph, wet.
2. Sinking, floating.
3. Ridged or pulsating.
4. Neat or scruffy.
When you are using natural materials you should consider what kind of animal, lifestyle, and climate it derives from. If choosing a dubbing for a small dry fly the under fur from otter, beaver and coypu have, because of their aquatic lifestyle a super fine under fur which is impregnated with natural water repellant oils, rather like the fur equivalent of CdC. On the other hand if you would like a long pulsating, sinking hackle choose a soft finer hair from an opossum or a rabbit that will absorb water but remain mobile and lively when fished. For nymphs there is of course the classic spiky hares ear dubbing. So to achieve optimal function and design of the the pattern you intend to tie, consider the above before starting.
1. Here I am using an old fashioned bull dog paper clip to hold the fur but for perfect dubbing spinning I can recommend the Marc Petitjean Magic tool. Marc’s magic tool is made from transparent plastic, the advantage with this is that you have much more visual control over the length and lie of the material being used. The above material is a regular hare zonker strip. Place this in the clip so the fibers are 90 degrees to the clip and at this stage you also determine the length of the hackle required.
2. Now with long straight scissors cut off the base and hide from the strip leaving only 2 or 3 mm of fur out from the clips jaws.
3. The finished loaded clip. You should now take care not to apply pressure to the clip and open it before needed. Otherwise all the material will shift or fall out.
4. Make a dubbing loop. If the material you are using is dense ( thick guard hairs and under fur) you will need to make a loop of double tying thread as above. But if the material is fine, a finer loop of split tying thread is sufficient. Also its important that where the two sides of the loop meet the hook shaft that they are touching. If you have them open, one strand of thread on each side of the hook shank the loop will not close correctly, and the material spun will loosen and fall out.
5. Move your bobbin forward towards the hook eye and attach your dubbing spinner.
6. If you are using Dyneema or another thread that is un-waxed, you will need to apply a little dubbing wax to the thread to gain ultimate traction.
7. Once you have placed the material in the loop carefully remove the clip in one smooth movement while keeping tension on the spinner to hold the dubbing loop tight and closed.
8. While keeping tension, spin the dubbing loop clockwise until all the material is secured and flares like a regular hackle.
9. You can now wind on your fur dubbing loop in a traditional hackle style. Taking care to brush back the fibers of each turn before making the next.
10. With this technique you can make as many turns of fur hackle as required. If you make only two turns you have a perfect fur hackle collar or you can cover the whole of the hook shank. If you would like a very spiky dubbed body for a nymph you can cover the whole hook shank and then trim it all down to the body shape you would like.
11. For a buggy nymph dubbing you would need a material that will sink and command a little more volume that a fine dry fly body. This is hares ear. Pull some stiff short fibers from the ears of the hare and some softer more dense hair and fur from the mask.
If you would like to use a fine material make use of a dubbing rake. When pulled through the fur on a skin, this will collect only the finer under fur. If you don’t have a dubbing rake you can also just pluck out the fibers with your fingers.
12. Now place the under fur in the palm of your hand and with the finger of your other hand rub the dubbing around in a clockwise motion. This will blend the dubbing evenly, making it easier to work with.
13. Select a small amount of dubbing and place it between your index finger and the tying thread as shown. When I am teaching people to tie flies one of the most frequently asked questions is – how much dubbing shall I use ? Most fly tyers apply way too much dubbing to the tying thread at one go, so I say, take what you think you should use, half it, and then half it again, and normally you arrive at a usable amount.
14. Now its time to roll the dubbing material onto the tying thread. With the tying thread and dubbing resting on your index finger place the tip of your thumb on top of this so as to trap the material and the thread between your finger and thumb.
Still trapping the thread and material between your finger and thumb push the tip of your thumb towards the tip of your finger, clockwise, thus rolling the material around the thread. You must do this several times up and down the thread to attach the material, forming a kind of dubbing rope. You should also remember one of the most common mistakes with attaching dubbing is that the fly tyer will roll the dubbing firstly clockwise and then anti clockwise when replacing the thumb back into the beginning of the rolling stage, this unwinds the dubbing. Also don’t try and make more than a few cms of dubbing rope at one time, this will also unwind as you wind it onto the hook shank.
15. Once your dubbing rope is ready you can now begin to wind it onto the hook shank to form the body. When you have wound on the first length of dubbing, repeat the process until the desired size of body is achieved. If you would like to taper the body, as in most nymphs begin with a thin dubbing rope, and the apply more dubbing each time making a thicker rope.
16. Once the nymph body is finished tie off behind the hook eye.
17. If you would like an even more buggy effect use a brush ( I use an old tooth brush ) to pull out the fibers to make a buggy body.
18. The brushing gives a soft and mobile, yet spiky nymph body.
19. But if you would like a fine slim body without too many fibers you can trim these off with a fine pair of scissors.
20. The finished trimmed cigar shaped body. Good luck! If you have any questions regarding dubbing dont be shy.
Making a fur hackle and dubbing tutorial
Once again this is a request I have had from several fellow bloggers for the fur hackle spinning technique. Although similar too the spinning deer hair article, there are a few pointers you should be aware of when mastering this technique.
Just about all natural and synthetic furs, feathers and hairs can be used as one form of dubbing or another. Before you start its worth considering what type of hair or material is suitable for the type of fly you are tying. There are several factors regarding the choice of natural materials.
1. Dry fly, nymph, wet.
2. Sinking, floating.
3. Ridged or pulsating.
4. Neat or scruffy.
When you are using natural materials you should consider what kind of animal, lifestyle, and climate it derives from. If choosing a dubbing for a small dry fly the under fur from otter, beaver and coypu have, because of their aquatic lifestyle a super fine under fur which is impregnated with natural water repellant oils, rather like the fur equivalent of CdC. On the other hand if you would like a long pulsating, sinking hackle choose a soft finer hair from an opossum or a rabbit that will absorb water but remain mobile and lively when fished. For nymphs there is of course the classic spiky hares ear dubbing. So to achieve optimal function and design of the the pattern you intend to tie, consider the above before starting.
1. Here I am using an old fashioned bull dog paper clip to hold the fur but for perfect dubbing spinning I can recommend the Marc Petitjean Magic tool. Marc’s magic tool is made from transparent plastic, the advantage with this is that you have much more visual control over the length and lie of the material being used. The above material is a regular hare zonker strip. Place this in the clip so the fibers are 90 degrees to the clip and at this stage you also determine the length of the hackle required.
2. Now with long straight scissors cut off the base and hide from the strip leaving only 2 or 3 mm of fur out from the clips jaws.
3. The finished loaded clip. You should now take care not to apply pressure to the clip and open it before needed. Otherwise all the material will shift or fall out.
4. Make a dubbing loop. If the material you are using is dense ( thick guard hairs and under fur) you will need to make a loop of double tying thread as above. But if the material is fine, a finer loop of split tying thread is sufficient. Also its important that where the two sides of the loop meet the hook shaft that they are touching. If you have them open, one strand of thread on each side of the hook shank the loop will not close correctly, and the material spun will loosen and fall out.
5. Move your bobbin forward towards the hook eye and attach your dubbing spinner.
6. If you are using Dyneema or another thread that is un-waxed, you will need to apply a little dubbing wax to the thread to gain ultimate traction.
7. Once you have placed the material in the loop carefully remove the clip in one smooth movement while keeping tension on the spinner to hold the dubbing loop tight and closed.
8. While keeping tension, spin the dubbing loop clockwise until all the material is secured and flares like a regular hackle.
9. You can now wind on your fur dubbing loop in a traditional hackle style. Taking care to brush back the fibers of each turn before making the next.
10. With this technique you can make as many turns of fur hackle as required. If you make only two turns you have a perfect fur hackle collar or you can cover the whole of the hook shank. If you would like a very spiky dubbed body for a nymph you can cover the whole hook shank and then trim it all down to the body shape you would like.
11. For a buggy nymph dubbing you would need a material that will sink and command a little more volume that a fine dry fly body. This is hares ear. Pull some stiff short fibers from the ears of the hare and some softer more dense hair and fur from the mask.
If you would like to use a fine material make use of a dubbing rake. When pulled through the fur on a skin, this will collect only the finer under fur. If you don’t have a dubbing rake you can also just pluck out the fibers with your fingers.
12. Now place the under fur in the palm of your hand and with the finger of your other hand rub the dubbing around in a clockwise motion. This will blend the dubbing evenly, making it easier to work with.
13. Select a small amount of dubbing and place it between your index finger and the tying thread as shown. When I am teaching people to tie flies one of the most frequently asked questions is – how much dubbing shall I use ? Most fly tyers apply way too much dubbing to the tying thread at one go, so I say, take what you think you should use, half it, and then half it again, and normally you arrive at a usable amount.
14. Now its time to roll the dubbing material onto the tying thread. With the tying thread and dubbing resting on your index finger place the tip of your thumb on top of this so as to trap the material and the thread between your finger and thumb.
Still trapping the thread and material between your finger and thumb push the tip of your thumb towards the tip of your finger, clockwise, thus rolling the material around the thread. You must do this several times up and down the thread to attach the material, forming a kind of dubbing rope. You should also remember one of the most common mistakes with attaching dubbing is that the fly tyer will roll the dubbing firstly clockwise and then anti clockwise when replacing the thumb back into the beginning of the rolling stage, this unwinds the dubbing. Also don’t try and make more than a few cms of dubbing rope at one time, this will also unwind as you wind it onto the hook shank.
15. Once your dubbing rope is ready you can now begin to wind it onto the hook shank to form the body. When you have wound on the first length of dubbing, repeat the process until the desired size of body is achieved. If you would like to taper the body, as in most nymphs begin with a thin dubbing rope, and the apply more dubbing each time making a thicker rope.
16. Once the nymph body is finished tie off behind the hook eye.
17. If you would like an even more buggy effect use a brush ( I use an old tooth brush ) to pull out the fibers to make a buggy body.
18. The brushing gives a soft and mobile, yet spiky nymph body.
19. But if you would like a fine slim body without too many fibers you can trim these off with a fine pair of scissors.
20. The finished trimmed cigar shaped body. Good luck! If you have any questions regarding dubbing dont be shy.
Fender Parachute
My good friends hunting dog, Fender and just one of the many animals and huge amounts of materials he secures for my fly tying every year.
Fender secures more meat wrapped in materials for the winter.
This is a quick and simple parachute technique that requires only deer hair and Bug Bond.
Hook: Mustad C49
Tying thread: Dyneema
Body: Moose mane hair
Hackle: Roe deer hair and Bug Bond
Thorax: Underfur from deer or moose winter coat.
- 1.
Secure your emerger hook in the vice with as much of the bend clear of the jaws.
2.
Run your tying thread from just behind the hook eye down deep into the bend.
3.
Select some long Moose mane hairs.
4.
You will need two long hairs from the moose mane, one white and one black.
5.
Tie in the moose hairs by the points at the base of the hook bend.
6.
Build up a slight forward taper on the fly body with tying thread.
7.
Take both hair at once, with the black hair at the bottom and begin to wind on in even tight turns.
8.
Continue over the whole hook shank until you come to the thorax. Tie off.
9.
Trim off the surplus hair and tie down ends. Although these moose mane hairs are remarkably strong you can give the body a coat with Bug Bond.
10.
Cut and stack a small bunch of deer hair. Tie this in as a parachute post.
11.
At the base of the hairs from a winter coat of a moose or deer there is a dense under fur. Remove enough to dub the thorax.
12.
Dub the thorax behind and forward of the post.
13.
Place your finger tip in the centre of the deer hair post and press down until the deer hair flattens out.
14.
Place a small drop of Bug Bond in the center of the deer hair parachute hackle.
15.
Give the Bug Bond a zap with the UV light.
16.
The finished Fender emerger, made only from deer hair and Bug Bond.
17.
The view from below. Its a perfect quick and simple parachute hackle.
Tying the Detatched body mayfly
This is a simple but but effective mayfly pattern that fly tyers of any level can tie with a little practice. Once you have masterd this technique all you have to do is change the size and colour to match most mayfly hatches.
The chioce of colours and sizes of fly to be used when tying this pattern is determined by what mayfly you intend to imitate and under what conditions. In still water fishing, trout can be extremly sellective when feeding on mayflies, they have good time to check them out before sucking them in.
Body form: Upholsterers needle
Hook: Standard dry Mustad 94840 # 16-10
Thread: Dyneema
Tail: Peccary or moose hair
Body: Flyrite dubbing
Wing: CDC fibres
1
Place the upholsterers needle in the vice. You can use a regular straight needle for this if you would like to make a body that lies flat in the surface like a spinner. The upholsterers needle can be bought from most good hardware stores.
2
Apply a little fly tyers wax to the area of the needle that you will use to make the body. This will make removing the body later much easier.
3
Attatch your tying thread and run a foundation of thread the full length of the intended body on the needle. I only use Dyneema tying thread, this is a multi filament thread that if spun in the bobbin anti clockwise will open the filaments and lie flat on the hook shank. If spun clockwise the filaments twist together and reduce the size of the thread down to 16/0. This thread comes in only one colour, white, but can be coloured with waterproof felt pens.
4
Sellect 3 long peccary fibres. I like to use Peccary fibres for the larger mayflies and moose hair for the smaller patterns. Tie in the peccary fibers as shown. Its a good idea to choose fibres that are long enough to run the full length of the body, and then some, this will make it stronger and more durable.
5
The dubbing that I use is flyrite, but you can use any synthetic dubbing that has long fine fibres. The long fibres help you wrap the dubbing around the needle and again make the body strong. If you use a straight needle, once you have tied in the tail fibers you can attatch the dubbing material and remove the needle from the vice. You can now roll the needle between finger and thumb of one hand while you feed on the dubbing with your other hand, this makes super fine and even bodies.
6
Attatch your dubbing to your tying thread and begin at the base of the body. Make sure that the dubbing is applied firm and even but not too tight, this will make it difficult to remove when finished.
7
Once you have made a couple of turns of dubbing you can now apply a little glue to the foundation of tying thread Copydex or super glue are best. The wax that you applied earlier will stop it being glued to the needle.
8
Now you can dubb the whole body. Make sure that you get the taper correct, and the right size for the speices you aim to imitate.
9
When you have finished your body tie it off at the base and make 2 or 3 half hitch finishing knots. You now place thumb and index finger each side of the body and carefully loosen the body from the needle by rolling it between your fingers and eas it off the needle. You will now see that the dubbing, tying thread and glue have merged into one hollowbody tube, that should have retained it’s shape.
10
Secure your hook in the vise and attatch your tying thread.
11
Half way down the hook shank you can now tie on your detached mayfly body.
12
Once your body is secure apply a little dubbing on your tying thread, and dubb the rest of the rear of the body. Again make sure that you take your time and get proportions correct.
13
Select a good bunch of long cdc fibres and tie these in almost paradun style to form the wing.
14
Once the wing is secure proceed with dubbing the rest of the mayfly body.
15
When the body is finished taper off the dubbing to form the head.
16
Whip finish and remove the tying thread. And there you have it, the finished cdc mayfly.
17
Front view.
Making a fur hackle and dubbing tutorial
Once again this is a request I have had from several fellow bloggers for the fur hackle spinning technique. Although similar too the spinning deer hair article, there are a few pointers you should be aware of when mastering this technique.
Just about all natural and synthetic furs, feathers and hairs can be used as one form of dubbing or another. Before you start its worth considering what type of hair or material is suitable for the type of fly you are tying. There are several factors regarding the choice of natural materials.
1. Dry fly, nymph, wet.
2. Sinking, floating.
3. Ridged or pulsating.
4. Neat or scruffy.
When you are using natural materials you should consider what kind of animal, lifestyle, and climate it derives from. If choosing a dubbing for a small dry fly the under fur from otter, beaver and coypu have, because of their aquatic lifestyle a super fine under fur which is impregnated with natural water repellant oils, rather like the fur equivalent of CdC. On the other hand if you would like a long pulsating, sinking hackle choose a soft finer hair from an opossum or a rabbit that will absorb water but remain mobile and lively when fished. For nymphs there is of course the classic spiky hares ear dubbing. So to achieve optimal function and design of the the pattern you intend to tie, consider the above before starting.
1. Here I am using an old fashioned bull dog paper clip to hold the fur but for perfect dubbing spinning I can recommend the Marc Petitjean Magic tool. Marc’s magic tool is made from transparent plastic, the advantage with this is that you have much more visual control over the length and lie of the material being used. The above material is a regular hare zonker strip. Place this in the clip so the fibers are 90 degrees to the clip and at this stage you also determine the length of the hackle required.
2. Now with long straight scissors cut off the base and hide from the strip leaving only 2 or 3 mm of fur out from the clips jaws.
3. The finished loaded clip. You should now take care not to apply pressure to the clip and open it before needed. Otherwise all the material will shift or fall out.
4. Make a dubbing loop. If the material you are using is dense ( thick guard hairs and under fur) you will need to make a loop of double tying thread as above. But if the material is fine, a finer loop of split tying thread is sufficient. Also its important that where the two sides of the loop meet the hook shaft that they are touching. If you have them open, one strand of thread on each side of the hook shank the loop will not close correctly, and the material spun will loosen and fall out.
5. Move your bobbin forward towards the hook eye and attach your dubbing spinner.
6. If you are using Dyneema or another thread that is un-waxed, you will need to apply a little dubbing wax to the thread to gain ultimate traction.
7. Once you have placed the material in the loop carefully remove the clip in one smooth movement while keeping tension on the spinner to hold the dubbing loop tight and closed.
8. While keeping tension, spin the dubbing loop clockwise until all the material is secured and flares like a regular hackle.
9. You can now wind on your fur dubbing loop in a traditional hackle style. Taking care to brush back the fibers of each turn before making the next.
10. With this technique you can make as many turns of fur hackle as required. If you make only two turns you have a perfect fur hackle collar or you can cover the whole of the hook shank. If you would like a very spiky dubbed body for a nymph you can cover the whole hook shank and then trim it all down to the body shape you would like.
11. For a buggy nymph dubbing you would need a material that will sink and command a little more volume that a fine dry fly body. This is hares ear. Pull some stiff short fibers from the ears of the hare and some softer more dense hair and fur from the mask.
If you would like to use a fine material make use of a dubbing rake. When pulled through the fur on a skin, this will collect only the finer under fur. If you don’t have a dubbing rake you can also just pluck out the fibers with your fingers.
12. Now place the under fur in the palm of your hand and with the finger of your other hand rub the dubbing around in a clockwise motion. This will blend the dubbing evenly, making it easier to work with.
13. Select a small amount of dubbing and place it between your index finger and the tying thread as shown. When I am teaching people to tie flies one of the most frequently asked questions is – how much dubbing shall I use ? Most fly tyers apply way too much dubbing to the tying thread at one go, so I say, take what you think you should use, half it, and then half it again, and normally you arrive at a usable amount.
14. Now its time to roll the dubbing material onto the tying thread. With the tying thread and dubbing resting on your index finger place the tip of your thumb on top of this so as to trap the material and the thread between your finger and thumb.
Still trapping the thread and material between your finger and thumb push the tip of your thumb towards the tip of your finger, clockwise, thus rolling the material around the thread. You must do this several times up and down the thread to attach the material, forming a kind of dubbing rope. You should also remember one of the most common mistakes with attaching dubbing is that the fly tyer will roll the dubbing firstly clockwise and then anti clockwise when replacing the thumb back into the beginning of the rolling stage, this unwinds the dubbing. Also don’t try and make more than a few cms of dubbing rope at one time, this will also unwind as you wind it onto the hook shank.
15. Once your dubbing rope is ready you can now begin to wind it onto the hook shank to form the body. When you have wound on the first length of dubbing, repeat the process until the desired size of body is achieved. If you would like to taper the body, as in most nymphs begin with a thin dubbing rope, and the apply more dubbing each time making a thicker rope.
16. Once the nymph body is finished tie off behind the hook eye.
17. If you would like an even more buggy effect use a brush ( I use an old tooth brush ) to pull out the fibers to make a buggy body.
18. The brushing gives a soft and mobile, yet spiky nymph body.
19. But if you would like a fine slim body without too many fibers you can trim these off with a fine pair of scissors.
20. The finished trimmed cigar shaped body. Good luck! If you have any questions regarding dubbing dont be shy.
Fender Parachute
My good friends hunting dog, Fender and just one of the many animals and huge amounts of materials he secures for my fly tying every year.
Fender secures more meat wrapped in materials for the winter.
This is a quick and simple parachute technique that requires only deer hair and Bug Bond.
Hook: Mustad C49
Tying thread: Dyneema
Body: Moose mane hair
Hackle: Roe deer hair and Bug Bond
Thorax: Underfur from deer or moose winter coat.
- 1.
Secure your emerger hook in the vice with as much of the bend clear of the jaws.
2.
Run your tying thread from just behind the hook eye down deep into the bend.
3.
Select some long Moose mane hairs.
4.
You will need two long hairs from the moose mane, one white and one black.
5.
Tie in the moose hairs by the points at the base of the hook bend.
6.
Build up a slight forward taper on the fly body with tying thread.
7.
Take both hair at once, with the black hair at the bottom and begin to wind on in even tight turns.
8.
Continue over the whole hook shank until you come to the thorax. Tie off.
9.
Trim off the surplus hair and tie down ends. Although these moose mane hairs are remarkably strong you can give the body a coat with Bug Bond.
10.
Cut and stack a small bunch of deer hair. Tie this in as a parachute post.
11.
At the base of the hairs from a winter coat of a moose or deer there is a dense under fur. Remove enough to dub the thorax.
12.
Dub the thorax behind and forward of the post.
13.
Place your finger tip in the centre of the deer hair post and press down until the deer hair flattens out.
14.
Place a small drop of Bug Bond in the center of the deer hair parachute hackle.
15.
Give the Bug Bond a zap with the UV light.
16.
The finished Fender emerger, made only from deer hair and Bug Bond.
17.
The view from below. Its a perfect quick and simple parachute hackle.
All in one… a three minute dun mayfly pattern.
This pattern I developed out of necessity during a unexpected Vulgata hatch.
To find a simpler dun mayfly imitation will be difficult. All you need in the way of materials is one long fibered CdC feather and a short foam cylinder and a hook.
I named the fly “All In One” as the whole fly is tied with the same one CdC feather. You need to practice a little if the techniques I us are unfamiliar too you, but with a little practice or after you have tied a half dozen or so, it only takes about two minutes to tie this simple but effective pattern. All in one floats fantastic as the whole fly is made from CdC and foam.
1
Secure your hook in the vice so the jaws of the vice hold the hook at the bottom of the bend, and that the straight part of the Klinkhamer hook is horizontal.
2
Choose a long fibered CdC feather and comb all the fibres back as illustrated about 1 cm from the feather tip.
3
Tie in the CdC feather at the rear of the horizontal part of the hook shaft.
4
Cut a short length of foam cylinder and tie this in as a regular parachute post.
5
Attach your hackle pliers to the stem of the CdC feather and carefully wind this around the foam post as you would a regular parachute hackle.
6
Comb the CdC fibres that cover the hook eye back so they are not in the way and tie down the CdC feather.
7
Trim off the points of the CdC parachute hackle and use the surpluss to dub the thorax. You dont need much.
8
Finish with a couple of whip finishes and your All in One is finished.
Elasticaddis in the house!
The elasticaddis is a Impressionistic larva house built from rubber legs.
House building caddis larva are available in most waters all year round, and are an important segment of the diet of trout and grayling. There are many techniques that have been developed over the years from fly tying benches all over the world to imitate the house of the caddis larva, but this technique really gives the right impression. This is a pattern I believe was developed in the US, but other than that I cant find any other information about it. The great thing about this pattern is if you trim the rubber legs close to the body you get the impression of a caddis larva house built out of gravel, but if you spin the rubber legs not so tight and trim them a little longer it makes for a great house made of vegetation and sticks. Also the rubber gives that extra needed weight when you need to get down deep and not least extremely durable.
You may find that this isn´t the easiest pattern to tie at the first attempt as the rubber legs seem to have a life of their own, but after a few attempts is no more difficult then any other pattern. Try mixing colours and rubber types to achieve different effects.
Hook Mustad R72NP-BR # 12-6 with Bead head
Tying thread Dyneema
Body Rubber legs
Collar CdC
Head Course antron dubbing
- 1
Place a bead head on hook and your hook in the vice.
2
Attach tying thread to hook and run a foundation of thread along the whole hook shank.
3
Cut 3 small strips ca. 2 cm long, of double rubber legs in various colours and diameters if available.
4
Tie in the three rubber legs at the rear of the hook. If you are going to use heavy rubber legs, with a large diameter it is best to make a foundation of tapered loose dubbing on the hook shank first, otherwise the rubber will not flare as easy as fine rubber legs.
5
Once they are secure you can pull on them to split the double legs into single.
6
Carry on with the same procedure, mixing the colours as you go along the hook shank.
7
After each bunch of rubber legs is attached use the bead head to push the legs and pack them tightly. This will give a more compact body.
8
Attach more rubber legs until you have covered all but 3-4 mm of hook shank.
9
Now you can trim the house / larva case.
10
Continue all around the body of the fly until you have the desired size and shape.
11
Spin a couple of CdC hackles in a dubbing loop, just behind the bead head.
12
Wind on the dubbing loop brushing the CdC back over the body of the fly with each turn, so as not to trap the fibers.
13
Now dubb the tying thread with a little coarse dubbing with longish fibers and dubb the head of the fly tight into the bead head.
14
Whip finish and remove the tying thread. Using an old tooth brush brush out all the CdC and dubbing fibers, so they lie back over the body.
15
The finished elasticaddis.
No matter what you tie there is always room for artistic expression.
Just thought I would re-publish my most popular post. Bee Cee Caddis Pupa
Bee Cee Caddis Pupa
Hook Mustad C49S curved caddis # 6 -14
Thread Dyneema
Gills Ostrich herl
Body Fine leather strip (chamois)
Under body Dubbing / Lead free wire if required
Legs Partridge hackle & CDC
Collar/Head Hares ear dubbing & CDC Dubbing
Each summer a few fishing freinds and I make the annual fishing trip from our home town Skien in southern Norway to Lofsdalen in Sweden. A journey that under normal circumstances will take six hours driving, from door to door.
Lofsdalen is acctually known for two things, skiing and bears. During the winter, when the bears are sleeping, Lofsdalen is a Mecca for ski and snowboard enthusiasts and becomes a throbbing white metropolis of snow scooters, snow cats and ski lifts. But at the time of our annual trip, the first week of July, most of the snow, and all of the winter turists have long gone, and the bears along with the vast amounts of mosquitoes awake hungry from their long winter sleep.
The timing of our trip is not coincidental, with the help of the internet and telephone, 14 days before our trip we start a network of weather information between us. Sending web cam links weather forcasts and any other related info as to the conditions in Lofsdalen. Beacause each year around the first week of July ephemera vulgata can start hatching in fantastic numbers on these mountain lakes, and the big brown trout that have also spent a long winter, under the ice, are also hungry.
Yes, I know what you might be thinking, ephemera vulgata is a mayfly and this is a piece about caddis pupa ? well the past two years we havent managed to get our timing right, because of freak weather conditions, Lofsdalen is from 600 -1200m above sea level, and is subsiquently, subject to dramatic weather changes.
The back up plan, if you like, for not getting our mayfly timming right is the hatches of aeuropes largest caddis fly Phygania Grandis or great red sedge. These first hatches are not as proliphic as the vulagta hatches and no where near as challanging for the fly fisherman, but a emerging pupa fished correctly, just under the surface can result in fantastic sport.
A good caddis pupa pattern can make the difference between no fish and fish !
When the caddis fly hatches into the adult insect the species are more or less, divided into two. The ones that hatch at the surface in open water and the those that make there way to the shore, where they climb out on plants or any other structure that is available. When this occurs and caddis pupa are on the move this pattern fishes extremely well.
When fishing this pattern, I like to dress only the head and collar with a good floatant ie: cdc oil, this also creates a perfect air bubble around the head just like the natural, and only when the pattern has soaked a little water does it begin to fish correctly. When the porus leather and dubbed underbody have taken on water and the head is dressed with floatant, this pattern sinks so slowly that it almost “hangs” just under the surface. I like to let it sink for 10-12 seconds or so, but you should keep alert during this “free fall” period, as criusing fish will also pick this pattern up “on the drop”. After the pupa has had time to sink I carefully mend the slack out of my fly lineand then lift the tip of my rod so that the pupa rushes towards the surface, this is when the take normally comes.
Decpite the multitude of families, sub families and species of caddis flies, the only thing you have to change is the colour and size, the pattern can remain the same.
Tying the Detatched body mayfly
This is a simple but but effective mayfly pattern that fly tyers of any level can tie with a little practice. Once you have masterd this technique all you have to do is change the size and colour to match most mayfly hatches.
The chioce of colours and sizes of fly to be used when tying this pattern is determined by what mayfly you intend to imitate and under what conditions. In still water fishing, trout can be extremly sellective when feeding on mayflies, they have good time to check them out before sucking them in.
Body form: Upholsterers needle
Hook: Standard dry Mustad 94840 # 16-10
Thread: Dyneema
Tail: Peccary or moose hair
Body: Flyrite dubbing
Wing: CDC fibres
1
Place the upholsterers needle in the vice. You can use a regular straight needle for this if you would like to make a body that lies flat in the surface like a spinner. The upholsterers needle can be bought from most good hardware stores.
2
Apply a little fly tyers wax to the area of the needle that you will use to make the body. This will make removing the body later much easier.
3
Attatch your tying thread and run a foundation of thread the full length of the intended body on the needle. I only use Dyneema tying thread, this is a multi filament thread that if spun in the bobbin anti clockwise will open the filaments and lie flat on the hook shank. If spun clockwise the filaments twist together and reduce the size of the thread down to 16/0. This thread comes in only one colour, white, but can be coloured with waterproof felt pens.
4
Sellect 3 long peccary fibres. I like to use Peccary fibres for the larger mayflies and moose hair for the smaller patterns. Tie in the peccary fibers as shown. Its a good idea to choose fibres that are long enough to run the full length of the body, and then some, this will make it stronger and more durable.
5
The dubbing that I use is flyrite, but you can use any synthetic dubbing that has long fine fibres. The long fibres help you wrap the dubbing around the needle and again make the body strong. If you use a straight needle, once you have tied in the tail fibers you can attatch the dubbing material and remove the needle from the vice. You can now roll the needle between finger and thumb of one hand while you feed on the dubbing with your other hand, this makes super fine and even bodies.
6
Attatch your dubbing to your tying thread and begin at the base of the body. Make sure that the dubbing is applied firm and even but not too tight, this will make it difficult to remove when finished.
7
Once you have made a couple of turns of dubbing you can now apply a little glue to the foundation of tying thread Copydex or super glue are best. The wax that you applied earlier will stop it being glued to the needle.
8
Now you can dubb the whole body. Make sure that you get the taper correct, and the right size for the speices you aim to imitate.
9
When you have finished your body tie it off at the base and make 2 or 3 half hitch finishing knots. You now place thumb and index finger each side of the body and carefully loosen the body from the needle by rolling it between your fingers and eas it off the needle. You will now see that the dubbing, tying thread and glue have merged into one hollowbody tube, that should have retained it’s shape.
10
Secure your hook in the vise and attatch your tying thread.
11
Half way down the hook shank you can now tie on your detached mayfly body.
12
Once your body is secure apply a little dubbing on your tying thread, and dubb the rest of the rear of the body. Again make sure that you take your time and get proportions correct.
13
Select a good bunch of long cdc fibres and tie these in almost paradun style to form the wing.
14
Once the wing is secure proceed with dubbing the rest of the mayfly body.
15
When the body is finished taper off the dubbing to form the head.
16
Whip finish and remove the tying thread. And there you have it, the finished cdc mayfly.
17
Front view.
Caddis Pupa
Bee Cee Caddis Pupa
Hook Mustad C49S curved caddis # 6 -14
Thread Dyneema
Gills Ostrich herl
Body Fine leather strip (chamois)
Under body Dubbing / Lead free wire if required
Legs Partridge hackle & CDC
Collar/Head Hares ear dubbing & CDC Dubbing
Each summer a few fishing freinds and I make the annual fishing trip from our home town Skien in southern Norway to Lofsdalen in Sweden. A journey that under normal circumstances will take six hours driving, from door to door.
Lofsdalen is acctually known for two things, skiing and bears. During the winter, when the bears are sleeping, Lofsdalen is a Mecca for ski and snowboard enthusiasts and becomes a throbbing white metropolis of snow scooters, snow cats and ski lifts. But at the time of our annual trip, the first week of July, most of the snow, and all of the winter turists have long gone, and the bears along with the vast amounts of mosquitoes awake hungry from their long winter sleep.
The timing of our trip is not coincidental, with the help of the internet and telephone, 14 days before our trip we start a network of weather information between us. Sending web cam links weather forcasts and any other related info as to the conditions in Lofsdalen. Beacause each year around the first week of July ephemera vulgata can start hatching in fantastic numbers on these mountain lakes, and the big brown trout that have also spent a long winter, under the ice, are also hungry.
Yes, I know what you might be thinking, ephemera vulgata is a mayfly and this is a piece about caddis pupa ? well the past two years we havent managed to get our timing right, because of freak weather conditions, Lofsdalen is from 600 -1200m above sea level, and is subsiquently, subject to dramatic weather changes.
The back up plan, if you like, for not getting our mayfly timming right is the hatches of aeuropes largest caddis fly Phygania Grandis or great red sedge. These first hatches are not as proliphic as the vulagta hatches and no where near as challanging for the fly fisherman, but a emerging pupa fished correctly, just under the surface can result in fantastic sport.
A good caddis pupa pattern can make the difference between no fish and fish !
When the caddis fly hatches into the adult insect the species are more or less, divided into two. The ones that hatch at the surface in open water and the those that make there way to the shore, where they climb out on plants or any other structure that is available. When this occurs and caddis pupa are on the move this pattern fishes extremely well.
When fishing this pattern, I like to dress only the head and collar with a good floatant ie: cdc oil, this also creates a perfect air bubble around the head just like the natural, and only when the pattern has soaked a little water does it begin to fish correctly. When the porus leather and dubbed underbody have taken on water and the head is dressed with floatant, this pattern sinks so slowly that it almost “hangs” just under the surface. I like to let it sink for 10-12 seconds or so, but you should keep alert during this “free fall” period, as criusing fish will also pick this pattern up “on the drop”. After the pupa has had time to sink I carefully mend the slack out of my fly lineand then lift the tip of my rod so that the pupa rushes towards the surface, this is when the take normally comes.
Decpite the multitude of families, sub families and species of caddis flies, the only thing you have to change is the colour and size, the pattern can remain the same.
