Tim's Waterboatman
|
Tim's Waterboatman dark
|
Fly of the Month 06.25 - Water Boatman
Water boatmen, or corixids, are slender, oval, streamlined water bugs that swim with long, oarlike hind legs that have fine hairs. The back is flattened and has several narrow, dark, parallel cross-lines. A thin, silvery bubble of air, trapped against the body, functions like a diving bell, enabling the insect to stay for periods underwater. To keep themselves from floating back up to the surface, corixids hook one of the shortened forelegs around a plant or other object. The “foot” portion of the forelegs has only one segment and is shaped like a scoop. There are about 125 species in North America in the family Corixidae (water boatmen) in the order Hemiptera (true bug). Adult length of water boatmen or corixids is usually less than ½ inch.
Corixids are often confused with Backswimmer, family Notonectidae, which are predaceous and will deliver a painful bite. Backswimmers have a keeled back, which lacks the cross-lines typical of water boatmen and is typically a light color. The foot of the front pair of legs is not scoop-shaped. Water boatmen swim with the dorsal side ("back") upward. while Backswimmers swim on their backs.
Almost all “true bugs” (in the order Hemiptera) have tube-like mouth parts for sucking in their nourishment. Water boatman suck juices from algae, plants and detritus. Water boatmen are one of the few aquatic members of this order that are not predaceous and do not bite people. Only a few species eat other small aquatic creatures (such as mosquito larvae). Water boatmen adhere their eggs on underwater objects. Generally, the young look like miniature versions of the adults, only lacking the wings, which they acquire during their final molt. Because fish eat water boatmen, fly-fishers craft fly patterns replicating the insects, then simulate their jerky swimming pattern in order the catch fish.
Lakes can be food factories, with crayfish, leeches, scuds, Callibaetis, water boatman and damselflies as their main attractions for fish, especially stillwater trout. The water boatmen, at first glance, resemble some sort of water beetle, with prominent legs and blocky bodies. They are often a mystery to even seasoned fly fishers. As it turns out, trout relish these little morsels, and fill up on them every chance they get.
Tim Drummond grew up in Longmont, Colorado, and is the son of cane rod builder Frank Drummond. The younger Drummond came by his addiction naturally, fishing up and down the Front Range before finally settling down and guiding for North Park Anglers in Walden, Colorado. He's now in his seventh season there.
Tim Drummond's Water Boatman Fly pattern is a simple tie that is made entirely of synthetic materials and uses a gunmetal-colored glass bead to add a bit of flash and weight, and square off the face of this odd little critter. Water boatmen are good swimmers when they want to be, and lazy bottom bouncers when they don't, so Drummond ties the fly pattern lightly weighted to drift as much as possible. Using Thin Skin over a pearl Lateral Scale shellback to create a glow from within, and beautiful black peacock Ice Dub to form the body, the fly pattern is finished with a pair of Flexi Floss legs swept back along the body to imitate the prominent oarlike legs of the natural.
While this fly pattern could be referred to as a "guide fly." Guides are running a business of catching fish and they do not oversimplifies anything or waste time. Experts like Drummond typically uses an intermediate line with a 12-foot 3X leader and a single Water Boatman, but he sometimes fishes the fly under an indicator, particularly when the infamous North Park wind creates a bit of chop on the water. The Water Boatman bounces and jigs under the indicator, and he finds he can even get a bit of a "drift" in under the right conditions. Drummond caught his largest Delaney Lakes trout without using an indicator, by simply casting the fly out and retrieving with short, steady strips.
Experience indicates that a long strip-retrieve can also sometimes be deadly. Cast in the direction of visible surface activity, and make a single, very long, steady strip to swim the fly in a long arc. OR, use Drummond's short-strip method.
Water Boatman Corixid
Fly of the Month 06.25
Tim Drummond's Water Boatman Fly
Hook: Dennom N01B barbless
Size: #12 – 16
Thread: Veevus D12 10/0
Shell case: Thin Skin Bustard and Pearl Veevus large
Body: Light Olive Ice dubbing
Bead : Killer Caddis Rootbeer
Legs: Brown Flexi Floss
Tying Directions:
1) Place bead on hook and trap at the hook eye with six wraps of .015 lead substitute wire. Start thread behind the lead wraps and trap lead with several tight thread wraps and let the bobbin hang.
2) Trim a length of Thin Skin bustard into the width of the hook gape. Trim one end at about a sixty degree angle and tie in on top of the hook shank behind the lead wraps. Advance the thread to bind in the thin skin on top of the hook shank to the bend of the hook and bring the thread back to the bead in open turns and let the bobbin hang.
3) Trim a length of Pearl Veevus. Trim one end at about a sixty degree angle and tie in on top of the hook shank behind the lead wraps. Advance the thread to bind in the Pearl Veevus on top of the hook shank to the bend of the hook where you stopped the Thin Skin and let the bobbin hang.
3) Form a short and tight noodle of dubbing and begin advancing in tight touching turns to the bead forming a cigar shaped body. Do not attempt to do all of the dubbing at once, take your time and add as needed. Leave a small space behing the bead and let the bobbin hang
4) Bring the Veevus Pearl forward, staying on top of the hook, to the space behind the bead and bind with two or three turns. Let the bobbin hang.
5) Bring the Thin Skin Forward to the space behind the bead while keeping it on top of the hook. Bind with several turns and let the bobbin hang,
6) Select a two inch piece of Flexi Floss and tie in at the space behind the bead. Tie in with the natural curve of the Flexi bowed back toward the hook bend.
7) Pull the Thin Skin back toward the bend and tie off with several thread wraps. Trim the Thin Skin leaving a small tab of material.
8). Trim the Veevus Pearl close to the hook and make several turns to tie all down before whip finishing.
9). Cover the Thin Skin with a thin bead of UV resin and set with your UV torch.
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker
Water boatmen, or corixids, are slender, oval, streamlined water bugs that swim with long, oarlike hind legs that have fine hairs. The back is flattened and has several narrow, dark, parallel cross-lines. A thin, silvery bubble of air, trapped against the body, functions like a diving bell, enabling the insect to stay for periods underwater. To keep themselves from floating back up to the surface, corixids hook one of the shortened forelegs around a plant or other object. The “foot” portion of the forelegs has only one segment and is shaped like a scoop. There are about 125 species in North America in the family Corixidae (water boatmen) in the order Hemiptera (true bug). Adult length of water boatmen or corixids is usually less than ½ inch.
Corixids are often confused with Backswimmer, family Notonectidae, which are predaceous and will deliver a painful bite. Backswimmers have a keeled back, which lacks the cross-lines typical of water boatmen and is typically a light color. The foot of the front pair of legs is not scoop-shaped. Water boatmen swim with the dorsal side ("back") upward. while Backswimmers swim on their backs.
Almost all “true bugs” (in the order Hemiptera) have tube-like mouth parts for sucking in their nourishment. Water boatman suck juices from algae, plants and detritus. Water boatmen are one of the few aquatic members of this order that are not predaceous and do not bite people. Only a few species eat other small aquatic creatures (such as mosquito larvae). Water boatmen adhere their eggs on underwater objects. Generally, the young look like miniature versions of the adults, only lacking the wings, which they acquire during their final molt. Because fish eat water boatmen, fly-fishers craft fly patterns replicating the insects, then simulate their jerky swimming pattern in order the catch fish.
Lakes can be food factories, with crayfish, leeches, scuds, Callibaetis, water boatman and damselflies as their main attractions for fish, especially stillwater trout. The water boatmen, at first glance, resemble some sort of water beetle, with prominent legs and blocky bodies. They are often a mystery to even seasoned fly fishers. As it turns out, trout relish these little morsels, and fill up on them every chance they get.
Tim Drummond grew up in Longmont, Colorado, and is the son of cane rod builder Frank Drummond. The younger Drummond came by his addiction naturally, fishing up and down the Front Range before finally settling down and guiding for North Park Anglers in Walden, Colorado. He's now in his seventh season there.
Tim Drummond's Water Boatman Fly pattern is a simple tie that is made entirely of synthetic materials and uses a gunmetal-colored glass bead to add a bit of flash and weight, and square off the face of this odd little critter. Water boatmen are good swimmers when they want to be, and lazy bottom bouncers when they don't, so Drummond ties the fly pattern lightly weighted to drift as much as possible. Using Thin Skin over a pearl Lateral Scale shellback to create a glow from within, and beautiful black peacock Ice Dub to form the body, the fly pattern is finished with a pair of Flexi Floss legs swept back along the body to imitate the prominent oarlike legs of the natural.
While this fly pattern could be referred to as a "guide fly." Guides are running a business of catching fish and they do not oversimplifies anything or waste time. Experts like Drummond typically uses an intermediate line with a 12-foot 3X leader and a single Water Boatman, but he sometimes fishes the fly under an indicator, particularly when the infamous North Park wind creates a bit of chop on the water. The Water Boatman bounces and jigs under the indicator, and he finds he can even get a bit of a "drift" in under the right conditions. Drummond caught his largest Delaney Lakes trout without using an indicator, by simply casting the fly out and retrieving with short, steady strips.
Experience indicates that a long strip-retrieve can also sometimes be deadly. Cast in the direction of visible surface activity, and make a single, very long, steady strip to swim the fly in a long arc. OR, use Drummond's short-strip method.
Water Boatman Corixid
Fly of the Month 06.25
Tim Drummond's Water Boatman Fly
Hook: Dennom N01B barbless
Size: #12 – 16
Thread: Veevus D12 10/0
Shell case: Thin Skin Bustard and Pearl Veevus large
Body: Light Olive Ice dubbing
Bead : Killer Caddis Rootbeer
Legs: Brown Flexi Floss
Tying Directions:
1) Place bead on hook and trap at the hook eye with six wraps of .015 lead substitute wire. Start thread behind the lead wraps and trap lead with several tight thread wraps and let the bobbin hang.
2) Trim a length of Thin Skin bustard into the width of the hook gape. Trim one end at about a sixty degree angle and tie in on top of the hook shank behind the lead wraps. Advance the thread to bind in the thin skin on top of the hook shank to the bend of the hook and bring the thread back to the bead in open turns and let the bobbin hang.
3) Trim a length of Pearl Veevus. Trim one end at about a sixty degree angle and tie in on top of the hook shank behind the lead wraps. Advance the thread to bind in the Pearl Veevus on top of the hook shank to the bend of the hook where you stopped the Thin Skin and let the bobbin hang.
3) Form a short and tight noodle of dubbing and begin advancing in tight touching turns to the bead forming a cigar shaped body. Do not attempt to do all of the dubbing at once, take your time and add as needed. Leave a small space behing the bead and let the bobbin hang
4) Bring the Veevus Pearl forward, staying on top of the hook, to the space behind the bead and bind with two or three turns. Let the bobbin hang.
5) Bring the Thin Skin Forward to the space behind the bead while keeping it on top of the hook. Bind with several turns and let the bobbin hang,
6) Select a two inch piece of Flexi Floss and tie in at the space behind the bead. Tie in with the natural curve of the Flexi bowed back toward the hook bend.
7) Pull the Thin Skin back toward the bend and tie off with several thread wraps. Trim the Thin Skin leaving a small tab of material.
8). Trim the Veevus Pearl close to the hook and make several turns to tie all down before whip finishing.
9). Cover the Thin Skin with a thin bead of UV resin and set with your UV torch.
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker