Streamer Patterns
Streamer patterns are primarily designed to be suggestive or imitative of forage fish and small gamefish fry that are eaten by much larger trout or other gamefish. The method of fishing a streamer may be similar to fishing wet flies or nymphs but also typically includes a stripping retrieval much like conventional retrievals of other artificial fishing lures (giving the fly an action like that of a fleeting or wounded fish, eel, leech, etc.
Fly of the Month : January 2018
Carrie Gertrude Wills Stevens (February 22, 1882 - August 3, 1970) was a self-taught fly tier from Upper Dam Maine, Carrie created some of the most beautiful and enduring streamer patterns ever designed. Her husband, Wallace, established himself as a fishing guide as Carrie worked as a milliner. Through contact with her husband's clientele, she was introduced to flies tied in the English style and began to experiment herself. Carrie began tying flies in 1920, after being gifted with some long shank hooks, bucktails, and feathers by Charles E. “Shang” Wheeler, a family friend and fishing guide client of her husband, Wallace. Shang gave Carrie the materials and encouraged her to tie flies. During her fly tying career, Carrie Stevens originated well over 150 patterns that have successfully lured salmon and trout from the Rangeley waters.
Her record catch started her career that was to make her one of the most famous fly tiers in the country and Rangeley a legendary fishing destination. In her hand-written letter recounting how she caught her legendary 6-pound 13-ounce brook trout at Upper Dam Pool on July 1, 1924, she wrote, “I made another cast and gave my fly three or four lively skips when this large trout struck it and dashed away at a terrific speed. I expected any moment it would run out all my line or reach the foaming white water before I succeeded in stopping it.” Her fish, caught with her Thomas fly rod on a fly she tied and of her own design, won second place in the 1924 Field & Stream Fishing Contest.
The publicity she received helped popularize her fly tying designs and resulted in a flood of requests from fly fishermen across the country for her flies. Carrie became not only an astute fly tier, but also entrepreneur and saleswoman. According to Pamela Bates, "Carrie had the ability to know exactly what the sports would bite for - regardless of the preferences of the fish." Her fly tying business peaked after the Second World War, but due to poor health, Carrie became less active and officially retired in 1963. After her death, Maine Governor Kenneth M. Curtis declared August 15, 1970 to be "Carrie Gertrude Stevens Day." Stevens remains the only fly tier to have been recognized by the state in Maine.
Carrie's early fly ties were numbered rather than named, a practice common in the 19th Century. But as her popularity grew, Carrie began to name her patterns as well. Early patterns from the late 1920s and early 1930s included the Rangeley Favorite, the Stevens Favorite, the Pirate, the Green Beauty, and the Wizard. Patterns from the later 1930s include the Shang's special, the Golden Witch, the Blue Devil, the Gray Ghost, the Witch, the Greyhound, the Happy Garrison, the White Devil, and the Don's Delight. During the 1930s, almost half of all record fish taken from the Upper Dam were caught with Stevens' flies. During the 1940s and 1950s, most American fly tiers making streamers attempted to imitate proportions invented by Carrie Stevens. Other flies created by Carrie Stevens include the Colonel Bates, named after her friend Robert D. Bates Jr., the Will Ketch, and the General MacArthur. Stevens' popular Colonel Bates fly was originally named the Captain Bates, its name changing as Bates was promoted in rank during his career in the United States Army. In his series on American streamer Patterns, Colonel Robert Bates included 14 patterns tied by Carrie Stevens.
Following the success of her husband while using her flies for trolling, a rare or unheard-of practice at the time, Stevens' flies became used for trolling throughout North America. Her flies were purchased by fishermen in Alaska, Oregon, Newfoundland and New Brunswick, New Zealand and Patagonia.
For further reading, Carrie Stevens is the subject of a book written by Graydon R. Hilyard and his son, Leslie Hilyard, "Carrie G. Stevens, Maker of the Rangeley Favorite Trout and Salmon Flies".
Gray Ghost
The first mention of the Gray Ghost is on one of Carrie’s invoices in 1933 or 1934. Carrie Steven’s Gray Ghost streamer which is an imitation of the Smelt, Osmerus mordax, and her many other flies have received national and international acclaim. Carrie Stevens originated the Gray Ghost, but she also tied other popular patterns originated by other tiers of her time; she added her unique method of construction and banded heads to all these flies as well.
The very popular Gray Ghost fly became one of the classic American streamers. The Gray Ghost remains as popular a fly pattern today as it was during the Depression era of the '30s. The Gray Ghost is ideal for steelhead, salmon, sea trout, and big trout fly fishing. The Gray Ghost is a simple pattern that lends itself nicely to wing material substitution, and is commonly tied with bucktail and marabou. It continues to be in demand and sold in fly shops and fishing stores across the state of Maine and New England, because it catches fish. The Gray Ghost is likely to remain where it is, in its proper place of unchallenged prominence as the most famous streamer fly ever created.
Carrie innovated fly tying design by shortening streamers to extend only slightly beyond hooks, and by using longer hook shanks. She furthermore brought fly profiles closer to those of baitfish by tying materials parallel to the hook, and used fly shoulders to imitate bait fish gill plates. While patterns like the Gray Ghost existed prior to Stevens' work, she pioneered the streamer by using new colors, structure, and less exotic materials, making it more effective and accessible.
Carrie cemented her wing components together; wing hackles, shoulders of various feathers, and jungle cock cheeks, using a type of cement or thick varnish. The modern substitute is Elmer’s rubber cement. She used ribbing counter-clockwise to strengthen the fly. The elongated head shape and banding is a tribute to her pattern design, especially since she used a selection of thread colors for the bands, and they were clearly a color-coordinated component of her patterns. An often-overlooked aspect of Carrie’s tying standards is all the components; underbelly and under wings – peacock herl, silver and golden pheasant crest, and bucktail, are all equal to the wing of the fly.
Carrie Stevens didn’t just put a dab on near the ends of the feathers, she cemented a significant portion of the feather length; and she also cemented the (inside of the) wings to the body at the front of the hook shank, cementing both sides together.
Carrie’s record brook trout says it all. when you see a photo of an angler holding a large trout, realize that in many cases it was caught fly fishing with a streamer. The fall and winter seasons are a great time to pursue larger trout using streamers. Want to catch a big trout, use a streamer! One more time…to catch a big fish…tie on a STREAMER! Two of the most popular eastern-style streamers used to imitate a minnow are the Gray Ghost and the Black Ghost.
Carrie’s Gray Ghost streamer, nearly eighty years after its creation, remains as the pinnacle streamer fly above all others created before or since and remains very popular among anglers that use streamers.
Her record catch started her career that was to make her one of the most famous fly tiers in the country and Rangeley a legendary fishing destination. In her hand-written letter recounting how she caught her legendary 6-pound 13-ounce brook trout at Upper Dam Pool on July 1, 1924, she wrote, “I made another cast and gave my fly three or four lively skips when this large trout struck it and dashed away at a terrific speed. I expected any moment it would run out all my line or reach the foaming white water before I succeeded in stopping it.” Her fish, caught with her Thomas fly rod on a fly she tied and of her own design, won second place in the 1924 Field & Stream Fishing Contest.
The publicity she received helped popularize her fly tying designs and resulted in a flood of requests from fly fishermen across the country for her flies. Carrie became not only an astute fly tier, but also entrepreneur and saleswoman. According to Pamela Bates, "Carrie had the ability to know exactly what the sports would bite for - regardless of the preferences of the fish." Her fly tying business peaked after the Second World War, but due to poor health, Carrie became less active and officially retired in 1963. After her death, Maine Governor Kenneth M. Curtis declared August 15, 1970 to be "Carrie Gertrude Stevens Day." Stevens remains the only fly tier to have been recognized by the state in Maine.
Carrie's early fly ties were numbered rather than named, a practice common in the 19th Century. But as her popularity grew, Carrie began to name her patterns as well. Early patterns from the late 1920s and early 1930s included the Rangeley Favorite, the Stevens Favorite, the Pirate, the Green Beauty, and the Wizard. Patterns from the later 1930s include the Shang's special, the Golden Witch, the Blue Devil, the Gray Ghost, the Witch, the Greyhound, the Happy Garrison, the White Devil, and the Don's Delight. During the 1930s, almost half of all record fish taken from the Upper Dam were caught with Stevens' flies. During the 1940s and 1950s, most American fly tiers making streamers attempted to imitate proportions invented by Carrie Stevens. Other flies created by Carrie Stevens include the Colonel Bates, named after her friend Robert D. Bates Jr., the Will Ketch, and the General MacArthur. Stevens' popular Colonel Bates fly was originally named the Captain Bates, its name changing as Bates was promoted in rank during his career in the United States Army. In his series on American streamer Patterns, Colonel Robert Bates included 14 patterns tied by Carrie Stevens.
Following the success of her husband while using her flies for trolling, a rare or unheard-of practice at the time, Stevens' flies became used for trolling throughout North America. Her flies were purchased by fishermen in Alaska, Oregon, Newfoundland and New Brunswick, New Zealand and Patagonia.
For further reading, Carrie Stevens is the subject of a book written by Graydon R. Hilyard and his son, Leslie Hilyard, "Carrie G. Stevens, Maker of the Rangeley Favorite Trout and Salmon Flies".
Gray Ghost
The first mention of the Gray Ghost is on one of Carrie’s invoices in 1933 or 1934. Carrie Steven’s Gray Ghost streamer which is an imitation of the Smelt, Osmerus mordax, and her many other flies have received national and international acclaim. Carrie Stevens originated the Gray Ghost, but she also tied other popular patterns originated by other tiers of her time; she added her unique method of construction and banded heads to all these flies as well.
The very popular Gray Ghost fly became one of the classic American streamers. The Gray Ghost remains as popular a fly pattern today as it was during the Depression era of the '30s. The Gray Ghost is ideal for steelhead, salmon, sea trout, and big trout fly fishing. The Gray Ghost is a simple pattern that lends itself nicely to wing material substitution, and is commonly tied with bucktail and marabou. It continues to be in demand and sold in fly shops and fishing stores across the state of Maine and New England, because it catches fish. The Gray Ghost is likely to remain where it is, in its proper place of unchallenged prominence as the most famous streamer fly ever created.
Carrie innovated fly tying design by shortening streamers to extend only slightly beyond hooks, and by using longer hook shanks. She furthermore brought fly profiles closer to those of baitfish by tying materials parallel to the hook, and used fly shoulders to imitate bait fish gill plates. While patterns like the Gray Ghost existed prior to Stevens' work, she pioneered the streamer by using new colors, structure, and less exotic materials, making it more effective and accessible.
Carrie cemented her wing components together; wing hackles, shoulders of various feathers, and jungle cock cheeks, using a type of cement or thick varnish. The modern substitute is Elmer’s rubber cement. She used ribbing counter-clockwise to strengthen the fly. The elongated head shape and banding is a tribute to her pattern design, especially since she used a selection of thread colors for the bands, and they were clearly a color-coordinated component of her patterns. An often-overlooked aspect of Carrie’s tying standards is all the components; underbelly and under wings – peacock herl, silver and golden pheasant crest, and bucktail, are all equal to the wing of the fly.
Carrie Stevens didn’t just put a dab on near the ends of the feathers, she cemented a significant portion of the feather length; and she also cemented the (inside of the) wings to the body at the front of the hook shank, cementing both sides together.
Carrie’s record brook trout says it all. when you see a photo of an angler holding a large trout, realize that in many cases it was caught fly fishing with a streamer. The fall and winter seasons are a great time to pursue larger trout using streamers. Want to catch a big trout, use a streamer! One more time…to catch a big fish…tie on a STREAMER! Two of the most popular eastern-style streamers used to imitate a minnow are the Gray Ghost and the Black Ghost.
Carrie’s Gray Ghost streamer, nearly eighty years after its creation, remains as the pinnacle streamer fly above all others created before or since and remains very popular among anglers that use streamers.
When you see a photo of an angler holding a large trout, realize that in many cases it was caught fly fishing with a streamer. It is the fall season and a great time to pursue larger trout using streamers. Want to catch a big trout, use a streamer! One more time…to catch a big fish…tie on a STREAMER! Two of the most popular eastern-style streamers used to imitate a minnow are the Gray Ghost and the Black Ghost. The Woolly bugger may rank equal or ahead of these in popularity and use but the “bugger” does not imitate a minnow. We will save the Gray Ghost and more specifics on fly fishing methods with streamers for another article.
The Black Ghost is one of the most famous flies ever tied, has remained popular among anglers who use streamers and since its inception has spread across the world in many variations. This simple streamer pattern lends itself nicely to wing material substitution, and is commonly tied with bucktail and marabou in many styles and variations. It has been a double-digit producer on our delayed harvest streams in the past year, especially in dingy waters!
Black Ghost
The Black Ghost is a classic American streamer which was originated in 1927 by Herbert “Herbie” Welch of Haines Landing, Maine who lived on the Mooselookmeguntic Lake in Rangeley Maine. This was just across the lake from the world-renowned fly tyer Carrie Stevens. Herbie designed and developed the Black Ghost in the early part of the 20th century beginning in 1919 to end up with the final version we know today. Only Carrie Stevens’ Gray Ghost is at the same level of notoriety as Herbie’s creation. Both are staples in fly boxes world-wide.
An avid fly tyer and outdoorsman himself, Herbie was also known for his taxidermy and artworks. Herb originated the Black Ghost, but Carrie tied his streamer and other popular streamer patterns originated by other tiers of her time, adding her unique method of cement dipped construction and banded heads to all these flies. Carrie and Herb were practically neighbors, he sold her flies in his shop at Haines Landing. The Black Ghost origination pre-dates Carrie’s Gray Ghost by about six or seven years. The Black Ghost remains as popular a fly pattern today as it was during the Depression era of the '30s. It is ideal for steelhead, salmon, sea trout, and big trout fly fishing in sizes 6, 8, 10, 12.
It is believed that Herbie was the first to tie streamers on hooks that developed into the modern 4xL, 6xL even 8xL long-shanked streamers. He required a longer hook to facilitate his vision of smelt patterns, and so used bluefish hooks as the basis of the new hook design. His reshaped hooks better served the patterns, and the thousands of smelt and streamer patterns that followed.
Carrie was a milliner by trade, and she began tying flies in 1920, after being gifted with some long shank hooks, bucktails, and feathers by Charles E. “Shang” Wheeler, a family friend and fishing guide client of her husband, Wallace. Shang gave Carrie the materials and encouraged her to tie flies. The rest is history.
Herb Welch originated the Black Ghost, but Carrie tied other popular patterns originated by other tiers of her time; she added her unique method of construction and banded heads to all these flies as well. Carrie Stevens pioneered cementing streamer wing components together in the late 1920’s or early 1930’s.
In our modern times, Elmer’s Rubber Cement is a great, durable and inexpensive (relative to Flexament) cement for cementing streamer wings and the fly does not come apart. It is readily and widely available at Walmart, CVS, Jo Ann’s Fabrics, your local hardware store, etc. and has no obnoxious odor. It does not bleed through the feathers on cemented-wing streamer flies, sets up fairly fast, but can be worked, remaining soft enough to position, re-position, and align the neck hackles, shoulders, and cheeks, if necessary. If need be, components can be disassembled and reassembled without problems (like when you accidentally get the order of wing hackles wrong, oops).
Carrie Stevens didn’t just put a dab on near the ends of the feathers, she cemented a significant portion of the feather length; and she also cemented the (inside of the) wings to the body at the front of the hook shank, cementing both sides together.
Here is a reference to other streamer fly patterns – www.streamer360.com and
https://donbastianwetflies.com/2013/01/13/carrie-stevens-and-rangeley-style-streamer
The Black Ghost is one of the most famous flies ever tied, has remained popular among anglers who use streamers and since its inception has spread across the world in many variations. This simple streamer pattern lends itself nicely to wing material substitution, and is commonly tied with bucktail and marabou in many styles and variations. It has been a double-digit producer on our delayed harvest streams in the past year, especially in dingy waters!
Black Ghost
The Black Ghost is a classic American streamer which was originated in 1927 by Herbert “Herbie” Welch of Haines Landing, Maine who lived on the Mooselookmeguntic Lake in Rangeley Maine. This was just across the lake from the world-renowned fly tyer Carrie Stevens. Herbie designed and developed the Black Ghost in the early part of the 20th century beginning in 1919 to end up with the final version we know today. Only Carrie Stevens’ Gray Ghost is at the same level of notoriety as Herbie’s creation. Both are staples in fly boxes world-wide.
An avid fly tyer and outdoorsman himself, Herbie was also known for his taxidermy and artworks. Herb originated the Black Ghost, but Carrie tied his streamer and other popular streamer patterns originated by other tiers of her time, adding her unique method of cement dipped construction and banded heads to all these flies. Carrie and Herb were practically neighbors, he sold her flies in his shop at Haines Landing. The Black Ghost origination pre-dates Carrie’s Gray Ghost by about six or seven years. The Black Ghost remains as popular a fly pattern today as it was during the Depression era of the '30s. It is ideal for steelhead, salmon, sea trout, and big trout fly fishing in sizes 6, 8, 10, 12.
It is believed that Herbie was the first to tie streamers on hooks that developed into the modern 4xL, 6xL even 8xL long-shanked streamers. He required a longer hook to facilitate his vision of smelt patterns, and so used bluefish hooks as the basis of the new hook design. His reshaped hooks better served the patterns, and the thousands of smelt and streamer patterns that followed.
Carrie was a milliner by trade, and she began tying flies in 1920, after being gifted with some long shank hooks, bucktails, and feathers by Charles E. “Shang” Wheeler, a family friend and fishing guide client of her husband, Wallace. Shang gave Carrie the materials and encouraged her to tie flies. The rest is history.
Herb Welch originated the Black Ghost, but Carrie tied other popular patterns originated by other tiers of her time; she added her unique method of construction and banded heads to all these flies as well. Carrie Stevens pioneered cementing streamer wing components together in the late 1920’s or early 1930’s.
In our modern times, Elmer’s Rubber Cement is a great, durable and inexpensive (relative to Flexament) cement for cementing streamer wings and the fly does not come apart. It is readily and widely available at Walmart, CVS, Jo Ann’s Fabrics, your local hardware store, etc. and has no obnoxious odor. It does not bleed through the feathers on cemented-wing streamer flies, sets up fairly fast, but can be worked, remaining soft enough to position, re-position, and align the neck hackles, shoulders, and cheeks, if necessary. If need be, components can be disassembled and reassembled without problems (like when you accidentally get the order of wing hackles wrong, oops).
Carrie Stevens didn’t just put a dab on near the ends of the feathers, she cemented a significant portion of the feather length; and she also cemented the (inside of the) wings to the body at the front of the hook shank, cementing both sides together.
Here is a reference to other streamer fly patterns – www.streamer360.com and
https://donbastianwetflies.com/2013/01/13/carrie-stevens-and-rangeley-style-streamer
Streamers
Fly of the Month 02.16
Little Cutthroat Trout (NEW)
…and Little Brook Trout, Little Rainbow Trout, Little Brown Trout
When I first began fly fishing and started tying flies, I thought it strange that there were three streamers fly patterns in the tying recipe book that depend on cannibalism. These flies were the Little Brook Trout, The Little Rainbow Trout and the Little Brown Trout. One would assume that somewhere among fly pattern recipes there is the Little Cutthroat Trout, but we have be unable to find it. Of course, this may mean that there should be even more “little trout” fly patterns based on the many strains and species of trout world-wide. For yet another RRTU exclusive, allow Tom and me to introduce our version of the Little Cutthroat Trout in this article.
In the November 2012 Fly of the Month article, an RRTU exclusive, Tom and I took Bob Closer's wonderful creation a step further and designed the Trouser series based on the Little Trout Streamer series. We thought it would be worthwhile to have a Clouser-like streamer that is smaller for attracting trout. Taking the best elements of the Little Trout Streamer series, the best elements of the Clouser and yes, the best elements of the woolly bugger, we introduced the RRTU Appletree Trouser (Trout Clouser) series:
Appletree Brown Trouser
Hook: Streamer, Size 6 to 10
Thread: 6/0 Black
Eyes: Bead-Chain
Tail: Orange Marabou
Body: Orange Ostrich Herl with Yellow Saddle Hackle, palmered
Underbody: White Deer Body Hair
Lateral Line: Holographic Flashabou
Overbody: Brown Marabou
Appletree Rainbow Trouser
Hook: Streamer, Size 6 to 10
Thread: 6/0 Black
Eyes: Bead-Chain
Tail: Pink Marabou
Body: Pink Ostrich Herl with Olive Saddle Hackle, palmered
Underbody: White Deer Body Hair
Lateral Line: Holographic Flashabou
Overbody: Black Marabou
Appletree Brook Trouser
Hook: Streamer, Size 6 to 10
Thread: 6/0 Black
Eyes: Bead-Chain
Tail: Yellow Marabou
Body: Yellow Ostrich Herl with Olive Saddle Hackle, palmered
Underbody: White Deer Body Hair
Lateral Line: Holographic Flashabou
Overbody: Olive MarabouThis month, we are introducing a new streamer fly pattern, the Little Cutthroat Trout and we will review the Little Trout Streamer series to fully explain why we based the Trouser series on this series. A cutthroat fry closely resembles a brown fry but with the early presence of the red “cut” and an olive tent overall.Trout fry are found in streams with natural trout reproduction. In North Carolina, these streams are primarily designated WILD or CATCH-AND-RELEASE, yet there may be some natural reproduction in any of our trout streams. The triploid trout that are stocked in streams designated DELAYED HARVEST and HATCHERY SUPPORTED grow up in the raceways among their own species in numbers such that some cannibalism occurs. Stocked trout are literally trained to some extend to feed on trout fry. The presence of trout fry along with other baitfish provide forage for larger trout, thus, it is recommended that an angler to at least try these streamers and go for the larger trout on occasion
Fundamentally, fly fishing a WILD stream with a population of brown trout calls for tying on a Little Brown Trout and stripping the streamer through the deep pools for a large brown trout. Our headwaters containing wild brook trout calls for tying on a Little Brook Trout and stripping the streamer through the deeper runs for a mature brook trout. The same logic applies for fast moving waters containing wild rainbows. As for wild cutthroat, we all must journey out west on occasion, why not have our new fly pattern in your arsenal. As for our stocked streams, any one of the Little Trout series will produce as all three species are stocked in our streams
There are several methods for fly fishing a streamer. First, practice casting the heavier streamer and adjust your timing or rhythm and use more power in the back cast and cast. It’s like casting a weighted nymph.
Method#1: For a flowing run, cast across and upstream 45 degrees, allow the streamer to free drift with the flow until downstream where the line slack tightens. Allow the streamer to tail out completely downstream, then strip the streamer completely upstream to your feet. Vary the stripping action by speed on several casts. Try being erratic or jerking at times as erratic motion resembles a struggling trout fry.
Method#2: Cast across and downstream 45 degrees and pick-up on Mewthod#1 with the tail out on moving water and with the stripping in a pool. This method is used for slower waters and pools.
Cannibalism is a vital part of nature and survival among fish, these fly patterns utilize this behavior and allow the angler an opportunity to catch larger trout.
Little Cutthroat
HOOK : Streamer, 3X to 4X. Tiemco 5263 or equivalent. Size 4,6,8,10,12
Thread : Danville 70 denier or equivalent in black
Tail : Pink saddle hackle with white calf tail
Body : Light olive fine dubbing with gold tinsel ribbing
Wing : Brown squirrel tail, red bucktail, yellow bucktail
Throat : Red saddle hackle
Directions :
Little Cutthroat Trout (NEW)
…and Little Brook Trout, Little Rainbow Trout, Little Brown Trout
When I first began fly fishing and started tying flies, I thought it strange that there were three streamers fly patterns in the tying recipe book that depend on cannibalism. These flies were the Little Brook Trout, The Little Rainbow Trout and the Little Brown Trout. One would assume that somewhere among fly pattern recipes there is the Little Cutthroat Trout, but we have be unable to find it. Of course, this may mean that there should be even more “little trout” fly patterns based on the many strains and species of trout world-wide. For yet another RRTU exclusive, allow Tom and me to introduce our version of the Little Cutthroat Trout in this article.
In the November 2012 Fly of the Month article, an RRTU exclusive, Tom and I took Bob Closer's wonderful creation a step further and designed the Trouser series based on the Little Trout Streamer series. We thought it would be worthwhile to have a Clouser-like streamer that is smaller for attracting trout. Taking the best elements of the Little Trout Streamer series, the best elements of the Clouser and yes, the best elements of the woolly bugger, we introduced the RRTU Appletree Trouser (Trout Clouser) series:
Appletree Brown Trouser
Hook: Streamer, Size 6 to 10
Thread: 6/0 Black
Eyes: Bead-Chain
Tail: Orange Marabou
Body: Orange Ostrich Herl with Yellow Saddle Hackle, palmered
Underbody: White Deer Body Hair
Lateral Line: Holographic Flashabou
Overbody: Brown Marabou
Appletree Rainbow Trouser
Hook: Streamer, Size 6 to 10
Thread: 6/0 Black
Eyes: Bead-Chain
Tail: Pink Marabou
Body: Pink Ostrich Herl with Olive Saddle Hackle, palmered
Underbody: White Deer Body Hair
Lateral Line: Holographic Flashabou
Overbody: Black Marabou
Appletree Brook Trouser
Hook: Streamer, Size 6 to 10
Thread: 6/0 Black
Eyes: Bead-Chain
Tail: Yellow Marabou
Body: Yellow Ostrich Herl with Olive Saddle Hackle, palmered
Underbody: White Deer Body Hair
Lateral Line: Holographic Flashabou
Overbody: Olive MarabouThis month, we are introducing a new streamer fly pattern, the Little Cutthroat Trout and we will review the Little Trout Streamer series to fully explain why we based the Trouser series on this series. A cutthroat fry closely resembles a brown fry but with the early presence of the red “cut” and an olive tent overall.Trout fry are found in streams with natural trout reproduction. In North Carolina, these streams are primarily designated WILD or CATCH-AND-RELEASE, yet there may be some natural reproduction in any of our trout streams. The triploid trout that are stocked in streams designated DELAYED HARVEST and HATCHERY SUPPORTED grow up in the raceways among their own species in numbers such that some cannibalism occurs. Stocked trout are literally trained to some extend to feed on trout fry. The presence of trout fry along with other baitfish provide forage for larger trout, thus, it is recommended that an angler to at least try these streamers and go for the larger trout on occasion
Fundamentally, fly fishing a WILD stream with a population of brown trout calls for tying on a Little Brown Trout and stripping the streamer through the deep pools for a large brown trout. Our headwaters containing wild brook trout calls for tying on a Little Brook Trout and stripping the streamer through the deeper runs for a mature brook trout. The same logic applies for fast moving waters containing wild rainbows. As for wild cutthroat, we all must journey out west on occasion, why not have our new fly pattern in your arsenal. As for our stocked streams, any one of the Little Trout series will produce as all three species are stocked in our streams
There are several methods for fly fishing a streamer. First, practice casting the heavier streamer and adjust your timing or rhythm and use more power in the back cast and cast. It’s like casting a weighted nymph.
Method#1: For a flowing run, cast across and upstream 45 degrees, allow the streamer to free drift with the flow until downstream where the line slack tightens. Allow the streamer to tail out completely downstream, then strip the streamer completely upstream to your feet. Vary the stripping action by speed on several casts. Try being erratic or jerking at times as erratic motion resembles a struggling trout fry.
Method#2: Cast across and downstream 45 degrees and pick-up on Mewthod#1 with the tail out on moving water and with the stripping in a pool. This method is used for slower waters and pools.
Cannibalism is a vital part of nature and survival among fish, these fly patterns utilize this behavior and allow the angler an opportunity to catch larger trout.
Little Cutthroat
HOOK : Streamer, 3X to 4X. Tiemco 5263 or equivalent. Size 4,6,8,10,12
Thread : Danville 70 denier or equivalent in black
Tail : Pink saddle hackle with white calf tail
Body : Light olive fine dubbing with gold tinsel ribbing
Wing : Brown squirrel tail, red bucktail, yellow bucktail
Throat : Red saddle hackle
Directions :
- Start threadwraps in open spirals from two eyelengths back from the eye to the hook bend and let the bobbin hang. Select a dozen or so fibers of pink saddle hackle by stroking out the fibers at right angles to the stem and pinching the tips while pulling away from the stem (this will keep the tips aligned). Measure a hook gap in length and tie on top of the hook shank using thumb and forefinger to maintain position. Do not cut but advance the thread to the beginning point using open thread wraps (avoid excessive thread buildup) and if there are fibers remaining, trim the excess.
- Advance the thread to the hook bend and let the bobbin hang. Select a small amount of white calf tail and cut away from the hide. Clean as many short fibers from the calf and using a hair stacker, even the tips. This does not need to be extreme in aligning. After removing the fibers continue pinching with thumb and forefinger and place on top of the pink saddle hackle. Slightly shorter than the saddle and on top of the hook shank. Keep the pinch and advance the thread to the beginning point, using open thread wraps (avoid excessive thread buildup), again and trim any long hair. Take the thread to the hook bend and let the bobbin hang.
- Select a two or three inch piece of gold tinsel and tie in at the hook bend immediately in front of the tail. Hold the tinsel at a forty five degree on the side of the hook towards you and tie in with a quarter inch or so of tag. The tinsel should be over the top of the hook shank. Let the bobbin hang.
- Dub two or so inches of thread with fine light olive dubbing and wrap forward in tight touching turns. The body is not bulky and very smooth. Once reaching the beginning point let the bobbin hang.
- Wrap the tinsel forward in open, evenly spaced spirals to the thread and tie off. Trim any excess and let the bobbin hang.
- Select a small portion of squirrel, clean fuzz and stack lightly in a hair stacker. Tie in on top of the hook shank starting at the dub body and advancing to one eyelength from the eye. Trim the excess hair at an angle to make a slope and not a right angle. Wrap the thread from the eye to the body and let the bobbin hang.
- Select a small portion of red bucktail and tie in on top of the hook shank, stopping short of the end of the squirrel near the eye. This will avoid a high stack of material and make the head form properly. Trim excess bucktail at an angle and take the thread to the body. Let the bobbin hang.
- Select a small portion of yellow bucktail and tie in on top of the hook shank, stopping short of the end of the squirrel. This will avoid a high stack of material and make the head form properly. Trim excess bucktail at an angle and take the thread to the body. Make thread turns from the tie in to the eye, building a oval shape head, but do not overwrap there is still another step. Let the bobbin hang.
- Select six or eight red hackle fibers and aligning the tips pull away from the stem. Keeping the fibers together there will be a natural curve. Tie in on the bottom of the head with the curve up toward the hook shank. The length should be well short of the hook point. After the two or three wraps to secure the hackle, make one wrap behind the fibers to push them slightly down. Trim the excess hackle. Continue to wrap the throat, covering the red fibers while building the final head shape.
- Tie off with four or five hitches or whip finishes and cut the thread. Coat the head with two or three applications of head cement.
Fly of the Month 12.14 Lefty's Deceiver
We do not often cover a fly pattern that is useful for not only coldwater trout, but also freshwater and saltwater species as well. Although there are many streamer patterns in the tool box for trout, the deceiver and its numerous variations may be tied in smaller sizes and produce large fish just as well. One pattern for trout and smallmouth in particular is the Cockroach which is most likely viewed by the fish as a crayfish rather than a baitfish.
Lefty’s Deceiver
The deceiver is unquestionably the most famous and ubiquitous saltwater fly pattern in history. Originally designed by Lefty Kreh in the late-1950s, anglers have relied on the fly pattern to the extent that it has become one of the world’s most popular saltwater flies. Bernard “Lefty” Kreh among others was one of the first to break into the sport of fly fishing for saltwater gamefish. He specifically developed the deceiver as a fly that was both easy to cast and would not wrap around the bend of the hook when cast. Many other tiers have adopted the deceiver and further modified the fly pattern with potential improvements such as flash, manufactured heads and trailer hooks.
The abundance of materials used in the fly pattern provide for a fish shape streamer while being striped underwater. Once wet, the sleek fly has little air resistance making it very manageable to cast great distances or punch through the wind. This fly pattern can imitate a bait fish of almost any length. This flexibility of fly pattern allows for big, saltwater game fish as well as small, freshwater smallmouth and coldwater trout.
With bucktail wings on top and bottom and a long hackle tail, the deceiver fly pattern can be tied in a multitude of colors and color combinations. Typically, a combination of a light or white bottom and darker, colored top is used to imitate bait fish. Banding is accomplished by using barred materials such as grizzly hackle.
Fly Fishing with a Deceiver
The deceiver is fished in the same manner as other streamers. Designed for mid-water action, an intermediate sinking line is best. In an open body of water such as a saltwater flat or open bay the deceiver is cast to a maximum distance, allowed to sink into the water column, then striped back as an imitation of a fish progressing through the water possibly in a fleeing action. Interrupted action, jerks, stalls and long duration strips are all possible actions to be applied depending on the species targeted.
In freshwater for smallmouth bass, the deceiver is best striped with a slow steady movement that crosses in front of the target fish or runs upstream-downstream close by.
In coldwater for trout, the deceiver is best cast across and down at 45 degrees to the current, then allowed to tail out before the return striping is applied at a moderate pace. For dingy, milky water conditions, a deceiver pattern that is a very dark black, brown, green, blue or purple is best. In very clear conditions, the lighter and brighter colors of chartreuse, pink, yellow are best. In either case, generally the bottom portion is white giving the contrast much like any bait fish.
Lefty’s Deceiver
Hook : Streamer, Tiemco 5263 or equivalent, sizes 2,4,6,8,10
Thread : 6/0 white or color to complement the back
Tail : White saddle hackle
Body : Flat braid, pearl
Body : Deer tail, two colors. Top color olive,chartreuse, brown, blue,pink. Bottom color white
Flash: Flashabou, Crystal flash both in pearl
Beard: Crystal flash, red
Directions :
1) Mount hook in vise, begin wraps three eyelengths from the eye and advance to the hook bend. Build a small bump of thread and let the bobbin hang.
2) Take the saddle clump in your left hand, separate four or six feathers somewhat randomly and with your right hand pinch the select feathers together, spin and twist and pull them away from the skin. This random method is how Lefty does it and it works quite well. Tie in the tail at the thread bump with the feathers being about two times the length of the hook shank. After securing, advance the thread, binding in the feathers while maintaining the feathers on top of the hook shank. Trim waste and smooth out with thread wraps ending at the beginning point at the eye. Let the bobbin hang.
3) Select two strands of crystal flash and tie in on the side of the hook closest to you and repeat with two more on the far side. Keep these trapped on the side. Trim all four to slightly shorter than the tail. Repeat this procedure with flashabou but trim slightly longer than the tail feathers
4) Select a three inch piece of flat pearl braid, tie in, and advance the thread to the eye. To form the body,wrap the braid in touching wraps to the hook bend. Tie in and trim waste.
5) Select white deer tail, from the tip or close to the tip of the tail. The hair is not hollow and will not flair when tied in. The hair should be about half the diameter of a pencil. While pinched in your left hand stroke out any fine hair from the clump. Trim the hair at an angle after measuring the length against the hook so that the hair is slightly past the hook bend. Tie in on the side of the hook at the eye with the slant of the cut toward the eye. Repeat on the far side of the hook.
6) Rotate the hook and select two strands of red crystal flash. Fold the two in half and tie in doubling again. Trim to the hook tip and return the hook to the original position
7) Select color deer tail, same size as above and tie in on top of the hook shank, where the white is tied in. Keep the color from spinning as you tie in.
8) Form a nice shape head with thread wraps, whip finish, cut thread and coat with head cement.
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker
We do not often cover a fly pattern that is useful for not only coldwater trout, but also freshwater and saltwater species as well. Although there are many streamer patterns in the tool box for trout, the deceiver and its numerous variations may be tied in smaller sizes and produce large fish just as well. One pattern for trout and smallmouth in particular is the Cockroach which is most likely viewed by the fish as a crayfish rather than a baitfish.
Lefty’s Deceiver
The deceiver is unquestionably the most famous and ubiquitous saltwater fly pattern in history. Originally designed by Lefty Kreh in the late-1950s, anglers have relied on the fly pattern to the extent that it has become one of the world’s most popular saltwater flies. Bernard “Lefty” Kreh among others was one of the first to break into the sport of fly fishing for saltwater gamefish. He specifically developed the deceiver as a fly that was both easy to cast and would not wrap around the bend of the hook when cast. Many other tiers have adopted the deceiver and further modified the fly pattern with potential improvements such as flash, manufactured heads and trailer hooks.
The abundance of materials used in the fly pattern provide for a fish shape streamer while being striped underwater. Once wet, the sleek fly has little air resistance making it very manageable to cast great distances or punch through the wind. This fly pattern can imitate a bait fish of almost any length. This flexibility of fly pattern allows for big, saltwater game fish as well as small, freshwater smallmouth and coldwater trout.
With bucktail wings on top and bottom and a long hackle tail, the deceiver fly pattern can be tied in a multitude of colors and color combinations. Typically, a combination of a light or white bottom and darker, colored top is used to imitate bait fish. Banding is accomplished by using barred materials such as grizzly hackle.
Fly Fishing with a Deceiver
The deceiver is fished in the same manner as other streamers. Designed for mid-water action, an intermediate sinking line is best. In an open body of water such as a saltwater flat or open bay the deceiver is cast to a maximum distance, allowed to sink into the water column, then striped back as an imitation of a fish progressing through the water possibly in a fleeing action. Interrupted action, jerks, stalls and long duration strips are all possible actions to be applied depending on the species targeted.
In freshwater for smallmouth bass, the deceiver is best striped with a slow steady movement that crosses in front of the target fish or runs upstream-downstream close by.
In coldwater for trout, the deceiver is best cast across and down at 45 degrees to the current, then allowed to tail out before the return striping is applied at a moderate pace. For dingy, milky water conditions, a deceiver pattern that is a very dark black, brown, green, blue or purple is best. In very clear conditions, the lighter and brighter colors of chartreuse, pink, yellow are best. In either case, generally the bottom portion is white giving the contrast much like any bait fish.
Lefty’s Deceiver
Hook : Streamer, Tiemco 5263 or equivalent, sizes 2,4,6,8,10
Thread : 6/0 white or color to complement the back
Tail : White saddle hackle
Body : Flat braid, pearl
Body : Deer tail, two colors. Top color olive,chartreuse, brown, blue,pink. Bottom color white
Flash: Flashabou, Crystal flash both in pearl
Beard: Crystal flash, red
Directions :
1) Mount hook in vise, begin wraps three eyelengths from the eye and advance to the hook bend. Build a small bump of thread and let the bobbin hang.
2) Take the saddle clump in your left hand, separate four or six feathers somewhat randomly and with your right hand pinch the select feathers together, spin and twist and pull them away from the skin. This random method is how Lefty does it and it works quite well. Tie in the tail at the thread bump with the feathers being about two times the length of the hook shank. After securing, advance the thread, binding in the feathers while maintaining the feathers on top of the hook shank. Trim waste and smooth out with thread wraps ending at the beginning point at the eye. Let the bobbin hang.
3) Select two strands of crystal flash and tie in on the side of the hook closest to you and repeat with two more on the far side. Keep these trapped on the side. Trim all four to slightly shorter than the tail. Repeat this procedure with flashabou but trim slightly longer than the tail feathers
4) Select a three inch piece of flat pearl braid, tie in, and advance the thread to the eye. To form the body,wrap the braid in touching wraps to the hook bend. Tie in and trim waste.
5) Select white deer tail, from the tip or close to the tip of the tail. The hair is not hollow and will not flair when tied in. The hair should be about half the diameter of a pencil. While pinched in your left hand stroke out any fine hair from the clump. Trim the hair at an angle after measuring the length against the hook so that the hair is slightly past the hook bend. Tie in on the side of the hook at the eye with the slant of the cut toward the eye. Repeat on the far side of the hook.
6) Rotate the hook and select two strands of red crystal flash. Fold the two in half and tie in doubling again. Trim to the hook tip and return the hook to the original position
7) Select color deer tail, same size as above and tie in on top of the hook shank, where the white is tied in. Keep the color from spinning as you tie in.
8) Form a nice shape head with thread wraps, whip finish, cut thread and coat with head cement.
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker
Fly of the Month 11.12 Clouser
This “fly of the month” represents the latest in the Alen Baker/Tom Adams series.
One of the best known baitfish flies is Lefty’s Deceiver. Lefty is well know for his streams tied with an abundance of bucktail and/or feathers along with a large thread head and painted eyes on each side. Deceivers set the standard for baitfish imitations until Bob Clouser moved the standard in a totally new direction.
Clouser
Bob Clouser wanted a streamer fly that imitated baitfish that moved along the bottom of the water column, particularly in the saltwater estuaries. Up until his creation, most streamers were tied much like Atlantic salmon flies only much longer and with more material and some type of doll eye or a painted eye on each side of the thread head. What Bob created was revolutionary in that he used dumb-bell shaped lead for the two eyeballs. Tying the eyes across the top of the hook shank essentially forced the streamer fly upside down in the water with the hook gap up rather than down. The advantage, the hook was less likely to snag on objects along the bottom.
To imitate a baitfish, Bob used white buck tail tied across the top of the hook shank for the white or silvery belly of the baitfish, some flashabou for a lateral line and typically a darker or brighter color over the gap for the back of the baitfish. Moving upside down, the dark or bright over white appears suggestively like a baitfish.
My favorite Clouser is a size 1 Chartreuse/White which attracts stripped bass extremely well during the AprilMay run on the Roanoke River. A Pink/White Clouser or Yellow/White Clouser works equally well as does a number of other colors. Spotted Seatrout are attracted by literally the same clouser patterns as are many other species of freshwater and saltwater fish. Bigger trout are also attracted to these colors but a smaller size 6 is easier to cast with a 6-Weight rod. Practically any color over a white or light belly appears to look like a baitfish and attracts bigger fish.
The Appletree Trouser
Now for an RRTU exclusive. Allow Tom and I to take ob Closer's wonderful creation a step further. We hought it would be worthwhile to have a Clouser-like treamer that is smaller for attracting trout. Taking the est elements of the Little Trout Streamer series, the est elements of the Clouser and yes, the best elements f the woolly bugger, allow me to introduce the RRTU Appletree Trouser (Trout Clouser) series:
Appletree Brown Trouser
Hook: Streamer, Size: 6, 8, 10
Thread: 6/0 Black
Eyes: Bead-Chain
Tail: Orange Maribou
Body: Orange Osterich Herl with Yellow Saddle ackle, palmered
Underbody: White Deer Body Hair
Lateral Line: Holographic Flashabou
Overbody: Brown Maribou
Appletree Rainbow Trouser
Hook: Streamer, Size: 6, 8, 10
Thread: 6/0 Black
Eyes: Bead-Chain
Tail: ink Maribou
Body: Pink Osterich Herl with Olive Saddle Hackle, palmered
Underbody: White Deer Body Hair
Lateral Line: Holographic Flashabou
Overbody: Black Maribou
Appletree Brook Trouser
Hook: Streamer, Size: 6, 8, 10
Thread: 6/0 Black
Eyes: Bead-Chain
Tail: Yellow Maribou
Body: Yellow Osterich Herl with Olive Saddle Hackle, palmered
Underbody: White Deer Body Hair
Lateral Line: Holographic Flashabou
Overbody: Olive Maribou
- Alen Baker
Fly of the Month 11.12 Clouser
Hook: Streamer, 3x to 4x, Tiemco 5263 or equivalent, Size: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
Thread: Uni 8/0 or 6/0 depending on hook choice, white
Body: Bucktail, color combination of choice
Weight: lead or brass dumbbell, or chain eye
Note: Color and size are largely dependent on target species. Virtually every fish will take a Clouser in some circumstances. Do not forget this streamer fishes “upside down” when you are considering color.
Directions:
1) Wrap thread from the eye to about one third the distance to the hook bend. Form a small dam of thread at the rearmost part of the wrap. Place the dumbbell on top of the hook and wrap with crossing threads to secure. Bob Clouser does not recommend x wraps. It should only take six or eight wraps. Do not attempt to fill the vee section of the dumbbell. Finish the wrap with the thread in front of the weight about half the distance to the eye. Let the bobbin hang.
2) Select the bottom color. This is the color that will be on the top of the shank in a normal position. White would be normal, to represent the baitfish belly. Select a medium size clump of dear tail. Cut and holding very tightly at the approximate length desired, pull away the short unwanted fibers. If the tail is not cleaned of the short ones it will not tie in properly. No need to stack these, but by keeping a tight pinch on the deer hair and holding at a forty five degree angle when you make the first soft wrap the hair will make a bullet head without using thread as a builder. So, the deer hair should appear flat due to the pinch and holding it as a thin, flat shape on top of the hook shank you will make the first soft wrap above the point where you left the thread to begin with. After cinching down with the soft wrap, make a couple of firm wraps and advance the thread to the eye, trapping the hair in place. In tight touching wraps take the thread toward the dumbbell and when you reach the dumbbell, wrap the thread
immediately behind the dumbbell which binds the thread on top of the hook shank pinning the hair in place. Now you can make a crisscross pattern along the top of the shank to above the hook barb and back again all the way to the tie in point in front of the dumbbell.
3) Take the hook out of the vise and invert. This will be the top of the fly in the water. Choose several strands of flash and tie in. Select the top color of deer hair and tie in like before to form the top back of the baitfish. The length should be slightly shorter than the bottom.
4) Make a head with tight overlapping wraps and seal with epoxy.
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker
This “fly of the month” represents the latest in the Alen Baker/Tom Adams series.
One of the best known baitfish flies is Lefty’s Deceiver. Lefty is well know for his streams tied with an abundance of bucktail and/or feathers along with a large thread head and painted eyes on each side. Deceivers set the standard for baitfish imitations until Bob Clouser moved the standard in a totally new direction.
Clouser
Bob Clouser wanted a streamer fly that imitated baitfish that moved along the bottom of the water column, particularly in the saltwater estuaries. Up until his creation, most streamers were tied much like Atlantic salmon flies only much longer and with more material and some type of doll eye or a painted eye on each side of the thread head. What Bob created was revolutionary in that he used dumb-bell shaped lead for the two eyeballs. Tying the eyes across the top of the hook shank essentially forced the streamer fly upside down in the water with the hook gap up rather than down. The advantage, the hook was less likely to snag on objects along the bottom.
To imitate a baitfish, Bob used white buck tail tied across the top of the hook shank for the white or silvery belly of the baitfish, some flashabou for a lateral line and typically a darker or brighter color over the gap for the back of the baitfish. Moving upside down, the dark or bright over white appears suggestively like a baitfish.
My favorite Clouser is a size 1 Chartreuse/White which attracts stripped bass extremely well during the AprilMay run on the Roanoke River. A Pink/White Clouser or Yellow/White Clouser works equally well as does a number of other colors. Spotted Seatrout are attracted by literally the same clouser patterns as are many other species of freshwater and saltwater fish. Bigger trout are also attracted to these colors but a smaller size 6 is easier to cast with a 6-Weight rod. Practically any color over a white or light belly appears to look like a baitfish and attracts bigger fish.
The Appletree Trouser
Now for an RRTU exclusive. Allow Tom and I to take ob Closer's wonderful creation a step further. We hought it would be worthwhile to have a Clouser-like treamer that is smaller for attracting trout. Taking the est elements of the Little Trout Streamer series, the est elements of the Clouser and yes, the best elements f the woolly bugger, allow me to introduce the RRTU Appletree Trouser (Trout Clouser) series:
Appletree Brown Trouser
Hook: Streamer, Size: 6, 8, 10
Thread: 6/0 Black
Eyes: Bead-Chain
Tail: Orange Maribou
Body: Orange Osterich Herl with Yellow Saddle ackle, palmered
Underbody: White Deer Body Hair
Lateral Line: Holographic Flashabou
Overbody: Brown Maribou
Appletree Rainbow Trouser
Hook: Streamer, Size: 6, 8, 10
Thread: 6/0 Black
Eyes: Bead-Chain
Tail: ink Maribou
Body: Pink Osterich Herl with Olive Saddle Hackle, palmered
Underbody: White Deer Body Hair
Lateral Line: Holographic Flashabou
Overbody: Black Maribou
Appletree Brook Trouser
Hook: Streamer, Size: 6, 8, 10
Thread: 6/0 Black
Eyes: Bead-Chain
Tail: Yellow Maribou
Body: Yellow Osterich Herl with Olive Saddle Hackle, palmered
Underbody: White Deer Body Hair
Lateral Line: Holographic Flashabou
Overbody: Olive Maribou
- Alen Baker
Fly of the Month 11.12 Clouser
Hook: Streamer, 3x to 4x, Tiemco 5263 or equivalent, Size: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
Thread: Uni 8/0 or 6/0 depending on hook choice, white
Body: Bucktail, color combination of choice
Weight: lead or brass dumbbell, or chain eye
Note: Color and size are largely dependent on target species. Virtually every fish will take a Clouser in some circumstances. Do not forget this streamer fishes “upside down” when you are considering color.
Directions:
1) Wrap thread from the eye to about one third the distance to the hook bend. Form a small dam of thread at the rearmost part of the wrap. Place the dumbbell on top of the hook and wrap with crossing threads to secure. Bob Clouser does not recommend x wraps. It should only take six or eight wraps. Do not attempt to fill the vee section of the dumbbell. Finish the wrap with the thread in front of the weight about half the distance to the eye. Let the bobbin hang.
2) Select the bottom color. This is the color that will be on the top of the shank in a normal position. White would be normal, to represent the baitfish belly. Select a medium size clump of dear tail. Cut and holding very tightly at the approximate length desired, pull away the short unwanted fibers. If the tail is not cleaned of the short ones it will not tie in properly. No need to stack these, but by keeping a tight pinch on the deer hair and holding at a forty five degree angle when you make the first soft wrap the hair will make a bullet head without using thread as a builder. So, the deer hair should appear flat due to the pinch and holding it as a thin, flat shape on top of the hook shank you will make the first soft wrap above the point where you left the thread to begin with. After cinching down with the soft wrap, make a couple of firm wraps and advance the thread to the eye, trapping the hair in place. In tight touching wraps take the thread toward the dumbbell and when you reach the dumbbell, wrap the thread
immediately behind the dumbbell which binds the thread on top of the hook shank pinning the hair in place. Now you can make a crisscross pattern along the top of the shank to above the hook barb and back again all the way to the tie in point in front of the dumbbell.
3) Take the hook out of the vise and invert. This will be the top of the fly in the water. Choose several strands of flash and tie in. Select the top color of deer hair and tie in like before to form the top back of the baitfish. The length should be slightly shorter than the bottom.
4) Make a head with tight overlapping wraps and seal with epoxy.
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker
Fly of the Month 07.14 Howell's Strawberry Blonde
We are blessed in North Carolina with a creative fly tyer who happens to own and operate a very successful fly shop in Pisgah Forest, North Carolina. Kevin Howell is the son of the legendary Don Howell who is well known for creating “GO TO” flies that work when other fly patterns do not.
This is a fly with a number of variations but we present it as Kevin ties it best.
Howell’s Strawberry Blonde
The Woolly Bugger fly pattern is often debated as a wet fly, a hellgrammite imitation or a streamer. We will never really know why trout are turned on by the Woolly Bugger fly pattern, but they seem to like it more often than not. We traditionally use a black, brown or olive woolly bugger with or without a bead head in our North Carolina Streams and in more recent years have found size 12 and size 14 to be very effective. However, RiverGirl, Kelly McCoy, swears by the pink woolly bugger, Fritz Mercer swears by the white woolly bugger, and there are purple, chartreuse, orange to be tried that will most likely work as well. Generally, bright colors in dingy waters and earth-tones in clear waters. Kevin Howell takes the Woolly Bugger fly pattern to the whole next level with the “hot Bead head”!
“This Wooly Bugger pattern came into existence on the Watauga River and has become a go to pattern for me in clear water when I want to fish a Wooly Bugger Pattern. While Olive, White, and Black buggers have always been a mainstay in fly boxes everywhere, pressured trout seem to figure out that maybe they should not eat those. By switching to the mottled tan and yellow coloration I was able to get strikes when other colors would not work. Then for weight I added a red Tungsten Bead one night when I ways tying flies for a trip the following day. Why red you ask? Simple, it was the color bead that was lying on my tying bench. The following day it turned out to be my most productive fly on a Watauga River Float trip. The Red bead seems to act as a Hot Spot or Attractor for the trout.” says Kevin Howell.
Fly of the Month 7.14 Strawberry Blonde
HOOK : Streamer, 4X to 6X. Tiemco 5367 or equivalent. Size 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4
Thread : 8/0 Uni Rusty Brown
Head : Red Tungsten Round bead
Body : Chennille –variegated orange and tan
Ribbing : Gold wire
Hackle : Saddle feather –barred ginger rooster
Tail: Mottlebou
Directions :
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker
We are blessed in North Carolina with a creative fly tyer who happens to own and operate a very successful fly shop in Pisgah Forest, North Carolina. Kevin Howell is the son of the legendary Don Howell who is well known for creating “GO TO” flies that work when other fly patterns do not.
This is a fly with a number of variations but we present it as Kevin ties it best.
Howell’s Strawberry Blonde
The Woolly Bugger fly pattern is often debated as a wet fly, a hellgrammite imitation or a streamer. We will never really know why trout are turned on by the Woolly Bugger fly pattern, but they seem to like it more often than not. We traditionally use a black, brown or olive woolly bugger with or without a bead head in our North Carolina Streams and in more recent years have found size 12 and size 14 to be very effective. However, RiverGirl, Kelly McCoy, swears by the pink woolly bugger, Fritz Mercer swears by the white woolly bugger, and there are purple, chartreuse, orange to be tried that will most likely work as well. Generally, bright colors in dingy waters and earth-tones in clear waters. Kevin Howell takes the Woolly Bugger fly pattern to the whole next level with the “hot Bead head”!
“This Wooly Bugger pattern came into existence on the Watauga River and has become a go to pattern for me in clear water when I want to fish a Wooly Bugger Pattern. While Olive, White, and Black buggers have always been a mainstay in fly boxes everywhere, pressured trout seem to figure out that maybe they should not eat those. By switching to the mottled tan and yellow coloration I was able to get strikes when other colors would not work. Then for weight I added a red Tungsten Bead one night when I ways tying flies for a trip the following day. Why red you ask? Simple, it was the color bead that was lying on my tying bench. The following day it turned out to be my most productive fly on a Watauga River Float trip. The Red bead seems to act as a Hot Spot or Attractor for the trout.” says Kevin Howell.
Fly of the Month 7.14 Strawberry Blonde
HOOK : Streamer, 4X to 6X. Tiemco 5367 or equivalent. Size 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4
Thread : 8/0 Uni Rusty Brown
Head : Red Tungsten Round bead
Body : Chennille –variegated orange and tan
Ribbing : Gold wire
Hackle : Saddle feather –barred ginger rooster
Tail: Mottlebou
Directions :
- Debarb the point of the hook and slide the bead to the head and affix the hook in the vice. Begin thread wraps immediately behind the bead and wrap tight wraps to the hook bend. Let the bobbin hang.
- Choose a mottlebou feather. Size the length to be approximately the length of the hook shank. Holding the feather in your left hand by the tip, choose only enough feather of the appropriate length and stroke in the direction of the tip to separate the wanted feather from the waste. Eventually there will be a small section of the stem exposed at the tie in point. Once you are happy that this is the correct length for the tail, strip the marabou feathers away from the stem that will not form the tail, to reduce bulk. If the feathers are too unruly, you can slightly moisten your fingertips and control the shape until tied in. Be careful when moistening to not choose more feathers than needed (they will shrink down remarkably) in that it will add unnecessary bulk to the fly. Tie in above the hook point being careful to keep the marabou on top of the hook shank. Tie in firmly but not completely and let the bobbin hang. Take the thread in tight turns to the eye tying in the stem on top of the hook shank as you go. Let the bobbin hang .Select two flash fibers about three inches in length. Match the tips and fold at the midpoint. Tie in the folded midpoint immediately in front of the tail, on top of the hook shank so that two strands are on each side. Trim the lengths to be even and slightly longer than the marabou. Advance the thread to the head and let the bobbin hang.
- Select about three inches of wire and tie in on top of the hook shank and wrap in tight turns to the tail tie in. Let the bobbin hang.
- Select a saddle hackle which has barbs of the right length for about four or five turns. The length should be about one and one half the height of the hook gape. Saddle hackle barbs will increase in length as it goes toward the base. That is okay and will make a slight cone shape to the hackle, getting longer as it nears the head. It is also good to have some webby fibers at the head of the fly to form a collar of wavy material. Tie in with several wraps and let the bobbin hang.
- Select about three inches of chenille and with fingernails or gentle pressure from scissors, strip away the chenille strands revealing a short section of core thread. About one eighth inch or so. Tie in at the tail on top of the hook shank and advance the thread in tight turns to the eye. Let the bobbin hang. Advance the chenille to the head of the hook at the bead. Tie in and let the bobbin hang.
- Advance the saddle hackle with the shiny side forward in wraps between the chenille wraps (it is not necessary to fill every wrap) to just behind the bead head. At this point the hackle should be getting “webby”. Make several firm wraps of thread to secure the hackle and let the bobbin hang. Do not trim the hackle yet.
- Advance the wire in the opposite direction as the hackle (wrap toward you not away from you) and with a wiggling motion avoid trapping too many fibers. This will hold and protect the hackle. At the bead head make two turns of wire, bind with two or three thread wraps and break off excess wire.
- Finish the hackle wrap, forming a collar by making two or three turns of the webby hackle.
- Whip finish, trim the thread and you are finished.
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker
Fly of the Month 04.11 Mickey Finn
This “fly of the month” represents the latest in the TimWilhelm/Tom Adams series.
I suppose most of us know what a Mickey Finn is because of the 1941 film. The Maltese Falcon where Joel Cairo slipped a Mickey into Sam Spade's whiskey. There are also references to it in many other detective novels and movies such as the Philip Marlowe series. So how did a fly come to known as a Mickey Finn instead of the Yellow and Red or maybe something sinister such as the Assassin?
The Mickey Finn is an old pattern that continues to be a favorite among trout and salmon anglers to this day. Its popularity is probably due to the fact that it catches fish, even if it doesn’t represent anything in nature. Reportedly, it was developed by a Canadian fly-tier by the name of Charles Langevin and for a while the fly was called simply the Langevin. It has also been called the Yellow and Red and the Assassin. Greg Clark, a well-known Canadian writer of the time proclaimed, after a very successful a fishing trip, that the fly was as effective as a Mickey Finn. Now, at that time the Mickey Finn was a famous drink, developed in New Orleans in the 1920s, that was very potent because it contained narcotics of some sort. As the story goes, famed actor Rudolph Valentino died from drinking too many Mickey Finns while at a hotel in New York and Clark reasoned that the fly was as deadly as the drink. Clark published a story about the Mickey Finn in 1937 for Hunting and Fishing magazine. The magazine was published to coincide with the annual Sportsman Show
in New York City. The fly became so popular at the show that it was estimated that up to half a million Mickey Finn flies were tied and sold in a few days. Give it a try. (The fly not the drink.)
Fly of the Month 04.11 Mickey Finn
Hook: Streamer hook, 3xL to 6xL, perfect bend, 2x heavy, Size: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
Thread: Uni- 8/0 black
Body: Silver mylar flat tinsel
Ribbing: Silver oval tinsel, silver wire may substitute
Wing: Yellow and red bucktail
CAUTION: Leave room for a proper head!
Directions :
1) Start three or four eye lengths back from eye and wrap tightly to above the hook point. Trim tag. Cut flat silver mylar at a forty five degree and tie in firmly at the cut. Tie in the oval tinsel and advance the thread in tight, smooth wraps to where you began tying in and let the bobbin hang.
2) Wrap the flat tinsel toward the hook bend in smooth, tight and non overlapping but covering wraps. Stop just before the hook bend and return in smooth, non overlapping wraps toward the head. Lift the oval tinsel as the wrapping goes past to avoid a “lump”. Continue to the head stopping at the starting point and secure the tinsel and let the bobbin hang.
3) Wrap the oval tinsel in tight, evenly spaced wraps to the same spot as the flat tinsel. Secure with thread wraps and trim tag ends, let the bobbin hang.
4) Select a small portion of yellow bucktail from the tip of the tail. The fibers are thinner and not as hollow as at the base. Even the tips and tie on top of the hook shank extending slightly past the hook bend [about a third of the hook length]. Tie in firmly and trim at an angle. Let the bobbin hang.
5) Select the same size portion of red bucktail as above and repeat, tying on top of the yellow.
6) Select a portion of yellow bucktail equal to the previous yellow and red portions combined and tie in on top. Cut at an angle and secure with several wraps advancing the thread to the hook eye after forming a tapered head with thread wraps. Whip finish and lacquer the head.
Note : Generally I use several coats of head cement for the head but have also tried black, glossy nail polish with good results.
- Tom Adams, Tim Wilhelm
This “fly of the month” represents the latest in the TimWilhelm/Tom Adams series.
I suppose most of us know what a Mickey Finn is because of the 1941 film. The Maltese Falcon where Joel Cairo slipped a Mickey into Sam Spade's whiskey. There are also references to it in many other detective novels and movies such as the Philip Marlowe series. So how did a fly come to known as a Mickey Finn instead of the Yellow and Red or maybe something sinister such as the Assassin?
The Mickey Finn is an old pattern that continues to be a favorite among trout and salmon anglers to this day. Its popularity is probably due to the fact that it catches fish, even if it doesn’t represent anything in nature. Reportedly, it was developed by a Canadian fly-tier by the name of Charles Langevin and for a while the fly was called simply the Langevin. It has also been called the Yellow and Red and the Assassin. Greg Clark, a well-known Canadian writer of the time proclaimed, after a very successful a fishing trip, that the fly was as effective as a Mickey Finn. Now, at that time the Mickey Finn was a famous drink, developed in New Orleans in the 1920s, that was very potent because it contained narcotics of some sort. As the story goes, famed actor Rudolph Valentino died from drinking too many Mickey Finns while at a hotel in New York and Clark reasoned that the fly was as deadly as the drink. Clark published a story about the Mickey Finn in 1937 for Hunting and Fishing magazine. The magazine was published to coincide with the annual Sportsman Show
in New York City. The fly became so popular at the show that it was estimated that up to half a million Mickey Finn flies were tied and sold in a few days. Give it a try. (The fly not the drink.)
Fly of the Month 04.11 Mickey Finn
Hook: Streamer hook, 3xL to 6xL, perfect bend, 2x heavy, Size: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
Thread: Uni- 8/0 black
Body: Silver mylar flat tinsel
Ribbing: Silver oval tinsel, silver wire may substitute
Wing: Yellow and red bucktail
CAUTION: Leave room for a proper head!
Directions :
1) Start three or four eye lengths back from eye and wrap tightly to above the hook point. Trim tag. Cut flat silver mylar at a forty five degree and tie in firmly at the cut. Tie in the oval tinsel and advance the thread in tight, smooth wraps to where you began tying in and let the bobbin hang.
2) Wrap the flat tinsel toward the hook bend in smooth, tight and non overlapping but covering wraps. Stop just before the hook bend and return in smooth, non overlapping wraps toward the head. Lift the oval tinsel as the wrapping goes past to avoid a “lump”. Continue to the head stopping at the starting point and secure the tinsel and let the bobbin hang.
3) Wrap the oval tinsel in tight, evenly spaced wraps to the same spot as the flat tinsel. Secure with thread wraps and trim tag ends, let the bobbin hang.
4) Select a small portion of yellow bucktail from the tip of the tail. The fibers are thinner and not as hollow as at the base. Even the tips and tie on top of the hook shank extending slightly past the hook bend [about a third of the hook length]. Tie in firmly and trim at an angle. Let the bobbin hang.
5) Select the same size portion of red bucktail as above and repeat, tying on top of the yellow.
6) Select a portion of yellow bucktail equal to the previous yellow and red portions combined and tie in on top. Cut at an angle and secure with several wraps advancing the thread to the hook eye after forming a tapered head with thread wraps. Whip finish and lacquer the head.
Note : Generally I use several coats of head cement for the head but have also tried black, glossy nail polish with good results.
- Tom Adams, Tim Wilhelm
Fly of the Month 06.12 Woolly Bugger
If you could only have one fly to fish in all seasons and all conditions, our choice would be the classic and ole reliable…
Woolly Bugger
The Woolly Bugger can be fished as either a wet fly or streamer throughout the water column in coldwater, freshwater and saltwater - typically fished in streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and tidal flats. It is considered an easy fly pattern to tie and typically one of the top patterns in any fly box.
"The Woolly Bugger is so effective; it should be banned from some watersheds. I suspect its effectiveness is due to its resemblance to so many edible creatures in the water--nymphs, leeches, salamanders, or even small sculpins. Its tail undulating behind a fiber, bubble-filled body is just too much for most fish to resist. It just looks like a meal!" Bill Hunter, The Professionals' Favorite Flies.
The Woolly Bugger may be tie in a number of sizes, styles and colors. Sizes used on trout streams range from size 14 down to size 6, in freshwater size 10 down to size 2 are typically used and in saltwater a Woolly Bugger are tied on a stainless steel hook from size 6 down to size 1/0. The styles vary from a simple one color unweighted to a complex multi-color, Conehead with flash and rubber legs added.
Colors generally found on the market include black, brown, olive, white, yellow, pink and purple. It is no surprise that trout may well take a pink or purple Woolly Bugger while refusing other more natural looking nymphs and wet flies. I suspect it’s the bugger look that attracts their attention. I have had the most success with an olive in our freestone streams under normal water conditions and black under high, dingy water conditions.
Here are the many species that Kelly McCoy (a.k.a. Rivergirl) says that she has caught with a good ‘ole hot pink beadhead bugger, ‘kissed’ and released (most of the time)– Freshwater: Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass, Chubs, Warpaint Shiner, Largemouth Bass, Bluegill Sunfish, Redear Sunfish and Warmouth Sunfish; and – Saltwater: Snook,Spotted Sea Trout, Redfish , Lane Snapper, Mutton Snapper, Cubera Snapper, Vermilion Snapper, Gray Snapper, Ladyfish, Pompano,Permit, Crevalle Jack, Black Drum, Sheepshead and Weakfish.
To fish the Woolly Bugger as a streamer, cast across and downstream and allow the fly to tail-out, then strip the fly back upstream. Often then the trout will take the fly on the tail-out or soon after the strip begins. This technique is highly effective working across the riffle area between pools and just beyond the riffles.
Any large, deep pool may be fished with a woolly Bugger by adding some weight and casting across the pool, allowing the fly to sink to near bottom. Strip back across the bottom much like one would retrieve a spinner in the trout’s territory.
To fish the Woolly Bugger as a wet fly, cast across and upstream and allow the fly to dead drift downstream while controlling the slack. Allow the fly to rise up much like an emerger at the end of the drift. This technique is most effect in the deeper runs.
This is a must have fly and the go to fly when all else fails.
Fly of the Month 06.12 Woolly Bugger
Hook: Streamer, 3x to 4x, Tiemco 5263 or equivalent, Size: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14
Thread: 8/0 Uni color to match - olive, black, brown, etc
Weight: Lead wraps, Bead, Cone
Body: Chennille – olive, black, brown, etc
Ribbing: Copper, Gold or Silver wire
Hackle: Saddle feather –olive, black, brown, etc
Tail: Marabou feather – olive, black, brown, etc with flash
Note : This is a must have, at all times and all conditions, fly and the variances for tying are innumerous. Head weight, color combinations are quite
interchangeable with equal success. This is only a starting point for the tiers imagination and creativity.
Directions :
1) Choose the method for weighting or choose no weight at all. For this example we will choose a bead head. Debarb the point of the hook and slide the bead to the head and affix the hook in the vice. Begin thread wraps immediately behind the bead and wrap tight wraps to the hook bend. Let the bobbin hang.
2) Choose a marabou feather. Size the length to be approximately the length of the hook shank. Holding the feather in your left hand by the tip, choose only enough feather of the appropriate length and stroke in the direction of the tip to separate the wanted feather from the waste. Eventually there will be a small section of the stem exposed at the tie in point. Once you are happy that this is the correct length for the tail, strip the marabou feathers away from the stem that will not form the tail, to reduce bulk. If the feathers are too unruly, you can slightly moisten your fingertips and control the shape until tied in. Be careful when moistening to not choose more feathers than needed (they will shrink down remarkably) in that it will add unnecessary bulk to the fly. Tie in above the hook point being careful to keep the marabou ontop of the hook shank. Tie in firmly but not completely and let the bobbin hang. Take the thread in tight turns to the eye tying in the stem on top of the hook shank as you go. Let the bobbin hang. Some marabou feathers will not allow for this technique. Should you not be able to strip the excess effectively, simply bind the excess to the top of the hook shank and wrap tightly with thread one set of touching turns the thorax. Cut away the remainder of marabou and
use open wraps to return the thread to the where the tail was tied in.
3) Select two flash fibers about three inches in length. Match the tips and fold at the midpoint. Tie in the folded midpoint immediately in front of the tail, on top of the hook shank so that two strands are on each side. Trim the lengths to be even and slightly longer than the marabou. Advance the thread to the head and let the bobbin hang.
4) Select about three inches of wire and tie in on top of the hook shank and wrap in tight turns to the tail tie in. Let the bobbin hang.
5) Select a saddle hackle which has barbs of the right length for about four or five turns. The length should be about one and one half the height of the hook gape. Saddle hackle barbs will increase in length as it goes toward the base. That is okay and will make a slight cone shape to the hackle, getting longer as it nears the head. It is also good to have some webby fibers at the head of the fly to form a collar of wavy material. Tie in with several wraps and let the bobbin hang.
6) Select about three inches of chenille and with fingernails or gentle pressure from scissors, strip away the chenille strands revealing a short section of core thread. About one eighth inch or so. Tie in at the tail on top of the hook shank and advance the thread in tight turns to the eye. Let the bobbin hang. Advance the chenille to the head of the hook at the bead. Tie in and let the bobbin hang.
7) Advance the saddle hackle with the shiny side forward in wraps between the chenille wraps (it is not necessary to fill every wrap) to just behind the bead head. At this point the hackle should be getting “webby”. Make several firm wraps of thread to secure the hackle and let the bobbin hang. Do not trim the hackle yet.
8) Advance the wire in the opposite direction as the hackle (wrap toward you not away from you) and with a wiggling motion avoid trapping too many fibers. This will hold and protect the hackle. At the bead head make two turns of wire, bind with two or three thread wraps and break off excess wire.
9) Finish the hackle wrap, forming a collar by making two or three turns of the webby hackle.
10) Whip finish, trim the thread and you are finished.
There are a large number of variations for this fly pattern including Black Woolly Bugger, Brown Woolly Bugger, Olive Woolly Bugger, White Woolly Bugger and Hot Pink Woolly Bugger.
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker
If you could only have one fly to fish in all seasons and all conditions, our choice would be the classic and ole reliable…
Woolly Bugger
The Woolly Bugger can be fished as either a wet fly or streamer throughout the water column in coldwater, freshwater and saltwater - typically fished in streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and tidal flats. It is considered an easy fly pattern to tie and typically one of the top patterns in any fly box.
"The Woolly Bugger is so effective; it should be banned from some watersheds. I suspect its effectiveness is due to its resemblance to so many edible creatures in the water--nymphs, leeches, salamanders, or even small sculpins. Its tail undulating behind a fiber, bubble-filled body is just too much for most fish to resist. It just looks like a meal!" Bill Hunter, The Professionals' Favorite Flies.
The Woolly Bugger may be tie in a number of sizes, styles and colors. Sizes used on trout streams range from size 14 down to size 6, in freshwater size 10 down to size 2 are typically used and in saltwater a Woolly Bugger are tied on a stainless steel hook from size 6 down to size 1/0. The styles vary from a simple one color unweighted to a complex multi-color, Conehead with flash and rubber legs added.
Colors generally found on the market include black, brown, olive, white, yellow, pink and purple. It is no surprise that trout may well take a pink or purple Woolly Bugger while refusing other more natural looking nymphs and wet flies. I suspect it’s the bugger look that attracts their attention. I have had the most success with an olive in our freestone streams under normal water conditions and black under high, dingy water conditions.
Here are the many species that Kelly McCoy (a.k.a. Rivergirl) says that she has caught with a good ‘ole hot pink beadhead bugger, ‘kissed’ and released (most of the time)– Freshwater: Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass, Chubs, Warpaint Shiner, Largemouth Bass, Bluegill Sunfish, Redear Sunfish and Warmouth Sunfish; and – Saltwater: Snook,Spotted Sea Trout, Redfish , Lane Snapper, Mutton Snapper, Cubera Snapper, Vermilion Snapper, Gray Snapper, Ladyfish, Pompano,Permit, Crevalle Jack, Black Drum, Sheepshead and Weakfish.
To fish the Woolly Bugger as a streamer, cast across and downstream and allow the fly to tail-out, then strip the fly back upstream. Often then the trout will take the fly on the tail-out or soon after the strip begins. This technique is highly effective working across the riffle area between pools and just beyond the riffles.
Any large, deep pool may be fished with a woolly Bugger by adding some weight and casting across the pool, allowing the fly to sink to near bottom. Strip back across the bottom much like one would retrieve a spinner in the trout’s territory.
To fish the Woolly Bugger as a wet fly, cast across and upstream and allow the fly to dead drift downstream while controlling the slack. Allow the fly to rise up much like an emerger at the end of the drift. This technique is most effect in the deeper runs.
This is a must have fly and the go to fly when all else fails.
Fly of the Month 06.12 Woolly Bugger
Hook: Streamer, 3x to 4x, Tiemco 5263 or equivalent, Size: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14
Thread: 8/0 Uni color to match - olive, black, brown, etc
Weight: Lead wraps, Bead, Cone
Body: Chennille – olive, black, brown, etc
Ribbing: Copper, Gold or Silver wire
Hackle: Saddle feather –olive, black, brown, etc
Tail: Marabou feather – olive, black, brown, etc with flash
Note : This is a must have, at all times and all conditions, fly and the variances for tying are innumerous. Head weight, color combinations are quite
interchangeable with equal success. This is only a starting point for the tiers imagination and creativity.
Directions :
1) Choose the method for weighting or choose no weight at all. For this example we will choose a bead head. Debarb the point of the hook and slide the bead to the head and affix the hook in the vice. Begin thread wraps immediately behind the bead and wrap tight wraps to the hook bend. Let the bobbin hang.
2) Choose a marabou feather. Size the length to be approximately the length of the hook shank. Holding the feather in your left hand by the tip, choose only enough feather of the appropriate length and stroke in the direction of the tip to separate the wanted feather from the waste. Eventually there will be a small section of the stem exposed at the tie in point. Once you are happy that this is the correct length for the tail, strip the marabou feathers away from the stem that will not form the tail, to reduce bulk. If the feathers are too unruly, you can slightly moisten your fingertips and control the shape until tied in. Be careful when moistening to not choose more feathers than needed (they will shrink down remarkably) in that it will add unnecessary bulk to the fly. Tie in above the hook point being careful to keep the marabou ontop of the hook shank. Tie in firmly but not completely and let the bobbin hang. Take the thread in tight turns to the eye tying in the stem on top of the hook shank as you go. Let the bobbin hang. Some marabou feathers will not allow for this technique. Should you not be able to strip the excess effectively, simply bind the excess to the top of the hook shank and wrap tightly with thread one set of touching turns the thorax. Cut away the remainder of marabou and
use open wraps to return the thread to the where the tail was tied in.
3) Select two flash fibers about three inches in length. Match the tips and fold at the midpoint. Tie in the folded midpoint immediately in front of the tail, on top of the hook shank so that two strands are on each side. Trim the lengths to be even and slightly longer than the marabou. Advance the thread to the head and let the bobbin hang.
4) Select about three inches of wire and tie in on top of the hook shank and wrap in tight turns to the tail tie in. Let the bobbin hang.
5) Select a saddle hackle which has barbs of the right length for about four or five turns. The length should be about one and one half the height of the hook gape. Saddle hackle barbs will increase in length as it goes toward the base. That is okay and will make a slight cone shape to the hackle, getting longer as it nears the head. It is also good to have some webby fibers at the head of the fly to form a collar of wavy material. Tie in with several wraps and let the bobbin hang.
6) Select about three inches of chenille and with fingernails or gentle pressure from scissors, strip away the chenille strands revealing a short section of core thread. About one eighth inch or so. Tie in at the tail on top of the hook shank and advance the thread in tight turns to the eye. Let the bobbin hang. Advance the chenille to the head of the hook at the bead. Tie in and let the bobbin hang.
7) Advance the saddle hackle with the shiny side forward in wraps between the chenille wraps (it is not necessary to fill every wrap) to just behind the bead head. At this point the hackle should be getting “webby”. Make several firm wraps of thread to secure the hackle and let the bobbin hang. Do not trim the hackle yet.
8) Advance the wire in the opposite direction as the hackle (wrap toward you not away from you) and with a wiggling motion avoid trapping too many fibers. This will hold and protect the hackle. At the bead head make two turns of wire, bind with two or three thread wraps and break off excess wire.
9) Finish the hackle wrap, forming a collar by making two or three turns of the webby hackle.
10) Whip finish, trim the thread and you are finished.
There are a large number of variations for this fly pattern including Black Woolly Bugger, Brown Woolly Bugger, Olive Woolly Bugger, White Woolly Bugger and Hot Pink Woolly Bugger.
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker
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Rocky River Chapter of Trout Unlimited (c) 2014