Paul's April 2023 Fly of the Month

 Woodchuck Caddis

Hook:  Tiemco 100 Or Dry Fly Hook of choice; in Size #12 to #18.  

Thread:  Tan, Brown or Wood Duck colored thread.

Body:  Woodchuck under fur; or Natural Hare’s Ear dubbing mixed with Woodchuck under fur.  You may even be able to find Woodchuck dubbing.

Wing:  Woodchuck guard hairs.

Hackle:  Brown and Grizzly; or a single Cree; or dark-barred Dun Hackle.  

Eric Leiser is credited with having popularized this fly.  He included it in his book ‘The Book of Fly Tying Patterns’.  It’s a pretty easy tie and you can knock a lot of these flies fast.  It requires only 3 all natural materials.  This fly has been around for a while.  I have to thank my friend Bill Goeben for introducing it to me more than 35 years ago.  

To tie this fly, secure the hook in your vice.  Start your thread on the hook shank leaving a 2 hook eye length space behind the hook eye.  Take a few securing wraps ‘rearward’ then cut off the tag end.  Wrap rearward so that your thread hangs at about the hook point.  Next, create a slender dubbing noodle with your Body dubbing of choice.  Start dubbing the hook shank at the bend and make ‘touching’ wraps forward to the initial tie in point.  You are now going to prepare your wing by clipping a small clump of Guard Hairs off of the Woodchuck hide.  Pull away the shorter ‘underfur’ from the Guard Hairs.  You can use it for Body dubbing if you want.  Take the Guard Hairs and place them ‘tips first’ into a hair stacker.  Stack the hairs then measure them on top of the hook shank.  It should extend slightly beyond the back edge of the hook bend.  Hold the hairs tightly and make securing wraps forward.  Now lift the butt ends of the hairs off and trim them off.  Continue making securing wraps forward to the hook eye.  Bring your thread back to the initial tie in point. 

Select a Brown and Grizzly hackle for the fly.  A Cree or dark-barred Dun Hackle will also work.  Strip the fuzzy base feather fibers.  Now lay the feather on the near side of the hook.  The feather fibers should be forward beyond the hook eye and the stem will lay the hook shank.   After it is securely anchored, cut off the butt end of the feather and create a secure base for your hackle.  Leave your thread at the initial tie in point.  Now, wrap your hackle back to your thread with your pliers.  Take a few securing wraps around your hackle feather.  You are now going to make ‘touching’ wraps forward, carefully making counter wraps through your hackle, all the way to the hook eye.   Whip finish the fly, then cut off the butt end of  your hackle feather and your done. 

Below is a video by tightlinevideo on how to tie this fly:

 

If you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of The Month I can be reached at  pdinice@frontier.com .

Paul's March 2023 Bonus Fly of the Month

 Krap Nymph

Hook:  1x long nymph hook Size #14 & 16. 

Thread:  6/0 Tan.

Bead:  Copper Tungsten Bead Sized to match hook.

Weight:  (Optional) 8 to 10 wraps of .025 Lead.

Tail:  Olive-ish, Brown or Red-ish Krap Dubbing.

Rib:  Small Copper, Gold, or Red Wire.

Body:  Olive-ish, Brown or Red-ish Krap Dubbing.

Thorax:  Olive-ish, Brown, Red-ish or Black-ish Krap Dubbing. 

Wing Case:  (Optional) Black or clear Bug or Nymph Skin; Coated with UV Resin.

Hot Spot:  (Optional) Wraps of Red, Orange, or Chartreuse Thread

This nymph is gnarly, buggy, and an easy tie.  I don’t usually post flies of the month with a very specific material.  This dubbing material is made by Fly Tyers Dungeon.  It’s a conglomeration of every wet fly dubbing you can think of.  There’s rabbit hair, ice dub material, and a lot of squiggly little bug legs in the mix.  I’ve had great luck with this fly.  You don’t have to purchase it from FTD (although their prices are super reasonable, they are great to deal with, and are super fast with your order).  If you don’t order the material from them, as a tyer, what you should do, is experiment with, and field test, different dubbings that you mix up yourself.  I tie this nymph in Olive, Brown, and with a Red tint. All these colors work.

To tie this fly begin by placing your bead on the hook.  Next, take 8-10 wraps of lead around the hook shank.  Push the wraps tight against the bead.  Trim off the butt ends of the lead wire.  Start your thread immediately behind the lead wraps to lock them in place.  Then, cover the lead and wrap your thread down to the hook bend.  Try to shape your thread wraps to create a tapered underbody.  Now tie in your Wire Ribbing.  I usually tie mine onto the far side of the hook.  I find it helps  prevent the first wrap of ribbing fowling the tail of the fly.  Next, form a thin dubbing noodle with your dubbing.  Dub the first 2/3rds of the fly.  Now wrap your ribbing forward to create a segmented body.  Tie it off with your thread and ‘helicopter’ the wire butt end off the hook shank.  Next, dub your thorax.  End and whip fishing your thread behind the bead.  If you like, you can create a ‘hot spot’ with wraps of Red, Orange, or Chartreuse thread.

A video by FTD on how to tie the Krap Nymph, is shown below:   

The website for Fly Tyers Dungeon is https://www.flytyersdungeon.com/index.htm  

If you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of The Month I can be reached at pdinice@frontier.com .