This blog is suppose to be about Fly Fishing, Fly Tying, & Friends. I haven't posted a lot about fishing with my friends lately. So this post is dedicated to them. I'm so fortunate to fish with them. It's what it's all about for me at this stage of my Fly Fishing Journey. One other thing that I'm thankful for is the Fly Fishing here in Connecticut! Few realize how lucky we are here. We can fish for trout, warm water species, and stripers. All in the same day if we desire. So far, it's been an extremely rewarding Spring! (all photos taken Spring of 2021)
Underwing: Two Natural CDC Feathers aligned tip to
tip. Over which is synthetic Wing
Material such as Antron, Trigger Point, or McFlylon.
Over
Wing: Deer or Elk Hair.
Finish: High N Dry Liquid Fly Floatant.
I
don’t know why I don’t fish dry dropper rigs more. I’m going to make an effort to do it a lot
more this coming year. When I was out
to Montana, other fly guys I ran into were all fishing a ‘Hopper & dropper’
set up. While hoppers do catch fish here
in New England, I was looking for a dry fly with enough ‘floatability’ for my
dropper, and also one that mimicked flies on my home waters. Friend Mike Shannon fishes a dry dropper set
up a lot. His lead dry fly is tied with
a large amount of CDC and floats like a cork.
It’s what led me to this fly. Since
I’ve been doing the Fly of the Month. I try to pick patterns where materials
can be substituted or aren’t that difficult to obtain. So it’s somewhat unusual that I strongly
recommend a specific fly finish. High N
Dry Liquid Floatant does a fantastic job adding to the ‘floatability’ of the
fly. If there is another fly treatment
you prefer, then use that.
To
tie this fly begin your thread approximately ¼ hook shank length behind the
eye. You need to leave a long tag end of
the thread that will be used as your rib.
Wrap your thread back to the bend of the hook. You’re now going to dub your body. You can use a dry fly dubbing of your
choice. At times I’ve used a CDC dubbing
or made my body from a CDC dubbing brush.
The choice is yours. After
creating your body that will end at your tie in point, take open wraps with the
tag end of the thread. This will create
a segmented body. After tying and
cutting off the tag end of the thread, you are now ready to tie on your Under wing
& Over wing. There’s a lot of
material that goes into the wing of the fly which is why leaving space behind
the eye is so important. Begin your Underwing by aligning two CDC
feathers at their tips. Tie them in at the top of the hook shank. They should be slightly longer than the body
of the fly. Cut off the but ends of the
CDC feathers and even things out with additional thread wraps & dubbing. Be
careful not to use too much.) Now tie in
your Antron Wing material. You are going
to double the material over your tying thread.
Tie in ½ first, then lay the forward strand back with the first. Leave it long for now. We will trim it at the end. Again, even things out with additional thread
wraps & dubbing. (Be careful not to
use too much. There’s a lot going onto the wing.) Now tie in your Elk or Deer Hair Wing. The technique is exactly the same as tying
any ‘Elk Hair Caddis’. Tie off and cut your thread. Then trim the butt ends of your elk or deer
hair. Now, trim your Antron Wing so that
it is slightly longer than the other wing materials. You’re almost done. A very important component of this fly is to
‘pre-treat’ it with High N Dry Liquid
Fly Floatant or a similar treatment of your choice. I dip my flies and let them dry
overnight. Your now good to go and use
it in your ‘dry dropper rig’.
Trout
Yeah has a great instructional video on how to tie this fly below:
If you have any
questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of the Month I can be
reached at 203 305-3850 or at pdinice@frontier.com .
Tying thread: Light
Olive, UTC 70 Denier Ultra Thread.
Rib: Ultra Wire Gold Small Size.
Tail: Dyed Mallard flank fibers dyed wood duck.
Body: Light Olive touching thread wraps.
Wing Case: Butts
of the Dyed Mallard flank fibers dyed wood duck.
Thorax: Olive SLF Prism Dubbing.
Legs: Pearl Krystal Flash.
Finish: UV Resin on the Wing Case.
This is a great
little nymph.Many consider it a baetis
imitation.Others an attractor fly.It’s kind of a cross between a Higa SOS nymph
and the WD-40.
Begin by mashing
down your barb and placing your tungsten bead on the hook.Start and affix your thread behind the eye of
the hook.Make touching wraps back to
the hook point.Now tie in your Wire
Rib.To secure the wire, take wraps deep
into the bend.Next, prepare a clump of
Mallard fibers for your tail.When you
separate them from the feather, make sure the tips are aligned.Tie them in at the thread location.The tail should be approximately a ‘hook gap’
length.Make thread wraps forward binding down the
fibers until your thread is behind the bead.When you do this keep the fibers on top of the hook shank.Do not cut off the butt ends of the
fibers.With your thread create a
tapered nymph body.Bring your thread
back so that it’s any eye length behind the bead.Next, take open spiral wraps up the hook
shank with your rib to create a segmented body.When you reach your tying thread, use it to bind down the wire.‘Helicopter’ or cut the butt end of the
rib.
Bring your thread
down the hook shank so that it hangs at the hook point.Pull back and bind down the butts of your
Mallard fibers.You are going to use
them for your wing case.Next, dub a slim
thorax with your Olive SLF Prism Dubbing.Leave your thread behind the bead.For legs you’re going to use two strands of Krystal Flash.Tie them in at their mid-point behind the
bead with figure eight wraps.Take
additional wraps in front of the and coax them back so that they face
rearward.Now, pull the Mallard butts forward
to create the wing case.You should have
two legs on each side of the wing case.Take
two or three thread wraps behind the bead to bind down the fibers.Pull the Krystal flash rearward and trim them
even with the back of the hook.Now,
pick the Mallard fibers up and snip them off close to the bead.Whip finish your fly and cut off your
thread.To enhance the wing case apply
some UV Resin on top of it.Cure it with
your light, and your done.
Tightlinevideo has
a great instructional video below:
If you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly
of the Month I can be reached at 203 305-3850 or at pdinice@frontier.com .
