Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Fly Fishing with Friends Spring 2021

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)

Mike Shannon


                            Me & Nephew Nick LaRocca


                          Nick LaRocca & Mike Shannon



 Me 

                                     George Pieger

Brian Carvalho


Ted Rzepski

John Bilotta

William Stone with first striper ever.

William Stone & Will Stone.
                          Father & Son Fishing the Hous.

Wayne Gustafson

Ben Marouski

Jeff Purcell

Michael Larrabee



Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Paul's April 2021 Fly of the Month

 Clueless Caddis Dry Dropper Fly



Hook:  Size # 12 Barbless Dry Fly Hook of choice. 

Thread:  6/0 Olive Thread.

Rib:  Tag End of Thread.

Body:  Tan/Orange Dry Fly Dubbing.

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 .  



Thursday, April 1, 2021

Paul's April 2021 Bonus Fly of the Month

 Evil Olive Nymph






Hook:  Dai-Riki #125  Size #18 Emerger Hook.

Bead:  Black 5/64” Tungsten Bead.

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