Paul's February 2024 Bonus Fly of the Month

 Golden Wooly Bugger

Hook:  6X or 4X Long Streamer hook Size #6 & #8.

Thread:  Wood Duck or Gold 6/0 or 140 denier.

Bead:  5/32” 4.0mm Gold Bead.

Weight:  Lead-free round wire .020.

Tail:  Ginger Marabou.

Flash:  Gold Holographic Flashabou.

Body:  Gold tinsel Chenille, Large.

Hackle:  Ginger Hackle.

 

Wooly Buggers are some of the greatest flies known to fly fishers.  They are super effective.  A great fly for both beginner and experienced fly guys.  Many big fish are caught on buggers!

To tie this fly begin by placing your bead on the hook and hook in the vice. Next, take 10-15 wraps of .020 Lead-free wire around the hook shank and seat it up against the back of the bead.  ‘Helicopter’ off the butt end of wire.  Apply some Super Glue to secure it if so desired.  Now, start your thread on the hook shank immediately behind the wire.  After taking some securing wraps, cut off the butt end and take wraps over your Lead-free wire.  Wrap up to the bead and back down to the start of the wire.  Next, prepare 2 Ginger Marabou feathers for your tail.  Match the feathers so that the concave sides of the feather are together, and the tips are aligned.   The tail should be about the length of the hook shank.  You can strip or cut away the excess lower part of the feather.  The tie in point will be at mid hook shank at the start of your Lead-free wire.  Wrap and secure the feather all the way down to the hook bend. 

Take 2 strands of Gold Holographic Flash-a-bou.  Secure them on top of the hook shank at their ‘mid-point’.  Tie and secure 2 strands on each side of the tail.  Trim the Flash-a-bou so that it is even with your marabou tail.  Next, prepare your Gold Tinsel Chenille for your body.  Strip away a few fibers from it’s tip to expose the center core string.  Secure it at the base of the tail with thread wraps.  Bring your tying thread up behind the bead.  Wrap your Chenille forward using touching wraps to create your body.  Tie it off behind the bead and cut off the excess. 

Prepare a Ginger Saddle Hackle feather by snipping off the fuzzy part of the feather off and creating a triangular tip to tie your feather onto the hook shank.  Tie it in behind the bead, on the near side of the hook.  The shiny side of the feather should be facing you.  Bring your thread down to the start of your tail.  Make 2 ‘counter wraps’ of the Saddle Feather behind the bead.  Now, make open spiral wraps of the feather down to the thread/start of the tail.  Anchor the feather there with tight wraps of your thread.  Snip off the excess Feather.  Now take your thread and make open spiral wraps up the body, trying not to trap any body fibers on your way up.   End your tying feather behind the bead and whip finish the fly.  Apply a drop of head cement to your thread wraps and you’re done.  

Tightlinevideo 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 pdinice@frontier.com .

Paul's February 2024 Fly of the Month

 Hogan's Gumball

(Pheasant Tail Variation)

Hook:  Firehole 633 #16 Nymph Hook or hook of choice. 

Bead:   1/8” Pink Tungsten Bead.

Thread:  8/0 Uni-thread Black.

Tail:  Pheasant Tail Fibers.

Rib:  Small Fluorescent Pink Ultra Wire.

Body:  Pheasant Tail.

Collar:  Pink Ice Dub or Spawn Simi Seal Shrimp Belly.

Legs:  Hot Pink Krystal Flash, doubled over to create 2 legs on each side of the nymph.

This is a nice variation of a Pheasant Tail Nymph.  It’s a fly you want to have in your fly box.  This variation is tied with a pink bead, dubbing, & rib, but you can tie this fly in a large variety of colors.

To tie this fly begin by placing your bead on the hook and your hook in the vice.  Next, start your thread behind the bead and make touching wraps along the hook shank to the bend.  Trim off the butt end of your thread.  You are now going to tie in your Pink Ultra Wire Rib.  I tie it in behind the bead on the side of the hook and wrap back to the bend. 

Prepare 5-6 Pheasant tail fibers for your tail and body.  The tail should extend approximately a hook gap length from the bend of the hook.  Once your tail is secure, palmer the butt ends of the Pheasant fibers forward to create your body.  Tie it off just short of the bead, then cut off the butt ends.  Now counter wrap your rib forward to create a segmented body.  Tie it off behind the bead and ‘helicopter’ off the butt end. 

Next, take a very small amount of dubbing and create a thin dubbing noodle for your collar.  Create a sparse collar with 2-3 wraps of your dubbing noodle.  For the legs, take a strand of Krystal Flash and double it over.  You are going to tie it in right behind the bead at it’s ‘mid-way’ point so that there will be 2 legs (strands of Krystal Flash) on both sides of the fly.  Whip finish the fly.  You are now going to trim the legs by sweeping them back along the fly and trimming them so that they equal the length of the body.  Finish the fly with a drop of ‘Hard as Nails’ or UV Resin on your thread wraps.

Loon Outdoors has an excellent 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 pdinice@frontier.com .

Paul's January 2024 Bonus fly of the Month

 The River Blob

Hook:  Fulling Mill 5125 Jig hook or Hannek H450 Size #12 (or jig hook of choice.)

Thread:  Fluorescent Orange 6/0.  

Bead:  Slotted Tungsten Bead Flourescent Orange -- 3.5 to 4.6mm depending on the sink rate you want.

Body:  Medium Flexi Squishenille UV – Fluorescent Orange #137.

I know this resembles an egg fly, and maybe the fish take it as that, but it was originally meant to represent a cloud of daphnia.  Daphnia are small planktonic crustaceans that trout feed on.  All I know is that it’s a really productive fly, especially in the wintertime.  I’ve had spectacular days with it.

It doesn’t get much simpler than this.  Here’s how you tie this fly.  Place your bead on the hook and hook in the vice.  Secure your thread behind the bead.  With a small noodle of orange dubbing wrap behind the bead to secure and lock it in place.  You don’t need much, and it won’t really be visible on your finished fly.  Tie in your Squishenille behind the bead.  Give it 3 tight wraps around the hook shank, tie it off, whip finish the fly and you’re done.

Fly Fish Food has a great 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 pdinice@frontier.com .

Paul's January 2024 Fly of the Month

 Peterson's Spawning Shrimp

Hook:  Tiemco 811s in size #4 & #6 or hook of choice.

Thread:  Shell Pink UTC 140 denier.

Eyes:  Medium Silver Brass Eyes or bead chain eyes.

Eyes 2:  Black Crab Shrimp Monofilament Eyes. 

Mouth:  Orange McFlylon or Glo Bug Yarn.

Mouth 2:  Cream Antron or Cream EP Fiber.

Flash:  Pearl Krystal Flash

Legs:  Bonefish Tan Barred Speckled Crazy Legs or Loco Legs.

Antennae:  2 Strands of Black Krystal Flash.

Body:  Flad Diamond Braid (I use Bill’s Body Braid).

Body 2:  3 Clumps of Tan Rabbit (from a Zonker Strip), 2 behind the eyes & 1 in front.

Cement:  Brush On Zap a Gap

*I had to think for a bit before posting this fly as the Fly of the Month.  In all the years I’ve been doing it, every fly that has appeared was fished on the upper or lower Housatonic and was very successful.  I’ve used this shrimp pattern on the lower Housatonic and caught a few stripers, but only with limited success.  So why post it?  Well, if you’re a Saltwater Fly Guy and you fish further to the east in RI, or on the sandy flats of the Cape, THIS FLY IS A KILLER!  Also, if you fish Florida, Mexico, or for me Puerto Rico, or other southern destinations, it’s a magic fly.  It catches bones, permit, and tarpon. It’s a top 5 fly for those species.

This is just a great all round saltwater fly that can catch a variety of fish.  It’s a great fly for stripers here in New England, and a magic fly for bonefish, permit, and tarpon. 

To tie this fly place your hook in the vice and secure your silver brass eyes with crossing wrap,s.  Locate them 2 eye lengths behind the eyes.  Apply some UV Resin or head cement.  Make touching wraps with your thread along the hook shank and bring them back up behind the eyes.  Next, affix your Orange McFlylon.  Tie it on top of the shank of the hook and wrap down to the bend.  Tim the McFlylon so that it extends a little less than a hook shank length beyond the bend.  Also trim off the butt end and take wraps along the hook shank to even out the body area.  Mix a few strands of Pearl Krystal flash with Cream Antron/EP Fibers. Take a ‘half pencil’ of this and lash it on top of the shank and Orange Yarn.  It should extend approximately 2 shank lengths beyond the bend.  Trim the tip with tapered cuts, then cut off the butt.

You are now going to add the Black Krystal Flash Antennae to the sides of the hook shank.  Affix 1 strand on each side, tied behind the eyes and wrapped down to the bend.  They should extend beyond the Antron or EP fly top.  Next, tie in your Monofilament eyes.  They should slightly splay outward.  Tie them in along the side of the body.  Tie them in so that they are approximately a little less than a hook shank length beyond the bend.   Apply some UV Resin or cement for durability.  Trim off the tag ends.   

Next, tie in your Crazy or Loco Legs along the sides of the hook shank.  2 legs per side.  Tie them in behind the eyes and wrapping down to the bend.  They should extend approximately the length of the Antron/EP fibers.  The next step is to tie in some Pearl Flat Diamond Braid.  Tie it in behind the eyes and wrap down to the bend.  Bring your thread back up a little more than half the length of the hook shank.  Wrap the diamond braid forward to the thread, tie it off but don’t cut off the butt end.  You want to tie down the butt end so that it is folded back along the body. 

Invert your fly so that the hook point is ‘up’.  Tie in your first small clump of Rabbit.  It should extend to the bend of the hook.  Trim off and clean up the butt end.  Extend your thread behind the eyes and tie in a second Rabbit Clump.  Now bring your thread in front of the eyes and tie in a third Rabbit Clump.  Now take the Flat Diamond Braid that you had folded back and bring it forward over the eye.  Tie it down and cut off the butt end.  Create a tapered fly nose, whip finish, then apply cement to your wraps and Flat Diamond Braid.

Intheriffle has a great 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 pdinice@frontier.com .