fiShawn

I have been posed with similar situations on the east coast of the US. One great easy pattern I would use would be a sparkle pupa, basically make a z-lon or antron yarn tail (for the shuck) and using the same material, tie in one section each on the top and the bottom of the fly (same thickness as tail) and pull the yarn forward to cover the hook shank, top off with a wing made of stripped hackle fibers (not too thin or thick) Length of the wing isn't critical b/c it is an emerging pattern after all. Fish this solitary or in conjuction with the adult. When fishing with the adult pattern, don't let your flies ride on top, rather pull the flies under the surface and use a swing and pause technique. My definition of swing and pause is to swing the fly, but make short tugs on the line to mimic the swimming pupa's movement, the fly will have short rapid bursts mixed with brief pauses that can make the difference when regularly dead drifted flies are ignored. Another seemingly rookie but very effective technique is, after your fly has come to the end of the drift, and is hanging down river, let out all the slack you have and slowly work the fly back up river toward you. This will keep your line very high in the water column, as well as the fly. Again use the short pull, pause technique or vary it with 6"-18"pulls, sometimes keeping the fly in one spot for 45 sec. or more before pulling forward again. These techniques can be very very effective for every fly I use.....the swing technique more so with dry flies like wulffs, mayflies and caddis and the up river technique for all streamers and wet flies. They seem like very unconventional approaches, but they really do work.....This was partly discovered by getting fish to bite while walking from spot to spot while having my line down river (taught) They tend to work better in current, usually at the tops of pools but have had success even in still water with these methods.

Great Looking patterns! Excellent work for a first time and the colors will surely get some looks. With weighting the fly, I would use a little caution when adding dumbell eyes because they have a tendency to reduce the profile of the fibers , maybe experiment with lead wire on the shank, or a brass eye rather than lead and if all else fails you will end up with one hell of a jig anyway

Here is a fly I did yesterday to help solve a problem for a guy that is trying to get a Striper on a flyrod but says the fish turn their noses to clousers and the usual conventional tackle. The only thing they seem to be hitting is a live mudsucker, not only live but atleast 5" in length. He is fishing in 12"-24" of water and this was my solution.....have yet to send it and wish the pic was better , but will report the results. Recipe: Hooks: Tandem rigged Owner Mosquito hooks Size 2 Fins: Lemon barred Mallard Flank Tail: Natural Chinchilla rabbit cut into a very large tapered zonker Body: Natural Chinchilla Rabbit Weight: Lead Dumbell eyes Head: Lamb's wool mottled with Prismacolor Pens

Rabbit does not usually take marker well, It tends to gunk it up and make the hair lose some of its wiggle...however, you still can barr the flies with your pens. Make the markings that you wish to have and let it dry completely (1-2hrs) Then add a drop or 2 of laundry detergent to a large glass of water that is warm (not too hot, it'll ruin the fur) Swish it around really good, working the strip in the process....immediately extract and dry in paper towels. After the fly has fully dried it should have its natural wiggle and your colors should be there somewhat.

You could flatten them in a book prior to tying or glue the feathers together with a workable fixative similar to assembling a grey ghost. You did a great job for a first attempt, I know I've been frustrated with classic salmon patterns since I don't often tye them. Maybe use a thinner thread in the future to help with thread control.

I've seen fisherman in the past actually take nymphs may or caddisflies and squish them and take the result and handle their fly with it.....also fisherman will rub grass or dirt on a pattern to mask the scent....so I say why not? adding to the line and maybe on any exposed hook would be best b/c it will more than likely ruin your patterns.

excellent profiles and tying....another great job! I will probably add a few of those to my boxes

Looks like a line of killers to me!

what rivers in north Georgia are you fishing? I spent the better part of 6 years studying those waters and may be able to give you some advice and some killer patterns just for that region. One material that is easy and makes a very effective bwo and hendrickson nymph imitation is golden pheasant tail. Hungarian Partridge is good for the tails and legs...I remember one afternoon on the Toccoa I was using a size 20 bwo nymph made with hung. partridge tail and legs w/ dk. tan rabbit dubbing (mottled w/ marker) and a turkey wing case and it slayed! A guide that I tied for made his way down to me on his drift boat w/ a client.....they said the morning was slow so I gave him a few of the same pattern and well....you can guess the rest .....and if all else fails....throw a thunder head!

I know just the patch of water on a river in GA where that would be the perfect pattern during the black caddis hatch. Superbly executed

Looks like a big meaty sculpin meal for a big bronze back or german brown! if you find it has too much weight or drag, try clipping the top and bottom of the head shorter to make the head more angular but great pattern!

Looks like a big meaty sculpin meal for a big bronze back or german brown! if you find it has too much weight or drag, try clipping the top and bottom of the head shorter to make the head more angular but great pattern!

Artificial polar fiber works really nicely, seems to glide in the water and keep its shape nicely and its not really brittle. You can tie some pretty mean looking baitfish patterns in small sizes. I like to pair it with a 1/32oz jig head and usually throw in a piece of flash or two. Perhaps a mysis shrimp pattern on a tiemco 200R or scud hook size 14 or 12 or vernille in various colors on the same hooks.....and in the past I've heard alot of testimony to the 1/32oz jigs.....because it swims better with a very slow retrieve....bloodworms sound great too! Tight Lines

Absolutely impressive! you seem to have a very good understanding of managing materials and your patterns look very clean and nicely tied!

Michael's and JoAnn fabrics have tons of things to tye with. I've managed to get my glitter foam, prisma pens and golden pheasant tail (floral section) they usually have a centerpiece thing with a bunch of pheasant, ostrich ,peacock or goose biots and if the color is good enough, i just deconstruct them. They also have balsa and those awesome little plastic bags that help keep streamers nice and pristine until you use them.

split shot works fine in the river....or you could even add a fly tying conehead while rigging and use a tooth pick or a rubber weight stop to keep it in place. If you'd like to give it more action check out wigglefin.com its a great site that I personally use and the results are great! excellent tie, looks like one I want to add to my arsenal.

I like to do an extended body fly with a bleached deer hair or turkey flat wing, if you want 3 distinguished tails...calf tail works pretty well, and don't forget to throw on a couple wraps of hackle on the thorax...and if all else fails either tie a footprint or comparadun.

Excellent! gotta love those tubes!

Excellent! gotta love those tubes!

Sergio, You seem to have an extreme knack for capturing the essence of realism, I usually can easily pick apart details of other's realistic attempts but I can honestly say there Isn't one thing I have seen that I dislike....do you enter the international symposium?

nothing short of an artist's touch

tie the ones in the bottom right of the photo....the flies are pretty beaten up ..I'd make the tails look fuller. But the recipe is as follows Hook: Size 16 scud hook Thread: 8/0 uni-red Bead: Copper Tail/body: Med. White Chenille tapered at the end (san juan worm style) Collar: Peachy-pink crosscut zonker strip This pattern is nothing fancy but it clearly made a landmark difference in the brookies in Hat Creek CA. But even if you're in GA I know this pattern will work in the rivers and spring creeks especially in these colors....citing in particular the Soque, Toccoa and Chattahoochee rivers. hope this gives some help! Side note: I also learned that GA trout go absolutely nuts for patterns with electric banana lite brite in them, usually stripped against the current or swinging had been the most effective for me....try it on your next zug bug or prince nymph as a hot spot and hold on!

Awesome fly! looks like you could draw some eyes with that one!

Roadkill can have its caveat......never quite know what nice diseases our furry little friends might be carrying....not to say that this has stopped me from bagging roadkill, but I have passed up quite a few more animals these days.....though I share your pain! I had a golden opportunity to bag a peacock.....it walked right in front of my car while I was on my way home from the lake and I had an ex with me. Instantly I thought "gotcha!" but before my glory was lived, she exclaims "you're not going to hurt that poor thing are you?!" ......needless to say the only peacock I ended up with was bagged by hareline rather than me!

Unless the flies are a consistent size and the fish are really finicky then it shouldn't make too much of a difference, just observe the hook and if it looks to big before you've put materials on it, then chances are that you won't be satisfied with the final outcome. I would suggest something like a size 4 3xl or 4xl for a size 4 stonefly nymph.....I would agree that a 6xl would be overkill, plus I've found that the longer a shank is ...the weaker the hook will be.