bad fish rising

both of these crayfish have squirrel hair claws

put it in a bobbin

I like the tail length. I would try a little longer hook so the wing case isn't so far back on the body. im partial to this fly, I like it behind a small streamer, on the rare occasion im fishing for smaller trout not steelhead

for streamers I like 3.5ft 30lb maxima chameleon, 1.5ft 20lb maxima utragreen, 2ft 10lb maxima ultragreen I would cut back to 1ft of 10lb utragreen then add 3-4ft 6lb maxima perfection for a nymph leader.

try ultra chenille/vernille being denser it weaves better

#16 copper john has always been a hot fly for me

SUFFIX ELITE comes in a hi-viz. its a chartreuse color. I use it on my bobber pole & the secton of my leader the thingamabober goes on. SUFFIX SIEGE is a stiffer line that would be better for leader butts. it comes in an orange hi-viz. I have trouble seeing oranges & reds so I don't use it. I believe AMNESIA comes in multiple colors for hi-viz leader butts also

I tried flies like this for steelhead 2 springs ago. the walleye nailed them! I used glo-bug yarn for the heads.

I have trouble hooking crappie. you see them swallow the fly feel nothing then they spit. if you strike when you see them swallow the fly just comes out of their mouth. I think most of the 1s ive caught hooked themselves.

cut double salmon hook for a shank. someday I want to bump up to waddingtons! wire 3 dark red transparent beads #2 red gamakatsu hook skirt of flytiers dungeon H20 BAITFISH flash skirt of the longest pheasant rump I had body of rootbeer diamond braid palmered with a variant saddle hackle wing of pheasant marabou tented with 2 short wide variant hackles red dumbbell eyes wrapped with rootbeer pearl chenille

I dye mallard with onion skins all the time to make a "wood duck" substitute. add a little vinegar to your dye. it will help set the color. I dry my feathers 1st in paper towel squeezing the water from them. then I put them in an old pillow case tie a knot in the top throw it in the drier.

SCULPIN INTRUDER

SCULPIN INTRUDER tied this last night fished it this morning. got a 12" rainbow & a 6lb golden redhorse sucker. saw the sucker come out of a hole & up off the bottom to smash it!

yea im talking about the natural orange feathers. red is a good tailing color though.

they are this shiny I didn't use a flash when I took the pic. the eyes are just glued to the sides so no weight. the flash is coated with sally hansens hard as nail to the hook bend to reduce tangling & wrapping. as for old enough I use salted minnows for steelhead under the bobber in the winter. living in Michigan im a fresh water guy but I kinda stole this fly from the salties.

you can also make a smooth floss body over the lead then cover with tinsel

something a little different to throw the trout off. salted dace & salted emerald shiner.

I like the wings on that "gold demon" looking fly. is it bronze mallard?

that's a good steelhead fly. I like to put the collar on last to hide the wing butts giving the fly the look of a smaller head. try a pheasant crest or tippet tail to really spruce the fly up.

mikechell I have found zebra mussels in steelhead, perch, walleye & catfish. im not sure if they got digested once in the fish or not but they did get eaten.

I used these to make articulated flies because of the long shank too. very sharp!!

these chromers are starting to swell my head!! I fished a bunch of dark old spawners today, which I don't usually do, that didn't want anything to do with any fly. this makes 4 steelhead in 3 days on the swing. this is 1 of the best times ive had with learning a new technique. ps im hooked I need to swing

all fish eat gobies!!! and zebra mussels for that matter. the goby is 1 of my best streamers for trout. the steelhead in lake Michigan eat lots of bugs in the scum lines over deep water too. I have tried to catch a skam off the surface for 3 summers now. i've raised a few but have only caught trout & smallmouth bass so far. I have all the time in the world to catch a skater. we catch skamanians all times of the year here. im not even sure they are all our plants but possibly come to our river for unknown reasons. I have "trout bummed" 9 years now with no end in site

im fishing at the upper limit for these. last week the run was completely over. Monday a bunch of chrome hens came in. our spawning run started 5 1/2 weeks late this winter. we should be into summer run steelhead & chrome great lakes browns by now on a "normal" year. some nice browns are starting to show up but skamanians haven't shown their faces yet. Im not sure you can call me a swinger yet but I like streamers so strip or swing im in. just for the record these fish have been crashing the fly so swing will be my thing till they stop!

18" griller on the same fly today