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Fly Tying

McFlyLures

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About McFlyLures

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  • Birthday 06/27/1983

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    Bayfield, CO

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  1. The brush minnow is quite easy once you have the brush. As you could see, just tie in a tail and then wrap the brush, add eyes, and your done. Can't beat that for simplicity. Best of all, it can be fished for a wide range of fish from saltwater species like tarpon or speckled trout, to freshwater species like bass, trout, or even pike (tied larger for pike). It is much easier to make this fly with a brush, however you can tie it with a dubbing loop instead of a brush if you do not have a dubbing brush table. Without the table there are ways to make brushes still, some videos online show ways. However if you plan on making lots of flies with brushes, then check out the dubbing brush table I use. Its made by Oasis Benches and is the best I've ever used. The price isn't too bad either considering most brush tables are more expensive, and most are not made to its level of quality. Usually I recommend extra select craft fur, but for this small fly, the regular craft fur works. However if you are going to tie this larger then look into the extra select stuff because it will give you that extra length. https://youtu.be/I4KjV_DRz2o
  2. Most Caddis Fly species create casings that help protect them from predators and give them a cozy home to live in. When I say most, I do believe some do not make casing, but let me know if Im wrong on that. I am sure there are some species that do not. Either way, these casings are very interesting. They can be made from a number of materials. The caddis will use debris like organic matter and little pebbles or sand to construct their homes. Some are stationary and others move with their home like a hermit crab would. They can come in a wide variety of different colors and shapes. One of the most interesting shapes is a perfect boxy looking rectangle type shape. Look up some caddis casing online and you will be surprised at the number of different designs they create. Anyway, caddis will poke their heads out of their casing to feed. With their heads usually you will see their little feet as well. This fly mimics the little greenish body and dark legs peeking out of some caddis species. Of course other caddis can be tan, or even dark colored so tie accordingly. The casing like I said can also be of different colors and shades. So choose a dubbing that closely matches your local rivers caddis population. This is actually a relatively easy fly to tie, and the fact that it is so heavy with that tungsten bead, you can get down deep to the bottom quickly. Also with it being a jig hook paired with the slotted bead, you will have less worry about snagging on the bottom. Yes it is still possible to snag but of course it will lessen your chances. This means more time fishing and less time tying on more flies. https://youtu.be/5BS0QtVo1z4 Materials ______________ Hook: Risen 9230 (size 14) Bead: Risen Tungsten Slotted Bead (Dirty Olive/3.0mm) Thread: Veevus 10/0 (brown) Caddis Head: Ultra Chenille (chartreuse) Caddis Legs: Whiting Hen Saddle (black) Ribbing: Ultra Wire (gold/brassie) Dubbing: Rabbit Dubbing (olive/brown) Head Cement: Solarez Ultra Thin
  3. Caddis Pupa with collars are very effective flies for a number of rivers. Caddis are known to almost swim up to the surface when they are emerging, so trout tend to hit them hard in hopes that they don't escape. Even though these are a tungsten beaded fly, they still can be fished bouncing off the bottom which will look like the start of a pupa starting to make their rise to the surface. I really like fishing these tungsten jigged flies so you can almost drag the bottom in a euro nymphing style of fishing. However they are also beneficial for getting down deep quickly under an indicator. No matter what form of nymphing you do, using a jig with a slotted bead will help keep from snagging on the bottom as often. Which gives you more confidence in fishing more spots. https://youtu.be/Lgmb6A48vN4
  4. Very cool, what do you call the fly?
  5. Mop flies get a bad rap. They are thought of as too simple, or "cheating" by some. However I think there are ways to make simple and effective mop flies that aren't what I would call cheating. This mop grub fly is very easy to tie, yet its not much different than some other flies using wrapped chenille that Ive seen. However I think the mop actually works better and is easier to tie on. To fish small creeks for sunfish, there probably isn't a better style fly, at least the trip I took. Being simple and quick to tie, it won't hurt too bad if you snag on a branch and loose one because you can tie dozens of them in an hour on the vice. https://youtu.be/d9yzY4hbPys
  6. Thank you, yeah wood duck is probably more to the original I would think, and I use it often as well. Antron for sure.
  7. Cripple flies are generally very big producing flies. They mimic an aquatic bug turning to adult form and trying to wiggle out of its shuck, but with a crippled wing. They represent an easy food for the trout and therefor trout will target the ones that are unable to fly away. So the Last Chance Cripple mimics mayfly and baetis trying to emerge. The wing is cut, which forces it to slightly lay over and looks like a mayfly with a stubby or broken wing. I heard somewhere that up to 40% of mayflies actually end up unable to fly away so, this is a meal trout are used to seeing and instinctually target. This last chance cripple fly is tied to be in BWO colors. The shucks of BWO's usually are brown, and they emerge with an olive body and the signature blue dun wing. Of course you could tie these in any color combo though to mimic any mayfly species. They float quite well, and the tuff of CDC is rather easy to see on the surface. I would not say these will hold up heavy wet flies though, so I would not hang anything with a bead off the back of this fly if you plan on doubling up your flies. But instead maybe try this fly behind some other dry fly. Materials ______________ Hook: Risen Barbless Dry Fly 100 (size 14) Thread: Veevus 10/0 (brown) Tail: CDL Rooster Feather (medium pardo) Shuck: Poly Yarn (white) Abdomen: Turkey Biot (brown) Glue: Loctite Brush on Super Glue Dubbing: Antron Dubbing (medium olive) Wing: CDC (blue dun) Hackle: Dry Fly Rooster Saddle (size 16, grizzly) Cement: Solarez Ultra Thin
  8. I always thought of the Seaducer fly to be basically a saltwater Wooly Bugger. Maybe thats not being fair as it does hold some properties that make it slightly different. But again maybe its being more than fair, quite generous even because the Wooly Bugger is one of the most popular and effective freshwater streamers. So maybe its more of a compliment? Either way, similarly to the Wooly Bugger, it is very easy to tie, in fact maybe even easier than the bugger. It is very effective, and quite fast to fill a fly box with them. All in all, if your looking for a simple saltwater, and even freshwater streamer, then look no further than to the seaducer. So for variations you could use marabou for a tail, which basically would make this exactly like a wooly bugger, or craft fur, or buck tail, rabbit strip, basically anything can be used for a tail on these. And for the hackle, you will need a fairly thick feather, one with fibers that will extend out past the hook point when wrapped around the hook shank. As for feathers, you could use the base feathers of your dry hackle capes which are longer, schlappen feathers, strung rooster saddle, and many more. You can even use soft hackle feathers if you want more movement, or use a stiffer hackle like I did here if you want more water being pushed. Just get creative and tie them to how you want. Color variations also are vast. Hot pink with chartreuse, all black, white with a red head, olive, the list goes on and on. Pretty much if you can find a feather in any specific color, or many feathers in combinations of colors, you can make it. Materials ______________ Hook: Risen O'Shaughnessy (Size 2) Thread: Veevus 140 (black) Flash: Krystal Flash (pearl) Hackle: Bugger Hackle Pack Head Cement: Solarez Ultra Thin
  9. The Christmas Island Special is basically a crazy Charlie tied with craft fur and a flash tail and underwing. In fact in ways its easier and more simple to tie. Now that being said it is slightly less durable because flash wrapped around the hook shank can break when fish bite them. If a fish tooth breaks one strand of the flash, it will look funky, but that doesn't mean it wont still catch fish. In fact many flies that have been half destroyed by fish strikes seem to catch fish even better than when they were brand new. But even so, it is still relatively durable and should withstand quite a few fish strikes before needing to retire it. The beauty of this is that they are so easy to tie, even if you have to retire one, its not gonna be much of a heart break. These can be tied in a manner of 5 minutes or less when you get in the groove of tying them. Use different colored flash, and craft fur to make different styles of this fly. I see many people use gold, chartreuse, red, and orange. For the Craft fur you could use any color out there, but the most popular are tan, pink, white and brown. You could also use bead chain eyes instead of the brass dumbbells, however I find that this tends to not want to sit hook point up as easily as the crazy Charlie when only using the lighter bead chain. The craft fur doesn't hold as much air as calf tail and therefor it needs the extra weight on the bottom to keep it keeled. https://youtu.be/ndjwkipYumk
  10. I have a few subscribers and customers of my custom flies I sell who live in Florida that catch some amazing fish from peacock bass to tarpon there. It’s amazing fishing absolutely and I have a bucket list going for many species that can be caught in that state. Amazing fishing I see for sure!
  11. Very cool, yeah I don’t have any fluorescent yellow or orange markers so I used what I’ve got. But for sure if you have it then use it.
  12. The most exciting way to fish for bass is with a popper. To watch them come up out of the water after a fly is absolutely exhilarating. Poppers however are not easy to make, but I think this video will help you learn how to make your own easy enough to be worth while trying. They do take a while to tie, but luckily, if you fish them right, you should not loose them. They stay durable through many fish strikes as well. In fact I have one popper that I have caught dozens of bass on, and I tied 4 years ago. It still is going strong without much damage at all. So tie up a few, and they should last you for years. Just do your best not to hang them up in a tree. You really do want to coat the foam with resin. It will not only protect the colored finish you put on the foam, but it will also help keep the fly buoyant. Even foam can soak up water over time, so you need to insure that it doesn't. When selecting resin, you want to make sure that the resin is flexible. This Solarez Flex formula I used is perfect. I know there are some other brands that make some flexible resin, and you can use them, however I find the Solarez to work best. And when cured with a high powered light, like the one that Solarez sells, it will cure without any tackiness. Not many of the flexible resins can boast on these results. I decided to color this one up with some bright fire tiger colors, which will work great for sunfish and bass. Being a smaller popper, I can catch some smaller mouthed fishes as well as large mouth bass. Smallmouth bass actually love these brighter colors, so this would be a perfect smallmouth river fly. If you want some better priced hooks, check out the #200's from Risen Fly. The hook shank is a bit longer than the B10s that I used, which actually could benefit you here. You will want to drop down in hook size 1-2 sizes. It will give you more room to tie materials on in the back, and set the hook point further back on the fly to help with short hits. I always used to tie these with the b10s hooks however Im starting to reconsider this because I think for bass poppers, the 200's from Risen might be a better option, However its ultimately up to you. https://youtu.be/z1PG91OAJC8 Materials ______________ Hook: Gamakatsu B10S (size 4) Popper Head: Flymen Double Barrel bodies (Small/white) Thicker Thread: Veevus 140 (chartreuse) Thinner Thread: Veevus 6/0 (hot yellow) Stabilizer: 25lb Mono Glue: Loctite Ultragel Markers: Colored Sharpies (Black, Yellow) Ad Markers (chartreuse, Cadmium Orange) Wire: Lead Free Wire (size .030" or .035") Resin: Solarez Flex Eyes: Living Eyes (5mm, Ice) Tail: Chickabou (chartreuse, and chartreuse grizzly) Soft Hackle Feather Soft Collar: Whiting American Label rooster Saddle (grizzly Chartreuse) Legs: Bass Skirt (speckled chartreuse)
  13. Enrico Puglisi created the material known as EP fiber which is the base for tying this fly along with many other patterns similar to this. Now there are many materials on the market that can mimic the EP fiber, including what I used for this fly. Congo hair is one that I tend to like a lot. Its got some of the same properties as EP fiber but at a fraction of the cost. The normal person should not be able to tell the difference between the two fibers and therefor it is a great replacement for the now very expensive EP fiber. This style of fly has a few names, All similarly tied, but with slight differences. The Peanut Butter, the Mangrove Baitfish, Bluegill, Pumpkin seed, Shad, etc. All of these are tall yet thin flies mimicking a specific fish. Shad, bluegill, pinfish, bunker, and more are all very tall yet thin profile fish that are excellent bait for predatory fish in both saltwater and freshwater. This version today is tied to mimic a pinfish. They have yellow and blue stripes on their body with mostly olive top and white bottom. So I made sure and put accent stripes with blue and white. The key to tying these is keeping it sparse. Use very little material per material piece. In fact, select what you think is a little, and then divide that amount in half. Seriously maybe 10 strands of this fine fiber is all you need per tie in. The key to keeping the profile is making many tie ins as you move your way up the shank. You also want to make sure and not allow the fiber to rotate onto the side of the hook shank and keep it directly on the top and bottom. This will help keep that profile that is desired. Now there are some other techniques Enrico uses on some other patterns that are to make more minnow, mullet, and other shaped baitfish. Mullet for instance have a wide head, and would not be well mimicked by this tall and thin profile baitfish. But today lets focus on the bunker shape. https://youtu.be/E1OxfdQ-5Qs Materials ______________ Hook: Risen short shank stainless (size 2) Thread: Veevus 6/0 (light Cahill) Gill: Crystal Flash (Pearl) Flash: Flashabou (pearl) Fiber: Congo Hair (white, yellow, Galapagos Olive, Baitfish Blue) Eyes: Fish Skull Living Eyes (6mm, Wind) Glue: Loctite Ultragel Filler Resin: Solarez Thin Coating Resin: Solarez Ultra Thin (clear)
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