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Fish Finder
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I tie so many different flies, dries, nymphs, midges, terrestrials, streamers, soft hackles, etc., but I suppose I enjoy tying North Country or Yorkshire spiders the most. Years ago I became enamored of the simple, elegant North Country spider. I studied the works of G.E.M. Skues, Edmonds & Lee, Stewart, and modern authors and purchased game birds from US and UK distributors. I had to fight off the tendency to over-hackle the fly and understand the purpose of sparse hackling as well as a sparse body. Understanding the properties of silk versus synthetic thread improved my tying. I became a soft hackle addict like Nemes and valued what the authors were saying about fishing for trout just below the surface of the water. I still enjoy tying other flies, esp. anything originated by Bob Clouser. During the 80s and 90s, I took three classes from Clouser. I tie a lot of Clouser Deep Minnow flies in many sizes. I've caught trout, bass, muskie, and rockfish with it, size and colors notwithstanding. I have not really strayed from his teaching of this fly. I do coat the fly with UV epoxy to protect the painted eyes and thread wraps.
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Fish Finder started following December Flies From the Vise
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Your spider is perfectly tied. I see just the right amount of hackle and the body stops between the hook point and the barb, right where it should be. Nice work! Too often I see North Country spiders over-hackled, which defeats the purpose and effect of the hackle.
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Oops, I didn't realize I had already responded. Sorry.
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Pbass, Renzetti also sells a straight arm vise jaw for tying streamers, which allows much better access to the underside of the Clouser Deep Minnow. I purchased one years ago for my Renzetti Traveler. You have to remove the rotary arm and replace it with the straight arm. I tied all of the streamers I needed before I switched back to the rotary function to avoid the hassle of going back and forth from rotary to straight arm and back again,
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Dai-Riki have disappeared from retail fly shops. Does anyone know why these hooks dropped from the market?
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Who Softens Partridge Feathers and How?
Fish Finder replied to Fish Finder's topic in The Fly Tying Bench
All of the responses surprised me. But redietz had me wondering. If partridge feathers are the least fragile, what feathers are more fragile? Perhaps my stock of partridge feathers suffers from a lack of humidity, which may make them more fragile than they should be. Yes, I do usually strip one half of the feather, cut a tiny triangle at the tip, tie in the triangle, and wrap 1 1/2 to 2 turns for a sparse hackle as desired for North Country spiders and others. -
Partridge feathers are a mainstay for tying soft hackle flies. But the stems a quite fragile. I soften and make them more flexible by soaking them for a couple of hours with a mixture of glycerin and water. Does anyone else do the same? Other feathers?.
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I use Bailey's cobbler's wax, which works quite well for silk. I don't want another project of making cobbler's wax.
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WWKimba, I forgot to add that your latest batch of flies are tied more sparsely, which is a huge improvement. Keep working on it. Save the ones you have tied to compare much later after you have tied many more Clousers.
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Well if that works for you, fine. But the Clouser Deep Minnow already imitates a wounded minnow. It's a jig. Clouser and Kreh worked on getting the dynamics of the fly for a couple of years to achieve the performance. Whatever color combination I choose, I always try to have the lightest color for the belly, because that is the way fish are colored.
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The hook looks a little too long and there is no profile, i. e., the ramp in front of the barbell eyes. What hook are you using? I viewed the instruction by Art Scheck at FAOL. i don't agree with how he ties it. You have a video by Bob Clouser in this thread on how to tie the Deep Minnow properly. Study it.
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I do as well, esp. dyed, but it's best to buy the whole skin to get the sizes needed. Whiting occasionally has whole skins available, but those are snapped up quickily.
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Pearsall Gossamer and Langley disappeared from the market. I purchased Ephemera (made in France) and Morus (made in UK) as a replacement for silk thread suitable for fly tying. Are there other silk threads available?
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I tie a lot of North Country spiders and other wet flies.. During my research of these simple, yet elegant flies years ago, I collected quite a few books on soft hackle flies. Among the authors I've found to be helpful are Robert Smith, Mike Harding, Dave Hughes, Sylvester Nemes, Leisenring and Hidy, Leslie Magee, Edmonds and Lee, and several others who interpreted Skues and Pritt.
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Agree!