April Flies from the Vise

[SalarMan 0]

19 minutes ago, cphubert said:

Gray Ghost- getting my trolling box ready for the season. I never tie any of Carrie Stevens patterns with her trade mark banded head out of respect for her.

Hook- Mustad 3907, thread- white underbody (for floss) switched to black for head, tag- silver twist, body burnt orange floss with embossed silver tinsel rib, underbelly- white bucktail over peacock herl, wing- golden pheasant crests under 4 gray hackle feathers, shoulders- silver pheasant flank, cheeks - jungle cock nails, throat- golden pheasant crest, head black

Gotta love it!!! Superb...

[chugbug27 0]

45 minutes ago, cphubert said:

Gray Ghost

 🤯 Lines up  perfect!! The fish are going to beg you to take a picture of them with it in their mouth

 

 

[flytire 0]

Coachman Silver

Winged Wet Fly

Tail - Golden pheasant tippets
Body - Peacock herl, silver tinsel, peacock herl
Throat - Black hen hackle
Wing - Blue goose quill

The Fisherman's Handbook of Trout Flies - Donald DuBois

[Chasing_Tails 0]

Congo Hair Minnow, bluegill

Hook: Mustad Octopus #2

Thread: Uni-Thread 6/0, Olive Dun

Body: FTD Congo Hair, Minnow Belly/Honey Gold Shiner/Sand Olive Brown/Rusty Shiner

Eyes: 3D Prismatic, 1/4" yellow

Markings: Sharpie marker, black/red

Head: UV Resin with Hard as Hull overcoat

[ScienceGuy141 0]

 

Tried doing a few different things in this fly. Its almost certainly been done before by someone. My lack of my sophisticated photography equipment and the all black materials make it hard to see some aspects of the fly I was hoping to capture. 

 

Hook: size 14 tmc 100 or equivalent 

Abdomen: Black superfine in cigar taper

Wing: black bucktail tied in by the tips

Thorax: black cdc fibers in dubbing loop

Hackle: black hackle-stacker style, clipped on top 

Antennae: two bucktail hairs

 

My goal was to create a more realistic wing silhouette. My deer hair flared too much and resembled the common commercial appearance of the EHC I was trying to avoid. Tying in the bucktail by the tips gave a more natural taper to the wing. Using something like thin skin might be less tedious if it's stiff enough and it'd be more durable than quill segments. I wanted to add a little CDC to give a little bit of motion. On a future version, wrapping the abdomen like a CDC and elk might be better. I hadn't seen a hackle stacker approach taken outside of a front end loader caddis and thought it'd help float the fly while still giving a natural profile if I clipped the top fibers. I haven't tested it on the water, but I'm hoping to achieve a low profile dry while being buoyant enough to be skittered or have a sparkle emerger hanging behind it without sinking. 

 

I'd be curious to get any feedback on the approach or modifications you'd suggest. One thing I dont like is how the rubber legs i used for the hackle stacker portion are too bulky. I doubled up the rubber leg should have to just used a single leg. I think it'll be low enough to be out of the sight of the trout, but in direct view of me while tying 😅...I did trim the few stray bucktails sticking out the back, too. 

 

Edit: Found my smaller black rubber legs while putting my materials away which just might solve the too bulky of head issue...will attempt again after reloading on 14 -18 dry fly hooks

[RickZieger 0]

Streamer nymph   size 10 aberdeen hook, orange thread, short brown marabout tail, body tan antron, wing krystal flash  Lots of panfish on this.

[chugbug27 0]

Silhouette looks great science guy, I like your idea re adding cdc to the body, too. Tall order to improve on the CDC & elk and the ehc, but sure seems like you're doing it. Hope you get good results

[flytire 0]

Orange Coachman

Winged Wet Fly

Body - Peacock herl, Orange floss, Peacock herl
Hackle - Ginger
Wing - White

The Fisherman's Handbook of Trout Flies - Donald DuBois

[flytire 0]

Gilt Coachman

Winger Wet Fly

Tip - Green
Tail - Golden pheasant tippets
Body - Gold tinsel
Hackle - Brown
Wing - White

The Fisherman's Handbook of Trout Flies - Donald DuBois

[ScienceGuy141 0]

Found a couple more size 14 dry fly hooks so gave it another go today. Used the smaller rubber legs for the hackle stacker step and integrated them in as the atennae. I think I like the look of the bucktail antennae better but the point is probably moot either way and saves a step using the legs. However, the antennae shouldn't stick up as much as they do on this one. Stream report today said caddis started showing up, so I guess it's showtime for my attempt at being ingenuitive. The current hatch will probably only last a few days.. high of 84 today but snow in the forecast on Sunday and probably back go BWOs.

 

[chugbug27 0]

🤞

[niveker 0]

30 minutes ago, ScienceGuy141 said:

gave it another go today

Nice looking caddis, this and the last. 

Reminds me very much of Borger's poly caddis.  You've achieved the nice profile his has but with a natural material and without bending the hook, and the CDC can only help. 

Hope you're able to get them wet.  

[xvigauge 0]

On 4/1/2023 at 1:49 PM, niveker said:

 

YallarHammer - one of many versions

Hook: #8, 2xl

Thread: 72D, camel

Weight: Lead wire, .02, along length of hook shank

Tail/Palmered Rib: Trailing edge of a Starling primary, split and colored with yellow marker, trimmed to length 

Body: Yellow floss

Head: Peacock herl.  

Next time maybe give that body a bit of taper by cutting down on  the lead wraps.  

This is a great fly that really works well in the streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Joe

[niveker 0]

👍

13 hours ago, xvigauge said:

This is a great fly that really works well in the streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

My daughter starts school at West Virginia University this fall. Hopefully I'll be able to make my way down there sometime in the next 4 years with a bit of free time for fishing.

Said the same thing when my son went to school in upstate New York, but that never panned out. 

I assume you fish this fly.   There seems to be so many variations on the pattern out there.  

I want to tie up a few more like this, but prepping the feathers is a bit time-consuming: coloring, splitting, soaking, removing the pith, etc.

[Chasing_Tails 0]

Easter Fry

Hook: Mustad 3906B, #14

Thread: Uni-Thread 6/0, Fire Orange

Body: Easter Basket Mylar, 1/8" width, pearl

Eyes: Stick on, 3/32", silver/black

Head: UV Resin with Hard as Hull overcoat

The body in this picture exposed as pink, but the pearl mylar shifts from clear, to green, to pink depending on the light angle.