Biots and Dry Flies

[kdp0933 0]

I have recently started using Goose/Turkey biots for my dry fly bodies, and really like the results. For those with experience fishing/tying these little morsels, how do you tie in the biot - smooth or fuzzy? I really like the segmented look you can achieve with both styles, just curious as to everyone's preference.

 

If you use biots, do you only use them for certain patterns? I have so many different color options that I have been using them for pretty much all my patterns, in all sizes, with comparaduns, parachutes, and standard.

 

Does anyone seem to have more success with biots over dubbed dry flies?

 

Thanks in advance for any input.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

I tie them in fuzzy for the segmented look. I was thrilled when turkey biots appeared on the market a few years back and I could start using biot bodies on larger dry flies. I also use them on a lot of wets and soft-hackles, since mayfly and caddis fly larvae and pupae are segmented, too.

I've had the biot-bodied fly draw a strike when I couldn't get one on a dubbed-body during the Hendrickson hatch on the Au Sable here in Michigan. I tie an unnamed pattern with brown hackle fiber tails, reddish brown turkey biot body, thorax of darker brown dubbing and a medium-to-dark dun parachute hackle, and I use this whenever the "correct" fly or an Adams isn't working.

I tie almost exclusively parachute dry flies, so I've never used biots on a comparadun (don't tie them at all) or a standard collar-hackle dry.

I like other substitutes for dubbing, as well--hackle quills, turkey- and pheasant-tail fibers, and ribbed floss or thread. I once heard a well-known tier by the name of Dennis Potter say that no dry fly smaller than a #14 should have a dubbed body because even the smallest pinch of dubbing makes the body bulkier than the naturals. Food for thought.

[phg 0]

On the South Holston R. there is a small sulpher mayfly that can best be duplicated with a biot body. I use a orange-ish yellow goose biot on a size 16 or 18, Fuzzy side out for the segmentation. I also tie a partridge and yellow softhackle using a yellow biot for the body.

 

Slender flies often work better than "fat morsels" simply because they look more natural. The fish in the SoHo are mostly stream born, so they can be very finicky.

[planettrout 0]

I have recently started using Goose/Turkey biots for my dry fly bodies, and really like the results. For those with experience fishing/tying these little morsels, how do you tie in the biot - smooth or fuzzy? I really like the segmented look you can achieve with both styles, just curious as to everyone's preference.

 

If you use biots, do you only use them for certain patterns? I have so many different color options that I have been using them for pretty much all my patterns, in all sizes, with comparaduns, parachutes, and standard.

 

Does anyone seem to have more success with biots over dubbed dry flies?

 

Thanks in advance for any input.

If you get the opportunity, take a look at this book. Shane Stalcup was a master at tying emergers, duns and spinners using biots:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Mayflies-Top-Bottom-Shane-Stalcup/dp/1571882421

 

 

PT/TB

[whatfly 0]

Prefer smooth to fuzzy (fuzzy segmentation is a bit too pronounced for my tastes) and can use it on any style of fly I tie, but often do not. The problem with biots is that if you do not have the right color, you have to either dye or resort to magic markers. Much easier just to reach into the dubbing box, and find a closer match to whatever I'm tying. Biots are also much harder to deal with than dubbing on both very small and very large bugs.

 

All that being said, it is fun to sometimes play with something different.

[FrequentTyer 0]

I tie them smooth too. I used to tie them with the fuzzy out, but realized that mayflys don't have fuzzies. I've been using stripped peacock quills lately and really like them. You get better segmentation than biots because they are dark on one edge. But the biot patterns sure do work.

Mike.

[SBPatt 0]

I like the ribbed effect:

 

 

 

 

 

Regards,

Scott