BEETLE BOB

I agree w/ Old Hat, I have caught 10x's as many trout w/muddlers,they especially have a hard time resisting mini-muddlers w/ wood duck flank feathers as a wing worked deep and slow w/ the occasional twitch. Having said all that , I now catch bigger fish on a pearl/gold Coffee Sparkle Minnow.Everything from small stream trout and lake-run browns to walleyes and crappies.

I recieved my free scrap pieces from a taxidermist in alaska.There is nothing better for translusence in wings. I use mine on hex spinner wings and caddis wings.Brown bear caddis works when other caddis patterns fail. Very similar material to snowshoe rabbit but longer and more translusent.

Here's a pattern i tie. It's a plastic worm fly that uses it,s own body as it,s own weedguard.The body is made just like a gulley worm but that's about it.Instead of using just chenille or yarn for the body,I use yarn of one's choosing and stretch magic material . Stretch magic is a rubber cord like material used in beading,bracelet making and the such.You can find it at any hobby/craft store. For size #8 worm I like to use one length of yarn to two length of stretch magic.Varying the number of lengths of yarn or stretch magic will have an effect on how the fly behaves and feels.Furl those pieces together(not to tight) and tie it on the underside of a popper hook that you have already placed mini lead eyes on the topside of the hook(The lead eyes are placed in the crook of the hook).After the furled materials are placed in front of the eyes,take the furled material and stick the hook point thru the yarn and stetch magic.(Make sure you throw some slack in the yarn and stretch magic first,so there is some give and flexability in the worm btw. the hook eye and hook pt.)You can then sit the worm up against the hook ,just behind the barb.The yarn and stretch magic material then act as the weedguard.WHEN a fish takes it,the yarn and stretch magic will easily slide down ,exposing the hook pt.The stretch magic will provide flexibility and give to the finished worm.Finish off head and that's it.The reason for the popper hook is that thru my experience the worm sits hook pt. up better than any other type of hook with the lead eyes on this fly.Have lots of fun.

P.S. - Sorry no pics.

soft hackles

Mini-muddlers size 12+14's. The fish go :bugeyes:

WOW! Some really good flies tyed in this years contest.Just finished voting.GREAT JOB on the pics Will,its hard to appreciate how much hard work you must have put into this years contest. Cant wait for the results. :bugeyes:

yeah, prepaired to be spoiled!!There is seemingly endless acess to most streams in the wi. part of the driftless region.Most streams are small but there are plenty of huge trout .I have caught plenty of trout in early a.m. on streamer patterns and have had great success with terrestrial patterns the rest of the day.Lots of scuds,caddis, olives also.For lodging try the campground in Avalanche on the West Fork of the Kickapoo or the campsites on Timber Coulee.Have fun and great fishing!!

not a problem, pick a diameter you need. For more info the FLY TIERS BENCHSIDE REFERENCE is a big help.

Have you tried a weedguard made of music wire instead of mono? its very good for this purpose and comes in small diameters if needed and very easy to form.Give it a try.

Those Hexes sure are an addiction!Hatces on the Au Sable and Manistee nearby are dumbfounding!I used to live on the North Branch, but am still near some great water.Keep on fishing hard.

WELL DONE, FLOYD. I love to tie extended body flies.It is always admirable to see someone who can tie them with such quality.That reminds me, I have alot more Hex and Brown Drakes to tie!

This is the best i can do ;Tye a thin straight extended body type tail of moose body hair,then spin and pack a body made of caribou hair down to the front third of a wide gapped hook and trim bottom,put in some foam shaped ears if you want and spin and clip a little caribou in front of the ears and tie off. Hope that helps,good fishing!

Why throw something big when you can get just as good results throwing something smaller? Iknow for a fact mice in size #10 and #8's are extremely effective for smallies.Just use caribou hair to tye them with. The finer diameter caribou hair is much easier to tye a compact mouse body in smaller sizes than the larger diameter deer hair. Don,t worry the fish are just as big!

Angel hair,brown bear,deer hair,peacock herl.

I too use GITD paints for my flies, although I make my streamer patterns almost entirely out of the GITD paint itself.They are very effective and fun to make! !

Also remember that if you already had lead wraps around your #12 P.T. your depth control may have more to do with leader configuration than how many wraps of lead you used to tye your fly with.

I currently use several dozen exotic fingernail polish colors for some baitfish patterns.My wife is a cosmatoligist so I have acess to alot of interesting materials at a reduced cost.

BE GENEROUS!! Be willing to give hundreds of flies away. Be willing to share materials,ideas, time teaching others etc... You will be amazed at what you'll recieve in return from fellow flyfishermen.

Great tye !! I always admire tyers with beadsmanship skills.Very good!

I always have some hanging on my birdfeeder ,but being in town there is no way of being discreet about.......

I'm in !!! Can you tell I'm excited about entering . Hope everyone does well!

Its been a privledge to see that pic!Icannot imagine what it must be like to fish. thanx!!

I agree . I think way too many flyfisherman automatically just swing'em without even thinking of throwing them like dries especially as a dropper of a dry .Its just way too much fun!

Hey Old Hat! Have you tried tying your soft hackles with seed beads for the body ? They turn out really nice.

Beautiful fly! Elegant soft hackles are the greatest of flies.