Mark Gustavson

Green Crab Step-by-step Materials 1. Start the olive thread over the hook point. 2. Tie in the two olive schlappen feathers with a "V" cut out of the tip, splayed. 3. Bring the thread down the shank and tie in the fl. yellow chenille on top of the shank and bring the chenille up the shank. Tie in two very large schlappen feathers, one fiery brown and the other olive. 4. Flip the hook. Wind the chenille down the shank and tie off, then palmer the two schlappen feathers together and tie off, add a few half hitches and remove thread and tie back on the upper shank. 5. Blend the light, medium and dark olive and fl. orange bucktail, keep it sparse and tie it in so it flares a bit. 6. Tie in olive marabou over the bucktail. I used a different hook for this crab. Here I used another worm hook but it was a Mustad 38105BLN #3/0. Any worm hook will do. This fly is built for movement. The splayed tail allows the feathers to move constantly, the palmered schlappen through the chenille will keep the schlappen from collapsing and the palmered schlappen will support the bucktail which supports the marabou feather. If you are going to add lead wire, tie it in first. It will swim well either way. Just know when to use the fly in either case.

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by Mark Gustavson: Green Crab

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by Mark Gustavson: Pink Mahoney

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I'm not going to get into the sluggo but I think it is great that you are honing in on worms. Keep working on them. I use Gurglers as a flotation device for very long and short worms or I just use a single or double foam back. I have more success with worms without foam though because I can swim them. I think hot pink has great visibility in stained water and over sand looks "real." Tutti Frutti is a classic color combo for this reason. But charteuse and ginger or chartreuse and flor. yellow also looking "realistic" too. Lots of chartreuse, glowing yellows and pinks in plants underwater. These are some worms I have used for years and work in various situations.

What a great fly. I'm tying them all on a Partridge Single Wilson #6 to be 1 1/2" long. That is a good size for many grass shrimp and nereis worm swarms. Hogan states that his fly can be tied in many colors and that is true. I've gone with fiery orange for a nereis worm, Tutti Frutti, L & L Special (fl.yellow over chartreuse and white), Ray's Fly (olive over yellow over white), and Nacht Tern (black & white with guinea (substitute for grey fox) and silver body) These flies have so much movement and are well constructed. Of course I'm not gunning for 30# stripers. I'm think more like 5-10# stripers, finicky ones in the summer when competition is low and a small fly with movement drifted and swung just right is the ticket.

Thanks. Here's some more steelhead flies from lately. Steelhead have seven stripes, right?

Actually, I use a med. wide saddle for this pattern to give it a little more body. But there are uses for wider saddles on flatwings especially for saddles that are on top. Here is an image of the saddles used in this fly from a step-by step:

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by Mark Gustavson: Wonderbread Squidsicle

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by Mark Gustavson: Orange Squidsicle

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by Mark Gustavson: Bunkerbou

Frank this one and your Winters Hope look just great. I'm surprised how well a #2 hook works with these materials. This one looks like early spring striper. The closest EC hook I have to a #2 is a #1 so I will make a few for the head of the river stripers. Egrets are all over the bait right now.

That's a nice looking tie. You can create the illusion of a "fattened up" fly by the way you tie in the bucktail. This fly is Ken's "False Dawn" a great morning fly. It is 2 1/2" long with 4 feathers in the tail. It is sparse yet by tying in an even 360 degree bucktail collar one hair thick the fly looks fuller and moves more seductively than a fuller pattern. It's built into the construction.

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by Mark Gustavson: Winters Hope Conversion

Na. I can't wait until every barbule of marabou is bare by the raspy mouths of ol' pajamas.