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Was just reading a sbs on the E12 the other day:

http://globalflyfisher.com/patterns/this-fly-is-not-called-europe

Have been watching Jerry French on youtube and i really liked his composite loops, so i tries to adapt the idea to tying trout streamers. Tied on a 25 mm. shank and a b10s hook.

My parents are moving to nairobi come spring, so we're going to base most of our fishing there. On the other hand my dad has fished the zambezi for tiger before so a trip or two to the zambezi is definetly top on the fishing list.

thanks for the suggestions fishypieter! Have you had any success with a black/purple color scheme? just curious

Nice ties!! Grieb is that congo hair?

FIN-ITE pretty much summed it up, i'd also go for reverse tied bucktail and flash tube flies, and some smaller baitfish patterns.

A simple baitfish pattern i've been tinkering with is an all craftfur fly. Start of with a clump of craftfur right at the bend of the hook. then work your way forward with a clump on top and a clump on the bottom of the shank. Eyes aren't neccessary but if you have large ones you can use them to give the fly higher, flatter profile if you want. I haven't had the chance to try the pattern yet though but pike ought to like em right? ps. the bottom one is tied with congo fur from flytyersdungeon.

Thanks for the kind words mike! They were fun to tie, picked up some new bucktails and dumbbell eyes from my local flyshop today

Thanks for the advice captain! So far i've tied closers in black and white/lt.brown, and a freestyle deciever. Like the look of your full dress version, could have definetly made mine bulkier in hindsight. I've thought about a tube pattern, but the problem is the wire trace. Are there any classic salt tube patterns? My line of reasoning is that if i can tie on a metal tube i can really weigh my fly down and if the hook wears out then a quick change is all that's needed.

Nice tie eide! I don't fish for steelhead/salmon, but spey style flies look really tempting to tie and fish.

/Hugo

Thanks for the tips guys! Tied my first clousers today, trying to keep them sparse. Did an all black variant and a white/light brown. I think I'll try a variation of that black death fly.

Edit: just read your comment singletrack, my clousers are done for

I'm going to flyfish for tigerfish in east africa come spring, and i was wondering if anyone has any tips on good patterns? What i've come across so far is baitfish patterns in bucktail and synthetics, colorwise alot of black, purple, and white.

My plan is to tie an army of congo hair baitfish on 2/0 gamakatsu b10s hooks. I've also thought about tube flies since the hooks are going to be taking a beating. Any piece of advice regarding tiger is appreciated.

/Hugo

Some simple baitfish, tied with congo hair from flytyersdungeon. It was a little tricky to get the right amount of materials and proportions right, but practice makes perfect i guess.

Merry christmas!! Santa got me a flytyers dungeon christmas box and a baitfish box, i'm wading in new materials

/Hugo

My opinion is that czech nymphing is a good starting technique in that anyone can do it, regardless of casting technique or lack thereof. In my experience it is also one of the most effective techniques fishing streams and rivers for grayling/trout. Id say you can use any nymphs you like on a czech rig, just remember that you can adjust the depth of the rig with splitshot should you be fishing too shallow. You'll know you're too shallow if you aren't in contact with the bottom and you aren't getting any takes. As for where it is effective: i'd say it is most effective in moderate to fast water. In slow water i'd go for indicator nymphing instead if its nyphing you want to do.

Watch this youtube video if you want some instructions, i really like it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcJ4c8vXGkM

Thats my two cents, hope it helped.

Those sexdungeons looked really neat flyguy613, so i tried my hand at one. Think it turned out ok but i've been trimming the head now for way to long. . .

Lucian, would you superglue the beadhead to keep it in place? The bodies of the nymphs in your pictures are really slim compared to the size of the beadhead so thats why im asking.

Try Davie McPhails zonker fry pattern Islander727,he has a sbs on youtube. It is by far my most productive fly pattern period. Nice tie, looks like a classic pike color combo in my eyes

Personally i've opted to use a two part leader with around 6 feet of 2x or 3x, then a tippet ring and 3-4 feet 4/5x down to my anchor fly. I tie the dropper tag in the tippet ring, 12" 4/5x.

One of my most productive flies is a large dark brown haresear with a 4mm gold bead.

I'll run a big nymph as an anchor and a czech nymph or a small beadhead as a dropper.

If i want to fish deeper i add a splitshot either just above the tippet ring if i want to fish the whole rig deeper, or halfway down to the anchor fly if i want to keep my dropper higher in the water column.

Thanks littlecorn!

Pike tubes:

Thanks retrocarp! The material used is extra select craft fur from hareline. I kept it simple ans started out with a tail of craft fur in the top color. Then i tied in clumps of material on the top and bottom of the shank, working up to the head.

The thing is that it differs some between the different colors in the length and "fullness" of the fibers, even though they should all be uniform. For example the chartreuse is ~ 1 cm longer than all the rest, so using chartreuse om the underside of the fly requires more work to make the fly proportional which is a drag :/

Experimenting a little with craft fur, trying to get a decent baitfish pattern going.

I thought about using a surgeons knot for a dropper, but honestly i check my flies every other drift anyway to clean the hooks from stuff from the bottom. For next time I'll tie a surgeons knot rig and compare it to a tippet ring rig, just for kicks

I use a tippet ring at the end of the leader. I tie in a section of tippet from the ring and then add another section to that with a double or triple surgeon's knot. At the surgeon's knot is where I place my dropper using the lower tag end of the knot for the dropper. Since the tag comes off the knot almost parallel to the line I get some twist but not to the degree that I have to unwind anything after a few drifts. I think that even if there is a slight twist that when the line gets back in the water it works itself out.

 

What is the tippet size and brand you are using for the dropper? I use Rio Fluoroflex Plus in 4x and 5x.

I usually use frog hair 4x fluoro for my dropper tag, ~12 inches. I attach it with a trilene knot since its strong and a bit bulky compared to other knots, which allows the tag to splay out a bit more from the main line.

When nymphing i always use a tippet ring, since it alows me to tie on a dropper tag in the ring and a second fly if i want. if the dropper gets stuck, i loose the dropper fly and the dropper tag at most. same thing for the anchor fly. The only downside i've noticed with this setup is that the dropper tag tends to wind around the rest of the leader after 10 or so drifts. Thus i make a habit of always checking my setup every ten drifts. Do you guys also use tippet rings when nymphing? For the record i've always nymphed this way so please enlighten me if there is a superior setup! Cheers/ Hugo