Frank G. Swarner III

Sweet ties Ben they look awesome!!

None of them are spey flies, but all them were tied by Harry Lemire. I have the recipes in trey combs book. I can scan the pages at work tomorrow and email them to you.

These guys are also on fish skull shanks and are 7 1/2" long. Need to give them a swim to see how they track.

36" long #$%^(# That's gonna need a lot of shanks!! Thank you guys for the kind words. Not really in my comfort zone with this style and I'm getting better at using the fisheadz.

I tied this guy on a fish skull shank and attached a daichii 2471 to the rear. The head at the front is one of deer creeks fisheadz.

Your cranking out some sweet flies Randy.....I need to hit the water again for some steel.

I just got a go pro myself but haven't been out to use it yet. Check out the go pro forum for ideas for various mounts and such. A lot of cool stuff there.

flyeye,

Here is what polar chenille looks like....it's not your typical chenille for wooly buggers and such.

http://www.flyfishusa.com/fly-tying/chenille-polar.htm

There could be some hair in the wing, but with all that other material(which will have incredible movement in the water)I don't think it's necessary. I didn't notice any in the pics of other color variations of that fly.

Frank

I can't find much either but it looks like:

Butt: ball of dubbing

Hackle: schlappen

Body: flat braid ribbed with polar chenille

Wing: ice dubbing hank with flashabou

Wing: 2-4 grizzly saddle hackle

collar: marabou

collar: schlappen or guinea

just a guess, but i bet it's pretty close.

They will work just fine. I like the top one the most, but they will all have their moments in a fishes jaw.

Just a tube fly and definitley not an intruder.

Here is a link for an Intruder which is pretty darn close to the original by Ed Ward.

http://www.nwsalmonflyguild.org/inst/inst_intruder.pdf

Pretty darn good Kevin and spey flies aren't easy to tie at that size.

I would:

1. Use a little less fibers for the wings

2. Strip one side of the hackle so the hackles have room to "breath"

3. Use a larger hook to learn spey flies, then go smaller

Typically I pick my wings first then choose what hook I will use. This approach allows me to tie the wings in by the softer, grey area of the fibers which is near the stem. Basically the sweet spot.

Here is a video of me tying a purple king.

Keep up the great work!! You'll have spey flies down in no time at all!!

Frank

Kevin,

You don't need to use anything to protect the hook for fishing flies. As RRSS stated that is typically used for antique/vintage hooks being used for show/presentation flies.

I would suggest a Lady Caroline for your first spey fly. Natural pheasant rump is fine for the hackle and if you can't get the bronze mallard mounted right....don't worry about it, the fish won't mind. You could just do a hairwing as well, but it won't be a spey fly anymore.

Also, do some research about what a spey fly actually is. A lot flies nowadays are labeled as "spey flies" but they aren't even close. That being said some people will argue that if it isn't tied for or fished in the Spey River it isn't a spey fly.

Have fun!! It's a great ride....especially when you get that first tug!!

Frank

Looks pretty good!! Shorten up the ostrich in the rear a little bit though....about the same length as the ostrich in the front.

Here are a couple of step by steps

http://www.salmonfly.net/fly574.html

http://countrypleasuresff.blogspot.com/2009/10/intruder-step-by-step.html

http://speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=48199

http://speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=47867

Sweet tie!! That will work great for steelhead and salmon.

That's a sweet R.A.T.!! One heck of a small head too!!

Are there ant SBS's for tying on cotter pins? Do you tie to the width of both shanks, or cut one shank short before adding all the trimmings? I am curious, and always looking for new information. I didn't see anything labeled "cotter pins" in the SBS section.

Here is a step by step I did for a nymph style fly. This one uses 40lb mono to attach the hook.

http://www.oakorchardflies.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=stepbysteptutorialsoffs&action=display&thread=2655

You can tie on both shanks, no need to trim one of them unless you want to lighten it a little, but they are already pretty light.

Piker 20 - The beadalon might fit through the hook eye, but the problem I have with that is it will push the hook further away from the shank. In my eyes that doesn't give me the look I want. Yeah yeah i know i'm picky.

Lykos - I do have some split rings to play with so maybe I will check that out and see if I can incororate that into the design.

BFR - I haven't had a problem so far. 12lb steelhead is the biggest I've hooked and landed using cotter pins and I haven't had a break off. I do use 10lb and higher when I swing so I'm sure that helps. These small cotter pins are pretty smooth even though they are not round like the wire used for hooks. A non slip mono loop works great. Give it a go for your string leeches!!

I thought about using tubes for some, but it just won't have the "slinky" motion these have. They last pretty long this way. I have some nymph patterns tied this way and they are going on their 4th year.

I definitely would like to be able to swap the hook out if ever needed to, just need to figure out a way that suits my picky arse!!

Playing off the temple dog theme, but scaled down and with less materials. Pretty quick to tie since the steps are easy.

Basically a scaled down version of an intruder crossed with a hobbit steelhead fly, with the low water in mind. A few small craft beads in the mix for some added attraction. Tied on a cotter pin as usual. Beadalon 7strand (.018 dia. = 20lb) used to attach the hook.

Here is a simple pattern that has fished well for some friends that have all ready been up this season.

Hook: Alec Jackson Size 3 shown

Tail: Lady Amherst tail fibers

Body: estaz or trilobal hackle

Collar #1: Mallard Flank

Collar #2: Marabou

Head: Ostrich Herl

Definitely tie some egg sucking leeches as suggested by rstout. They will be good for steelhead and browns too. Same goes for the alaskabous suggested by BFR.

Try some streamers tied in colors that are similar to the cleos or mepps. That's your first big hint the fish are giving you.

Big stoneflies with a hot colored thorax would work as well. Egg patterns would also work.

That looks awesome Nick. I love how the colors blend and transition.