moth question

[Bud Guidry 0]

i was wondering if any of you guys make realistic moths. i have not seen any posted here and was just thinking if they have any moths up north and do fish feed on them. here in the south we have extremely large number of moths in many many species. i've seen moths fall on the water while fishing bluegills. they keep flapping their wings and create a disturbance on the waters surface and always get attention from bluegills or bass right away. have any of you seen cold water trout hit a moth on the surface? and do any of you have pics of realistics you may have tied?

 

 

 

Bud

[Alex C. 0]

We've got a ton of moths up here too. At work he Giant Gypsy Moths get sucked into the warehouse from outside(bad airflow)

 

I have studied them closely with the intention of tying one and one thing I always catch myself thinking is how closely they resemble(not the gypsy moths but moths in general) resemble caddis

[HFT 0]

This is a Moth I tied 8 years ago,Almost realistic,and a little hammered by time. I did try to fish this pattern but major problem with wind force, it poped off on back cast. Like a parachute it catches too much wind. only solution was to stand with the wind at my back and let the wind cast it for me. Then it fluttered just like a butterfly.

[Graham 0]

Hey Bud, I've never tried tying a realistic moth but I have one thats quick and fun to tye and has swiss straw for wings which bend back and keep it from helicoptering real bad when casting but like HFT said, a wind at your back helps with a nice presentation. I'll post a few pics below showing how to make it, but I'd like to spend more time and make a realistic but I'm working on my first spider tonight.

 

Hey HFT, sweet looking fly, super looking wings, real nice.

 

Graham

 

Here ya go, takes about 15 minutes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GlobalFisher 0]

We've got em up here in Alaska too.

 

Thats a cool looking fly Graham! Whats the wings made of?

[Graham 0]

Hey Globalfisher, thanks buddy. For the wings I used Swiss Straw (Raffenne, Raffia), dipped in Orvis Flexseal (Softex, Flexament) then let the strips dry. I have a box full of pre-dipped pieces of various colors. Then I tyed one piece on each side to make all four wings. Then I touched them up with markers.

 

Graham

[steelie 0]

Good Day,

 

Great stuff guys. Bud, Graham has it right on spot. Think of tying your moth in much the same way that a spent wing caddis is tied. I do not have one in my computer files at this time, but Graham is right on with his fly. i have fished them up here in Michigan with decent success on nights where there either is nnot a great hatch or it simply did not materialize for the "normal" bugs. Browns as well as bass seem to love them!

 

Steelie

[uffepuffe 0]

Here in sweden there are moths, but never in any numbers enough to compete with the caddis as a major food source for trout. There are however two Moth species that are more conected to water than any other since their larva lives in the water or vegetation at the waters. It's on my "to-do" list to do a realistic moth, but not just yet

 

Really nice fly Graham, the treated raffia wings look really nice!

 

/Ulf

[Bud Guidry 0]

thanks guys.

Graham,i'm going to try your fly out here if i can make it!

 

i'm looking forward to seeing what you guys might come up with. been thinking serious about the hugh lunar moth as a first realistic but thinking out the materials it would take to capture the true texture of the wings, i thought of grey peacock eye feathers for the eye on the wings. possibly cutting the eye out of the feather then regluing it onto the wings of the moth once it's made.

 

 

Bud

[Graham 0]

Hey Bud,

 

I'v been looking at pictures of Lunar Moth's and you sure picked a super challenging fly to tye, especially the wings. I wish I had a possible suggestion or two to help you, but I can't think of a simple solution. I have a feeling your idea of using a grey peacock feather will look spectacular.

 

Graham