Curly Flies

[Shawn Davis 0]

I developed these flies a few years ago but only recently published them. They are a response to the San Juan Worm and Green Weenie, two flies I find aesthetically unpleasing. The idea was to create a fly which would have a three-dimensional appeal and would also writhe naturally as it drifted. These curly flies have become a staple in my flybox, especially the green one as a summer terrestrial. While incredibly simple, the style is one of my flytying innovations I'm most proud of. Their names are the Green Curly Worm, the San Shawn Worm, and the Tan Curly Caddis.

 

Details on their construction as well as tips on how to fish them may be found on my site in the "What's New" section.

 

-Shawn

[Mike Boyer 0]

Those look great, Shawn. I like the thinking behind this pattern. Will tie some up for sure.

[yeoldkiller 0]

great idea but what if, you tapered the ends

[Shawn Davis 0]

Thanks, guys. Hope they work for you.

 

Yeoldkiller, nice suggestion. I sometimes go to the trouble of tapering the ends, most times not. I don't know if they fish any differently one way or the other, but one of the great plusses of this style is how fast they are to tie. You can toss them aggressively into nasty lies without worrying about snapping off a lot of time at the bench (I find this is especially important when I fish them as terrestrials in summer). So I try to avoid anything that adds to the tying time. I'm been fishing these for a few years now, and I doubt that the heads on the caddis version or any of the other more complex tweaks I'm working on make meaningful improvements to the fly other than making them look better to fishermen. The beauty is in the simplicity. I fish the simplest versions most, and the fish like them a lot.

 

-Shawn

[mswaterfowler 0]

Definitely going to be in my box soon. Great pattern!!

[bigdewy 0]

Diabolically simple and a super looking fly!!

[Old Hat 0]

Shawn...very nice indeed...my 4-H kids will have a hey day with this pattern. Do you have any problems with the ends fraying? This material and others like it seem to fray easily...maybe a little burning or glue on the ends?

 

Carl

[ibian 0]

The white one looks like a dragon. Very cool dragon fly :hyst:

[Shawn Davis 0]

Thanks, guys. I hope it fishes well for you.

 

Carl, the key to keeping it from fraying is to use vernille instead of chenille. Chenille frays, vernille does not. Tied correctly, the fly is very durable, but the wraps must be kept tight, the spiral not too loose, and a counter-clockwise twist in the vernille before tying it off at the head helps keep tension in it (otherwise it tends to bunch up at the rear when the fly is whipping around at the end of your line). Somewhat detailed steps may be found here.

 

-Shawn