William Ensiferum – Caenis CDC Spent
Live 4 Fly Fishing – Natural Quilled Nymph Orange Dot
Andreas Andersson – Red Lipped Roach Divers
Matthew Pate – Partridge Czech Nymph Hook
Ariko Miettinen-The Usk Grub
Jeff Dickey – Captain 1.0
Matt Zudweg – Zudbubbler
Mig Carnapeche – Pheasant Tail nymph
Trace Hilt
Since I just posted that cool video on rainbow trout going after mouse patterns, I thought I better follow it up with a mouse pattern video. This one is fairly straight forward and easy to tie. Give it a whirl, if you want to do some mousing of your own!
This one is tied by Ryan Soillers.
Kirk shows us some cool bass bug history in this post. Check it out!
Some of these bugs are 60 years old.
Enjoy ye ole bug makers…
This is an overview picture of the bugs my friend Ted Cabali lent me from his collection to photograph.
Bill Gallasch’s Skipping Bug tied by Bill, named by Joe Brooks. Bill was Joe Brooks personal tier. According to Lefty Kreh, Joe didn’t do much fly tying. Bill originally made these from Cedar but then began making them from balsa; he drilled a hole near the bottom and inserted/glued the hook with bucktail and chenille into the hole. When Orvis was selling them, Bill was tying them for Orvis, so, if you bought any of these from Orvis way back, you have a Skipping Bug tied by the originator.
The Pac Man bug tied by local New Orleanean Ronnie Leonard, who is now deceased.
Fayard Crippled Minnow.
Christy bug tied and sold by and in New Orleans.
Pecks poppers, the large one was tied by Accardo’s company after he bought out Pecks. The smaller one was by Pecks.
The label says it.
More Pecks poppers tied by Pecks. Bottom – Dragon Fly, Center- Cricket, Top – Grasshopper.
Peck’s Parker Feather Minnow tied by Pecks. This pattern was given to Peckinpaugh by a cotton broker in New Orleans named Parker.
Kirk
Deer hair flies are addictive, both to tie and to fish. Usually I tie my deer hair flies on a hook after first selecting the right hook for the job. But sometimes there are no hooks that are optimal for the fly and the fish it is supposed to catch. At those occasions a hook and a shank combination may be a better alternative. One of those times is when tying a large mouse, vole or a lemming fly for trout. By using a hook and a shank combination I can make a bigger mouse without using a long shanked streamer hook where the long shank could be used as a lever and the result could be a lost fish, or a large pike hook where the wide hook gap could mean missed takes when fishing for trout. Another time when a hook and a shank combination is a good alternative is when you want to add some extra movement to a fly like a deceiver or similar.
Material list:
Shank: 2.5cm
Hook: Mustad C52S size1
Thread: Veevus gsp 200d
Tail: Rabbit zonkerstrip
Body & head: Deerbelly hair
Ears: Thin foam
Eyes: 6mm
other stuff: Varnish, zap gel, superglue and uv resin.
Baitfish muddler
Shank: 3,5cm (cut of the back loop from the tail with a plier when the tail is finished)
Hook: Tiemco 600sp size 2/0
Thread: White Veevus gsp 200d
Tail: White frantic tail
Body: White rabbit zonker
Sideline: Silver lateral scale
Head: White deer belly hair
Eyes: 6mm living eyes “earth”
Other stuff: Varnish, zap gel and thick wire and superglue to attach the shank to the hook.
Wiley Coyote
Todd Schotts came up with this simple fly and it has been very successful for him. Todd tied a couple and handed them to me at the Great Lakes Council Fly Tying Expo at the beginning of the month. Todd created this pattern while at the annual smallmouth outing the Michigan Fly Fishing Club has every year.
Todd says it works great for smallmouth and carp. He power paints the eyes himself.
Material list:
coyote tail
cactus chenille
weight
powder coated bead eyes (flame red)
BUCKEYE SHINER FLY PATTERN:
Hook – Mustad (Model 3665A/Size 6)
Thread – White UNI-Thread (6/0)
Body – UNI-French Embossed Silver Metal Tinsel (Size #12)
Rib (recommended) – Silver Oval Metal Tinsel
Wing 1 – Slate Gray Bucktail (Bottom layer)
Wing 2 – Two Strands of Bright Yellow Krystal Flash (folded over the tying thread to form four strands)
Wing 3 – Five Strands of UV Tan Krystal Flash (folded over the tying thread)
Wing 4 – Lavender Bucktail
Wing 5 – Four strands of Peacock Herl (Top layer)
Head – White tying thread painted with silver Testors model paint.
Pupils are formed with black acrylic craft paint. I painted the head with two coats of Sally Hansen’s Hard-As-Nails high gloss nail polish after the eyes had dried. The eyes kind of follow you around because the bulge out from the sides a bit. The thread head should be fairly big to make the eyes more prominent. The silver paint is Testors (the stuff that comes in the small square glass bottles and is used for painting plastic models) and the black eyes are painted with an acrylic craft paint (Apple Barrel Gloss 20662/Black). I think you can get them both at Walmart or at JoAnne Fabrics.
To shape the flies, I recommend running them under water to wet them after all of the tying steps are done, then let them air dry. That is why the shape of the bucktail wing is tapered. The wetting and drying process helps train the hair to keep a more tapered profile.
Tying Instructions: Materials are listed in the order they are attached to the hook.
Note – I recommend applying a coat of superglue to the body of the fly before wrapping the tinsel forward to make the body more durable. Another option is to shorten up the tinsel body somewhat (roughly 1/4 shorter) to keep the fishes teeth from cutting the tinsel body. A third option is to add an oval tinsel rib to reinforce the body to make the fly a tough.
Presentation Tips: Fish this pattern with a quick darting retrieve (like a scared shiner)
I designed this pattern to imitate the emerald shiners in Lake Erie tribs. I accidentally hooked an emerald shiner (Notropis Atherinoide) on a backcast one day. I stopped to take photos of the shiner, which later served as a color reference for tying. They are actually very pretty little fish. The Buckeye Shiner is a pattern I came up with to match this little shiner. The name should probably be “emerald shiner” but I didn’t want to cause confusion with other patterns already called that. The emerald shiner is sometimes called a “buckeye shiner”, so that is the source of the name.
As for the color scheme, the shiner I hooked had a prominent yellow streak along its side (thus the strands of yellow krystal flash) and it had a distinct lavender hue along the sides (I used UV Tan Krystal Flash to capture the color of the sides). The top and back had a iridescent green coloration (thus the strands of peacock herl). The eyes of the shiner are bright silver with large black pupils. I decided to use white tying thread and paint it silver before painting the pupils and finishing the head.
I put a fair amount of thought into this one to try to capture the key features of the natural shiner (at least from this area).
This pattern has proven to be very effective on smallmouth bass and steelhead.
Ray (letumgo) Tucker
Photo by Bill Shuck
As a bonus from Bill Shuck, here is a pattern similar that Bill tied after seeing Ray catch those steelhead. Bill said, “I came home determined to tie up some close equivalents for smallmouth as well as for steelhead and other trout. Here are the results, which are tied on 6x long Size #6 streamer hooks. As for my recipe, it’s basically the same as Ray’s except that I subbed gold Krystal Flash for the 2nd wing, yellow/brown bucktail for the 3rd wing, grey thread wraps for the head, and holographic stick-on eyes.”
Check out Midwest legend Dave Pinczkowski tie the Eat A Peach Leech. Dave has been a long time friend of Tight Lines Fly Fishing Co. and we are lucky enough to film a few of his fish catching patterns. Check us out at www.tightlinesflyshop.com!
Tightlines Fly Shop brings us another video from the midwest legend Dave Pinczkowski. Have a bad hair day with Dave and thunk it!
Cecil Guidry
I spoke with Cecil Guidry at the Indiana Fly Fishing Expo last month and he was tying a cool foam pattern. This is Cecil’s Hellboy and it isn’t your grandpa’s foam fly.
Cecil demonstrates how to tie up his Hellboy fly. This is a fantastic topwater pattern for smallmouth & largemouth bass, tied in larger sizes and it is a good Northern Pike fly. Best of all, it is also a great panfish fly for LARGE slabs. With basically three materials there are an endless amount of color and material variations you can use to adapt this fly to your favorite water.
Visit Cecil at his website, Warm Water Chronicles.
Kirk makes some beautiful poppers and divers. Check out his latest.
Decided to break out the Paasche airbrush after having my light colored Copic colored bugs fade. Figured to do some fresh “poppers” for the warmer weather that should be right around the corner. I’ve come to like Fire Tiger coloration as you might notice but played with some different tail/skirt configurations. Really like the fox fur.
Some Comal floats tied on Mustad 34007, size #1 for bass and redfish.
The other half of the floats tied on Gaelic Supreme hump shank hooks from Herter’s, size #4.
Some Walt Holman simple divers I made from balsa plugs.
Some of my divers made from cork bottle stoppers; this design has been working for me since I first started making it back in 1988.
A few years ago Gary Krebs produced some Popper Jig instructional videos. These videos explained how to use the Popper Jig Sets made by River Road Creations. If you want to tie some foam poppers, you should definitely watch these. I have posted the first two here from back in 2012. They explain the jig sets and how to cut the foam.
What reminded me of these videos was the new video that Gary has produced about a fly called The Poppin’ Minnow. You can head over to Pilecast to check that one out.
In this video I will describe the two jig sets currently available, the features of the sets. The Gary Krebs’ Jig Sets and foam rods can be found at http://www.RiverRoadCreations.com
In this video I will show you how to use the jigs to cut foam cylinders and make consistent popper heads every time.
Last weekend at the Midwest Fly Fishing Expo I had a chance to speak with Matt Zudweg of BoneYard Fly Gear. I have always loved Matt’s BoneYard brand and have purchased hats, t-shirts, hoodies, and stickers from him in the past. He has AWESOME fly fishing gear! So then, I expressed to him my interest in his Zudbubblers. I have been asked by many fly fishers about tying bass poppers and offering them for sale. Being that bass are one of the primary species I fish for, I definitely wanted to offer poppers of some kind.
I am very excited to announce that Matt has gave me his blessing and FrankenFly is now tying and offering Zudbubbler flies for sale. These are the full fly, dressed and ready to fish. I tie them the way Matt does. You will find them in the FrankenFly Online Fly Shop and if you do not see the colors you want or need, please don’t hesitate to send me a message letting me know what color combination you would like.
If you don’t know what Zudbubblers are, a few weeks ago I posted about Matt Zudweg’s Zudbubblers here on FrankenFly. In that post, Matt gives us the history of the Zudbubbler. If you are wanting Zudbubbler bodies to tie your own, Hareline Dubbin sells them or you can get them from Matt at BoneYard Fly Gear.
Also, I have been using Zuddy’s Leg Puller to tie these babies and this tool does a great job. I was thinking I could use something else to pull legs through and work with the foam bodies. After using the tool, I am so glad I have it. I use it to make the holes needed for the hook and to pull the legs through. It has made tying these Zudbubblers a joy!
I couldn’t be happier to be able to tie these awesome popper style flies and I want to thank Matt for working with me on this. Below you will find the color combinations I’ve tied up so far. I hope all of you enjoy these as much as I do!
Dave unveils his new slimmed down version of the Bad Hair Day the Receding Hairline! Dave is a Midwest legend and Tight Lines is happy to share this video series of Dave doing his thing. Check us out at www.tightlinesflyshop.com Check out our friends at www.heritageanglingproducts.com for the finest collection of tubes and materials.
If you are wanting to know how to tie the Bad Hair Day fly that Dave mentions, you can find that video here:
http://www.frankenfly.com/the-bad-hair-day-dave-pinczkowski/
I’ve been after Al for some time trying to get him to send me something of his to post on FrankenFly. Well, I came across this today and it is known to be a very productive pattern. You can find more about Al Ritt at his website at http://www.alrittflies.com/
Hook: #02-10 Tiemco 8089
Thread: Black UTC 140 >> or Kelvar Thread >> or GSP Thread
Body: Natural Deer Hair
Tail: Brown 2MM Thin Foam
Ears: Brown 2MM Thin Foam
Eyes: Large Black Mono Eyes
Whiskers: Moose Body Hair
Glue: Brush On Zap A Gap or Krazy Glue
Tied by Jack Harford
This is a great time of year to throw a bass popper and Jack Harford reminded me of an old popper with his post on Facebook last night. The legendary Lefty Kreh created this popper for one of his favorite rivers, the Potomac. From Harry Murray’s book, Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass, here is the lowdown on Lefty’s popper.
Hook: Mustad 33903 size 8 through size 1
Thread: 3/0 monocord
Body: cork
Tail: squirrel tail
Paint: yellow
Instructions:
Trim cork flat in front, back and along one-third of the belly. Taper cork from a large head to a slightly smaller rear area. Cut a groove along underside to receive the hook. (Lefty uses a jig for this cutting process that greatly simplifies the job.)
Place the hook in the vise and form a full thread body to assure good cork-to-hook glue bonding. Tie in a short tail of squirrel tail at the rear of the hook shank. Coat the portion of the cork to receive the hook with epoxy. Clean the groove in the cork and apply epoxy. Place the cork onto the hook so it lies in a straight line with the bottom of the cork. Set this aside until it is completely dry. Seal the cork and paint.
The designer of the Zudbubbler, Matt Zudweg, recently made a video showing how to tie a Zudbubbler. These poppers rock, trust me! If you don’t want to tie your own, check out the FrankenFly online fly shop.
Check out Matt’s website, boneyardflygear.com to see more cool stuff from Matt!
Tim Flagler shows you a cool fly you can use for bass and panfish. I like this change of pace from Tightline Productions. Very cool!
This video is from Tight Lines Fly Fishing Company This fly tying video shows how to tie a great skinny water smallmouth pattern. One of the best Wisconsin smallmouth bass flies for picky fish.
In this episode of Tie TV, the professional fly tyer Andreas Andersson shows us how to tie a realistic deer hair mouse imitation! It might look more like a pet than fish food, but it’s actually a very effective fly for big trout, bass, pike and many other predatory fish…
