Cowboy Wayne
This is an articulated mouse pattern. The rear hook holds the tail – pink marabou and copper flash. A single plastic bead rides the mono attaching the tail to a body of natural rabbit fur, foam and rubber legs. Strip, twitch and pop – soak it with floatant and let it gurgle.
So spring is finally here! During the show season this year, I heard a lot of positive feedback about people visiting the website and that’s awesome! Besides tying a lot over the winter and hitting shows, I’ve been working on blending some new dubbing and it’s going very well. Right now, the plan is to come out with 3 types of dubbing. There will be a general purpose, nymph, and monster dub. The monster dub will be a longer streamer type dubbing. You will be hearing more about all of those very soon.
Mama’s Cornbread
Recently, Orvis has picked up another one of my fly patterns. This time it is Mama’s Cornbread. This is a smallmouth fly pattern that I designed to fish deep. I plan to be posting a step-by-step of the pattern soon. It will be available from Orvis in 2017. You can find it in the FrankenFly online store, here.
Bart-O Minnows
I just finished a large order of 300 Bart-O Minnows that are headed to Wisconsin and have designed a fly for another shop up that way. This little 1.5 inch streamer will work in small creeks, but it still needs a lot of testing.
Mad River Outfitters hat and Simms Jacket
Mad River Outfitters has sent me a new Simms jacket. This will be a dream to wear on the stream. The water just beads off of this jacket. Check out the photo of the water I poured on it.
Simms jacket with water added.
I hit the water for the first time this year. Did some creek fishing and some small pond fishing for panfish. It was nice to just get out and cast and be outside again.
Finally, since spring is finally here, I picked up a new kayak. It is a Perception Sound 10.5. I have been working on outfitting it and will be heading to some local waters. It should be a blast! I already tied up an articulated Zudbubbler to throw out to some Bucket Mouths. It sure is nice when Spring rolls around. I don’t know about you, but it gets me all pumped up and ready to fish!
-Paul
Articulated Zudbubbler
This great micro crab pattern landed me my first triggerfish! Whip it up and give it a try on a flat near you!
A cool bluegill imitation fly tying video from Loon Outdoors.
Jay Nicholas demonstrates how to tie a Smallmouth Bass Clouser Minnow fly pattern. The fly utilizes EP Craft Fur brush and Steve Farrar’s SF Blends to create a durable and effective fly.
Headed up to one of my favorite places on Earth last week, Grayling, Michigan. Staying in a cabin on the Holy Waters of the Au Sable River, I was able to fish daily. My oldest son, Brayden, joined me.
Paul
During the day I fished dry flies and caught many brookies. You catch smaller fish mostly during the day. The big ones come out at night. But the fishing is still challenging. You have to have a good dead drift presentation and the right fly. I was able to catch several the first couple of days on a Borchers Parachute. That quickly faded and they wouldn’t rise to it any longer. I tried many other dry flies, including an Adams, but the fish wanted nothing to do with it. So I tied on a fly I always have luck with, a Madsen Skunk. I caught trout the rest of the week just using this fly. Even if there were no visible risers, they would come up for this fly.
Paul with trout
Madsen Skunk tied by Paul Beel
Every night we went out late and tried mousing. This is a hunt for the big ones. Sometimes it pays off, other times it doesn’t. My son got lucky on the 4th night and landed a good sized brown trout. He acted like it was Christmas morning and was talking about that fish the rest of the trip. It was one heck of a trout!
Brayden with big brown
A little side note about fishing at night. We were still seeing some Hex on the windows of the cabin and near the river.
Hex
For me, the highlight of the trip was fishing for smallies with Chris Lessway. Chris is the head guide for the North Branch Outing Club in Lovells, Miching, near Grayling on the North Branch of the Au Sable River. We floated in Chris’ Hyde Drift Boat and had a great day. Even though we had warmer, bass style weather earlier in the week, the day we went was much more like trout weather, cool, overcast, and misty. Regardless, as soon as we left the boat ramp I caught the first smallie of the day right off the bat. It was a good sign, but during the day we had periods where they would turn off and then turn back on while we searched for the right color and fly they wanted. But we had action and caught fish all day long. We were successful on a 4 inch streamer, an articulated streamer, and even some poppers got them to rise to the surface. Olive seemed to be the best color of the day.
Paul
Chris
Brayden
I spent some time on the sticks so Chris had time to fish too. I was shaky at first, but by the end of the day I felt comfortable behind the oars and it felt good to add this skill to my repoitoire.
If you are looking for a guide up in Northern Michigan, I highly recommend Chris Lessway. He is a highly skilled angler who knows the waters in the area very well, plus he is a super nice guy. He can definitely put you on the fish!
I can’t wait to head up to Michigan again, I’m missing it already!
Gunnar designed this fly with 90% of the body using FrankenDub Monster dubbing. Very cool! -Paul
Gunnar says”A simple easy to tie crawfish pattern I designed. Extremely effective on river smallmouth, but also a great fly for stream trout, carp, and anything that may fancy some craw.”
For fly orders head to my website at www.streamersbygunnar.com
Field & Stream Hook Shots get after smallies!
Matt Grajewski displays his Yard Sale streamer step-by-step below.
Matt said, “This version is the Muskie size, but it can be tied in any size for any species. It was originally a very effective trout fly. It’s great for bass and pike too. Just tie it to the appropriate size.”
Materials list:
Tail: bucktail, schlappen feathers, and flash
Body: flash n’ Slinky or similar slinky fiber, and flash
Wing: craft fur
Head: laser dub
I want to send a thanks out to everyone that ordered Zudbubblers and other flies from my online store during the recent sale. I still have a few sale orders to tie and send out. The Zudbubbler sale has been a success, but all good things come to an end. So this weekend will be the end of the sale.
http://frankenfly.storenvy.com
Here are a few shots of some of the orders that came through. Also, I went out last weekend and threw some Zudbubbers to largemouth, so check it out!
-Paul
The New Surface Seducer Double Barrel Popper & Slider Bodies make creating your own Poppers and Sliders so easy! In this video Tony Torrence demonstrates how to tie an effective Slider Baitfish pattern to fool Smallmouth Bass looking for an easy baitfish meal.
Surface Seducer Double Barrel Slider Baitfish
Hook: Suface Seducer Popper Hook, sizes 2-8
Slider: Surface Seducer Popper & Slider Body, Sizes X-Large to X-Small
Glue: Zap-a-Gap(fast) or Gorilla Glue(slower)**apply water first**
Eyes: Zap-a-Gap Gel; Hareline Adhesive Holographic Eyes, Super Pearl or Hareline Adhesive Eyes, Super Pearl Black
Popper Finish: Fine Glitter mixed with Liquid Fusion & Top Coat of Liquid Fusion mixed in Loon Mixing Cup
Thread: White Veevus 10/0
Tail: Steve Farrar SF Blend, UV White and 1/69 Opal Mirage Lateral Scale
Collar: Hareline UV Polar Chenille, Silver UV
Gunnar says, “I tie a small baitfish streamer pattern that I designed and explain in detail how to tie it. The fly is roughly 4″ long and is designed to cut though the water, creating a jerk bait style action. The Jerk Jr. is an exalent smallmouth bass pattern as well as other warm water, and saltwater species.”
Gunnar gives a detailed step by step explanation on how to tie his Impostor pike fly.
Gunnar had this to say about his new streamer. “This fly is a synthetic based flashabou/stacked fiber fly hybrid, designed to cut water and behave like a jerk bait. It comes in at 8.5″, is tied on an Ahrex 4/0 Light Predator Stinger (barbless), and is a perfect size fly for Pike, Smallmouth, and Big Trout!”
TCO Fly Fishing guide, Jake Villwock, designed the Over Easy Sculpin. He had this to say about the fly.
“This fly is an all around fresh water fly, it has caught trout, smallmouth, and steelhead. It can be stripped, swung, or dead drifted. The stinger hook in the back gives you the ability to switch the hook from up facing or down, depending on the style you are fishing it. Crawling on the bottom, go hook up. Swinging or striping it mid current, go hook down. I tie it in olive, brown, black, and tan. It has also been purchased by Orvis. So that’s kinda cool. I am an Orvis signature tier and Regal Vise Pro Staff member.”
Learn how to tie a small, less than 2 inch long intruder, in under 2.5 minutes. Hopefully this will give you some ideas. In different color combinations these small intruders are extremely effective for trout, bass and steelhead. This one has a hook that’s definitely for trout, though. They are also pretty addictive to tie. Challenge yourself to see just how small you can go- and try them out on your local fishery- you might be surprised.
Posted by Olympic Peninsula Skagit Tactics on Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Olympic Peninsula Skagit Tactics show us how to tie a cool mini intruder. Not only can they be used for steelhead, but bass and trout as well. Be sure to check out their website or follow them on Facebook, they have some terrific products and great stuff happening.
From OPST:
“Learn how to tie a small, less than 2 inch long intruder, in under 2.5 minutes. Hopefully this will give you some ideas. In different color combinations these small intruders are extremely effective for trout, bass and steelhead. This one has a hook that’s definitely for trout, though. They are also pretty addictive to tie. Challenge yourself to see just how small you can go- and try them out on your local fishery- you might be surprised.”
You can get these materials at Pat’s website at rusuperfly.com
From Pat:
Tie the Sweet Baby Cray…my juvenile crayfish imitation using Cohen’s Crayfish bodies in small…
Reaper v2.0 and panfish nymph
Posted by Brandon Bailes on Monday, January 30, 2017
Perch and Bluegill 2.0 Reapers
2.0 Reaper
v2.0 Reaper material list:
2/0 worm hook
large dumbell eyes
small rattle
Ripple Ice Fiber
magnum zonker
barred crazy legs
Polar Chenille
1.5″ EP Foxy or chromatic brush
Warmwater PT using Gumball Purple FrankenDUB Nymph dubbing.
Warmwater PT
Warmwater PT material list:
Gamakatsu b10s size 10
small beadchain eyes
pheasant tail
small size wire ribbing
MFC skinny skin
Frankendub nymph dubbing mixed with wiggle legs
Martyn White shows us step by step instructions for Bob Clouser’s hellgrammite.
From Martyn:
“This suggestive imitation of a Dobsonfly larva is an excellent smallmouth fly, it’s full of movement and has an incredibly enticing action when fished dead drift or retrieved. I’ve tied an olive version here, but black or dark brown is also very effective.”
Materials list:
Hook: Tiemco 811s size 4
Weight: 0.020-0.030 lead wire
Thread: 3/0 to match body color
Abdomen: Wide cut Zonker strip
Thorax : Rabbit fur taken from the skin
Gills: grizzly hackle
Head: furry foam
Kevin Feenstra is a fly fishing guide in Michigan. He is the owner of Feenstra Guide Service. If you don’t already follow Kevin on Instagram, you really should! He has some beautiful photos to share. You can find him on Instagram @kevinfeenstra
I have selected some of Kevin’s photos below, but there are so many that are good, I couldn’t include as many as I wanted. Enjoy!
-Paul
