Published Dec 29. 2005 - 18 years ago
Updated or edited Feb 11. 2018

Une Création

We crank out some strange flies every now and then. Get an idea, dig through piles of materials and tie up a handful of slightly different flies, each one better than the previous one, but none of them really good. But sometimes one comes out OK.

Une Création - The result of something old and something new.
The creation
Martin Joergensen

This is a creation—Une Création in French. Don’t know how this name came about, but just calling the fly A Creation seemed too boring. The French touch was a bit better.
It is just one of these Créations that sometimes come from my vise. I crank out these strange flies every now and then when I tie flies. I get an idea and follow some strange notion. I dig through piles of materials and tie up a handful of slightly different flies, each one better than the previous one, but none of them really good. This way I have churned out piles of useless flies over the years, many of them even found their way to my flybox and from there to the water. But typically they never wind up on the tippet not to say in the mouth of a fish.

Winter fly

But on occasion a creation, which I actually have confidence in, will see the light of day. That was the case with this little bugger. I wanted something for my winter fishing for sea run brownies. I have two techniques for these fish, which are scarce and difficult when the water is really cold.

Typical fjord sea trout

Happy me

In a loop

One is to fish as I always do on the locations that I usually fish. This tactic can work well even though it is far from as successful in the winter as it is in other seasons—particularly in the spring and autumn. These trips will mostly be to the outer coasts, and I will fish fairly shallow water over sand, seaweed and stones and use my usual bunch of tan, grey and relatively naturally looking flies.

Fjord fishing

My other way of catching winter sea trout is to fish in the fjords. During the winter fish will gather in the fjords and estuaries to prepare for their spawning run up the streams. But due to the lack of salt tolerance in the fish in cold water, even the non-spawners will go into the fresher water in the fjords. When it becomes really cold they will gather in the deeper parts of the water and wait for warmer weather. While they are schooling in these deep and relatively warm holes, anglers have a good chance of engaging them. And that’s where my second technique comes in play. I reel a sinking line on a reel, add a short leader and a heavy fly and fish deep. I have a clear Airflo WF line that I usually use for this purpose. It’s a seven weight and casts quite well on most of my coastal rods.

Since I try to fish close to the bottom or even on the bottom, I have taken to fishing with bonefish flies in the Crazy Charlie style, which are normally heavy and will fish upside down. I have had some success with these flies, and that was what spawned the idea for Le Création.

Bonefish style

I wanted a bonefish-style fly, as bright as possible but a bit lighter than what I had in my bonefish flybox. The natural choice was to take every bright material I had and build a small Crazy Charlie type of fly. I also wanted some orange in the fly. We Danes are convinced that orange is good in the winter. Alas I dug out some orange flash chenille, a material I already use for one of many sea trout anglers' trusty winter companions, the Glitter Shrimp.

What I wound up with was silver body braid and orange flash chenille for the body, clear pearlescent flash for the wing and some bead chain eyes. All that was held together with orange thread. After a couple of tries I had something going, and I tied up a bunch of the fly you see here.

Ready to catch some fish

Skunked!

I have fished it several times now, but it has yet failed to catch a fish. Then again so has any other fly on the same four or five trips. Yes, I have been skunked on all my December trips! I actually haven’t caught a fish since the 20th of November and I have been out six (6) times since then!

Right now there’s a snowstorm over the country, so even though I have plenty time between Christmas and New Year, and even though fish also bite during a snowstorm, I am not the one to defy such weather and drive my car on the small roads. So there will probably be no fishing before January.

Until then I might just tie up a bunch of Créations for my winter-flybox-project. That is how much I believe in this fly.

Bright flies for bonefish

Une Création

I am quite sure that bonefish would happily engulf this fly too. I know many bonefish guides detest flies, which are too bright, but I have experienced days in Mexican backcountry waters where the mud has been so dense that the flies almost had to have taillights on to be seen.
Large schools of bonefish stirring up the soft bottom of a backcountry mangrove mudflat will create such unclear water conditions that you can blind cast directly into the school with even the brightest of flies without spooking any fish. A bright fly will probably even give you an advantage under these conditions.

One time I remember fish actually started to feed in the mud lane we created by wading across a soft flat. In such cases a bright fly like Une Création might also make the day.

Upside down

Une Création
Pattern type: 
Cold saltwater fly
Originator: 
Martin Joergensen
A simple Crazy Charlie and Gotcha style pattern aimed for winter sea run brown trout, but probably equally well suited for bonefish.
Materials: 
Hook
Kamasan B175 size 6
Tying thread
Orange 6/0
Body
Silver body braid
Eyes
Bead chain
Thorax
Orange flash chenille
Wing
Pearlescent flash straw
Head
Tying thread
Skill level/difficulty: 
Very easy
Instruction: 
  1. Tie in the thread mid-hook
  2. Tie down body braid and cover all the way to the hook bend-plus a bit
  3. Wind thread back to the middle of the hook shank
  4. Follow by tight turns of body braid
  5. Tie down braid and cut surplus
  6. Wind the thread forwards to the middle of the bare piece of shank
  7. Tie in bead chain eyes on the top of the shank
  8. Bring thread back to the front of the body
  9. Tie in orange flash chenille
  10. Wind thread forwards to right behind the eyes
  11. Take 2-3 turns of chenille behind the eyes
  12. Tie chenille down and cut surplus
  13. Prepare a small bunch of flash. The tips should just touch the hook point.
  14. Tie in under and in front of the eyes
  15. Form a large head over the wing butts in front of the eyes
  16. Varnish

Upside down

Comments

A very good pattern,...

A very good pattern,simple,quick to tie and can change color to match water and fish I'm trying for,use this pattern for king salmon,shad,bass,and small version for panfish,like neutral colors for bass,and panfish,and bright colors for shad and salmon,can change sink rate by chaining out the bead chain eyes with dazle or real eyes depending on sink rate needed,try using pearlesant mylar for the body to change body color wrap a underbody of thread to match head color for a more neutral color tone.

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