While it is easier to buy flies from distributors, I find that so much more enjoyment is found from catching fish on a fly that I have tied. I just get a greater feeling of accomplishment from catching fish on one of my own creations!
Hi Martin,
Atlantic Salmon could also be added to the list of target species. Harry Darbee in his book Catskill Flytier,1977, writes that fishing the Margaree river in Nova Scotia, Canada, one year, no one had taken a salmon in seven days. He tried a Big Hole Demon and immediately hooked and eventually landed a salmon of 22lbs.His friend Mac Francis followed suite right after and got himself one of 13 1/2 lbs.
I think this is one of those flies that travels well.
Peter.
I agree with jsholland. I hope every country foreign to these monsters keeps them out of their borders. Not just the US.
one of the best books i`ve ever read an fished with it. from canada over france to switzerland and austria. gary helped me to catch them all - from rainbows to browns, brooks and namaycush. good book, good job!
Nic Ferguson
Fly Guy,
The gaps probably comes from the fact that the article is more than 10 years old! Many of the hook models are most likely not available any more.
Keeping charts like this up to date is almost impossible.
Martin
I have been fly fishing for mullet for 3 years will good results. In the uk they will appear all year though in the summer they will be a lot more plentifull. Especially in the south of england.
Rod weight i alwyas use 8wt rods with a 6lb flurocarbon tippet. Flies wise a top surface pattern like a small dry or booby work very well, especially when teamed with a red tag or small sinking wet fly on a dropper below.
The tactic i use it to cast 2ft infront of showing fish and they take the lower fly on the drop. Once hooked hold on for dear life. Play the fish dont bully it else you will lose...
I'll have to "burn money" on this book it sounds like; the info on dubbing will be beneficial.
I started fishing #20 or smaller in 2001; starting with dries (that's only the last 20% of the insect's life). After that discovery, backed with Fishing Results in spread sheets starting in 2001; rarely do I use a Dry even if a hatch is in progress.
The book "Midge Magic" co-authored by Holbrook/Koch really opened my eyes & got me "on track". The book is worth the price alone to learn "The Knot", both minimal as it is strong. Bulky knots w/8-6X tippet will warn the fish "things aren't right".
In addition to a great purchase of a VHS: "Tying Tiny Dries" by A.K. Best; I almost wore it out.
More solutions & problems await....
Eureaka!!! ...another Hook Comparision Chart (with noticable gaps). My favorite hook Gamakatsu S13S-M isn't listed; that hook is great for Flash Back Nymphs. -Remember to move the hook often in the vise, it will break as you apply the whip finish, - but I think it's worth the bother.
Go to kilroys.com for more in-depth Hook Chart confusion.
Yours is the first chart I've seen that includes Gamakatsu Hooks for comparison, many thanks!.
To all who want to buy Steve's flies, I can recommend a quick Google search for Steve Thornton. That will give you a link to Steve's site Virtual Nymph where you can find materials, books and much more from Steve and where you can contact him regarding flies.
We don't sell flies, we have no prices and we cannot help much when it comes to buying stuff that we mention on the Global FlyFisher. We provide links where we can, but when we don't, try searching through Google or your preferred search engine.
It's not that difficult...
Martin
hi do you know any were i can buy one of these or the price of one thnx
Rolandas:
I enjoyed your stories immensely. You indeed sound a bit crazy, but in a good way. The world of fly fishing needs more craziness like yours to make sure the truly great spots are still available to folks with a greater sense of adventure than wallet.
I am a New Zealand guide presently in Patagonia, and I'm bumming around on a shoestring budget and would appreciate any phone numbers that could help make Lake Strobel a possibility. Please feel free to contact me if I can ever help you with a New Zealand trip, too.
This reminds me of the little Vermont brook that runs through my friend's family farm that we fished while we were growing up. Maybe two to three feet wide at it's widest point, it had a good supply of brook trout of the 5 to 8 inch class. Just dap a dry fly across the surface of the water or drift a nymph and let it be pulled by the current under the undercut bank. Then pull it out with one of these little gems attached. They were small and colorful and perfect, just like all trout should be.
I've caught and have seen much bigger specimens, but some of these trophy trout with their distended bellies are kind of ugly when compared to these jewels of nature you can only find in these tiny brooks that come down from the mountains to feed larger bodies of water.
It's important to always remember that both ends of the size spectrum are trophies, they just have different criteria.
That's a very neat fly. We have small sand-hoppers that live in the intertidal region of sandy beaches here in New Zealand that look exactly the same. I've been looking for a fly to tempt the very selective Sea Trout near my home in the lower Waikato river and I have tied a few of these with great hope (because nothing else has worked so far!! -These are the most difficult Trout to catch I've ever come across anywhere in the world).
hi, I`ve got very old english flies with cat intestine hook. I`ve got 30 with double hook and 20 with single hook. I can take some photographs...?
at first glance i did beleive these flies to be a bit intriguing, ( may be my bad taste or the artist in me) after further inspection they do seee a bit hastily made and crude. (kinda like an oil painting) you gotta give them about fifteen feet to see the beauty, ha ha!!!
Being a long time steelhead nympher, I've tied a lot of beaded hares ear's over the years, but this was the first time incorperating the biot body and tail sytem of this pattern. That immediately caught my attention, and lucky enough, that of some recent fall rainbows also. I found it a great little twist on one of those days when "Old Reliable", was having a bad day. Keep a few around for lunker smallmouth bass as well! An easy to tie and durable pattern. Ray Baxter, London Ontario
Dear Bob,
I am happy you like the fly.
I am sorry that I can not understand your first question, my english is not so good and sometimes I can not understand well what is written. If you are talking about how to make the loop for the body, perhaps you will find some answers in my previous post.
About your second question, If you want to imitate a Hydropsyche larva perhaps my pattern will help you but there is a little difference in the body.
My caddis larva is an imitation of a case caddis larva paterns (I do not know, may be you call it October Caddis) and have gills (as you see on the picture with the live insect) over the whole abdomen part of the body, all over the segments. The Hydropsyche larva's gills are more concentrated on the down side of the abdomen. The upper side of the abdomen have less gills and is smooth and perhaps you will need some smooth stretching tape material for the back, the same that are used for the classic czech (or as Percas said - SLOVAK) nymph patterns.
But if you do not pay so big attention to that as perhaps and the fish will not do as well, you may use green antron and pale yellow, grey, or even white hare's dubbing and make a variation of my caddis larva.
Best regards and greetings from Bulgaria!
Rado
Pawel,
We don't send anything anywhere... because we don't sell anything.
Direct your question to a dealer somewhere in Europe (or Poland!) and order your copy of this DVD from there.
Use Google or some other search engine to find it.
Martin
I just saw your caddis larva imitation and i think it looks just like the real thing.WOW....I am so going to tie these in sizes 12-18. I can't wait to use this fly on the famous mother's day caddis hatch on the arkansas river in colorado.about making the loop at the end when applying the hare's fur.out of one stand of antron, do you divide the stand in half and tie it in to form the body, helping you out at the end when dividing the fibers to form the loop. I know this may sound some what confusing, heck its already confusing myself. One more question, can i tie this in a caddis green antron and do you use a pale yellow hares mask dubbing or fur.if so can i still use with the caddis green imitation.
thank you,
Bob DeMoss
Denver,CO
Robert,
instead of using plastic, shell-back or the like for the shield, why not try using clear ultra hair or natural hair of some sort, coat it sparsly with epoxy, and you will have a structured back/head, strong, and coated.
You could also upload your tying steps in the forum and challenge all the GFF-visitors and see, who brings up the best idea.
Kasper
… I have a small favor to ask.
Support the Global FlyFisher through several different channels, including PayPal.
The Global FlyFisher has been online since the mid-90's and has been free to access for everybody since day one – and will stay free for as long as I run it.
But that doesn't mean that it's free to run.
It costs money to drive a large site like this.
See more details about what you can do to help in this blog post.