The Golden Retriever

I was introduced to this simple pattern in Grand Lake Stream, Maine.  In the Pine Tree General Store, next to the cash register in a plastic cup, was a half a dozen of these flies.  The gal at the counter informed me that the local landlocked salmon population went crazy over this fly.  I was skeptical to say the least, but I wanted to be polite so I snatched up three and added them to my small pile of Barnes Specials and other traditional New England feather winged streamers I picked from their fly bins.

Throughout the week, every time I opened my fly box to select another streamer, this goofy little fly caught my attention.  It was so unlike the other streamer patterns that had proven themselves on this stream.  The more I looked at this fly, the more I felt I was duped by the young lady at the cash register.  No worries, I could always use them back home to catch bluegills.

One afternoon, the landlocked salmon developed a severe case of lock jaw.  Nothing I threw at them would elicit a strike.  When I opened my streamer box for the umpteenth time that day, the golden retriever fell out.  I managed to snatch it out of the air before it hit the water.  With the fly now in my hand I figured “what the hell”, so I tied it on.  Once the fly was wet, the first thing I noticed was the red underbody that shining through the golden yellow Estaz body.  This went un-noticed when I first purchased the flies.  The fly definitely had a different look when it was wet.   I was intrigued.

Within a few casts I was tight to a scrappy 17” salmon.  Then another and another…  What started as a pretty crappy afternoon of fishing turned into one of my best days on the river.  This versatile fly caught fish dead drifted or retrieved, fished like a nymph or a streamer.  I found it performed best when fished like a streamer with an active retrieve.  However,  I caught fish dead drifting the pattern as well.

By the day's end, I had lost two flies and the last one, still tied to my leader, was a shell of its former self.  On the way back to the cabin I stopped by the General Store just as they were closing, but to my dismay the little plastic cup by the cash register was empty.  I took the battered fly back to the cabin and carefully dissected it.  The fly could not be easier to tie.  Hook, lead under body, gold bead, marabou tail, red thread and Estaz, thats it!

When I returned home I quickly tied up a dozen for my next trip up north.  Not wanting to wait until my next trip to Maine I used them on my local waters.  Trout ate them up and many a farm pond crappie fell to its charms.  When I tried to research the origins of the fly I was not surprised to learn that it appears to have been developed by several different tiers in different parts of the country but most sources point to a tier by the name of Jim Finn.  The pattern is also tied with other colors of Estaz including white, pink, peach, and root beer, but the red thread remains the same.

The Golden Retriever

The Golden Retriever

The Pattern: UV Peach Version

Hook:  3x long streamer size 8 or 10
Bead:  Gold brass or tungsten sized to hook
Underbody:  .020 or .025 lead wire
Tail: Ginger marabou
Body: 210 denier waxed red UTC thread
“Hackle”: UV Peach Estaz palmered over thread body with a 1/8 inch gap so the red underbody shines through.

Blue Wing Olives

As I mentioned in a previous post, New Jersey has been experiencing a very mild winter.  Normally by this time of year we are in full winter fishing mode.  Days on the water are limited to the few days when the daytime temps creep above freezing and the river is free of ice.  This year we are still seeing water temperatures in the mid to high forties even hitting fifty degrees on some days.  Over the Christmas season we regularly saw daytime temperatures near seventy degrees!  In a nutshell, what this means is the fishing has been better than normal.  Higher water temps mean more active, feeding fish.

This fall and continuing into early winter, one of my go to patterns have been Beatis imitations commonly known as Blue Wing Olives.  These patterns have been producing far longer into the year than normal.  Typically this time of year the only insects we are likely to see are midges.  With all this mild weather I am continuing to see regular Baetis activity, particulary on overcast days.
Although there has been some surface activity, most of my fish have been coming below the film fishing nymph and emerger patterns.  I'm sure all this will finally come to an end with the cooler temperatures in the forecast, but it was good while it lasted.

 I'll leave you with an example of one of the Beatis nymph patterns that produced very well in recent weeks.  I discovered the pattern years ago while fishing the San Juan River in New Mexico.  I liberated it from the jaw of a large rainbow trout, took it home, duplicated it on my vise and have been using it ever since.

Baetis/Blue Winged Olive Nymph

Pattern Recipe: 

Hook:  TMC300R  size 18-24

Tail: 3 Pheasant tail fibers tied short (hook gap in length.

Body: 16/0 Olive Thread

Shellback:  Pheasant tail fibers from tail

Rib:  Olive thread

Thorax:  Black antron fibers

Legs:  Fibers from thorax spit and tied to the sides

Chimarra Caddis Larva

Chimarra Caddis Larva 

This bright orange/yellow caddis larva can be an important food source on some waters in my area during the late winter and early spring months.  As far as caddis larva go it is one of the smallest I will bother to imitate.  I tie them on a 3x short hook in sizes 16 & 18, but I know folks tie them smaller (typically 18-20).  The short shank hook allows me to maintain a good hook gap but still keep the body appropriately sized.

I was able to get out this week and enjoy some of the unseasonable warm weather.  This pattern and small patterns with bright orange hot spots produced well, indicating that the fish may be seeing some of these larva already.

Pattern Recipe:
Hook:  3x short larva hook
Thread:  8/0 Hot or Fire Orange for body/Brown for head
Under Body: Orange thread
Markings:  Black marker on thread before wrapping floss
Abdomen: Yellow floss spiraled up hook shank allowing the underbody to show
Thorax: Brown thread
Legs:  Squirrel dubbing

Tying Instructions:

• Cover the hook shank with orange thread wrapping down the bend of the hook, building up a thicker area over the barb of the hook.  
• Tie in a piece of yellow floss at the bend of the hook and advance the thread to the eye, whip finish and cut off.
• Attach brown thread at the hook eye
• Dot the back of the fly with a black marker a few times
• Advance the floss towards the eye in open spirals allowing the orange underbody to show through and tie off at the hook eye.
• Dub a small about of squirrel fur on thread and create the flies legs by making several wraps, pulling the fibers down after each wrap
• Create a neat thread head, whip finish and cut off thread.
• Apply a small drop of clear cure goo to the top of the thorax and cure with a UV light to keep the fibers pointing downward

Once this pattern gets wet the colors will change closely resembling that of the natural insect.

A healthy winter brown trout taken on a Chimarra larva pattern

Golden Stonefly Nymph

Golden Stone 

This pattern has been particularly effective over the last few weeks.  Many of our local streams have seen an emergence of large stone flies in late May. Trout have been keying in on these large nymphs as they move towards the shore to crawl onto to the bank in the evenings to molt into winged adult stoneflies. 

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: Tiemco 200R (size 8-10)

Bead: Tungsten brown or black (3/16" for size 8)

Thread: Danville 210 denier white

Underbody: 8 wraps .30 lead wire

Tail: Goose biots (golden yellow)

Abdomen: Tapered thread underbody tinted with olive brown on top and golden yellow on bottom, covered with yellow or clear vinyl d-rib (medium)

Rib: Medium black wire 

Thorax: Synthetic or natural dubbing in a golden stone color to match the natural

Wing case:  Two Pheasant "church window" feather cut with a wing burner.

Legs: Round rubber (solid or barred)

Tying Instructions:

Although this pattern calls for a lot of materials it is relatively easy to tie.  

Begin by mounting the bead and placing 8 wraps of the lead wire on the hook shank, pushing it up against the bead to hold it in place.  Place a drop of head cement or super glue over the lead wraps.  

Mount your thread behind the lead and wrap towards the bend of the hook, where you will tie in you split biot tail, wire ribbing and vinyl d-rib.  

Next build up a tapered thread body and cover the lead wire with thread wraps.  Once your underbody is formed, tint the thread with the markers, dark on top, light on the bottom.  

Form the abdomen by wrapping the d-rib forward with tight touching wraps stretching the material slightly as you wrap it.  Tie it off at the start of the lead wire. If you wrap it with the flat side of the material against the hook shank you will get a nice segmented appearance.

Next, wind the black wire rib forward allowing the wire to fill the grooves between the d-rib. 

For the thorax apply dubbing to the thread and dub half of the remaining space on the hook shank behind the bead.  

On top of the hook shank tie and the dubbing you just applied tie in one of the wing case feathers.  

Apply additional dubbing to the thread and dub right up to the bead.  

Next tie in the final wing case feather and tie in the rubber legs on each side of the fly.  Apply a small amount of dubbing to cover your thread wraps and whip finish and apply head cement if desired.

Golden Stone (alternate view)

Getting Down Deep - The Cased Caddis Anchor

Cased Caddis Anchor

Faced with the prospect of high water flows on the season opener this weekend, I spent a few hours working on a few anchor fly patterns.  I was inspired to tie this particular pattern by my three year old son.  He was walking around the house with a piece of chartruese colored nylon twine around his neck.  Not wanting him to string himself up I took it away from him.  As I was getting ready to throw it away, I realized it would make a perfect larva head for a peeking caddis pattern.  A jig hook, large facetted/slotted tungsten bead, a lead underbody, grouse hackle for legs and a spiky hares ear body complete the package.  A basic peeking caddis pattern but this one has some serious weight behind it!

The Little Dark

As promised,  here is a little more information on the this "new" pattern.  Last fall I started playing around with a few small dark colored generic nymph imitations.  Using Fly DK synthetic quill material as a abdomen allowed for a neat trim profile.  A little silver wire for ribbing, synthetic peacock dubbed thorax for a buggy apperance, a strip of mylar for the wing case adds a little flash and a black tungsten bead to supply the weight and the Little Dark was born.  This pattern has quite a bit of flash to it.  The Fly DK Pearl synthetic quill abdomen gives it iridescence and the silver wire and mylar wing case add quite a bit of sparkle. 

The first two trips of the year as yielded excellent results for this new pattern.  The river at the time was seeing a lot of small black stone fly activity which may have accounted for its success.  I will have to see if it continues to produce through out the year.

Recipe:
Hook: 2xlong nymph hook size 14-18
Bead:  Black tungsten
Thread:  Black 6/0 Danville
Tail:  Dyed black pheasant tail fibers
Ribbing:  Small silver wire
Abdomen:  Fly DK Pearl Synthetic Quill
Thorax:  Synthetic peacock dubbing
Wing case:  Mylar

If you need a source for the DK synthetic quill check out Performance Flies.  Kevin is a great guy to deal with and has always been my source for this fantastic fly tying material.

The Pheasant Tail Anchor

I thought I would share the details on this incredibly effective pattern.  I have mentioned it a few times on this site but have never really given a pattern recipe for it.  I am constantly amazed how well this disproportionate fly performs.  The tungsten bead on the head of this fly is three or four times the size it should be.

I tie it in two basic versions, one with a gold bead and one with a black bead and small orange hot spot.

Pheasant Tail Anchor - Gold Bead

Pheasant Tail Anchor - Black Bead

I should mention that I mainly fish this fly as part of a Polish or Czech nymph rig.  With my normal three fly set up, this pattern would be tied in the middle or anchor position.  It is the heaviest of the three flies and helps bring all of the patterns down to where the fish are.

A few quick notes on tying this pattern:

1. A slotted bead is a must!  It is the only way you will get a bead this size on a #12 hook.  You must be careful on how you position this bead on the hook.  Slide it up and away from the hook point so you don't impede the hook gap and possible reduce the hooking ability of the fly.  A drop of super glue in the slot will hold in place if you need to.
2. Tie the body as slim as possible, 6-8 fibers of pheasant tail is all you need.  I ensure I have a smooth under body which will often take a quite a few wraps of thread to close the gap between the hook shank and the lead under body in the thorax area.  Don't allow too much thread to build up, you want a slim tapered under body on which to wrap the pheasant tail.  I wrap the pheasant tail straight on without twisting with helps keeps that slim profile.
3. Feel free to experiment with the legs.  The pattern fishes well as described here but may be even more effective with a few turns of rust brown CDC at the collar.  I tie the pattern both ways.  Feel free to omit the legs all together.  They are usually the first things chewed off the pattern after a few fish and the fly continues to work!

Pheasant Tail Anchor Recipe:
Hook:  Size 12 Dai-Riki 730  (2x long nymph hook)
Bead:  3/16 gold, faceted & slotted tungsten bead
Weight:  8 wraps of .020 lead wire (under the thorax area)
Wing case:  Peacock green mylar
Thorax:  Peacock herl
Legs:  8 pheasant tail fibers (4 off each side)
Ribbing:  Small gold wire
Abdomen:  Peacock tail fibers from the tail
Tail:  Peacock tail fibers (6-8)

Delektable Lil' Spanker

If I ever cross paths with Ben Romans I am gonna buy that man a beer!  I have been working my way through his book Montana's Best Fly Fishing.  In his section on the Madison River he mentions this fly.  I tied up a dozen and got them wet this weekend.  This pattern out fished everything else I fished two to one so it has earned a permanent spot in my box.  You can find a review on the book on the Chronicle Outdoors blog.

Here is the pattern as described in the book.

Hook:  #14-18 Tiemco 5262
Thread:  Brown 6/0 Danville
Bead: Gold
Tail:  Eight fibers of mallard dyed woodduck gold
Body:  Six fibers of brown pheasant tail, covered in super glue (I omitted the super glue)
Rib:  Counter wrapped gold wire
Thorax:  Peacock Ice Dub
Wing case/legs:  Light blue dun midge flash
Hackle:  Natural gray CDC
Collar:  Dark Hare's Ear Plus dubbing

The Line Up

Finally made it out on the water today and these were the top producers of the day.  The second fly from the top was a new fly (for me) and really produced well.  You'll have to wait a day or two for the details...

Tuxedo Nymph

Tuxedo Nymph

Recipe:

Hook:  Standard Nymph Hook size 14 or 16 

Thread:  8/0 black

Tail:  Black and white barred feather fibers like teal or gadwall flank feathers, even finely barred grizzly hackle will work in a pinch

Ribbing: Small silver wire

Abdomen:  Black synthetic dubbing

Thorax:  White ostrich herl

Bead:  Black (glass, brass or tungsten)

I have only been fishing this nymph for a few seasons but it has produced well.  I would categorize it as a general attractor nymph since it does not really imitate any specific food form.  The idea for the pattern came from flies like the prince nymph, I believe the contrast of the dark body and the white wings on that fly contribute to its effectiveness.  The contrasting black and white color scheme on this pattern maximizes that contrast..  I will often fish this fly as part of a team of flies employing various euro-nymphing techniques.

I usually tie the fly as indicated in the pattern recipe however on the fly pictured I tied it on a 2x short #12  Gamakatsu S10-2S hook.  It has the hook shank of a #14 but the hook gap of the larger #12.  This should improve the holding ability for landing the larger fish that live in my home stream. 

Variation on a Theme...The Warmwater Chub

Bob Jacklin's South Branch Chub

One of my favorite streamers for my local waters is Bob Jacklin's South Branch Chub.  Bob Jacklin resides in West Yellowstone, Montana and owns and operates Jacklin's Fly Shop.  Bob grew up in New Jersey and spent a lot of time fishing my home river the South Branch of the Raritan.  He developed a trim little streamer pattern called the South Branch Chub which proved deadly on this and other local rivers.  When he moved out west he took his patterns with him and they worked well in the Yellowstone region as well.

When I first tied this pattern it introduced me to a new fly tying material, Monga Ringtail.  Monga Ringtail is a wide striped (bared black & white) tail with average hair length of about 2".  It makes for outstanding streamer hair wing flies.  The fur is fine, easy to work with and has great action in the water.  The length of the hair it limits its usage to smaller streamers, which is possibly the reason it is not more popular as a fly tying material.

One of my most effective streamers last year for crappies and large mouth bass was a small streamer loosely based on this pattern. The fly retains the teal feather and black & white monga ringtail wing, but it is tied fuller and lacks the dubbing wax coating. The South Branch Chub is tied very sparse and the fibers are slicked back with a light coating of wax.  Changes were made to the body material, a red throat was added and doll eyes and an epoxy head replaced the fragile and expensive jungle cock.

The Warmwater Chub

I have never fished it as a trout fly but as a warmwater pattern it excels.  Pickerel, Bass and Crappie jump all over this streamer.

Recipe:

Hook: #8 TMC 777SP
Thread: Black UTC 140 denier
Body:  Pale Olive Bug Yarn
Throat:  Red hackle fibers
Wing:  Black over White Monga Ringtail
Over Wing:  Teal feather fibers
Eyes:  Small doll eyes coated with epoxy

This year I have been tying this pattern substituting Clear Cure Goo for the epoxy and have found it to be a great substitute.  I like to give it a finishing coat of clear nail polish to avoid stickiness you sometimes get with UV cured products.

Another way to add color...

A more subtle way to add an attractor color to the fly is to add a little thread dam before mounting the bead on the hook.  I like this method better than adding a band of color behind the bead.

Recipe:
Hook:  Scud 14-16
Thread:  Fire Orange 6/0 Uni
Bead:  Gold tungsten
Abdomen:  Turkey tail fibers
Ribbing:  Gold tinsel
Thorax:  Hares ear dubbing with extra guard hairs added

Aaron Jasper's Fire Fly

The Fire Fly

This is a new pattern for the box this year, although I have tied and fished very similar patterns I like this particular fly a lot.  At the International Fly Tying Symposium I ran into my friend Aaron Jasper.  Aaron, who is become well known as a master of Euro Nymphing techniques, was tying this pattern.  I like the looks of it so I added a dozen of them to this year's box.  I have only fished it for a few weeks but it has been fishing well enough to earn it a compartment in "the box".  

Aaron Will be releasing a new DVD this month entitled European Nymphing Techniques and Fly Tying  I plan on reviewing this video on the blog once it becomes available so stay tuned.

Aaron Jasper's Fire Fly

Rather than post the recipe you can see the originator tie it himself.  My buddy Lou from the Fly and Fin blog posted a video of Aaron tying this pattern at the show.  

The Nymph Box - Hot Beads

Hot Bead Nymph

Another way to add some color to a fly pattern is a "hot bead".  You can now find fluorescent beads in both brass and tungsten in what ever colors you desire.  Some of my favorite colors for these Euro patterns are hot orange, red, & chartreuse.  This blue wing olive nymph is transformed into an attractor pattern with the addition of a hot orange tungsten bead.

Recipe:
Hook:  Scud size 14-16
Bead:  Tungsten (hot orange) sized according to hook
Thread:  Brown 8/0 Uni
Tail:  Brown hackle fibers
Abdomen:  Olive biot
Ribbing: X-small black wire
Thorax:  Hares ear dubbing
Wing Case:  Black thin skin

Another variation on a hot spot micro-nymph

Micro Hot Spot Nymph

This pattern is very similar to the one in the previous post.  Substituting materials makes this version a much brighter fly with more flash.


Pattern Recipe:

Hook: DOHIKU bead hook (14-16 can substitute a standard scud hook)
Bead:  Gold tungsten
Tail:  Woodduck flank fibers
Hotspot:  Hot Orange Uni 6/0
Ribbing:  Synthetic pearl quill
Abdomen:  Synthetic brown quill
Thorax:  Synthetic peacock " eye"dubbing (it has a gold tint to it that does not pick up well in the photo)

Back to the box...

Hot Butt Micro Nymphs

The next group of flies I refer to as Micro Nymphs.  They really don't represent any particular species of aquatic insect.  The flies are small and buggy looking, never larger that a 14 or smaller size 22.  I will fish these flies in the point position or on a dropper on a three fly rig.  They need a substantial anchor fly to bring them down in swift water.  I will also fish them on a long spanish or french style leader in skinny water especially in the low flows of fall and early winter.

Hot Butt Micro Nymph

Pattern Recipe:


Hook: DOHIKU bead hook (14-16 can substitute a standard scud hook)
Bead:  Black tungsten
Tail:  Woodduck flank fibers
Hotspot:  Hot Orange Uni 6/0
Ribbing:  Synthetic pearl
Abdomen:  Turkey tail fibers
Thorax:  Synthetic peacock dubbing

The Box...

Pink Czech Nymphs

Another compartment in one of my Czech nymph boxes that needed to be filled is the one that held Pink Czech Nymphs.  For reasons known only to the fish, this particular color combination was particularly effective this past season.  I tie four variations of this pattern, tan back or pearl flash back with either a bead head or thread head.  Interestingly enough, my friend Lou from Fly and Fin posted about a Bugs of the Underworld video segment that appeared to show a caddis larva with a pinkish hue.  I know he does well on the same water with a similar pink grub.

Pink Czech Nymph
Hook:  Knapek Czech nymph hook size 12 or 14
Thread:  Uni 6/0 brown
Bead:  Black tungsten (optional)
Underbody: Sticky back lead tape
Shell Back:  Tan Thin Skin or pearl flash back
Rib (inner):  Small gold wire
Rib (outer): Small red wire
Abdomen:  Pink UV pink Ice Dub
Hot Spot: Yellow synthetic dubbing
Thorax:  Olive and black hares ear dubbing
Gills:  Light gray after shaft feather

Another Peek in the Nymph Box...

Big Bead Flashback Pheasant Tail

This odd looking fly is one of my all time top producers.  Another anchor fly this pattern was originally designed to bring other flies on a Czech nymph rig to the bottom.  The shocker was that it almost always out produced the other flies in the set.  I tie it in two versions the flashy gold bead version shown above and a more subdued version with a black bead and hot spot (shown below).  A slotted tungsten bead is essential to this pattern.  It will allow mounting an oversized bead on a smaller hook and you can position the bead so it will not interfere with the hook gap.  This fly also has a couple turns of .20 lead wire on it that helps hold the bead in place.  In a word...HEAVY!

The Big Bead Flashback Pheasant Tail

Hook:  Dai Riki 730 size 12

Bead: 3/16" Slotted Tungsten (gold or black/faceted or smooth)

Thread: Uni 6/0 brown

Rib: Gold wire

Tail:  Pheasant Tail fibers

Abdomen:  Pheasant Tail fibers

Thorax:  Peacock herl

Flashback:  Green flashabou

If you look through some of my fish images on this site you will see this fly hanging off a lot of fish lips! 

A Peek Into The Nymph Box...

I had high hopes of getting out several times over the holiday weekend but a nasty cold kept me close to home.  So instead of fishing I started my late season fly tying in earnest.  I have loads of near empty fly boxes that need refilling and a few new patterns to add to the arsenal.

I did get out the day after Thanksgiving but I paid for it dearly over the weekend.  The fly that produced the best that day was a anchor pattern inspired by fly tier Kevin Compton owner of Performance Flies.  This slim pattern sinks like a rock and is an effective fish catcher.  Dubbed the "Copper Bead" by my friend Aaron Jasper, one of the founders of Trout Predator Online, it is now one of my go to flies for fish holding in deeper fast water.

"The Copper Bead"

The Copper Bead

Hook:  DOHIKU model 302 size 6-12
Bead:  Copper tungsten
Thread: Brown 6/0 Uni
Tail:  Wood duck fibers
Rib: Pearl synthetic ribbing
Abdomen:  Hares ear dubbing mixed with copper flash or copper metallic dubbing (dub the body as thin as possible with slight taper.
Thorax:  "Tiger Beetle" (black/orange) zelon dubbing

The End of the Rainbow

End of the Rainbow

This simple pattern has proven deadly of rainbow trout.  After years of this fishing this pattern it has caught nothing but rainbow trout.  No browns, no brookies only rainbows and quite a few at that.

Pattern:

Hook: Standard Nymph size 12-16

Bead: Tungsten

Thread: Grey 6/0 uni

Body:  Tapered body of gray uni-stretch, gray floss or gray thread

Rib: Small gold wire

Thorax:  UV pink ice-dub