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.

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.

Ken Lockwood Streamer

A friend of mine recently introduced me to a old local pattern, the Ken Lockwood Streamer.  Ken Lockwood, was a outdoor enthusiast, conservationist, and journalist. Ken Lockwood's column in the Newark News was entitled "Out In The Open".  This daily column was featured in the Newark News for 35 years. "Out in the Open" was one of the earliest known outdoor columns. 

Thus it is befitting that one of the most beautiful wildlife management areas in New Jersey bears Ken Lockwood's name. This 260 acre tract of woodlands includes a two and one-half mile portion of the South Branch of the Raritan River.  This property has been part of the state's Green Acres program since his death in 1948.

I consider the South Branch of the Raritan River, particular the waters in the Ken Lockwood Gorge, my home river.  So I was particularly interested in this pattern that bears the name of the man that made this fishery possible.

I tied up a dozen earlier in the week and had a chance to get them wet today.  It turns out to be a great little streamer pattern.  It was neat to catch fish on a little known pattern from the 1930's on the very waters where it originated.

The Ken Lockwood Streamer

Recipe:

Hook:  4x long streamer hook of choice

Thread: 6/0 Black

Body: Red floss

Ribbing:  Gold tinsel

Wing: Black bucktail

Throat:  White bucktail or hackle

Cheek (optional): Jungle cock

The Ken Lockwood Streamer's First Victim

  

CJTU's Fly of the Month - May 2010

As some of you already know, I am the president of a New Jersey Trout Unlimited chapter, Central Jersey Trout Unlimited.  One of the most popular features of our monthly newsletter is the Fly of the Month.  All of these patterns are tied and submitted by our members.  Many of the flies are only known locally and some of our tiers especially this month's tier, Ron Ruskai, love to bring back long forgotten patterns.  I though I would share these patterns here as well.  

The Vampire (tied by Ron Ruskai)

This pattern originated in Maine, and is proven effective on lakes here in New Jersey.

Recipe:

Hook - 6X Long 8-4

Thread - Black 6/0

Tag - Flat silver tinsel

Body - Black Floss

Rib - Flat silver tinsel

Throat - White Calftail and red hackle fibers

Wing - Red Krystal Flash and red & black hackles

If you are interested,  I have put together a website listing the last few years of patterns submitted, CJTU Fly of the Month.  You can also directly access the fly of the month patterns through CJTU's website. 

The Blood Gill

This was a new streamer for me this past fall.  It proved to be a very effective pattern for brown trout in the later part of the season.  I just finished tying up a dozen to restock the streamer box for next year.

Recipe:
Hook:  4x long down eye streamer hook.  (I used a Mustad 79580)
Tail:  Olive marabou
Body:  Peacock crystal flash wrapped around the hook shank
Wing:  Olive/brown saddle feathers and six strands of peacock crystal flash
Overwing:  Chartreuse grizzly saddle hackle
Collar:  Red saddle hackle
Eyes:  Bead chain

Pancora Streamer

I saw this streamer pattern tied for the first time this summer during TU's national meeting in Michigan.  Unfortunately I lost my notes so I can't give the creater of the pattern the credit that he deserves.  This streamer was one of my top producers this fall.  The pattern was originally designed to target trout swimming in the waters of Patagonia and was tied to imitate the Pancora.  Pancora are a crustacean which sorta looks like a mix between a crab and a crayfish.  

Luckily the colors do a pretty good job matching our local crayfish species.  I fish this fly in a heavily weighted version and try and bounce it along the bottom.  It works well being stripped like a traditional streamer as well.

Recipe:

Hook:  Straight Eye Streamer 2-6

Cone: Gold tungsten

Weight: .35 lead wire

Tail:  Olive or orange marabou (orange version shown)

Body: Olive Estaz

Rib:  Gold wire

Wing:  Olive zonker strip - secured zonker style with the gold wire ribbing

Legs:  White round rubber

Collar:  I tie two versions olive metallic dubbing as pictured or red metallic dubbing