THE FLY FISHING FORUM…NICE TYING TIPS
Archive for July, 2010
At first, I was going to make some attempt at humor re this young kid’s post dental, drug induced brain fizz. Then as I watched it, I had a few different feelings: I felt dizzy; I got a little bit annoyed at the dad, who seemed to be recording a drunken friend at a party rather than his young son; I got annoyed at seat belts; then I thought…I want some of that without the dental work & stitches…then I remembered that head spinning, dizzy, I’m gonna puke feeling.
David After Dentist, posted with vodpod
Been tying more with CDC of late and fishing it more. I love the low in the film quality this material imparts to flies. I was experimenting with a simple pattern. Nothing unique…but it is effective. Call it what you will…emerger…dun…(I was going to say hairwing dun, but the wing is not elk or deer hair). At any rate, this pattern has been working in the midst of caddis and mayflies and I am going to continue to experiment with it. I tied one with a dubbed thorax and one without. You can see by the cant of the wing how that influences the wing angle. The wings are a touch long. They probably don’t need to extend back past the bend of the hook. Notice on the second pattern that I rolled the Antron tail off the top. This was not visible to the eye…the lens detects such slips. The bottom of the hackle could be clipped short to float the fly even lower in the film. I wanted to build up a thread abdomen with the 8/0 thread. That was ok, but once I tied in the CDC, I maybe should have used 14/0 thread to tie in the hackle and finish off the thread head. Not too inspiring, but that is the point…experimenting. Fine tuning. Trying something different. Part of the fun. Just sharing the less than perfect. All fishable, but not pretty.
CDC Emergers (SwittersB)
The hook is a size 18, down eye (I photographed a pack of straight eye, I didn’t know I even purchased); 8/0 olive thread for the abdomen and overall tie, dark green Antron for tail; BWO dubbing for thorax; CDC for wing and medium dun hackle.
Materials for CDC Emerger (SwittersB)
CDC Emerger (SwittersB)
SwittersB
SwittersB
Odd CDC Wing (SwittersB)
SwittersB
Interesting post re turtles and female ‘midges’ that require blood supplying host for reproduction.
“Female midges need blood for protein to produce eggs; males eat flower nectar. To our knowledge, we do not have any biting midges at Hilton Pond that attack humans (or mammals in general?), so the insects on the turtles may be a large midge species that specifically needs reptiles as blood hosts.” Yellowbelly Slider Turtles and Midges
Yellow Belly Slider (www.hiltonpond.org)
29
Jul
10
3 Legged Gator in St. Pete Canal
Across the nation, from bears in Montana, a three legged ‘gator is lurking in a canal behind a meat market in St. Petersburg, Florida. Oh, just in case you want to make sure you have the right 13′ gator, it is the right front leg that is missing.
“Mahmoud Said, 23, owns Tony’s Meat Market, which is in a strip mall in the 1200 block of Fourth Street South, next to the canal where the alligator frequently is seen. “It’s a big one,” he said. “They’re actually more than one.” On his cell phone he has a picture of the dismembered remains of a dog left in the water by the alligator Monday. msnbc
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Yesterday, state fish and wildlife officials granted him a 007-like “license to kill:” permission to shoot the gator on sight. “I don’t really want to think of it like that,” Carpenter says chuckling, “But I can see the analogy.” Until now, local laws made it illegal to discharge a weapon anywhere in Pinellas County. So Carpenter asked FWC for special permission. They discussed the urgency of the situation with officials in Pinellas County, and the special shoot-to-kill exception was granted.” WTSP News
It is a bit freaky, being from the NW, to read a series of headlines, that are probably common place to folks in the SE: Huge Alabama Gator..a 10-foot alligator bit off a man’s hand…11-foot alligator was lounging on her front stoop…a 10-foot alligator wandered onto the road and refused to move.
Of course, this may not just be a SE problem: “It was at another open manhole, about nine miles away on East 123rd Street in Manhattan, that teenagers shoveling snow one February day in 1935 did, in fact, see one in a city sewer, or said they saw one. They pulled up a sickly, 125-pound, 8-foot alligator with some clothesline they borrowed from a nearby stove shop, only to kill it with their shovels after it snapped at one of the boys. “Alligator Found In Uptown Sewer,” read the headline in The New York Times.” NY Times
Ok, I promise I won’t now discuss sharks off Cape Cod or Stinging Jelly Fish.
Watching naturalist Jack Hanna describe his encounter with grizzlies in Montana in the after math of another, deadly bear attack in Montana. Maybe rare, but given his degree of expertise with animals and how sobering he said it was…I hope to avoid such an encounter. I have come across blacks in B.C. and browns near Sitka. Those were edgy enough for me, with a car somewhat close. Being up on a steep slope with family really reduces ones odds….pepper spray or not. I like the headline: “Jack Hanna: Zookeeper shoos away Glacier grizzly“.
In the interview I saw, Hanna said he and others encountered the bears on a cliff side near a sizable drop. They backed down a trail for a considerable distance, as a female and two almost grown cubs backed them up. Hanna and his entourage ended up in a meadow. The female veered away. But a Grizzly male (one of the ‘cubs’?) charged Hanna. Several sprays of pepper spray distracted the bear and he turned away.
“At least one bear rampaged through a heavily occupied campground Wednesday near Yellowstone National Park in the middle of the night, killing one person and injuring two others during a terrifying attack that forced people to hide in their cars as an animal tore through tents.” Soda Butte CG Bear Attack. Apparently food or provocation was not suspected as a motivating/triggering factor in the attack.
I tied a few of these this weekend and received a comment (Josh McFadden @ hatchhunters.com) that I shouldn’t use an under layer of chenille, or anything but flattened lead and multiple layers of the wrapped condom. I experimented, based upon those suggestions, and it was a better result. Also, I used an orange condom rather than red (I haven’t tried the Vladi Pink). I liked the color potential here. The darker central portion was the securing thread wraps over the flattened lead. After quite a few thread wraps the black thread shows through. If I wanted to lose that affect, I might choose a different color thread. Not sure I want to.
Condom Worm (Orange Condom) SwittersB
Condom Worms (Bent Shanks) SwittersB
25
Jul
10
Fly Fishing: Wotton Leader Knot
WOTTON LEADER KNOT (SMALL & TIGHT)
“Fly Fishing Is The Most Fun You Can Have With Your Clothes On”
Flugfiskeklubben Rättviksflugan
Some time ago, I highlighted the Vladi Worm, whose primary characteristic is the use of a condom. I had not tied it, but did go buy the materials…condoms. The pattern is usually depicted in pink. I sorted through a condom bin, much to the counter guys interest. I didn’t try to explain. I found red, orange, dark green, yellow and black. I bought the squishy little packets and tucked them away. I decided to try tying the ‘pattern’ as I recalled it was not as easy to tie as one would think. It isn’t hard, but my observations will help you avoid my fumbles.
Condom Worm by SwittersB
I selected a TMC 5263, a 2x heavy & 3x long, size 6 hook with a straight eye. I could probably leave well enough alone, but I did two things to the hook. I gently canted the point away from alignment beneath the shank to give it an offset look, then I gently put a slight bend in the shank about 1/3 of the way back from the eye.
I attached the thread (black…more about that later). It could be 3/0 to 8/0. Then I wrapped lead around the shank to give the fly enough weight to get down quickly.
I over wrapped the wrapped lead with thread wraps and added a coat of head cement. Then I worked the thread back to the bend of the hook. I then tied in a red copper ribbing (medium thick), a tuft of red marabou for a short, fluffy tail and a piece of red chenille (medium thick).
I wrapped the thread up to the eye of the hook, then wrapped the chenille up to the eye. I was going to put a small tuft of red marabou at the eye also. I forgot. I tied off the chenille and knew I had to wrap the thread back over the chenille to the bend again. The black thread jumped out in contrast. I figured no biggy it will be covered up.
I took the red condom and removed the condom. There was no skimping on the lube. I recalled that the condom could be cut in half and then halved again. The rolled up rim is thick and not easy to cut with normal fly tying scissors. Use something heavier and careful as the lube makes the scissors slide a bit toward your fingers if not careful.
In this position the rim is not easy to cut.
The condom, once cut, immediately straightens out and should be cut in half yet again.
This is a 1/4 section of the condom stretched out. The lube makes cutting through the latex a bit tedious as your fingers become slathered in the lube. This also was transferred to the marabou tail, which may have become minimized because of the lube. I had envisioned the marabou (front and rear) adding movement and a suggestion of life. Also, the 1/4 section of condom was more than enough for a size 6 hook. The quarter maybe should be trimmed even smaller for any smaller hooks.
I tied in the condom at the bend, where the red copper rib remained. I wound the condom up to the eye, back to the bend and again back up to the eye where it was tied off. A couple things were evident: the black thread was visible even after three layers of condom. Also, the wraps of chenille were possibly irregular so the condom filled the grooves and created a less than smooth surface. Consequently, when I attempted to wrap the red ribbing up the hook over the condom, the ribbing danced around a bit. Not an entirely bad look, considering it will be tumbling in rapids. Also, the black thread looks like some kind of markings. Not too bad.
Condom Worm by SwittersB
Look at that pathetic little marabou tail, slathered in lube. The ribbing is a bit uneven, ok more than a bit. But that dark veiny look beneath is interesting. Something to keep in mind: when you pull the condom tight before securing it with thread wraps at the eye, remember the condom is under tension. If the thread wraps are not tight, the condom may snap out away from beneath the thread wrap from the tension. So, this my first effort. I am going to experiment with other colors too. Certainly not as good as the Vladi Worm (too chunky/plump?), but hey, that is fly tying. Incremental improvements.
Ok. another effort. Different bend to the hook, green comdom and olive green ribbing. Sparkle chenille base, which kind of shows through the wrapped condom. More slender profile and I put less lead on and toward the rear of the shank. Maybe a little better. Still a size 6 hook.
Green Slippery Condom Worm (SwittersB)
