Fly Tying: The Feather Affair in Palm Springs

Oh, I do hate writing about this subject, that seemed the obligatory piece this past year or so….fly tying’s feather shortage ‘crisis’. I had noticed in the Portland area that the feather fashion craze had seemingly faded away, although you could still see the feather earrings and the rare feather insert into some young woman’s hair. While visiting the Village Fest, the Flea Mart last week in Palm Springs, and in numerous shops, I was struck by the wide availability of feathers this and that, as well as long strands of flashabou/krystal flash like products for hair insertions. 

This over priced Peacock monstrosity was one of several on display along with hundreds of feathered jewelry pieces by just one vendor amongst many I observed. Was this some marketing push in advance of the Coachella Fest?

Upon casually assessing some several thousand young women on Spring break, I don’t think I saw but a few with any feather earrings or hair insertions. There seems to be a large supply of feather adornments for sale…..but any demand? 

What was noticeable in this feather affair was the absence of high quality rooster feathers and the predominant use of lower grade feathers.

Fly Tying & Combo Thread: Segmented Bodies

This product has been out for a year or so, but I hadn’t seen it until I came upon a video demonstrating The Soft Hackle Midge Emerger by Craig Mathews at Blue Ribbon Flies. I have been using the tying thread for the body lately and then ribbing with a single strand of contrasting tying thread or fine wire. This Combo Thread, if offered in enough variety might be perfect. I am not sure, by the look of the spools, if a normal bobbin can be used? Appears to only come in 6/0? Worth a look see at Blue Ribbon Flies. Also, for the beginning tier…look at how Mathews ties in and wraps the feather. In the process of thread torque around the hook, the feather fans out nicely, as if wrapped in the conventional manner.

Fly Tying: Dubbing Redux’d Redux

I have linked to this fine piece re dubbing several times before, but I like to revisit it often and there is so much information here, I thought I would re-post it for the refresher and for beginners happening along…..UKFLYDRESSING: Dubbing Techniques

Fly Tying: Original Pheasant Tail Nymph

Looking at the original Frank Sawyer Pheasant Tail Nymph you see a different look than many of the PTN’s today: no thread, more copper wire and no peacock herl.

Frank Sawyer's Original Pheasant Tail Nymph tied here by Tom Sutcliffe

Looking at the Pheasant Tail (Russian Artist Vladimir Fedot)

Tom Sutcliffe’s How To’s on Tying the Original Sawyer Pheasant Tail Nymph with some informative background.

 Also, check out the comment section for a fine video by Hans Weilenmann c/o Norm Frechette.

Fly Tying: Attractor Materials

I was playing around with some materials that have a little zip to them, probably only where enough light penetrates the surface to ‘activate’ them. 

The first fly is a very standard nymph at first: Grizzly hackle fibers for the tail, a tan dubbed body of rabbit fur, but then I used some UV Ice Dub and created a small shroud around the thorax area. The razzle dazzle of that material could/would excite as the nymph would drift/rise near the surface. The material took on an amazing quality with just the available light, no flash.

The Roxy's Rainbow was at one time a favorite Central Oregon stillwater pattern. The abdomen is wound rainbow Krystal Flash, reinforced with fine copper wire. Peacock herl was used for thorax and in and of itself is a phenomenal material.

Sometimes a little flash is alright, but sometimes a lot a flash might just add some excitement beyond that darn matching the nymph…emerger….dry. Live a little.

Fly Tying: Macrame Caddis & FishNet Caddis

Nothing exceptional here. Basic pupa patterns that utilize the materials I found yesterday in a hoarding house. Tucked away in boxes since 1982, the materials  worked out just fine. An old macrame plant hanger from the 60′s & 70′s and a very old fish net were cut up for sections that formed the abdomens of the flies.

The two ply macrame yarn was cut for length and the yarn sections were separated. The piece of yarn was tied in at the mid section of the shank and wrapped back over toward the rear. The thread was advanced up to the end of the typical abdomen’s length. I then twisted the yarn tight like a Serendipity pattern and wrapped the yarn forward. The abdomen was completed at about the 2/3 point. The thread was half hitched off and cut. The bead was pushed back against the abdomen and then the thorax/head was dubbed for a spiky efffect.

The FishNet Caddis is a scraggly affair. Again, nothing too unique here beyond the fishing net used for the abdomen. In this instance the bead head is pushed against the eye of the hook and the deer hair thorax is wrapped in behind the bead and the abdomen.

Fly Tying: Prep and Tidying Up

I am a messy tier. Recently, I decided to tie some unweighted Woolly Buggers, mostly in the traditional earth (under water) tones. I had dark olive, light olive, brown, mottled brown and black marabou with the comparable hackle and sparkle chenilles, oh and the varied hooks.

As the days progressed, I tied with each color and combinations of colors but what I did was fail to stay with one pattern and tie enough of them and then put all those materials away and then go to the next color scheme. Instead, I mixed and matched and experimented and buried myself in marabou etc. Throw in the fact that Penny the Cat finagled her paws into a ziplock back and seized a Hoffman Chickaboo cape and a disaster ensued.  

I have been tying for a long time. This is silly stuff, that should be worked through after a couple seasons, but again the ‘get organized and prepped in advance’ admonition proves itself again.

Above, I have prepped the hooks and beads for some weighted Woolly Buggers. And, I am going to only pull from the ziplock bags the exact colors for the tail, body, hackle for each flight of Buggers. Think ahead, plan, tie and put away what you don’t need out for the next pattern.

 Oh, head cement. I had so much crap on the table top, I momentarily buried an open jar of head cement. I found it, as it tumbled over onto a nice dyed, barred grizzly half cape. What a weekend! Regrouping, lesson learned…again.

Fly Tying: Biot Hot Spot on a Bugger

Regard the ubiquitous Woolly Bugger…I make no apologies in promoting or using the fly. It just works. But, the last few years with the Woolly Bugger (Little Fort Leech) and the Lake Bait pattern, I used dyed hot red and hot green hackle fibers or dyed hot red marabou fibers either at the top of the tail, but shorter than the tail length or at the sides tied in at the head. I have been wanting to experiment with the side of the head spot for an attractor hot spot. In the Brown Buggers, below, I used a dyed red goose biot. I will explore the length, durability and success of the material. Remember, the hot spot here is for an unweighted fly, so the hot bead head is not an option. Of course, the two could be combined with a heavier weighted fly.

Woolly Bugger w/ Hot Red Goose Biot, Unweighted, Size 8

The Tried & Very True Little Fort Leech (Hot Spot On Top of Tail)

Fly Tying: The Simple Animation of CDC Fibers

CDC Buzzer Pattern by WW at http://www.mushki.ru/

This is a nice example of how a little bit of CDC goes a long ways. I have seen similar use beneath an Elk Hair Caddis pattern, giving extra live in the surface film. The CDC could be used for a trailing shuck, legs, emerging wings or antenna. Just busy yet simple.

Fly Tying: Mayfly Emerger

PG SUPER DUPER EMERGER FROM ARCTIC FLY FISH

This is a nice Mayfly Emerger pattern. Notice a couple things that are not offered up during the video, that lend to the success of the fly: The Krystal flash tail (notice the one thread wrap behind the tail segments that helps lift the tail upward and away from the bend; the biot abdomen, which provides a nice segmented abdomen (how the biot is tied in determines how the body will wrap…segmented or smooth); the CDC wing/legs were at first maintained in a paper clamp before being inserted into the dubbing loop and spun (that is not evident in the video to the untrained eye). I think those few clarifications will make the clip more understandable for the beginning fly tier.

Image from Moscofilia