Dusting off the vise…

Spring is near. The Winter doldrums worse than usual. Tying some flies might rekindle the anticipation.

CDC bead head pattern…

This pattern is tied on a straight shanked hook, size 12 here. The trailing material is mylar tinsel for movement and flash in the upper strata. The body is a wound dubbing brush, but of course you could dub a similar body, in olive. The wing is a couple of stacked CDC feathers.  This pattern has done very well on rivers and lakes as a diving/emerging caddis imitation. This would be an equally good pattern without the bead and fished below the surface or in the film.

 

The Oracle Wet Fly

The Mirage: diaphanous CDC

“I noticed a…feather resting on the surface…going down with the current. A slight breeze was making it do small movements in the foam and the feather slid lightly on the water so as to make it look like a living thing.” Agostino Roncallo

I recently came upon a simple, enticing concept for a fly pattern at Tom Sutcliffe’s The Spirit of Fly Fishing called The Mirage by Agostino Roncallo. A single, delicate, buoyant CDC feather, the tying thread and the hook comprise the dry fly.

Delicate and may sustain some damage after a fish or two, but given the simplicity of the tie and the reputed effectiveness, who cares. Tie a row or two and dance along the surface. A delicate fly for selective and non-selective fish: trout/grayling

Agostino Roncallo first started tying this simple fly in the 90’s and later wrote about the magic properties of CDC: Cul de Canard

Photography: Macro Puzzles

I struggle for consistency with my macro photography. Sometimes it is there and other times it just isn’t. Today, I wanted to photograph a small (size 16) emerger pattern I simply call a ‘Puff’ given the wing material is called a CDC Puff Feather. I tried to present a contrast to the flies size by shooting it in front of a U.S. Quarter for a point of reference. The flash was dialed way down. Yet it still washed out. You still get an idea but not as crisply as I would have hoped. The beauty of the macro lens or magnifying goggles is one can readily see the faults of one’s tying (sloppy thread head/cut starling hackle for example).

 

Fly Tying: Simple Wet Fly to Tie

In honor of and in response to…the early season mayflies and caddis: a simple wet/flymph (I don’t want to debate what a flymph is picky fly tiers!) here is a simple to tie fly pattern. 

The fly can be fished in the film (surface) or sunk for a straight or swung retrieve.

The ‘recipe’ or pattern for this very simple fly is as follows:

Size 14 heavy wire hook

Size 8/0 thread, black

Tail:  A half dozen strands of Zelon fibers to represent a trailing shuck

Abdomen: A simple thread body wound forward, back and forward over the  Zelon fibers up to the thorax area

Thorax: A spun collar of tan CDC fibers (Duck Butt feathers that float well)

Wing: One plus turns of a Starling feather so the tips of the feather reach back to the abdomen area.

Fly Tying: Rusty CDC Caddis

Rusty CDC for the wings and legs give such suggestibility of life. The hackle added to the lower patterns gives a higher floatation in the surface film. Do not add floatant paste etc. to the CDC.