Spruced up….

A variation of the streamer fly pattern called a Spruce Fly…

Sprucing Things Up……….

This coming year, I intend to Spruce things up more. To start, while searching the depths of streams, rivers and lakes, I intend to use the Spruce fly and other streamer/baitfish patterns more than I have. Of course, the Woolly Bugger complies with this intention to some degree, but even then I don’t use it as a baitfish imitation (in my mind’s eye). 

Spruce Fly

This is not an advocacy piece. It seems many fly fishers often use streamer/baitfish patterns. I seem to have some how never fully committed to their use. I have tied sculpin patterns, Muddler Minnows, Spruce flies, Matuka’s and assorted concoctions of rabbit and such for Bass. But, they are always a side experiment.

I suppose if I was searching for Brown’s I would more often use such patterns. But I don’t come across Brown Trout that much. But, the biggest Trout I have ever caught (13#, Central Oregon lake, 1995) came to a Spruce Fly. I have made this commitment several times over the years, but somehow fail to follow through.

Don’t try to figure out the photo. I am not sure why my son staged the fly with an old silver bracelet. But, there’s the Spruce Fly he tied.

Brushed Leech Pattern: Dubbed & Brushed Out

I started tying this leech pattern back in 2008 after seeing renowned B.C. stillwater angler Brian Chan demonstrating the pattern. I highlighted the pattern in 2008 and then again in 2009 on SwittersB.

I have started tying up more of the pattern for next year. I was down to less than a dozen of the flies. They are a good pattern for lakes and rivers, fished like a streamer pattern. A dubbing brush of longer synthetic fibers can be spun and dubbed, then wrapped around the shank and brushed backward. Also, strands of the dubbing fibers can be tied in, starting at the bend and additional clumps tied in progressing up the shank toward the eye of the hook. Each clump of strands tied in is brushed back over the previous clump of strands…smaller amounts at the rear and larger clumps toward the front.

Matuka Style Streamers

Matuka Style Streamer Pattern (Overlayed Feather Wing)

Matuka’s, Zonker’s, Streamers in general. I will get to it…    Rabbit Overwing     Matuka Feather Overwing      Streamers

streamers in the box…have at least a few (Remember Big Fish Kill Little Fish)

Big Fish Eating Little Fish by Pieter Breugel the Elder

 

Spruce Fly, Muddler Minnow, Woolly Bugger, Zonkers, Clousers, Black Nosed Dace, The Mickey Finn………..have several patterns and know how to present them in the shallows of a lake for big, cruising browns or along the cut banks of a stream where the predator lurks. Not Eat, Not Cosume, Big Fish Slash, Engulf, Kill smaller fish. 

Mickey Finn..www.flytyer.wordpress.com

 At some point, have the few streamers in the box and think about the chase, the presentation, and how to excite the fish. Every season there are several points in which a streamer will entice that cruising thug in the shallows of a lake or waiting and what they are best suited for…

 

 

Mr. Brown Meets Little Bow

Scotch Poacher (New Zealand Streamer Pattern With Overlayed Wing)

Scotch Poacher~NZ Pattern by John Nicholls (Photo by Peter Frailey)

Hook: Wet fly hook, size 2 to size 10 Thread: Black Tail: Black squirrel tail Rib: Flat silver tinsel Body: Orange chenille or fur Wing: Pukeko breast feathers tied flat on top of the body Collar: Orange hackle

“Scotch Poacher — This fly is a night fly that imitates a Koura (Freshwater crayfish) and is best used at river mouths lakeside after dark, fished slowly along the bottom. The Scotch Poacher is a killing lure down here and one that can be regarded as a New Zealand fly fishing icon.” (The Pukeko Style by John Nicholls)

http://www.fishingwithflies.com/LuresFromNewZealandPartIII.htm

streamers, leeches, bombers (articulated or hinged or trailer…some history)

Black Heron Fly Fishing

Not too long ago I received some questions about tying Articulated Leeches. I knew a little about the popularity of these flies due to their success in enticing strikes, but I was in the dark about how to articulate the two hooks. It prompted a little research on my part to find some hsitory and methods for tying these flies. What I found was a bit confusing, however, and I really didn’t like the methods that I discovered.

So, it seems that there are many methods used to tie connect the hooks for these flies. The underlying principles behind all them are strentgh, action, and anti-fouling. Obviously, when you are fishing for heavy fish in fast water, the concern is that with two joined section of hook shank, you do don’t want to lose a fish due to a weak joint. The purpose of the articulation, in the first place is to add life-like action to the fly, so that it entices fish to strike, believing it’s the real deal. And finally, the joints need to be tied in such a manner that the rear shank will not double back and get fouled with the front shank, ruining the action that the articulation was designed to impart. If all of these characterics are present, combined with the right pattern color and size to match the conditions, these flies can be unbelievably deadly.

http://www.angelfire.com/wa/salmonid/articulatedflies.html

http://www.blackheronflyfishing.com/reports/Cowlitz.html