This is a good, basic tutorial on how to tie a Scud pattern, best used in rivers. A lighter version would be suitable for lakes. In time, you will select color combinations (green, tan, orange) that provide variety. This basic pattern style had potential for Caddis Pupa/Czech Nymph variations, as well.
Grau Scud Nymphe (Angeltechniken)
I had previously promised a quarterly tease, but less graphic than in the past. I do believe I am a good two quarters behind, so to speak. So, here is the link re field stripping your Glock and other Eye Handy D.I.Y. tips. The info just happens to be demonstrated by young ladies and great graphics. If you are anti-firearms or anti-sexy women then do not open the links. Do not venture forth. Pretty tame stuff…just interesting concept.
Pulling hackle barbs off of a larger hackle and tying them in over the eye of the hook, then after creating a body, pulling them back over the body. Key: make the barbs only the length of the hook shank (not longer or shorter).
Oversized Barbs Used Here and Pulled Back Over Peacock Herl Body (SwittersB)
Springtime beckons the trout fly fisher. A little sunshine and warmer temps and there you are at the river’s edge with all your gear and every pattern you tied all Winter or purchased, begged or stole (ok borrowed). Depending upon snow pack, temperatures, weather systems, or dam output etc., the river may sharply rise during this time year. Aside from your observations, if you live close to the river, you should take advantage of any reporting systems that provide river flow data (height or cubic feet per second). Anyone launching a drift boat does this. But, the bank bound fly fisher may not do this and should.
Make note during your outings of how the river was for wading, fishable water, hatches etc. in the areas you fished. When you get home note the river height/flow (CFS) provided by the resource and make note of it and keep it.
Keep track during these times of the spots you visited and if you could not safely wade or find much inside water (seams, edges close to shore) to fish. What was the height? Try to make it back as Spring progresses into Summer. Note how the river fishes as the river drops 6 inches, 1 foot, 2 feet. Once the Summer time lows come the levels will stabilize. You will then be looking for deeper, cooler, oxygenated waters for trout and steelhead. In the Fall, you will reverse the process of watching what happens to the river as Fall storms move in.
Keep track of the river levels in a journal or some file. It will save you hour to two hour drives to rivers that are blown out and perhaps steer you toward other rivers that are not rising with snow melt, higher temps or have dams controlling the water levels.
Query river flow, gages, etc. for the area near you and you should find available updated data that kayakers, guides, etc. use. You can use it too.
Note a comment made mention that the graph above was not legible given the size. I apologize for that. It was merely a symbolic gesture of a river rising. In the comment section, I provide the link re the above graph and it can be opened via the link I provided in the comment response and then clicked upon again to better enhance…sorry about that.
This is my effort at a Pale Morning Dun, size 16. The tail is a few barbs from a grizzly hackle feather. The body (abdomen) is a yellow goose biot. There is a notch in every individual biot near the butt section. That notch is your guide to whether your body will be smooth (as I did here) or ridged. (Notch up = ridged body) (Notch down = smooth body). The wing is a clump of CDC that I tied in and raised up into a vertical position with thread wraps around the base. I tied in one medium blue dun feather and wrapped it behind the CDC post and then wrapped the hackle forward, to the front.
When I was a kid there was not a BBQ in our family. Steaks were cheap cuts and maybe cooked in oven under the broiler, spattering and bursting all over. More often they were fried on the stove top. Seems odd these days when many have gas grills on the back deck or charcoal BBQ’s. Of course, the ‘old’ way is still an option (outside of restaurants):
This may take you back a bit, the smells of fried food in the house? Eventually, my dad acquired the charcoal BBQ and steaks were no longer cheaper cuts, but T-Bones (our tradition) or other good cuts suitable for family celebrations. For most of my young life, cuts of beef were a treat. Even Round Steak was a treat.
First and foremost, I appreciate every tying expo I have been to. I spent a few years driving my son, Tony, to them when he was the obligatory youth tier (albeit a darn good tier). So, I appreciate the mental~practical preparation involved.
As a beginning fly tier, I encourage you to attend these shows and most importantly do not be shy. I normally walk in and walk the circuit making a quick assessment of types of flies being tied. Now some would say not to eliminate any style of tie. Your choice. I look for the type of flies I will most often fish and want to learn more about. So, I look for trout flies and steelhead tube flies. You may look for bass flies and Atlantic Salmon artists, or Realistic Fly Designers (my designations).
As I said, do not be shy. You are there to learn. They are there to teach, clarify and inspire. If a chair is open sit down or get close. They aren’t selling anything so don’t walk on by. Take notes. Take their cards for later study or commercial contacts. If a tier is busy gabbing with friends or telling stories and not tying move on. Keep looking for the type of flies you are most interested in.
Ask ‘how to’ questions: ‘can you do that whip finisher move a bit slower?’ ‘what kind of feather is that?’ Some tiers are tying to knowledgeable tiers and may whiz by stages, so feel free to ask questions. It is a very open venue….or should be. The NW Fly Tying Expo in Albany, Oregon, I just went to, was a perfect match for most of my interests. Maybe a bass fly fisher would say different, I don’t know.
Another thing I noticed, and liked, the tiers run the gamut of human nature: the tiers were in various ways precise, scattered, anal, disorganized, gregarious, shy, gruff…the full range. They tied great flies and with all the varieties of styles, personalities and patterns. I think you will enjoy these shows and as I did take away tips and techniques I had forgotten or never seen before. Thanks to those that organize these shows and the tiers (and, vendors).
“You take 186 tyers, plus 160 volunteers,” Sherry Steele said. “And to have that many people step up to the plate, that’s really great. It’s huge.” Statesman Journal
Justin Carroll @ Winona Fly Factory turns out yet another innovative, enticing pattern. You have to love Bead Head Pupa patterns. Nice tutorial/SBS piece here on the WFF Hairball. Cat fur is not a bad material, if they enjoy that comb raking through their sides and back… purr away kitty.
WFF Hairball by Justin Carroll at Winona Fly Factory
