Saturday, October 29, 2011

Crawfish and Chips

Recently I have started looking seriously at the packaging of common products. Seems like the material to keep items fresh and attract the customer's attention would work to attract a fish's attention as well? I like potato chips, and most other chip like foods. I also like to walk across our building during the day to see something different and teachers I don't necessarily work with in my department. The end to that journey is a vending machine in  the upstairs teachers lounge. Lots of chips and I guess I have a different flavor each day.
All those bags sort made me think about flies. The thinking started in on the shell back of nymphs. (ie Bar B Que and Stonefly Nymphs). That then led to me pondering the crawfish. (aka Crawlfish, Crawdad, Mud Bug, and more). Call it what you like fish love to eat it. Finishing a bag chips the orange hue set me to thinking and planning. Here's what came of it.



Crawfish and Chips

Hook: #6 Bass Hook
Weight: Small Dumbell eye blk
Antenna: Mink guard hair from a yard sale fur collar.
Pincers (pinchers): Gray yarn and orange yarn.
Rib: Fine Copper wire
Shell: Sun Chips Harvest Cheddar Bag
Under-body: Gray Yarn



Sunday, October 23, 2011

Bar B Que and Stonefly Nymphs

Okay I was watching TV and thinking about this week's article. Nothing was really jumping out. Noticed a bag of chips I had just finished and a light came on. The background of the design at first glance was gray or black. Neat plastic bag as well. Reminded me of the material flash like products are made of.  Only difference is that the flash is cut into fine strips. That's not really that hard to do with a sharp pair of scissors.

 So all these ideas made it to the tying bench. 






 Recipe
Hook: #12 Nymph 2x
Tail: Biots
Weight: Brass bead and fine lead wire
Abdomen Shell: Strip cut from a bag of Bar B Que flavor potato chips.
Rib: Fine gold wire
Wing-case: Nymph stretch black.
Thorax: Peacock hurl




 Stoneflies are found deep in the stream in their nymph stage and are usually big so a 2x nymph hook seemed more appropriate.



Biots make the best stonefly tails I have found.


 Fine gold wire and the chip bag strip are both tied in. This particular chip bag I used has fine dots in the color to create the illusion of gray. Those dots make for a fine molted appearance.

Dub the abdomen with a dark nymph dubbing. Pull the chip bag material forward and tie down. Palmer forward the gold rib. Tie in the wing-case material. Wrap the thorax with peacock hurl. Pull the wing-case material forward and tie down.

Stoneflies are a big food source for trout as well as warm water species like small mouth bass here in the south eastern US. Probably similar situations in the rest of the US and world in general.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

John Barr's Copper John gets the Trash Fly treatment.

John Barr is in my opinion one of the greats in the realm of fly tying. He is one I hold high. I bought his book, that ought to say a lot. One of his patterns I like and fish a lot is the 'Copper John'. This piece is dedicated to the Copper John and how some Trash Fly philosophy was applied to it.

Hook: #14 Nymph 2X
Bead: Brass
Weight: Lead wire medium
Tail: Biots Dark Brown
Flash: Strip of Krystal Flash
Wing-case: Stretch Body black. 
Abdomen: Wire from a broken pair of 'ear bud' style headphones
Thorax: Peacock Hurl

Note: The headphone wire is usually red, blue, and gold in one pair of headphones. I have also found green in some brands.







Took them to a Delayed Harvest stream a few counties over. The test was complete and intense. I caught a 'obscene number of fish'. :)




Monday, October 10, 2011

Scud tied with recycled package from a wireless LAN card.


Hook: #16 Nymph Hook
Weight: Lead wire .015 dia.
Body: Dazl-Hare's Ear Shrimp
Antenna: Hackle fibers furnace
Shell-back: Pink plastic bag from a wireless LAN card
Rib: Thread white

Baggy from a wireless LAN card.


#16 Nymph hook

Lead wire

Over wrap with tying thread

Tie in shell back of recycled LAN baggie

Dub body


Finished fly

Comments are welcome and appreciated.