Recent comments

Give it a try

Nemo,

It's a heavy fly, but doing an underhand cast with a heavy fly shouldn't be a problem. You can't really do any harm to your equipment, and the only problem can be that it's difficult to lift the fly out of the water and propel it out. Heavy flies on a 5/6 weight can be a challenge. But a lot of people cast very heavy flies on fairly light gear - like those using the Skagit style of lines and casting techniques. It's not necessarily elegant, but it works.

You may find that the fly is too heavy for comfort, and of course a rod in a higher class and a line that follows in weight might then be a solution.

Martin

February Red

Hi Pasi:

Great looking pattern. I've seen dozens of these coming off my home waters. Thanks for the article and photos. I'll be tying up some of these for February

Thanks again

Linc Haverstraw NY USA

im his daughter

Hi, I am Lainey Rachelle and I am 12 years old now.

Long casts

Great article.., Is it that most fish are caught 50ft and less because most don't cast that far anyway so it's obvious that this happens! If you cast 75ft the you only have 35ft to catch the fish and 50ft left to catch a fish. So the law of averages comes into play. So the statement can be quite misleading. Never the less most of my fish have been caught within 30ft and I believe they have followed the fly in.
Thanks everyone for your really interesting comments.
Regards
Chris

The origin

Jim,

You can read a bit about the origin of the pattern here:
https://globalflyfisher.com/streamers365/73-2013-magog-smelt-variant

Martin

smelt

Is this where the famous "Magog" smelt pattern originated? I am curious seeing I love tying streamer and bucktail patterns. Please let me know if you can shed some light on this subject, greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jim.

Tying a sedge/caddis

Thank you Martin
Thank you Andrea
Well done. Very well done
Thanks again
Linc

Fly Rod

I have a Harris Redditch-91/2 ft-10 ft.
Doesn't look like it has ever been used.
Would like any information you can give me.

Old rods and historie

I prefer the Old rods. Like a Old Song they have memories of
Great days on the water. With both Old and modern flylines they Can be a lot more enjoyable to fish.
Tight Lines
Niels

As you may know

Noé,

As you may know I have been using a small raft for my fishing the last many years because of my inability to walk and keep my balance due to MS. Like you I have focused on inflatable boats that can pack down small enough to fit a trunk. My choice has been smaller pontoon style boats, and they have done the job and been very practical and easy to handle. My main problem has been rust since I fish mainly saltwater.

I have no specific experience with the craft in your link, but judging from the price, I'd guess that it's a quality product. Even for a boat this size, it's not cheap, even though the price is of course significantly lower than many "real" boats. My experience with larger inflatable boats is that size matters, in particular if you are two or three people in the boat. It doesn't take much movement or commotion to create instability, and a larger boat usually feels a lot safer than a smaller one.

The boat in your link seems quite narrow, but it's obvious from the images that they are three people onboard, and two are even standing, so it must be quite stable.

I would recommend trying one out if at all possible before buying. This will allow you to judge quality and stability and maybe trying to unpack and inflate and deflate and packing it down afterwards, which can be quite a job, even with a smaller boat.

I hope this helps.

Martin

I can see why

Noe,

I can see why you're confused. Zandri Terenzio's technique and tools are pretty exotic, but the result is quite amazing.

I watched the video too, and looked at the pictures in your link, and all I can see from this is that there are three "core threads" - two which form the base on which things are tied ("standing threads"), and one which is used to secure the various materials, and also brilliantly forms the segments in the abdomen of the fly.

Judging from the speed and the hand movements, it seems that the tier is using simple half hitches around a single or both of the standing threads depending on the step. This seems to be the case in all steps involving the third thread or the yarn for the abdomen, but it's hard to see on the fuzzy video.
In the images in the article showing the tying of the abdomen, you can see that the yarn is tied around one, then the other thread using half hitches and a weaving technique not unlike crocheting. After each two knots have been tied, the third thread is used to secure the segment with a couple of similar knots that will hide in the gap between the segments. In the video it seems that the third thread is dark, and this accents the light body yarn nicely to form a clear segmentation. The final wraps holding the tail are simple overhand wraps, finished with a whip finish, but done with a loop tool drawing the tag under the wraps.

It's a very fascinating technique, and one I will look into. Maybe it would be worth doing an article on it, and perhaps a clearer video. I'll see.

Martin

Tip for hair trimming

If you steam the untrimmed bug over a small pot of boiling water, or the spout of a teapot, the deer hair will stand up erect. This makes the trimming a bit easier and delivers a tidier result.

No reason to "play" that fish

No reason to "play" that fish for over 20 minutes in open water and little current. Keeping that tip up puts no pressure on his swimming muscles. Side pressure would have whupped him in less than 5 minutes. That's the difference between playing a fish and fighting one.

DIY wooden landing net

Great looking net! Thanks for the 'How To'.

Sand Eel Flies

Merrimack River Flies is a local fly shop that carries flat wing sand eels that work great. There are always sand eels in the Merrimack and everyone should have some imitations in their fly box. www.mmrf.us.com

I first scored the wood with

I first scored the wood with a chisel and then used a wood file of the appropriate size. I finished it (for cosmetic reasons) with sanding paper wrapped around a small piece of wood.

Thanks for a great article!

Thanks for a great article! How did you create the lengthwise groove on the frame?

Something is missing

Something is missing in the description of materials and components of fly

So many peppers

Martyn,

Whether or not this is a Chili Pepper can be up for debate, but as this old article indicates, there are already several flies, which have that name.

One more might muddle the picture a bit, but not make the confusion significantly worse. That's the story of flies: so many have been tied identical and given different names, and so many bear the same name, but are yet very different.

Martin

Chili pepper

This isn't a chili pepper, Moana's fly is essentially a gotcha tied with green thread, a gold body and orange wing. This fly is more like an apricot charlie variant or a ring burner variant.

So right!

Bert,

You are so right! I didn't think of that at all:

grizzle
/ˈɡrɪz(ə)l/

adjective
(of hair or fur) having dark and white hairs mixed. "grizzle-haired"

noun
a mixture of dark and white hairs.

Thanks!

Martin

Grizzly is probably a corruption of the word grizzle

And grizzle refers to someone with a mixture of dark and white hair. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful article.

Martin

Sad to read what you have been through. Thanks for the update and take care Martin.

Sources

Shane,

You can use a variety of foam types, as long as they are closed cell and will float. I have used inexpensive craft foam, which is widely available and inexpensive.

Rainy's Flies has a ton of different special foam products for fly tyers, also sheets:
http://www.rainysflies.com/foam-products/cross-link-sheet-foam

They also have a ton of pre-shaped foam products, which might be useful:
http://www.rainysflies.com/foam-products

You can glue the foam with good, old fashioned contact cement - also cheap and easy to find. Thin layers on both surfaces, let dry, press together is the method. Super glue can also be used.

For the wasp bodies you make a stack of yellow and black from about 1-2 mm foam, let it dry and then punch out cylinders with a small metal tube, maybe filed to have a sharp cutting edge in one end. Simply punch the tube through the foam with a hammer over a wooden board.

You can also opt for finished bodies like these:
https://www.lurecraft.com/Bee_Wasp-Foam-Bodies-1_4/productinfo/13X1203/

Martin