Paul's May 2024 Fly of the Month

Coyote Copper Head Streamer

Hook:  Mustad 9672 or 4X streamer hook of choice Size #4 - #10.

Thread:  Brown 6/0.

Tail:  Soft Hair from a coyote’s mask with some guard hairs left in.

Bead:  Copper or Gold Tungsten Bead sized for hook size. 

Tail:  Soft hair from a coyote’s mask with some guard hair left in.

Body:  Dyed Pearl Diamond Braid in Bonefish Tan.

Belly:  White hair from the coyote mask.

Wing:  Same as the tail extending to about half the length of the tail.

Topping:  A few pieces of Copper Flas-a-bou extending will past the tail.

Head/collar:  Rusty Brown Ice Dub.

This has been 1 of my best producing flies this early spring season (2024).  It comes from Dan LaPointe of Dan’s Fly Shop and Guide Service, New Hampshire.  It’s an easy tie and originally designed for large rivers in New Hampshire & Maine.  It’s produced extremely well for me on some of the smaller rivers in CT.  I don’t see why it wouldn’t work on the larger ones.  It’s different than most streamers out there.  It also gets down deep fast.  I’m always trying to avoid posting a pattern with exotic material.  A Coyote mask isn’t carried by many fly shops.  You can find it online with a little searching.  It’s very reasonably priced.  You can also use natural rabbit fur as a substitute, using dark natural hairs for the tail and wing, and white rabbit for the belly. 

To tie this fly, crimp the barb of your hook, place your bead on it, then place the hook in your vice.  Start your thread behind the bead and make a half dozen securing wraps.  Cut off the butt end.  Wrap your thread down the hook shank and leave it at the hook point.  Cut a bunch of the darker haired tips from your Coyote mask for your tail.  Separate out the ‘under hair’ and tie it in for your tail.  It should be a little longer than a hook gap in length off the bend o your hook.  I usually wrap the butt end of the tail on top of the hook shank, all the way to the bead to create a nice even body.  Now bring your hook back down to the tail ‘tie in’ point.  Tie in and secure a 3”-4” length of Dyed Pearl Diamond Braid in Bone Fish Tan. Bring your thread forward and stop it a ‘bead length’ behind your mounted bead.  Apply some head cement to the top of the hook shank and with touching wraps palmer your Braid forward, tying it off at your thread.  Cut off any excess.  Invert your fly with the hook point up.  You are now going to tie in your belly.  You are going to use the lighter white hairs on your Coyote mask.  Tie it in so that it extends half way down your tail.  After taking some securing wraps cut off the butt ends.  Invert your hook again (hook point down).

You are going to mirror your belly by tying in a wing of darker tipped Coyote hairs (same as your tail).  With your wing and belly complete, take 2 strands of Copper Flash-a-bou, double it over your hanging thread, bring it up on top of the hook shank, and secure it on top of your wing.  Trim some of the strands so that they extend beyond the length of the fly.  Next, prepare a dubbing noddle for your Collar with Rusty Brown Ice Dub.  Dub the collar of your fly and complete it with a whip finish. 

If you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of The Month I can be reached at pdinice@frontier.com .

 

Paul's April 2024 Bonus Fly of the Month

 Holy Grail Caddis Emerger

Hook:  Curved Emerger or Nymph Hook Size #12 - #16.

Thread:  Red Thread.

Bead:  3/32” 2.4 mm Gold Bead.

Rib:  Opal or Pearlescent tinsel or Flash-a-bou. 

Body:  Hare’s Mask Dubbing.

Wingcase:  Pheasant Tail Fibers.

Body:  Gold tinsel Chenille, Large.

Hackle:  Partridge.

This is a great emerger pattern for deeper water.  To tie this fly begin by mashing down the hook barb, place the bead on the hok, and it in your vice.  Start your thread at the hook point. Once secured, cut off the butt end.  Next, secure your Pearl Tinsel/Flash-a-bou onto the hook shank.  You are now going to bring your Tinsel over the mounted Gold Bead, under the hook shank, and back to your tie in point.  That should lock the bead in place.  When you do this make sure you located the bead an ‘eye length’ from the hook eye.  This is critical.  With the bead locked in place, wrap your thread down the hook shank, over the Tinsel.  Your wraps should extend well down the hook shank.  

Next, create a slim dubbing noodle with your Hare’s Mask Dubbing.  With touching wraps, create a tapered body up the hook shank.  The body should end before the bead, leaving enough space to tie in your Wingcase.  Next, with open spiral wraps, rib your body with Tinsel.  Tie it off and cut off the butt end. Now prepare your Wingcase by stripping off 8-10 fibers of Pheasant Tail.  After aligning the tips, trim them off.  Tie them in behind the bead with the fibers extending back towards the rear.  Now dub another noodle with Hare’s Dubbing to cover the body space behind the bead.  Bring your thread over the bead and make some securing wraps.  Next, bring your Pheasant Tail Fibers over the Bead and secure them to create your Wingcase.  After the fibers are anchored, clip off the butt ends.  Now, select a Partridge feather to serve as your hackle.  Strip off all the lower webby fibers.  Pinch the tip of the feather and stroke back all the other fibers on the feather.  Trim off the tip of the feather leaving part of the stem exposed.  Tie the feather in by the exposed stem.  With hackle pliers, take 2 wraps around the hook shank, stroking the feather fibers back as you do so.  Tie the feather off, trim off the excess stem.  Create a small head on the fly, whip finish, and apply head cement. 

Tightlinevideo has a great instructional video on how to tie this fly below:

If you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of The Month I can be reached at pdinice@frontier.com .

Paul's April 2024 Fly of the Month

 Jeff's Little Rainbow Trout

Hook:  Mustad  79580 or 4X streamer hook of choice Size #2 - #10.

Thread:  Black Danville Flat Waxed Nylon & UTC 70 Denier.

Belly:  White Bucktail

Body:  Silver Mylar Flat Tinsel. 

Wing:  Cream or White Bucktail over which is Hot Pink Bucktail, topped with 5-6 strands of Peacock Herl.

Throat/Beard:  Red Saddle Hackle Fibers.

Cheeks:  Wood Duck feather tips.

Head:  Black Tying Thread finished with Head Cement or Hard As Nails.

Sometimes there are flies in your box that are great patterns, have produced a lot of fish, but get forgotten over time.  For me this is one of them.  At least 20 years ago I fished the Connetquot River with friend Jeff Purcell.  Jeff landed fish after fish on this fly.  Recently, I used it on the Farmington River and did quite well with it.  It’s tied in the ‘classic’ manor of New England Streamers.  That means dressed sparsely with natural materials.  The most successful way to fish this fly is to dead drift it, mend, and briefly dangle it where you expect fish to be.  If that doesn’t work, try varying strip retrieves.  This is a killer streamer!

To tie this fly crimp the barb and place it securely in your vice.  Start your thread an ‘eyes’ length behind the eye and wrap down to the bend.  Cut off the butt end of your thread.  Tie in your Silver Mylar Tinsel, then advance your thread up to your starting point.  With touching wraps, palmer your tinsel forward and tie it off at your initial thread starting point.  Tie off your Tinsel and cut off the butt end.  Next, tie in your White Bucktail Belly.  If you have a rotary vice, simply turn your fly upside down.  If you don’t have a rotary, remove your fly and reaffix it in your vice.  Do not overdress your fly.  The Belly should extend slightly longer than the hook bend.  Trim the butt ends of your Belly and again rotate your fly.  Now, using the same quantity of Bucktail (Cream or White), tie in your wing.  It should be the same length as your Belly.  On top of that tie in an equal amount of Hot Pink Bucktail.  Again, the same length as your cream or white Bucktail.  Now tie in 5-6 strands of Peacock Herl, Equal length as your wing.

Reverse your fly 1 more time and tie in your Red Saddle Hackle fibers for your Throat/Beard.  It should be approximately a hook gap in length.  Reverse your fly to tie in your Wood Duck Feather Cheeks.  I stroke back these feathers and tie in the tips on each side of the fly.  They should be a hook gap in length on each side of the fly.  Cut off the butt ends and using your thread, build up a substantial black head for your fly.  Painted or 3D eyes are optional if you want to add them to the fly.  Finally, with Head Cement, coat your finished head. 

If you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of The Month I can be reached at pdinice@frontier.com .

Paul's March 2024 Fly of the Month

 Marabou Black Ghost

Hook:  Mustad  79580 or 4X streamer hook of choice Size #2 - #10.

Thread:  Black Danville Flat Waxed Nylon & UTC 70 Denier.

Tail:  Yellow Schlappen/Saddle Hackle.

Rib:  Silver Mylar Tinsel. 

Body:  Black Floss.

Throat/Beard:  Yellow Schlappen/Saddle Hackle.

Wing:  White Marabou plume/feather (Optional – topped with 3-5 strands of Peacock Herl).

Head:  Black Tying Thread finished with Head Cement or Hard As Nails.

This fly is a variation of a very traditional streamer pattern.  It’s one of my favorites.  Easy to tie and very productive everywhere it’s fished.  Originally designed in the Rangeley Region for land locked Salmon and Brook Trout. 

To tie this fly place your hook in the vice and start your thread an ‘eye length’ behind the eye of the hook.  With touching wraps, wrap down to the hook point. Cut he tag end of the thread.  Now tie in your tail with approximately 20 Yellow Schlappen/Saddle Hackle fibers.  The tail should be about a ½ hook shank in length.  Don’t cut off the butt end.  

Next tie in your Silver Mylar Tinsel Rib, then your Black Floss.  Although your tie in point is where you’ve tied in your tail, the butt ends of the Tinsel and Floss should extend to where your thread starts behind the eye.  The purpose of this is to create a ‘uniform’ and even body.  You are now going to wrap your thread forward to create that even body.  Now wrap your Floss forward and tie it off behind the eye.  Palmer your Tinsel forward creating spiral wraps down the body.  Tie it off behind the eye and cut off the butt end.

Now tie in your Throat/Beard on your fly.  Again, about 20 fibers should do it.  It should be approximately slightly less than a hook shank in length.  Cut off the butt ends once your Throat is secured.  Next, prepare your White Marabou by stroking it rearward.  You may want to dampen it a little bit.  Measure it against the hook shank so that it extends about ½ way down the tail.  Using the ‘pinch’ method, secure your wing down behind the eye.  Cut off the butt end of the Marabou.  Using your thread, create a uniform head for your fly.  Whip finish and apply head cement or ‘Hard as Nails’ to the head of the fly.  

Dressed Irons has a great instructional video on how to tie this fly below:

If you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of The Month I can be reached at pdinice@frontier.com .

 

Paul's February 2024 Bonus Fly of the Month

 Golden Wooly Bugger

Hook:  6X or 4X Long Streamer hook Size #6 & #8.

Thread:  Wood Duck or Gold 6/0 or 140 denier.

Bead:  5/32” 4.0mm Gold Bead.

Weight:  Lead-free round wire .020.

Tail:  Ginger Marabou.

Flash:  Gold Holographic Flashabou.

Body:  Gold tinsel Chenille, Large.

Hackle:  Ginger Hackle.

 

Wooly Buggers are some of the greatest flies known to fly fishers.  They are super effective.  A great fly for both beginner and experienced fly guys.  Many big fish are caught on buggers!

To tie this fly begin by placing your bead on the hook and hook in the vice. Next, take 10-15 wraps of .020 Lead-free wire around the hook shank and seat it up against the back of the bead.  ‘Helicopter’ off the butt end of wire.  Apply some Super Glue to secure it if so desired.  Now, start your thread on the hook shank immediately behind the wire.  After taking some securing wraps, cut off the butt end and take wraps over your Lead-free wire.  Wrap up to the bead and back down to the start of the wire.  Next, prepare 2 Ginger Marabou feathers for your tail.  Match the feathers so that the concave sides of the feather are together, and the tips are aligned.   The tail should be about the length of the hook shank.  You can strip or cut away the excess lower part of the feather.  The tie in point will be at mid hook shank at the start of your Lead-free wire.  Wrap and secure the feather all the way down to the hook bend. 

Take 2 strands of Gold Holographic Flash-a-bou.  Secure them on top of the hook shank at their ‘mid-point’.  Tie and secure 2 strands on each side of the tail.  Trim the Flash-a-bou so that it is even with your marabou tail.  Next, prepare your Gold Tinsel Chenille for your body.  Strip away a few fibers from it’s tip to expose the center core string.  Secure it at the base of the tail with thread wraps.  Bring your tying thread up behind the bead.  Wrap your Chenille forward using touching wraps to create your body.  Tie it off behind the bead and cut off the excess. 

Prepare a Ginger Saddle Hackle feather by snipping off the fuzzy part of the feather off and creating a triangular tip to tie your feather onto the hook shank.  Tie it in behind the bead, on the near side of the hook.  The shiny side of the feather should be facing you.  Bring your thread down to the start of your tail.  Make 2 ‘counter wraps’ of the Saddle Feather behind the bead.  Now, make open spiral wraps of the feather down to the thread/start of the tail.  Anchor the feather there with tight wraps of your thread.  Snip off the excess Feather.  Now take your thread and make open spiral wraps up the body, trying not to trap any body fibers on your way up.   End your tying feather behind the bead and whip finish the fly.  Apply a drop of head cement to your thread wraps and you’re done.  

Tightlinevideo has a great instructional video on how to tie this fly below:

If you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of The Month I can be reached at pdinice@frontier.com .

Paul's February 2024 Fly of the Month

 Hogan's Gumball

(Pheasant Tail Variation)

Hook:  Firehole 633 #16 Nymph Hook or hook of choice. 

Bead:   1/8” Pink Tungsten Bead.

Thread:  8/0 Uni-thread Black.

Tail:  Pheasant Tail Fibers.

Rib:  Small Fluorescent Pink Ultra Wire.

Body:  Pheasant Tail.

Collar:  Pink Ice Dub or Spawn Simi Seal Shrimp Belly.

Legs:  Hot Pink Krystal Flash, doubled over to create 2 legs on each side of the nymph.

This is a nice variation of a Pheasant Tail Nymph.  It’s a fly you want to have in your fly box.  This variation is tied with a pink bead, dubbing, & rib, but you can tie this fly in a large variety of colors.

To tie this fly begin by placing your bead on the hook and your hook in the vice.  Next, start your thread behind the bead and make touching wraps along the hook shank to the bend.  Trim off the butt end of your thread.  You are now going to tie in your Pink Ultra Wire Rib.  I tie it in behind the bead on the side of the hook and wrap back to the bend. 

Prepare 5-6 Pheasant tail fibers for your tail and body.  The tail should extend approximately a hook gap length from the bend of the hook.  Once your tail is secure, palmer the butt ends of the Pheasant fibers forward to create your body.  Tie it off just short of the bead, then cut off the butt ends.  Now counter wrap your rib forward to create a segmented body.  Tie it off behind the bead and ‘helicopter’ off the butt end. 

Next, take a very small amount of dubbing and create a thin dubbing noodle for your collar.  Create a sparse collar with 2-3 wraps of your dubbing noodle.  For the legs, take a strand of Krystal Flash and double it over.  You are going to tie it in right behind the bead at it’s ‘mid-way’ point so that there will be 2 legs (strands of Krystal Flash) on both sides of the fly.  Whip finish the fly.  You are now going to trim the legs by sweeping them back along the fly and trimming them so that they equal the length of the body.  Finish the fly with a drop of ‘Hard as Nails’ or UV Resin on your thread wraps.

Loon Outdoors has an excellent video on how to tie this fly below:

If you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of The Month I can be reached at pdinice@frontier.com .

 The River Blob

Hook:  Fulling Mill 5125 Jig hook or Hannek H450 Size #12 (or jig hook of choice.)

Thread:  Fluorescent Orange 6/0.  

Bead:  Slotted Tungsten Bead Flourescent Orange -- 3.5 to 4.6mm depending on the sink rate you want.

Body:  Medium Flexi Squishenille UV – Fluorescent Orange #137.

I know this resembles an egg fly, and maybe the fish take it as that, but it was originally meant to represent a cloud of daphnia.  Daphnia are small planktonic crustaceans that trout feed on.  All I know is that it’s a really productive fly, especially in the wintertime.  I’ve had spectacular days with it.

It doesn’t get much simpler than this.  Here’s how you tie this fly.  Place your bead on the hook and hook in the vice.  Secure your thread behind the bead.  With a small noodle of orange dubbing wrap behind the bead to secure and lock it in place.  You don’t need much, and it won’t really be visible on your finished fly.  Tie in your Squishenille behind the bead.  Give it 3 tight wraps around the hook shank, tie it off, whip finish the fly and you’re done.

Fly Fish Food has a great video on how to tie this fly below:

If you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of The Month, I can be reached at pdinice@frontier.com .