Outdoors
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Open water fishing season is underway in Maine. Before the first few outings remind you what’s missing from your fly box — and before flows drop into shape — it’s a good time to sit down at the vise and tie a few patterns you’ll actually use.
Like a bear feeling the urge to strap on the feedbag, I get the same pull to hop behind the vise as winter fades and the fishing season gets underway. The fact that I already have more flies than I can use in my lifetime — unless, perhaps, I live to 300 and fish every day — does not curb the perceived need to tie more.
What patterns will I tie? I am not in the mood to tie articulated streamers which are nearly as big as the trout I usually catch and tend to stay in my fly box. I prefer not to tie flies which require thirty steps to complete and bring me to the verge of tears when I lose one to the river bottom.
Most of these are flies I rely on from ice-out through early summer, when cold water, high flows and the first insect hatches define how fish behave.
What follows is a list of 10 flies I really like to tie, all of which don’t require much time. This list takes into account how easy they are to crank out, how aesthetically pleasing I find them to be, and of course, how effective they are on the water. For example, the “thread fly” listed below does not have much going for it in the looks department. But it is about the easiest fly in the world to tie, and fish eat it.
Pat’s Rubberlegs — A pretty big fly that presents the tyer with a large canvas. It’s a fast tie once you do three or four of them. The key for me is tying in the legs and tails first, and antennae if you wish to add that option, then winding on the chenille and working your way around the movable appendages. It looks good — well, perhaps not to an aficionado of classic Catskill-style dry flies — but I use them a lot and they fish well, so they look nice to me. There are many videos on YouTube devoted to tying the Pat’s. I like the “Get it Down Pat’s” version Tim Flagler posted on his Tightline Productions channel. It’s tied on a jig hook and has an extended body. For tyers like me who can never leave well enough alone and want to tinker with proven winners, it fulfills a need. The Nomad Anglers website also has an interesting model, “Pat’s Rubber Legs Euro Jig,” which skips the extended body so is a bit less tricky, but looks quite fishy.
Bead Head Pheasant Tail — Simple. Effective. Classy. Again, I turn to Mr. Flagler, who has an exceptionally good video providing tips for tying PTNs, especially in small sizes, called “Micro Pheasant Tail Nymph.”
Olive or chartreuse caddis larva — Easy as can be to tie. Even a slow tyer should be able to do eight or 10 of these in an hour. Because they’re quick to tie, you’re not afraid to fish them deep, where you need to be to get results. A pretty stripped-down, no-nonsense fly, but they work. It’s a great fly to pair with a stonefly nymph. The Fly Fish Food website has a video called “Little Neon Caddis Nymph,” which shows how to tie a nice-looking chartreuse model.
Orange Elk Hair Caddis — Fairly easy to tie, and little wild brookies like them. Enough said. Sometimes I use fluorescent orange Senyo’s Laser Dub for the body. Other times I go with a more subdued shade of orange Ice Dub. I believe I stole the orange body idea from Lou Zambello’s excellent book “In Pursuit of Trophy Brook Trout.” I would confirm this likely fact except that for some reason, I can’t put my hands on my copy at the moment.
This may not be a revelation to most tyers with any experience, but I prefer to tie in the fine wire ribbing first, dub the body, then tie in the hackle at the front of the body. Then I wind the hackle back to the bend, catch it with the wire and wrap the wire forward in open spirals until the hackle is fully secured. Years ago, I used to tie the hackle in at the back and wind it forward. It works, but is less clean. The method I now use was definitely not invented by me but is one of the many tips and tricks I have poached from more accomplished tyers over the years. The advent of the internet has made such thievery easy, and there is no excuse not to do it.
Stimulator — A reasonably easy tie and very cool looking, in my opinion. I have caught wild brookies, landlocked salmon and west slope cutthroat on them, so it seems to be popular with our target audience. In larger sizes, say 6 and 8, I often construct the abdomen of yellow foam to avoid using three pounds of dubbing to do the job. If the foam body strikes you as too bright, use the foam as an underbody and paint it with a thin coat of dubbing to tone it down. I tie Stimis from size 12 to size 6 in yellow, orange, Golden Stone, green, royal and purple.
BWO Parachute or Purple Parachute — Once you get the hang of building a post and winding the hackle around it, life is easy. I use a small sewing needle to provide rigidity, winding the thread around both the needle and the poly yarn, then pulling the needle out at the end. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, see T. Flagler Tightline Productions “Parachute Post Method ‘Needle.’” Once the post is complete and the stem of the hackle feather is tied in, I hit the bottom of the post, at the hackle tie-in point, with a dab of super glue. That helps keep the assembly together while I wind the hackle down to the body. Simple, clean dry fly pattern you need if you fish the shoulder seasons, or even in the summer. As you can see, I usually opt for a vibrantly colored post. It helps my aging eyes keep track of the fly and appears not to put off the fish.
Clouser Minnow — Olive over white with copper flash accents. I personally sometimes have a hard time securing the dumbbell eyes in a fashion that prevents them from shifting, so I can’t claim they are easy. Super glue helps some. Pretty far from a classic streamer — you might not display one in a shadow box — but they are so effective you must tie at least a few of them.
Thread Fly — I never sit down to tie 20 flies in one session, but I bet I could do 20 of these in an hour. I don’t know if they represent a midge, a micro caddis or something else, but they work. I first heard of it in Tom Rosenbauer’s book “Prospecting for Trout,” and he credits Rick Wollum as the inventor of the fly. I have caught some nice brook trout on this ultra-simple fly.
Walt’s Worm — I have taken only baby steps toward getting into Euro nymphing. Most days I resolve to stick to indicator fishing, at which I have some level of competence. But I am aware of the stellar reputation the Walt’s enjoys among Euro nymphers. Though it is a Euro nymph, as far as I know there is no statute, regulation or societal norm that prohibits one from using a Walt’s as part of an indicator rig. They are easy to tie and look a bit like a half-finished hare’s ear nymph. The pictured fly is the “sexy Walt’s,” as it includes a hot spot and a bit of flash. I expect to field test several versions this summer, probably under a bobber.
Golden Retriever — Easiest streamer you will ever tie. Pop on a gold bead and wrap a few turns of lead-free wire behind it to add some weight. Lay down a base of thread — I use Chinese red Uni-Stretch instead of thread — tie in the marabou tail, then the Estaz chenille. Bring the thread to behind the bead, wrap the Estaz up to the bead in widely spaced turns so the red shows through and whip finish. Done. It will never win a beauty contest with a classic Carrie Stevens streamer. But it takes a lot less time to tie than a Gray Ghost, and brookies and landlockeds eat them like candy. Because I cannot leave well enough alone, I have taken to tying micro versions on size 10 to 12 jig hooks with slightly oversized beads. Not surprisingly, they work.
Ok, it is time to stop typing and start whip finishing.
