SIMMS Shoot Out Film

First let me apologize for the lack of posting.  My family is in the process of a big move across the country so I've been pulled away from a few of my projects, Proven Patterns being one.

Adam and I from Raw Water Productions have also been in Montana recently making a short film for a SIMMS guide event, called the Shoot Out.  We were very fortunate to work with Brant Oswald who is a fellow bug fanatic and excellent fly tier.  Take a second and view some of his work, and if you are in Montana looking for a dry fly guide, he is your man.  The films are online for a People's Choice Award.   Check em out and cast your vote!

I should continue blogging when we settle in CA sometime in June.  Thanks for sticking with me, I'm excited to move to a different part of the country and research the bugs and flies of a new region!

First Tying Vid

First off I'd like to thank Adam Kryder for the editing here.  Adam and I have been working on a film together for many months now, and he has encouraged me to learn all things video.  You can see what we are up to on our new website... http://www.rawwaterproductions.com/.

Also have to thank Davie McPhail (he doesn't know me but I'm a huge fan) for not only influencing my tying, but also inspiring me to use my photo gear to shoot some vids.  If you've never browsed his youtube channel, you need to.

Below are instructions for a low water steelhead/salmon fly that I made up one late night at the bench, and it became the day saver on one of the slower winter sessions of the year.  I hope you enjoy, and feel free to comment if you'd like more info on the fly, or have suggestions on other videos you'd like to see.

Next time I'll get back on track and finish off the tube fly tutorial...

Tube Flies 101

I've been addicted to tube flies lately and here's why...

You can tie flies as big as you want, and the hook (generally short shanked and wide gaped) remains constant.  I believe this makes a big difference with large fish.  Last season I had too many fish pop off due to large shanked streamer hooks, and the forces heavy rolling fish can put on them.  Using almost exclusively tube flies this year my landing ratio of these huge lake run fish has increased dramatically.

Another bonus of using tubes is they can be done on the cheap.  Can you spend tons of money on a fancy tube vise, metal pre-shaped tubes, and oversized cones?  Sure can, but you don't have to.  Below are steps to make my tube starter kit that can be used with any fly tying vise, and directions to tie a basic fly, enjoy!

As always feel free to click the photos to get a larger view to help with your tying, but do not use any of the photos without my written permission. 

Step 1:  Go to the craft store and buy large embroidery needles check my pack above for good sizes (around $2.00 - $4.00 for a mixed pack).  Then your local fly shop for HMH rigid plastic tubes size Small (around $4.00). 

Step 2:  A little prep work here, first find the right size needle for the tubes (all sizes of plastic tubes are covered by the variety pack of needles). Wrap the eye in a tapered fashion with 8/0 thread, and seal with superglue.  Let it dry.  

Step 3:  Close up here, trick is to go very light with the thread, one trip down and back does the trick as long as your initial needle size is correct.   

Step 4:  Cut plastic tube to desired length, melt the rear section slightly, and push tube on the needle.  Make sure it goes onto the thread (you'll feel the click of each wrap), the goal here being it will not spin when you tie.  You can use your tying desk for leverage to push the tube on, but do not put the tube on too tight or it will be almost impossible to get off.  

Step 5:  Start flash (or comparable body material) near the head and work it back.  Do the same with the wire rib.  Try and keep the thread underbody smooth.  Add weighted wraps to the body prior to all this if you'd like.  

Step 6:  Wrap the flash forward, and counter rib the wire.  You can add some superglue or UV epoxy here to really lock down the body.  Remember these flies (potentially) can last much longer then traditionally tied hook flies.  

Step 7:  Add eyes, and a collar of hackle behind the eyes.  Make sure you leave room for a head, and additional room to melt the tube back to the head.  Check the picture for appropriate left over space. 

Step 8:  Prepare a barred feather of your choice.  Most of the time I use Mallard Flank because it's cheap, there are however, many options out there.  Teal, Guinea, and Gadwall are other great choices.  

Step 9:  Tie in by the tip, trim, and wrap the barred collar.  

Step 10:  Add a wing.  In this case I used Arctic Fox, but you can substitute other materials here.  Rabbit strip, marabou, and all of the synthetic streamer fibers will work too.  

Step 11:  Add a couple strands of flash if desired, and finish off the head.  Push the tube off the needle (again you can use your tying desk for leverage to pop it off the needle), and melt the head back with a lighter (do this slowly with the flame away from the tube, as over-melting can be big trouble).  That's it! 

Next post I will show you some other tube flies that have worked well for me this year and why (in theory) they have worked, and I'll also lay down the basics of rigging them up.  Thanks for reading! 

Homemade Tube Fly Box

This past summer I attended Spey Nation, and one of the raffle prizes there was a tube fly box that caught my eye.  I sat on the idea all summer, researched some other successful designs out there, and finally this fall I made my own.   I tweaked the design a bit, and made it with materials I had laying around.  By making it myself I could customize it, and it was crazy cheap which I like when it comes to fly storage.  Total cost is somewhere in the neighborhood of FREE  to  $12 depending on what you have laying around.

Here are the materials and steps...

Step 1:  Get some wire (I found 20 gauge galvanized steel wire to be perfect for small and large diameter tubes).  Cut as many lengths as you would like to go in the box.  Make them around 4 inches long, as this is the easiest size to work with, without wasting too much wire in the end.  

Step 2:  Get an old fly box (I found the cheap plastic shop boxes to be the best).  Rip out the foam, and measure the width.  Cut the wooden dowels to fit snug (see pics below for a better idea).  

Step 3:  Wrap the wire around the dowel (2 to 3 turns is fine).  Depending on the size of your flies add as many wire sections you would like. My boxes (which are streamer sized) have 10 per dowel. 

Step 4:  Put the dowel in the box.  Trim the wires to length (or not... it doesn't really matter), also consider filing down the ends of the wire so they are not so sharp.  The slight bends in the wire is what holds the tubes securely.  The larger diameter tubes may require larger bends in the wire.  

Step 5:  Depending on your initial dowel cut you may need to glue/epoxy them in.   Putting them in without glue is ideal as you can adjust them later, add more, and change configurations. Here's my setup (specifically for BIG tubes), but you could arrange it differently... 3 rows all going the same direction come to mind for smaller sized tubes.

Step 6:  Make more!  Here's another box of mine I made from an old plastic fly shop box.  You can see the wires rotate up making it simple to grab a fly or put one away. 

 Here's the finished product from above.  It is made from an old plastic lure box.

If you tie tubes, or are thinking of starting to tie them, give this box idea a try!

Vagabond Fly Box Project

Earlier this year a couple guys via facebook created the Vagabond Fly Box Project.  It's a creative idea that I immediately took an interest to, essentially a couple high quality box of flies traveling around the world and getting fished.  The only requirement was to report on the box after you fished it with a few photos, sign it, replace any lost flies, and eventually send it away.

I was lucky enough to have a box land in my mailbox and it was a beauty.

The boxes origin was the western US and the flies were tied by Terry Edelmann, but I was getting it all the way from Germany!  The box was filled with swing flies for salmon and steelhead, however it's arrival was a bit early for our Great Lakes tributary season.  I had to swim these flies before I shipped them off, so I hung on to them for a couple weeks, and eventually the fish began to arrive.

Here's first light on the first confident morning of the season.

The fishing was slow as early season is expected to be, however the river was void of fisherman and popping with fall colors.

My friend started the day off hooking and landing a beautiful steelhead.

I tried a few of the flies in the Vagabond Box, but was particularly drawn to this purple tube fly.  Look at it swim!

After a long morning on the water, without a bump or tug of any kind, I finally hooked and landed my first steelhead of the season.  Unfortunately it was not on one of the flies in the box, however, it was a tube fly I tied the night before inspired by those incredible flies that showed up in my mailbox one day.

Canvas Print Giveaway

I was contacted recently by Easy Canvas Prints  with an opportunity to review their product.  I agreed, uploaded one of my latest macro jpegs, chose the size, wrap thickness and style, and there it was on my front porch a few days later.



Like the website name suggests it is easy to get your own wrapped canvas print, and it turned out great!  Ordering, pricing, and sizing are all very clear.  There's also a nice graphic that shows what your print size will look like in a typical room.  You can use your own image, or order one of their stock images, and it comes ready to hang.   If you're looking for a canvas print of your own check out Easy Canvas Prints today with the following link...

Photos to Canvas

As a thanks to my readers I'm going to give this Canvas Print away! 

If you'd like a shot at getting this 16" X 20" Canvas Print just drop a comment below and I'll pick a winner at random on Oct. 1st. 

Craft Fur Mouse

This is a quick and easy mouse pattern, give it a try!

Material 1:  A Craft Fur dubbing brush.  Prepared earlier and in bulk if you're looking to save time.  I spin up craft fur dubbing brushes in a few colors but mostly white, and in two sizes.  Since they are built with wire they stay together and are ready to tie on when you need them! 

Materials 2 and 3:  Foam cut like the photo above, and a rabbit or squirrel strip (I prefer squirrel). 

Ok if you want instructions on building the craft fur dubbing brush you can comment below and I'll post step-by-step pics on how I do mine... or you can check this link for Nick Granato's method (scroll down to the bottom).  Looking at Nick's instructions is how I learned, I just tweaked it a bit.

Remember, you'll most likely use these flies at night so don't get caught up in minor details like how neat it's tied, and how pretty it looks.

Now lets tie a rodent...

Step 1:  Tie in the squirrel tail.  

Step 2:  Tie in the foam at the back.  I use a single strip of foam for #6-10, and a double strip for anything bigger. 

Step 3:  Tie in pre-made craft fur dubbing brush in the back. 

Step 4:  Wrap the brush forward, pinching the fur back each wrap.  Leave a generous gap between the last wrap and the eye.   

Step 5:  Fluff out the fur and tie all the fibers back away from the eye.

Step 6:  Fold the foam over the top gurgler style, making sure the craft fur gets worked down and back towards the hook.  You can dub a little at the head to post the foam flaps up a bit.  

Step 7:  Whip finish and superglue the head.  

Step 8:  Trim the fur flush exposing the hook.  Also trim the sides a bit giving it that mouse looking taper.

Step 9:  (optional) Color the fur to match the foam and tail strip.   Any permanent marker will work fine on craft fur.   Remember it's going to be dark so don't go too crazy. 

That's it!  Here's the fly after taking a swim.  Note the craft fur soaks up the water allowing this fly to float low in the film with just the 'head' sticking out.  It also splats loudly with all that absorbed water.  

Here's the top view after the swim. 

Mousing is new to me, but I can tell you in my limited experience this fly catches fish, and it floats all night long.  It's also easy to tie, and a nice base for extra bells and whistles if you'd like, perhaps rubber legs, stinger hooks, articulated, etc...  Have fun and wade carefully.