Crowes and the Comparadun

Holy crap I think I'm going blind.  OK not really but I may need to get a large magnifying glass or stronger reading glasses if I start tying anything smaller than a #16.  My wife told me to do myself a favor and buy the smaller flies and let the younger guys tie those. She just may be onto something there.  We shall see.

I was stumped as to what other flies to tie up for the Hendrickson hatch.  Luckily we all have a great resource for that information.  For those that have not visited Fly Anglers Online do yourself a favor and go check it out.  This site is a great resource.  In addition their Bulletin Board is one of the best if not the best.  If you need a question answered post it on the board.  Someone will know the answer.  This is exactly what I did asking about Hendrickson patterns.  I received several recommendations including on of my old favorites I had forgotten about.  The Comparadun was one of my favorite flies to tie and fish.  It is a very effective pattern and can be adapted to any possible hatch.  Now to get to work tying up a few Red Quill Comparaduns.  I figured the Black Crowes Before the Frost would be a good album for tonight.  A great live album recorded before a select audience in a "cabin" in the middle of nowhere.

Red Quill Comparadun

Red Quill Comparadun Emerger

Red Quill Comparadun

Hook: Mustad 94840 #14

Thread: Uni 8/0 Brown

Tail: Micro-Fibbets Split

Wing: Deer Hair Fanned

Body: Stripped Brown Hackle Quill

Thorax: Rusty Brown Dubbing

Red Quill Comparadun Emerger



Hook: Mustad 94840 #14

Thread: Uni 8/0 Brown

Tail: Light Brown Antron

Wing: Deer Hair Fanned
Body: Stripped Brown Hackle Quill

Thorax: Rusty Brown Dubbing



Sex, Death and The Stones

It's been a couple of days since I have hit my tying desk. Time to get back into it and get ready for opening day.  Here in Michigan that means Hendricksons.  So I popped in some Stone Exile on Main Street and went to town. If I had to listen to one album for the rest of my life this would be it.  Check it out if you have not listened to it.

OK Time to let it loose and get down to some serious tying. Tonight I thought I would start with some Rusty Spinners or my version at least.  Spinners were never one of my favorite flies to tie. They always look awkward to me.  Tricos are the exception to this rule.  How can a #20 or smaller fly look awkward?  Well back to the Rusty Spinners.  So I get this, I tied up a few and showed my wife and of course she wasn't impressed and said it doesn't look like a fly.  When I asked her if it looked like a fly that just had sex and died she said she wasn't sure since she had never seen a fly after it had sex.  I wonder if the pattern would be more effective if I tied a little cigarette in its mouth?!? You never know. Actually I eventually remembered what I dont like about tying spinners.  I started tying them with dubbed bodies and they never look right to me.   However when you tie them with a quill body they look much better. While the dubbed body will work, the quill body looks much better to me. Check out the differences below.

Dubbing Body

Quill Body

Rusty Spinner

Hook: Mustad 94840 #12-14

Thread: Uni 8/0 Brown

Tail: White Micro-Fibbets Split

Body: Rusty Brown Dubbing or Stripped Brown Hackel Quill with Rusty Brown Thorax

Wing: White Z-lon Tied Spent

I'm sure most people who are into fly fishing caught my reference to John Gierach's book Sex, Death and Fly-Fishing. I enjoyed this story especially when he related fly fishing to sex and death.  I had never thought about it before but it makes sense when you think about it. 

Parachutes in the Wind

Glad I took my daily walk when I did.  The wind is really kicking now.  Why does it seem that you are always walking up hill and into the wind?  Listening to The Dropkick Murphys gave me that little extra something I needed to get through the wind. Who would have thought Celtic Punk would be so much fun.

Last night at the tying table was another stocking up day. Again I threw in some Live Phish and went to work tying up some Parachute Blue Winged Olives and Parachute Blue Winged Olive Emergers.  At first I was struggling with catching the hackle while whip finishing. Then I remember the end of my bodkin had a half hitch tool. Why didn't I remember that at first?  Oh well at least I remembered.  Talk about making life easier. 

The BWO parachute was always one of my most productive flies while fishing on the Au Sable River. More than once this fly saved the day.  If you look at the hatch charts for the Au Sable River there are BWO's listed all summer long. If the fish are rising but not taking what is supposed to be the main hatch at the time chances are very good that they are taking Olives.  

Parachute Blue Winged Olive

Hook: Mustad 94840 #18-28
Thread: Uni 8/0 Olive
Tail: Dark Dun Hackle Fibers
Body: Olive Dubbing
Post: White HiViz or Antron
Hackle: Dark Dun Tied Parachute Style

Parachute Blue Winged Olive Emerger

Hook: Mustad 94840 #18-28
Thread: Uni 8/0 Olive
Tail: Antron or HiViz Sparse
Body: Olive Dubbing
Post: White HiViz or Antron
Hackle: Dark Dun Tied Parachute Style

Just Phishing Around with Griffith's Gnats

Well today I made my first foray into "production" tying for the first time in a long time. I must have been inspired by the music.  As you can tell from the name of the post I was jamming to some Phish.  Their Live One is a classic.  I can listen to Chalk Dust Torture and  Slave to the Traffic Light over and over again. 

For my first foray in to production tying again I started out easy with the Griffith's Gnat.  This is one of my favorite searching flies.  It may be an easy fly to tie but it is very effective.  Especially on those beautiful brookies and small browns. 

Griffith's Gnat

Hook: Mustad 94840 #18-28
Thread: Uni 8/0 Black
Rib: Fine Gold Wire, Wrapped over Body and Hackle
Hackle: Grizzly Hackle, Palmered over Body
Body: Peacock Herl

The Two C's: Crowes and Caddis

One thing you will quickly notice is that I have an affinity for jam bands, blues guitar and a little bit of good ole rock and roll. Today while flipping through my CDs The Black Crowes War Paint screamed listen to me.  What a fantastic album.  While listening to Evergreen I started thinking about the caddis hatches on the Holy Waters. For those that have never fished the Main Branch of the Au Sable River the flies only section from  Burton's Landing to Wakeley Bridge is affectionately as the Holy Waters. In my opinion this is by far the best trout fishing in Michigan if not in the entire country. Throughout the summer from mid-afternoon until dusk there always seems to be some sort of caddis on the water.  For this reason I always carried a good selection of Elk Hair Caddis.

Elk Hair Caddis

Hook: Mustad 94840 #8-14
Thread: Uni 8/0 Color To Match Natural
Rib: Fine Copper or Gold Wire
Body: Rabbit Dubbing Color To Match Natural
Hackle: Brown or Ginger Palmered
Wing: Tan Elk Hair

Hamming it up with JGB and the GRHE

So far life in the "closet" isn't so bad.  I get to kick back have a few beers, listen to some good tunes and tie a few flies. Last night it was an ice cold Hamm's, some Jerry Garcia Band while tying a few Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear Nymphs.  Every time I listen to the Jerry Garcia Band Live album I think about fishing the South Branch of the Au Sable river here in Michigan.  I never planned it but for some reason it was always in the CD player while driving through the Mason Tract.  Ah the memories.  I still chuckle when I think about the time I was near the chapel and every time a canoe full of loud drunks passed by they would flip over while every other canoe passed by with no problems.  I guess you shouldn't be loud and obnoxious when passing the Fisherman's Chapel.

Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear

Hook: Mustad 3906B #6-12
Thread: Brown Uni 8/0
Weight: Medium Lead Wire
Tail: Hare's Ear - Guard Hairs
Rib: Flat Gold Tinsel
Abdomen: Hare's Ear Fur
Wing Case: Oak Turkey Wing Quill Segment
Thorax: Hare's Ear Fur
Legs: Dubbing Picked Out in Thorax Area

True Love and the Woolly Bugger

It took a while but we finally decided that I can use one of our closets for my fly tying room. Pretty sad EHH.  (No I'm not a Yooper but I did play one for six years) OK so it's not really a closet but it is a pretty small room.  Laurie didn't want all my stuff out in the open for everybody to see and the grand kid to get into.  Can't say as I blame her.  Besides she graciously gave up one of her desks so I could use it for fly tying. So into the closet I go. 

Once the room was all set and all my materials in proper places it was time to take the plunge and tie few flies. But where to start?  There are so many patterns to choose from. AHH the good ole Woolly Bugger.  I guess that is a good of place to start again since that is where it all started in the first place.  Well I guess it is close to riding a bike.  What do you think?





Woolly Bugger
Hook: Mustad 79580 #6-12
Thread: Uni 8/0 Black
Weight: Medium Lead Wire
Tail: Black Marabou
Body: Black Chenille
Hackle: Black Hen or Rooster Palmered

For those who have not read Dave Ames' "True Love and the Woolly Bugger" you should check it out.  I can relate to a few of the stories.  Just like in the book, one of my fishing buddies Hommie and I have run into more than one beautiful naked lady while fly fishing. Sorry no pictures of those.

Starting Over

In the famous words of Alphonse Soady, "If you don't know where to start, go back to the beginning." I guess that is the best place to start this blog.

For as long as I can remember I have always enjoyed being in the outdoors especially hunting and fishing.  Lucky for me my dad loved the same things and was willing to teach me everything he knew. At this point in time we were into the more traditional fishing methods like bait fishing and using artifical lures.  When I was attending college my dad decided to take up the hobby of fly tying.  When I left school he taught me a few things but I really wasn't interested at the time.  Let's fast forward a few years. I'm now married and have two wonderful daughters and in search of a hobby of my own. Thinking back to watching my father tying flys I figured that may be the hobby for me.  Well I was hooked (no pun intended) from day one.  Needless to say I started to get a nice little stock pile of flys.  I guess that is a good enough reason to start fly fishing.

Let's fast forward ten years. Well lets just say life happens and I got way from doing the things I loved. I am now remarried and golf has become my recreational activity of choice. However something has been missing. While watching my wife working on several different scrap booking projects it occured to me that I missed fly tying. 

I guess it's a good thing I didn't get rid of all my supplies because I have decided to start tying flies again. Can I pick up where I left off?  Can it really be as easy as riding a bike?  What things have changed from when I was tying all the time?  Follow me along on my adventure and let's learn a few things together along the way.