RvrWader Fly Tying and Fly Fishing: October 2012

I may have said it before, but I will say it again, I have a very crafty wife who makes some great craft projects and sells them at craft shows from time to time. At the last craft show she encouraged me to put out some of the flies I have been tying to see if anybody was interested in buying them since it only took up a small section of her display. I have to say I was more than a little surprised at how many flies we actually sold. Especially when you consider this was a fall festival in the middle of Michigan's thumb. For those not familiar with Michigan's thumb region, this is mainly farm country and not known for fly fishing. With that said, I was more than a little encouraged and it got me to thinking. Would shadow boxed flies also sell? So off to the Salvation Army to see if they had any shadow box frames at a good price to see if they sell. Here is the fly and shadow box I created tonight.

Completed Shadow Box

Black Rat

Black Rat

Hook - Tiemco 7999
Thread - Uni 8/0 Red
Tag - Flat Silver Tinsel
Tail - Golden Pheasant Crest
Rib - Flat Silver Tinsel
Body - Hare's Ear Plus Black
Collar - Grizzly Soft Hackle
Wing - Gray Squirrel Tail

Step One

Start Thread

Step Two

Tie In Tinsel Tag

Step Three

Wrap Tinsel Forward Three Turns

Step Four

Tie in Pheasant Crest Tail

Step Five

Tie In Tinsel Rib

Step Six

Wax Thread and Dub Body

Step Seven

Wrap Dubbing Forward

Step Eight

Wrap Tinsel Rib Forward

Step Nine

Tie in Grizzly Hackle

Step Ten

Make Three Wraps of Hackle

Step Eleven

Tie in Wing, Create Head and Whip Finish

Lauie and I took a trip to the Cabelas store in Dundee earlier in the week to pick up a few fly fishing items for a gift box idea that she has. While walking around the store it really hit me how much I also missed hunting for small game. I used to love walking through the brightly colored woods holding my dad's old 20 gauge single shot in my hands waiting for the thundering sound made by the wings of the grouse or timber doodle that flushed at your feet. Another great memory is finding a nice oak that happened to be producing acorns that year then taking stand not far away waiting for the squirrels to come around to store up food for the winter. I could hear the sounds out the scurrying squirrels and smell the distinct smell of fall in the woods. While thinking of these things while walking around the store I made a promise to myself that I would break out my dad's old 20 gauge and get back into small game hunting, especially for upland game birds. Laurie's mom owns some farm land up in the Thumb area. Hopefully the farmers that are farming her land will allow me to do some pheasant hunting.

While hunting for small game is a great way to bring a little extra to the dinner table, you also get the added benefit of being able to procure a few extra tying materials. I know I go through a lot of grouse hackle and squirrel tails so they will come in handy. If I have any luck I will show how to cure a squirrel tail or grouse skin in the future.

With all this in mind I purchased a small game hunting license for the first time in over ten years. I guess since the blog is mainly about fly tying I should tie a fly using squirrel tail.

While I have never fished this pattern I have always liked the way the Gladiator looked in the book Flies For Steelhead. I really like the look of the peacock herl rib on the green floss body. I guess I should give it a shot some time.

Gladiator