Merry Christmas to Me!!!

Well deer season has come to an end and the deer has eluded me this year. It's a good thing I don't rely on my hunting skills to feed the family. Even though I didn't put any venison on the table to feed the family it was still a good season and always nice to get into the woods. 

This year for Christmas my lovely wife surprised me with a nice Ott Lite for my bench. All I can say is this thing is nice. I thought I had good light here in the closet but I guess I was wrong. This light really makes a difference. The differences in the colors is amazing. If you do not have one on your bench yet, you really need to pick one up for yourself.  Check out the differences in these pictures.

 

Emergent Sparkle Pupa Without the Ott Lite

 

 

Emergent Sparkle Pupa With the Ott Lite

 

 

Egg Sucking Leech Without the Ott Lite

 

 

Egg Sucking Leech With the Ott Lite

 

 

 

 

 





Hunting and Maps

It has been a while since I had a chance to write. Fall here in Michigan means hunting season. It seems I have spent all my available time either scouting or hunting. This year I planned on changing things up and not head north to deer camp for several reasons. I decided instead to hunt some promising state land not far from my home. It has been several years since I have hunted this area so I spent a lot of extra time scouting the area. While I didn't get my deer this year the scouting did put me into a very promising area. One thing is for sure I will be hunting this spot for squirrels soon.

In my scouting efforts, I did discover a great website to print topo maps for free. If you have never visited http://www.digital-topo-maps.com/ you need to check it out. The site is loaded with free printable topo maps for all of the US and Canada. It does take a little time to drill down to the area you want the map for but it is well worth the effort. One helpful hint, once you have the map you want printed click on either the Landscape or Portrait links under that map. This will allow you to print an 8 1/2"x11" map without the mytopo.com watermark. Check out this map I did of a portion of the Au Sable River Holy Waters.

Another great resource from www.mytopo.com is their smart phone app. You can download it here. http://get.it/trimbleoutdoors/8pAD This will give you the topo maps on your phone along with a compass and other features.

Hope this helps.

Shadow Boxing a Black Rat

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

 

Enlightenment at Cabelas

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

Gladiator

Hook - Tiemco 7999
Thread - Uni 8/0 Black
Tail - Scarlet Hackle Barbs
Body - Green Floss
Rib - Peacock Herl
Collar - Grizzly Hackle
Wing - Gray Squirrel Tail

 

Step One

 

Start Thread At Eye Return

 

Step Two

 

Tie in Tail at Hook Bend

 

Step Three

 

Tie in Peacock Herl Rib

 

Step Four

 

Return Thread to Eye Return and Tie in Floss

 

Step Five

 

Wrap Floss Back to Hook Bend Then Back Forward to Eye Return

 

Step Six

 

Wrap Rib Forward in Even Turns

 

Step Seven

 

Tie in Hackle for Collar

 

Step Eight

 

Make Two or Three Wraps of Hackle

 

Step Nine

 

Tie in Squirrel Tail Wing, Create Head and Whip Finish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



 



Scored Some Aunt Lydia's!!!

Laurie and I took a trip to Salvation Army today to see if we could find any good bargains. It's surprising some of the bargains you can find if you really look hard enough. I have picked up a few really nice cast iron pans among other things. Today I couldn't believe when I saw skein upon skein of Aunt Lydia's Rug Yarn. For those that don't know Aunt Lydia's Rug Yarn is what Gary LaFontaine used to tie his famous Emergent Sparkle Pupa and Deep Sparkle Pupa patterns. I now have more yarn than I know what to do with. I will probably put some up on eBay at a good price to share my good luck with my fellow fly tiers.  Here is a sample of what I picked up.

I guess I should put some of this yarn to use and tie up a few Emergent Sparkle Pupas.  Gary LaFontaine spent a few years in scuba gear observing trout and the insects they eat in their natural habitat. One of the observations he made was when the caddis flies were emerging they had a halo of air around their bodies as they were swimming to the surface. To mimic this halo of air Gary developed the emergent sparkle pupa. The antron fibers in Aunt Lydia's Rug Yarn trapped the air between the fibers producing the halo effect he was looking for. This fly has proven itself to be a trout magnet when the caddis are emerging. If you haven't tried them tie one on and give it a shot.

 

Emergent Sparkle Pupa Cream and Brown

(This pattern can be tied in different color combinations)

 

 

 

Emergent Sparkle Pupa Cream and Brown

 

Hook - Mustad 94840 #12-20

Thread - Uni 8/0 Brown

Shuck - Cream Antron Yarn from Over Body

Over Body - Cream Antron Yarn

Under Body - Brown Haretron Dubbing Touch Dubbed

Wing - Deer Hair

Thorax - Brown Superfine Dubbing

 

 

Step One

 

Start Thread

 

Step Two

 

Tie in Yarn on Top and Bottom of Hook

 

Step Three

 

Apply Wax to Thread and Touch Dub.

 

Step Four

 

 

Wrap Dubbing Forward. Body Should Be Very Sparse and Buggy

 

Step Five



 

Bring Bottom Portion of Over Body Forward Creating a Bubble and Tie Off

 

Step Six

 

Bring Top Portion of Over Body Forward Creating a Bubble and Tie off

 

Step Seven

 

Clip a Few Stands of Over Body and Pull Back Creating Shuck

 

Step Eight

 

Tie In Deer Hair Wing

 

Step Nine

 

Apply Dubbing and Create Head. Whip Finish

 

 

 



Go Suck an Egg... Well if You're a Leech

Is it just me or does the weather seem to change for the worse right after you get out of work? All day today was the perfect fall day. Temperatures were in the low 70s with bright sunny skies. That was until I finished work. Then as soon as I get home the clouds started rolling in. It didn't take long for the rain to start and ruin the plans for the evening. From what I am seeing on Weather.com it looks like this weekend is going to be washed out. Well since the weather sucks and egg I guess I should tie up a bunch of Egg Sucking Leeches..

If there is one pattern a steelhead fisherman must have in their box it is the Egg Sucking Leech. Once the salmon have spawned there is abundance of nutrients left in the rivers, whether it be the recently fertilized eggs or the dead salmon themselves. When the steelhead head upstream for their late fall/early winter run they find plenty of nourishment for the trip. Leeches feeding on the recently deposited salmon eggs are a big part of their diet.  The Egg Sucking Leech is the perfect pattern to mimic this food source. This is an easy pattern to tie and can be tied in different color combinations. My personal favorite is purple and hot pink.

 

Purple Egg Sucking Leech

 

 

 

Egg Sucking Leech

 

Hook - Mustad 79580

Thread - Uni 8/0 Black

Weight - Medium Lead Wire (or Equal Substitute)

Tail - Purple Marabou With Purple Krystal Flash

Hackle - Purple Saddle Hackle Palmered

Body - Purple Chenille Medium

Head - Hot Pink Ice Chenille Medium

 

 

Step One



 

 

Wrap Lead Wire and Start Thread

 

 

Step Two

 

Tie in Marabou Tail

 

Step Three

 

Tie in Krystal Flash on Front Side then Double Back for Back Side

 

Step Four

 

Tie in Saddle Hackle by Tip

 

Step Five

 

 Tie In Chenille

 

Step Six

 

Wrap Chenille Forward Leaving Room For Egg

 

Step Seven

 

Palmer Hackle Forward and Tie Off

 

Step Eight

 

 

Tie in Chenille for Egg

 

Step Nine

 

Wrap Chenille Forward Tie Off, Create Small Head and Whip Finish

 

 

 

 

OK Let's see who read this far down. The first person to name the three steelhead pattern I have tied so far will receive two of each pattern. Please leave a comment with your answer along with your email address for me to get back to you.



 



 

 

 

 

 

 



Anybody Feel Like a Popsicle

I know I said Fall is here the other day, but today the Fall weather arrived in full force. After being in the low 80s that last few days today's high of 64 was a shock to the system. It is way too early to turn on the heat.  After seeing Laurie bundled up in sweats, sweat shirt and blanket and she was still frozen like a Popsicle I gave in and turned on the heat. Can you believe that she is the one that loves winter but cannot handle a little drop in temperature? It looks like the weather is going to be the same tomorrow so she is already planning on making a batch of Potato Soup to take the chill off. I cannot wait!

Speaking of Popsicles, I guess tonight would be a great time to head to the closet and tie up some more flies for the Salmon and Steelhead runs. The Popsicle is another great pattern for Steelhead here in Michigan. I am a firm believer that the color purple does attract fish on a bright day and couple that with all the action produced by the marabou this pattern produces fish.

Popsicle

 

Popsicle

Hook - Tiemco 7999 #2/0 - 8
Thread - Uni 8/0 Red
Body - Silver Mylar Tinsel
First Wing - Hot Orange Marabou with Pearl Krystal Flash
Second Wing - Red Marabou
Third Wing - Purple Marabou

Step One



 

Start Thread Just Behind Return

 

Step Two

 

Tie in Mylar Tinsel Just Behind Return

 

Step Three

 

Wrap Tinsel Back to Hook Bend Then Forward to Return

 

Step Four

 

Tie In Orange Marabou by Tip

 

Step Five

Wrap Marabou While Sweeping Fibers Towards the Rear of Hook and Tie Off

Step Six

Tie in Krystal Flash

Step Seven

Tie in Red Marabou by Tip

Step Eight

Wrap Marabou While Sweeping Fibers Towards the Rear of Hook and Tie Off

Step Nine

Tie In Purple Marabou by Tip

Step Ten

Wrap Marabou While Sweeping Fibers Towards the Rear of Hook, Tie Off Create Head and Whip Finish
 

Another version tied much fuller