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.