As we are finally under the one month mark from our trip to Alaska, I have again been hitting the vice regularly, tying (as you can see) plenty of little furry friends that will help us hook the big ones. As this is (obviously) not my home turf, I have had to do lots of research to figure out just what the Kings and Reds will take. It comes down to a rather short line-up actually. There are a million pacific salmon flies out there, and thousand of them work great, I'm sure. But my quest was to narrow it down to the "elite best of the best... and make them better" (Top Gun, 1986). So, by way of formal introduction, we have, in the lower right compartment of the fly box, the classic row patterns. Ever seen a glob of fish eggs in the water? Well, they have an invisible "skein" on them that, when wet, turns milky white. Its basically what the eggs are held in until the female lays them in the red as singles. But a glob of eggs has that whit filmy look surrounding the colored part of the eggs. To imitate this most people, myself included, use a simple white marabou feather. That, combined with the egg yarn on the hook and in the water, does a pretty good job of imitating a cluster of eggs floating down stream. Next up, in the left, middle compartment, we have the ever famous Russian River Fly, or Coho fly. Always thought Coho fly was a weird
name for this fly since it is fished primarily for Reds. A simple patter; two contrasting colors of buck tail tied one atop the other. Word on the street is that blue and white, tied sparse and no longer than to the bend of the hook, is the hot ticket (as this is new information, I have some re-tying to do). Russian River regulations state that all flies (this is fly-only water) have to have a hook gap (the distance from the point of the hook to the shank or bend) no wider than 3/8 inch. Next we'll look at the flies in the bottom two middle boxes and the bottom right box. These are the Go-To flies for Kings. We have our black egg sucking leeches, out purple egg sucking leeches, and our chartruese leeches (or wooly bugers). These are flies that need no introduction if you fly fish at all. The rmaining top row and middle right boxes hold a variety of flies; flash flies, popsicle flies, an aray of bunny leeches in various colors, some jigs, and even some of my very own creations - mostly stimulator flies, or flies designed to elicit a strike out of pure aggrivation... BAM! I have learned, however, that claiming a fly as my own invention is risky business. There are so many variations on so many themes that any "originally" idea has probably been done a dozen times before or more. But just for fun, I want to
show you an egg pattern I came up with by accident. It was just like comming up with a new song.... I just chose a general feel (or material in this case) and began tying. I call it the Devils Egg.... sorta like deviled eggs, but not really... cause mine is called DEVIL's eggs. Get it? Ok, here we have it in the picture>>. It is the two first flies in the top row (may have to click on the photo to blow it up and get a good look). Does that just make your heart skip a beat or what?! Thats one bad fly. And, as always, we have it in several variations using different materials and colors. I'll let you know how it works. Some flies catch fish, and some flies catch fisherman.... meaning some flies just look cool, and others actually get-er-done. We'll see. Twenty three days before wheel's up. The blood really gets pumping when I think about it. Tight Lines!
As we are finally under the one month mark from our trip to Alaska, I have again been hitting the vice regularly, tying (as you can see) plenty of little furry friends that will help us hook the big ones. As this is (obviously) not my home turf, I have had to do lots of research to figure out just what the Kings and Reds will take. It comes down to a rather short line-up actually. There are a million pacific salmon flies out there, and thousand of them work great, I'm sure. But my quest was to narrow it down to the "elite best of the best... and make them better" (Top Gun, 1986). So, by way of formal introduction, we have, in the lower right compartment of the fly box, the classic row patterns. Ever seen a glob of fish eggs in the water? Well, they have an invisible "skein" on them that, when wet, turns milky white. Its basically what the eggs are held in until the female lays them in the red as singles. But a glob of eggs has that whit filmy look surrounding the colored part of the eggs. To imitate this most people, myself included, use a simple white marabou feather. That, combined with the egg yarn on the hook and in the water, does a pretty good job of imitating a cluster of eggs floating down stream. Next up, in the left, middle compartment, we have the ever famous Russian River Fly, or Coho fly. Always thought Coho fly was a weird
name for this fly since it is fished primarily for Reds. A simple patter; two contrasting colors of buck tail tied one atop the other. Word on the street is that blue and white, tied sparse and no longer than to the bend of the hook, is the hot ticket (as this is new information, I have some re-tying to do). Russian River regulations state that all flies (this is fly-only water) have to have a hook gap (the distance from the point of the hook to the shank or bend) no wider than 3/8 inch. Next we'll look at the flies in the bottom two middle boxes and the bottom right box. These are the Go-To flies for Kings. We have our black egg sucking leeches, out purple egg sucking leeches, and our chartruese leeches (or wooly bugers). These are flies that need no introduction if you fly fish at all. The rmaining top row and middle right boxes hold a variety of flies; flash flies, popsicle flies, an aray of bunny leeches in various colors, some jigs, and even some of my very own creations - mostly stimulator flies, or flies designed to elicit a strike out of pure aggrivation... BAM! I have learned, however, that claiming a fly as my own invention is risky business. There are so many variations on so many themes that any "originally" idea has probably been done a dozen times before or more. But just for fun, I want to
show you an egg pattern I came up with by accident. It was just like comming up with a new song.... I just chose a general feel (or material in this case) and began tying. I call it the Devils Egg.... sorta like deviled eggs, but not really... cause mine is called DEVIL's eggs. Get it? Ok, here we have it in the picture>>. It is the two first flies in the top row (may have to click on the photo to blow it up and get a good look). Does that just make your heart skip a beat or what?! Thats one bad fly. And, as always, we have it in several variations using different materials and colors. I'll let you know how it works. Some flies catch fish, and some flies catch fisherman.... meaning some flies just look cool, and others actually get-er-done. We'll see. Twenty three days before wheel's up. The blood really gets pumping when I think about it. Tight Lines!
1 comment:
Wow, I can't believe how beautiful all your flies are. You really have a wonderful talent! How fun to be able to do so many cool things! You are so talented in so many areas, its just nice to be related! I'm proud of you.
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