Marios Mudeye
Coutta pattern - the trout fisherman is a simplistic fellow be he bait-spinner-or fly-fisher and the Latin of Linnaeus in the naming of fish and insect is of little importance. Of course this is a great pity as the scientific name pins down the creature or the plant and there is little room for mixing the name of one organism with another, although even among the scientific folk there are still quarrels concerning various species. Fishers may remember the great list of trout sub-species which...
Dyes
Dylon - either hot water or cold water. If the cold water dyes are found to be effective they would be valuable in leaving a cape soft and flexible. Dolly - descended from the old dolly shaped dye block. Possibly these are not made now but if you do discover an old shop with a drawer full of Dolly dyes grab the black. Rit - available from supermarkets - often used in America. These are similar to the Veniard dyes. These dyes appear to be more concentrated than the commercial types and are more...
J 1
For a second fly in revision, try a Bogong Beauty. This fly was developed during a fishing trip to the Buckland Valley by Dennis Mick Hall and the author. Since then it has proved a most successful fly on the rivers of Victoria. Originally tied as a bold floater on rough water in the sunshine, it has proved its worth as a dun pattern or a white moth at dusk and into dark. First tied on a 10 it is possibly more effective on a 12 or a 14. If the fisher finds that the rise is still going on and...
The Hackletip Sail Wing
Marabou wound over herl Then herl over marabou Advance the silk a turn or two towards the eye to form a bed for the wings which are to be tied in next. Select two small glassy hackles from the white cock cape. Strip the web material from the bases of the feathers. You will notice a slight concave shape to these feathers. Place one on a matchbox with concave shape down, tip over the edge of the box. Place the second feather concave side up, tip to tip over the first. Pick up both feathers with...
Revision 1
We suggest that you could have a go at a roll wing at this stage. Rolled wings are very popular in America and fish very well. Take a clearly marked breast feather and break out the centre tip forming a V notch. Each arm of the V will form a wing, lo remove the curvature in the feather roll it briskly between the palms of the hands. The wing is tied as follows, with the now familiar figure eight between the two halves of the feather. A few turns in front of the wings will lift them vertically...
Other Winging Feathers
The technique outlined above applies in general to wings tied from quill feathers such as the duck family, swan, crow and even the domestic pigeon. Wet fly wings are also tied from contour feathers such as the black and white feathers from the mountain duck - the fly tying dealer will show you 'teal' a similar feather but with clearer marking from England and the flank feathers from the mallard - these are also available from the tackle dealers. However we will return to the white tipped wild...
White Moth Wing Burner
If you obtain a piece of copper sheet, fold it in half and cut out and shape with a file a projection as shown in Figure 5.7. Hen feathers produce excellent burned wings. Bore a small hole at the base of the projection. This will allow you to centre the feather. Try a White Moth. Halve a cock hackle and palmer this over a white marabou silk body. Tie in two burned wings and finish with a white cock shoulder hackle. Figure 5.8 Cut your wings in a concentrated session and store in separate...
Other Killer Ties
The English teal feather or the
A Little Bit More Entomology
The order of insects called the Ephemeroptera are the Day-flies. The adult form of the insect can last as short a period as twenty to thirty minutes - this after an underwater life of anything from six months to three years. Hence the term Day fly In England the insect hatch in May and are called May-flies - not quite appropriate to Australia. Over the years the fisher has named the various stages of growth in relation to the appearance of these stages. The Australian fisher has adopted this...
Fly Tying Materials Which Require Dyeing
Many fly fishers dye fly lines either browns or dark colours as they reason that fish are alarmed by light coloured lines. Others dye tips of fly lines with fluorescent dyes to increase visibility. Our task is with fly tying materials and we wish to avoid such argument . The usual materials we require to dye are Usually a complete cape but there is often only need to dye a few feathers. Special dyeing may be necessary but usually purchased wool colours are satisfactory. However natural wool is...
Banded Bodies
Figure 10.64 Making A Stripe-Below Body Figure 10.64 Making A Stripe-Below Body The man who has done so much for the advancement of salt-water fly fishing in Australia is Jock Gray who has tied thousands of salt water flies - and has given most of them away in his endeavors to interest Australians in this fascinating side to our sport. In the interests of space in this volume we have to limit our section to the description of two flies, both of which have taken salt water fish. One member, Rob...
E Jack Dennis Aussie Hopper
This fly was designed by Jack Dennis on his trip to Australia and is described in his excellent Western Trout Fly Tying Manual Vol II. Yellow-dyed deer hair is tied in as a body as outlined in the Deer-hair Beetle and a strip of clear latex a strip cut from a surgical glove is wound up over the body. Two bunches of golden pheasant tippets are tied in at each side of the body. A bunch of deer hair is tied in at the head with the points forward and of a length about one and a half times the...
Tail and
wing Hessian bag fibres tied over the body streamer fashion at tail half way along body and at head Topping Hessian dyed picric yellow Head Hessian dyed red and wound to form a large head 4. BLACK BEETLE - Ern Cheel 1948 Hook 8 Rib Three and one half turns sitter wire Hackle Rhode Island Red Two turns only tied over body 5. BROWN AND BLACK LONGTAIL - Lyne Hook 8-10 Body Black chenille or wool Rib Silver tinsel Wings Brown cock hackle one pair tied back to back 6. BROWN NYMPH - Reg Lyne 1933...
Odd Fly Dressings
The Southern Fly Fishers' Fly Tying School and this Manual set out to describe the basic principles of fly tying rather than detailing theories of particular flies. However the end product is the fish-catching fly and here are a few ties which have found favour at least with the Australian fly fisher. A most important fly to have in your box. An occasional insect often attracts a big specimen, and if you are lucky enough to strike a hatch or a swarm of flying ants you will be in business. As in...
Photo Dyeing
The desirable dun colours for feathers can be obtained by trial and error by using the techniques familiar to the amateur photographer. The main reason for attempting this exercise - besides having the fun in experimentation is that the process is earned out in cold water and the cape does not harden as it would if you were to use the usual dyeing process outlined above. Bronze and blue duns can be produced depending on the solutions of silver nitrate used. Light shades 3.5 gram silver nitrate...
Chapter
The reader is warned that this fly tying business is a condition from which there is no recovery. He or she should have a place well-lit' a table upon which material, hooks and feathers can be scattered without too much dissension a chair which will prove to be comfortable after an hour or two some sort of system for storing far too much material the tools which are listed below the materials which are also listed and permission to create a little mess. Of course the plea can be entered that...
Revision 2
We hope that you have read a little more on insects and the fishing techniques involved in using the imitations. You have now learned enough to make all the flies you will ever need for fishing. From now on the patterns are rather fancy involving wings or special types of imitations such as grasshoppers, mudeyes Want to go on To revise our dubbing method. Place a 12 in the vice. Tie in a few sized up whisks of red cock hackle as a tail. The original tie for this fly calls for a honey dun. If...
STONE FLY NYMPH Bill McLoughlin Hook
Setae Three fibres of mallard or brown hackle Body Brown fur spun torpedo shape Rib Three close turns at tail with narrow gold tinsel Legs Two turns of red orange hackle fibres tied over the body Head Silk wound back over hackle and varnished Wings One pair Plymouth Barred Rock with brown tint tied back to back Hackle Same as wings wound full back over body 73. SUMMER BROWN NYMPH - Bill McLaughlin Dec 1949 Setae Three strands of brown hackle 5 ieths inch long Wingcase Dark brown hackle fibres...
C The Kelly Hopper
Over wing Rolled turkey wing tied flat Legs Close cropped red dyed hackle stalks with knee-knot Head Muddler type head with grey or yellow-dyed deer hair Note the materials beneath the body are cut to allow the various sections of the body to be visible to the trout. The hopper may be fished wet or dry and is usually delivered to the water with a decided splat Figure 10.19 Kelly Hopper and Knobby Hopper
Closepalmered Featherfibre Bodies The Great Lake Beetle
In M.E. McCausland's classic book Fly-Fishing in Australia and New Zealand is a delightful Chapter by the late J.M.Gillies on the development of the Great Lake Beetle. Here is described the dyeing of the orange wing and the trials with a wool body which sank and the final solution of a close palmered black cock hackle body which was clipped to shape. The story takes a few minutes in the telling but the development of the fly took two years Use a 12 or a 14 hook and place this in the vice with...
Revision 3
Take a large black cock hackle and make this into a wonder wing. Trim the bottom fluff and about V3 of the fibres from the base of the feather. Figure 8.1 Bringing down some of the remaining fibres on each side and seal these with either clear nail polish or Silicon-Seal. Carefully cut the centre of the tip with the scissors leaving horns. About half way down the shank tie in the silk and make several turns as a bed, and tie in the feather flat on top of the shank - pinch, throw the loop, pull...
Deer Hair Flies
The fundamental principle utilized in all these flies is the uncanny 'spinning' or flaring of the hollow hair obtained from the deer. This flaring is a spectacular trick and always impresses the observer of the fly tier. The fly tier can always expect admiration for his cleverness as the hair springs into life and radiates as if by magic around the shank of the hook. The truth of the matter is that this magic is difficult to avoid. The beetle tied with deer hair described below will illustrate...
The Deerhair Beetle
With deer hair in the appropriate colours, a whole family of beetles tied in this manner will be well worth places in your fly box. Here the object is to prevent the deer hair from spinning. Use a small hook, from 14 to 20 and the usual beetle is a black one. Several runs of tying silk up and down the body and a coating of nail polish will form a good basis for the black deer hair used, and a fairly substantial underbody of tying silk should be made. Take a bunch of deer hair and tie this in,...
Grasshoppers And Crickets
There are many ties for these two important insects. Bert Webb's and Dick Clark's ties for the cricket have been discussed above, but we include the Letort Cricket here together with the Letort Grasshopper for convenience. The grasshopper, when the late summer reaches a peak, forms the basis for possibly the best of fishing for the year. Those amongst you who have not approached the summer stream through the long yellow grass and kicked the hoppers in to the water to watch them disappear in a...
The Geehi Beetle
We have been tying tags up to now. Many flies have tails or whisks, and the Geehi beetle has whisks of what is possibly the most important tail-former in the book - fibres from the collar of the Golden Pheasant. These yellow and black fibres are obtained either as loose feathers or a complete cape. We suggest buying the complete cape - you will certainly use one in short time. Remove one feather from the collar and snip off about 6 barbs making sure that the black marks remain together. Hold...
Bert Webbs Black Cricket
The same techniques are used for this realistic imitation of one of the best of all natural trout baits, the cricket. The late Bert Webb's pattern was brought to our attention by Jack Kelly one of our most knowledgeable fishers. Whisk Single strip of dark wing feather crow or dark grey duck Body Close palmered black cock trimmed to shape Wings i Either a wonder-wing leg on each side or a pair of stripped black hackle-stalk legs with a single knot tied to form joints. A dob of black varnish will...
Fred
Body Brown olive or green olive Velvety Yarn if obtainable or chenille, Hessian or burlap has been used in the Hessian Fred one strand wound with two strands alongside to half hook length. Wing 4 Brown partridge or bantam or mountain duck feathers tied flat over body. Head Of velvety yarn or chenille or hessian with two black bead eyes threaded on strand of body material and figure eighted. Complete fly well soaked in clear nail polish Fig. 10.28 Figure 10.27 Glass Eye Bead Assembly Figure...
GREENWELLS GLORY dry McCausland version Hook
104. HACKLE HOPPER - Joseland 1900 dry Hook 12-10 Body Raffia grass over kapok Hackle Brown or grey partridge Underwing Golden pheasant collar tippets or bright yellow cock hackle Tail Hackle fibres dyed claret Hackle Palmered Rhode Island Red cock hackle Hackle Primary golden pheasant tippets 106. HALL'S HOPPER dry - DM. Hall Legs Golden pheasant tippets with bunch each side of body Wing Speckled turkey tail tied over the back Head Deer hair tied Muddler fashion 107. HOPPER F.A.D.G. FAD...
Black Cock Capes Fly Tieing
Scissors curved amp straight Wing burner
Dry Flies
84. ALPINE BEETLE - dry D.M. Hall Hook 14-10 Tag Dyed orange cock hackle fibres clipped Hackle Furnace cock and one dyed orange cock mixed together Note A furnace cock may be used to palmer the body 85. BENSEN SPINNER - dry J.W. Bensen 1937-1949 Hook 10 Setae Three strands ginger cock Hackle Two turns brown cock hackle tied to float low 86. BERCHDOLDT HOPPER - George Berchdedt dry Hook 8 Tail Golden pheasant tippet fibres Hackle Primary cock pheasant green rump secondary orange cock hackle 87....
i THE ORANGE AND THE POLAR SHRIMPS
With this wet fly, although tied with bucktail rather than a slip from the wing feather, there are points which will bring to mind the principles we outlined in the previous chapter. Hair makes an excellent wing, and many believe it stands on its own as a wet winging material. This is a fly used in America on steel-heads - sea run rainbows. Place an 8, a 6 or even a 4 in the vice. Tie in about 10cm of gold lurex at the shoulder and spiral this down to the bend and for a distance around the...
CRAIGS NIGHTTIME Hook Tag Red wool
Body Black wool or chenille, ribbed silver Hackle Beard of black cock Wing Pookak swamp hen about five blue feathers tied flat over body. Over wing fluorescent yellow dyed cock fibres, red fibres dyed cock or jungle cock tied flat. Tie in red wool along shank - nail polish to prevent twisting of body. Tie in wool or chenille and silver lurex. Wind body and rib with lurex. Don't forget to leave at least lk shank length for wing, hackle and head Whip finish and turn fly over in vice. Tie in black...
Parachute Hackle Flies
In Chapter 7 the method of tying a parachute hackle using the base of a pair of Wonder Wings was discussed and the effectiveness of this style of fly is well documented. A Royal Wulff tied with the normal Royal Coachman body but with a wing of white bucktail and a parachute hackle of red cock is a reliable fish taker. There have been other methods developed to tie the effective parachute hackle. These involve the use of a gallows, a device fashioned to keep a loop of material taut above a fly...
A Diversion
This Chapter is mainly involved with the tying of wet quill wings, and we will cover several methods of tying the hackle for such flies. Instead of just describing all these methods without pause, we felt it interesting to tie a fly to illustrate one method of wet-hackle tying and to end up with one of the best small fish - tadpole - shrimp patterns in the book, the Fuzzy-Wuzzy. Tie in a black squirrel tail, appropriately measured for size on a Limerick hook size 6 or 8. Then spin a bright red...
GEPs MUDEYE
1. Tie in two strips brown plastic raffia and 10cm brown Ato-mos Velvety Yam, if obtainable or brown chenille . 2. Wind silk over material back to bend. Tie in two more strips of velvety yam or chenille. Figure 10.25 1 and 2 G.E.P.'s Mudeye 129 3. Wind one strand of velvety yarn to half way. Tie off and trim. 4. Bring the two pieces of velvety yam alongside the body. Tie off and trim. 5. Soak body in clear nail polish. Press between jaws of smooth pliers. Allow to dry and bring plastic strips...
Chapter 3
You have by now possibly accumulated a few items of fly tying material. The furs and feathers you have must be protected against the ravages of the clothes moths and sundry other gobblers including the villain of the lot, the museum beetle. This character is reputed to be able to eat cow-horn There are several substances you can use to keep these undesirables at least at bay. Naphthalene flake can be sprinkled with the capes and feathers. This material is not popular with some because of the...
Placing The Wings Method
Prepare two sections of grey duck quill fibres as shown in the previous chapter - width selected using another hook, and the section or slip rounded at the top by pulling down between thumb and forefinger, pulling to the right at the same time and exerting an up-and-down motion without moving the thumb and forefinger across each other. See Figure 9.7 It may be found that the slip will end up with separate fibres in a tatty mess. This could be due to either using a feather which is dried out -...
CLIFF GRAHAM LONGTAIL No Hook 4
Wing New Zealand bittern dyed olive yellow 15. CADDIS NYMPH - George Berchdolt. Tied late 1940s Hook 8 Setae A few strands of black hen hackles lk inch long Body Emerald green floss silk Rib Black ostrich herl and three turns of fine silver wire Thorax Blue rabbit fur spun on roughly Legs Fur from thorax 16. COLLERS HOLE NYMPH - B. McLaughlin A March Brown Nymph Hook 8 Tail A few fibres of the speckled breast feather of the Khaki Campbell drake Body Dyed yellow rabbit fur Rib Three turns fine...
A
Figure 10.44 Frank Sawyer's Bow-Tie Buzzer These are generally tied on caddis hooks and have a small rounded bead of polystyrene foam material which will float the fly just below the surface of the water. The head is held in place in a piece of ladies' stocking. The body material can be suitable material such as stripped herl. BEAD HELD IN PLACE BY PIECE STOCKING MATERIAL Figure 10.45 Polystyrene Bead For Pupa Tie WHITE TURKEY OR PEACOCK HERL OR SWAN OR HERON OR GOOSE HERL OR POSSUM OR RABBIT...
Hamills Killer
Hook 4-8. Tail Black Squirrel tail. Body Wool, red green or yellow. Side feathers Grey partridge dyed green, tied in killer fashion. Draper does not mention the side tail of pheasant tippet used in commercial ties. TWO BUNCHES TIPPET EACH SIDE OF TAIL TWO BUNCHES TIPPET EACH SIDE OF TAIL Tie in pair of green partridge on far side of body. The tying in turn must be loose - or fairly loose. A tight turn will cause the feathers to splay out. 1. TURN TOO TIGHT TOP VIEW 2 TURN JUST RIGHT Figure...
Note
You did find some trouble with this fly The hackles refused to get out of the way The wool bound them down no matter what you tried This is what was intended as a last little school-masterish whim Think about your fly tying If you return to the question posed regarding the Fly of Last Resort, you will see the solution to the problem - under the bunch of fibres you have tied in at the bend, tie in the wool and the hackle. Take the silk to the shoulder. Wind up the wool and tie it off. The hackle...
The Hairwing Coachman
Place a 12 in the vice - smaller if you are becoming game. This is a dry and should be fairly small - 20's are good flies with this tie. Measure and tie in several pheasant tippets as whisks. Tie in several peacock herl at the bend and wind a body by the method you favour. Tie off just Vi shank length from the eye. Cut off 10-15 bucktail hairs and place these at this V way position. These should be held along the shank with their mid-point at the lk way mark. Pinch, throw a loop, pull down. One...
Chapter 2
The Black and Peacock Spider and the Coch-y-bondhu provide the principles required for tying many different flies. One group of flies which are excellent fish catchers and neglected in Australia is the series Partridge and The second part of the name indicated the colour of the body, usually tied with marabou silk a double thread of silk which is usually separated and tied in as a single strand. The three types of silk once supplied were 1. Gossamer - a silk used to tie the normal trout and...
The Wonder Wing
Figure 7.2 Bogong Beauty Hackled A and spent B In 1934, an American, W.J. Golding developed this ingenious method of making wings from contour feathers. When the wing is tied you can push it into shape, fold it down, lift it up, push it forward or backward and even let a trout or two chomp on it without destroying its shape or attractiveness. The fly to illustrate this is a modified Gold-ribbed Hares Ear. The original fly is a dry which has the distinction that it is fished semi-sunken and is...
TAIHAPE TICKLER DEADLY DICK is very similar
This tie is from Veniard, while Keith Draper in Flies in New Zealand gives claret chenille body and claret cock hackle. This was to combine the effect of Craig's Night-time with the appeal of the Mallard and Claret. Phil Buttress, one of the best large fish catchers in Victoria dispenses with all the trimmings and his tie - we should call it Buttress's Night-time, is dressed with a tapered wool body and a wing over the body. By the number of times he has retained the Southern Fly Fishers Ossie...
B Letort Grasshopper And Cricket
Each of these is tied exactly the same way, but with cricket-like material for the cricket and grasshopper-like material for the hopper. Spin yellow-tan seals fur or spinning wool body Fold a wing of brown turkey and tie this in flat after coating it with clear nail polish and rounding the end of the folded section Tie in a bunch of either grey or green or yellow deer hair as in the muddler minnow. Hold the hair very firmly to minimize spinning. As you now know the difficult trick with deer...
Sawyer Nymph
HOOK 14-16 NO SILK USED BUT 20CM OF WIRE HOOK 14-16 NO SILK USED BUT 20CM OF WIRE CAN BE TIED IN WITH SILK OR WITH WIRE WIND FIBRES AROUND WIRE OR SILK AND WIND ABDOMEN, FREE FIBRES BRING HERLS OVER TIE DOWN WITH WIRE OR SILK HALF HITCH WIRE OR Of course the tier could use tying silk in the construction of the Sawyer nymph, but if fine wire is used, little difficulty should be experienced. At stage A in Figure 6.12, it is advisable to make a half hitch, i.e. a simple closed loop when the...
The Chironomids
If you study some of the English literature on fly fishing you will find reference to smutting fish - where the trout are on the rise but to small 'midges'. The author remembers reading - Try a Wickham's Fancy - it it doesn't work go home. The stages of the chironomid are shown in Figure 10.42, and the fly tier will recognize that they are in the same order, Dipterals the house fly. These are the two-winged insects. One of Victoria's outstanding fishers, Australian Casting Champion, member of...
Tying The Nymph
LUREX OR COPPER FROM POO SCRUBBER LUREX OR COPPER FROM POO SCRUBBER The dubbing material can be of a number of materials, the favourite being seals' fur. There are several synthetic materials now on the market which are used as substitutes for this fur. The translucent nature of the seals' fur is a most important quality. The fur is a little difficult to dub first up so we shall make the first nymph with dyed wool. This is unscoured wool and lacks the translucency of the fur. The silk is often...
Revision
Here is a problem for you to solve. This fly is known as The Fly of Last Resort, and has a reputation among American lake fishers. It is a big, bottle-brush looking affair with excellent action in the water and a reputation for attracting large rainbows. See how you go in organizing the assembling of the fly. Which is the easiest way to construct it There is nothing new in it, there is no correct, one-way method, but there is one way which will produce the fly in the shortest time, with the...