Is this guy for real??

[stefanoflo]

FLY TYING ?? THIS GUY MAKES FLIES I`VE NEVER SEEN MADE IN ANY FLY SHOP IN MY AREA??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTY6mR9WjMs

[Sheepdog8404]

They sure do look neat but can you imagine losing that puppy to a low hanging tree limb on your first run of the day?

[Mr T]

Crazy realism. Wonder how well they fish?

[Charlie S]

Very real. There is a fairly large group of people who demonstrate some of the best skills around in tying super realistic insect imitations. I'm not one of them but I really admire their dedication and skills, which indicate an unbelievable amount of patience, observation skills and an enviable degree of manual dexterity.

[Idadon]

People that can tie like this are true artists. Honestly, I don't think I would want to fish something this pretty. Might ruin your whole day if you snapped one off on a branch.

[DLJeff]

Tying realistic 'bugs' has been going on for quite some time. One of the first I recall is Bob Mead's praying mantis, which was pictured in Judith Dunham's 1988 book "The Art of the Trout Fly". Bill Blackstone's various stages of stoneflies and Paul Schmookler's stoneflies were also pictured in there. Bill is one of the zaniest fly tiers I know and he's always dabbling in some obscure material to make his realistic flies. Poul Jorgenson tied beautiful realistic adult mayfly imitations. In general though, realistic patterns tend to be more art than function. This is a close as I ever came to a realistic fly and it has never caught a fish. The trout keep refusing to tell me why they won't eat it but I suspect it's because there isn't enough movement, nor is there enough little fibers and bits to trap air bubbles and give it that silvery, alive look.
12483

About 25 years ago there was a guy in Vermont who was putting together a book comprised solely of ultra-realistic flies. He was contacting a bunch of us, gathering material and what not. I sent him a half dozen flies. The book never was published. Never saw my flies again either. It was a hard lesson learned about sending people flies for a project.

[cmcdhuibh]

I like that bug DLJeff, I tie some but not with legs like that, it would take forever. I use them more in the rockies though. I find that by extending the body off the hook it traps air better. Try putting a sewing needle in the variable speed drill, add some clear silicon on it add a couple pheasant fibers for the rear pincers then slowly add dubbing until you get the body configuration you like. Remove the needle add it to the hook the eyes legs, wing case etc.

[DLJeff]

Thanks cmcdhuibh. That's sort of similar to the way Poul made the bodies for his realistic mayflies. He used a long needle and would tie on two or three fibers from a paint brush for the tail. Then he would spin long fiber dubbing on it, building a narrow tapered cigar shape about an inch long. Then he'd saturate it with Flexament. Once it dried, he'd slip it off, trim it to the appropriate length, and then tie it to a short shank hook above the barb and then give it slight upward curve. For the legs he would strip the fibers from a hackle, and then reverse fold the longer sections to make the heavier upper part of the leg. Same for the wings. The hard part is finding very pale dun webby, short, wide hackles to make the wing shape.

The hard part of those stonefly legs is making them so they oppose one another. They're an overhand knot in a goose biot but getting it to fold right takes a little trial and error. I also made adult stonefly wings by cutting a clear grocery bag to the right cigar shape, gently scratching lines in it , rubbing India ink on it and wiping it off to simulate the veins. Used the same biot legs. As several people mentioned above, the time it takes to make them isn't balanced by catching more or bigger fish.

[bigfly]

I've found real looking isn't the same as real acting......
Movement is the trigger that is missing....

Jim

[Mark Kranhold]

I've found real looking isn't the same as real acting......
Movement is the trigger that is missing....

Jim

Agree 100%

[John Sv]

Plus what if that fly is upside down, or clanking down the river bottom on it's head? I like impressionistic flies tied "in the round".
Sure is cool looking though! And the tying is waaaaaay above my skill set so maybe I am just jealous!


Agree 100%

[Charlie S]

I think some of you are mistaking flies to be fished with flies that are meant to be displayed to show real art.

[bigfly]

I was referring to my realistic phase more than anything....
Had to try it to see. Found realism and motion together, are very good.
As I always say, your research may differ.....

Jim

[cmcdhuibh]

yah, the pink san juan worm baffles me.

[bigfly]

Floss, chenille, or silicone?

[cmcdhuibh]

just the fact it works

[Ard]

I don't think I could do that if I tried!

Way back in 1979 there was an article in Fly Fisherman Magazine about 'The Moose Mane Crayfish'. I was ........ hum, 37 years younger than and things like what I saw made me believe; Yeah that's gotta work!' So I made some, actually I still have some, that's why I could dig up a picture of one.

http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg406/Hardyreels/Bears%20and%20Stuff/098cf15b.jpg (http://s542.photobucket.com/user/Hardyreels/media/Bears%20and%20Stuff/098cf15b.jpg.html)

While I'm not about to say that those old crayfish compare in any way to the realism I witnessed on that link, they looked awful good to me back then. The one in the picture is a little ruffled from storage over the years because I carried them in streamer wallets meant to be my secret weapon.

I believe I originally made 8 of those and have one or two left. The bottom claimed all the rest and...... I never caught a fish on one of those.

Funny, I could knock the spots off em with one of these though;
http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg406/Hardyreels/Materials%20Image%20Files/OriginalNineThree0001_zpsa168c285.jpg (http://s542.photobucket.com/user/Hardyreels/media/Materials%20Image%20Files/OriginalNineThree0001_zpsa168c285.jpg.html)

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Then you have "guide flies" which are usually simple and effective so after a guide has worked all day, found some clean underwear and eaten a bit, he can tie up a dozen for tomorrows fishing.

When someone has been successful catching something like a Permit or large Brown trout, I like to see their fly in person.

[Larry S]

Great posts all. Pretty flies catch the fisherman. I introduced a brother-in-law to fly fishing back in the late 1970's. He
ties 90% of his flies; I probably give him the rest. I call his flies "Ugly Betty's;" but man, do they catch fish. I sure do love looking
at great ties, tho'.
Best,
Larry S

[Ard]

Hi Bill,

I have a few boxes of those, (guide flies) mostly simple marabou cone heads in all the colors that will produce here. Sometimes when fishing with 2 hand folks who aren't using 120 grains or more of sink tip I front them one of the pretty Pinky Purple's complete with JC cheeks on them. But you gotta be careful because some people seem to have a way of losing every fly tied to the line too. When I fish, just me fishing, I like my pretty flies and keep a good supply of those also.

Remember you're the one who mentioned Brown Trout I'm just commenting........ For brown trout I had my own special creation, tied after many attempts and with the assistance of many little brown trout fingerling size as the models for it. I fished a lot in the famous Spring Creek back in PA. where the browns are wild born and there were no Chubs that I ever saw. If a baby hub were there they got eaten before I ever saw one. That got me thinking; other than the almost year round BWO's what do these guys eat to get so big? The deduction was that they eat smaller brown trout. My creation was not what you would think. It was made before I had ever seen the internet and before so many of todays large articulated streamers were born I suspect.

I was born into an area where the word Streamer meant Feather Wing Streamer. I discovered Lew Oatman's Brook Trout Minnow when the Noll's Guide to Trout Flies was published and I got a copy at E. Hillie's Angler's Supply House and it looked good to me. I tied it and used them in Slate Run and all the other great brook trout fisheries back east. But I had no go to Brown Trout fly other than the original Nine Three which I can't complain about. So I took my aquarium net to Ravens run and caught some babies and put them in a Mason Jar. With the fish in a jar I was able to get a good look at the overall look of young browns. I left them go and went home to try making something similar. This process went on for I'd guess a month, catch babies, study them, once even with swim goggles so I could look at them through the glass underwater. You could say I was obsessed with my brain storm.

In the end I played off Oatman's design but it was definitely my fly.

They look like this dry in the vise and average 3" in size.
http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg406/Hardyreels/TheAnswer0001.jpg (http://s542.photobucket.com/user/Hardyreels/media/TheAnswer0001.jpg.html)

And like this wet;
http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg406/Hardyreels/Answerwet0001.jpg (http://s542.photobucket.com/user/Hardyreels/media/Answerwet0001.jpg.html)

I think the tail may be the most important part, it is made from Chuckar flank dyed brown and mounted aith 2 feathers concave sides faced then secured only by the quills. The baby fish often had what appeared to be a stripe on the tail and of course Parr markings and the beginnings of red and yellow spots forming on their sides. The wings were kept short to avoid them getting through the hook bend and causing the fly to 'corkscrew' on the swing. The wings are those large bronze feathers on a Jungle Cock cape we always wonder what we could do with.... They were stif enough to not get wound into the bend and so were perfect.

That triangle tail wiggled like a real fish and because of the overall balance of the build they remained upright / vertical through the currents as they swung through all the seams. I have so many old print pictures of browns that they are boring. Was it technique or was it the fly? I like to think maybe a little of each, I called it The Answer.

Yeah, I've been like this for a long time................ Here I make crazy looking Sculpins for use on the rainbows :cool:

[Mark Kranhold]

Ard, that brownie fly looks deadly! Especially like the wet look. Nice invention at the vice, love the compassion and research you put into it! Well done, love to give those a swim.

[Ard]

Ard, that brownie fly looks deadly! Especially like the wet look. Nice invention at the vice, love the compassion and research you put into it! Well done, love to give those a swim.

Hi Mark,

Like most feather wing streamers this one can be challenging to tie up. The proportioning and balance are I believe the hardest to master but once done correctly they wiggle and swim like a real fish even though they are made on a solid long shank hook.

I am putting the recipe for tying here, the chukar partridge and some barred rock are the 2 materials that are dyed for the fly. I always did small batches and used Rit dye coco brown, it works fine and is easy to use.

Pattern: The Answer

Category: Feather Wing Streamer

Hook: 2X or 3X long; ball eye, ring, or loop eye in sizes #2 - #6
Thread: Brown silk
Tail: Two Partridge flank feathers dyed chocolate brown tied with the concave sides facing one another and rather full
Body: Cream floss wrapped for to aft and back to produce a full body
Rib: Two fine copper wires wrapped in opposing directions to strengthen the floss and to add weight, color and strength to the body
Throat: Polar Bear tied full and as long as the hook or substitute
Underwing: Sparse dk. gray squirrel
Wings: Two barred rock saddles dyed chocolate brown with two Jungle Cock spade feathers painted with yellow and red lacquer enamel spots tied over the barred rock
Shoulders: Two very small ring neck pheasant body feathers
Cheeks: Jungle cock
Head: Built and lacquered brown silk; the chin may be painted cream white as a finishing touch, the fly displayed is not painted

I don't really expect many folks to bother with this because we all seem to find things that work for us without making life difficult. When I came up with this combination of materials and profile for a streamer I was way deep into spring creek brown trout fishing and knew there were big fish to be caught. The best that this fly ever did size wise were fish in the 24" class but it was the number of fish that went for it which kept me tying my peculiar fly. Every one loved it, from 11 inch up to the occasional 24 plus fish. I fished in a C&R creek when looking for the larger fish, what Pennsylvania calls Heritage Waters and I don't remember ever getting a truly accurate measurement of a fish. I carried a Taylors Tape, one of the soft cloth old school tapes and tried my best to get an idea of size when one was reeled in that was obviously larger than normal.

Anyway, that's the fly and with both pictures and ingredients a fella could make some if you were into self punishment :cool:

Ard