MARCH FLYSWAP, SIGN UP NOW!!!

[Jgoding]

Hey guys,

Well, the Feb Swap is officially almost over...good job everyone. For the next swap I will be the gracious host and try to get everything organized.

It is a sculpin or crawdad swap. Pick one and have at it! Let us know what you plan on tying when you sign up if you can, but don't sweat it if you can't decide right this minute.

Deadline for signing up, will be the end of next week, March 11th and flies will be due by April 5th.

Hope to see your responses!

Jeff

[David Lee]

Hi Jeff - put me down for March ..... fly to be sorted out after everyone else has put down their choice . David

[Hairstacker]

Hi Jeff! Please put me down as well. It'll basically be a muddler sculpin variant of some kind, still sorting it out, ha. Thanks!!!

[Darian]

Hi Jeff,..... I'm in for the March Swap. I'll be tying Whitlock's, Near Nuff Sculpin.

[PatrickM]

I'm in. I'll let you guys know when I figure out what the hell I'm going to tie. Any suggestions?

[Hairstacker]

Hi Patrick! Suggestions for a pattern? Fortunately, I have had some field experience in this matter, as I once hooked AND landed a 2 1/2-inch sculpin while fishing for steelhead on the Russian River many years ago. (Didn't catch any steelhead by the way.) I recall the sculpin was kind of a mottled olive and brown color with a blunt, rounded, relatively large head that tapered straight back to the tail. Ugly little fish actually. So I think basically any 2" or so fly that incorporates these kinds of features would do. Course, it's entirely possible that the color varies from water to water just like other species of fish. I'm not sure color matters too much, though, as I've seen sculpin patterns range all the way from white to black with every color variation (such as gray, brown or olive) in between.

To come up with pattern ideas, I just did a yahoo search on "sculpin," "sculpin pattern," etc., and found all kinds of ideas. Mostly saw variants on the muddler/marabou muddler minnow theme, so that's what I'm going to try. I assume a search on "crawdad fly pattern" or something like that would also produce a lot of ideas, although my impression has been that crawdad patterns tend to be more complicated, typically require materials I don't have, and many appear to be a real challenge to tie without detailed instructions. . . . Having said that, I would LOVE to see some crawdad patterns from my fellow swappers. Anyway, hope this helps.

[PatrickM]

Thanks, Mike. I'll do a search and see what I can come up with.

[Gregg Machel]

I want in on this one, but I've only done trout flies up until now. Does anyone have any suggestions on a good fly? I'll get whatever materials I need, this sound like a lot of fun.

[Darian]

Hi GC,..... How about tying a Zoo Cougar Involves tying a spun deer hair head but otherwise relately easy to tie. It represents a modern version of the sculpin. Designer is Kelly Galloup, who is the author of Modern Streamers for Trophy Trout. In that volume are pictures and a recipe for the pattern along with the intended use.

In that same book is a good crawdad pattern, as well. Galloup's Craw. It's an impressionistic tye but looks very easy to tie; involving only one material; rabbit strips (....aside from the thread/hook ).

If you don't want to acquire the book (I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting to catch large trout on stramers), I'd bet you could "google" it and come up with either pattern. If unable to get the info on the search and still want to tie one of these flies, let me know and I'll send you the receipe you need.

Hope this helps.....

[Darian]

Hello everyone,..... OK,.... que the dummy :P :P I Just committed a major faux paux.... I gave credit for a book to one author/designer when more than one contributed Bob Linsenman, if you're reading this, I apologize.

to correct the record, The book is titled, Modern Streamers for Trophy Trout. The co-authors of this book are Bob Linsenman and Kelly Galloup. The same individuals are responsible for the pattern designs included in the text.

Again, if the authors are reading this, please accept my apologies for making this error.