There hasn't been any real rainfall for weeks, water levels are seriously low.... so opportunities to fish #32's have arrived early this year.
The trout was tiny, but it hit first cast....
Short rods, light lines and #32's... from Andy Baird on Vimeo.
There's a more ambitious film project planned for this summer, if I can pull things together.... watch this space.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Saturday, 16 April 2011
#22 midge pupa SBS
The first anniversary of Ed Koch's death is this July. I'll spend the month "Fishing the Midge" in his honour. The pupa design below has featured on SFF previously and the SBS owes much to Rick Takahashi's Bowtie Buzzer.
Hook: TMC 200R (Daiichi 1270 has a big-eye which makes the last steps a little easier to control)
Thread: Uni Trico 17/0
Abdomen: Stripped peacock quill
Wing-buds: Goose biots, tan
Flash: Uni pearl mylar, #16
Take thread down the shank level with the barb, pinched of course. You can see how fine the Trico thread is, ideal for tying small.
Catch in a stripped peacock quill (pre-treated with Dilly Wax to soften). Ensure the darker barring is visible as you wrap forward, to provide natural segmentation.
At the point of tie-in the stripped quill is super-FINE and easily snapped. Make the first wrap by hand and hold in place with your finger tip. Grab the tip with hackle pliers to control forward wraps.
Aim for a neat, uniform finish. Nature is full of mutation and odd-ball characteristics but segmentation on pupa is highly uniform... usually.
Select two tiny goose biots and catch in either side of the hook at just short of the midway between the hook point and the eye. This will make for an attractive proportion when the head is formed.
Add a length of pearl mylar on top, dead-centre. Bind the biots and mylar down hard with 2-3 turns of thread.
Form a neat head with multiple turns of thread. You'll need to work the Trico thread to build bulk, then add permanent marker to colour up.
Draw the mylar forward dead-centre and tie down with a single wrap of thread. I don't want to exaggerate the flash so...
... the biots are drawn forward and tied down next, just one turn of thread per biot will hold everything in place.
Colour the thread with permanent marker and cord-up to add bite and strength, then bind everything again HARD with 2-3 turns of thread.
Trim tag-ends with a sharp razor-blade. Nick-in just ahead of the thread, towards the eye, and slice back and forth with minimal pressure until the materials are released. Then whip-finish over the tag-ends to tidy things up and provide a blunt finish to the head. The slim abdomen and bulbed head is all part of the game. The abdomen should be a little slimmer than the natural, the head a little fatter. These subtle contrasts with the natural provide trigger appeal.
Several coats of Hard As Nails finish the fly and smooth the interface between the abdomen and head. This design is bomb-proof. The gloss cuts through the materials and adds natural transparency. You can see how subtle the flash is in this shot, it would be overstated if tied over the biots. The trout's eye is massively powerful, and subtlety is far more effective at triggering strikes.
Please remember Ed this July.
Hook: TMC 200R (Daiichi 1270 has a big-eye which makes the last steps a little easier to control)
Thread: Uni Trico 17/0
Abdomen: Stripped peacock quill
Wing-buds: Goose biots, tan
Flash: Uni pearl mylar, #16
Take thread down the shank level with the barb, pinched of course. You can see how fine the Trico thread is, ideal for tying small.
Catch in a stripped peacock quill (pre-treated with Dilly Wax to soften). Ensure the darker barring is visible as you wrap forward, to provide natural segmentation.
At the point of tie-in the stripped quill is super-FINE and easily snapped. Make the first wrap by hand and hold in place with your finger tip. Grab the tip with hackle pliers to control forward wraps.
Aim for a neat, uniform finish. Nature is full of mutation and odd-ball characteristics but segmentation on pupa is highly uniform... usually.
Select two tiny goose biots and catch in either side of the hook at just short of the midway between the hook point and the eye. This will make for an attractive proportion when the head is formed.
Add a length of pearl mylar on top, dead-centre. Bind the biots and mylar down hard with 2-3 turns of thread.
Form a neat head with multiple turns of thread. You'll need to work the Trico thread to build bulk, then add permanent marker to colour up.
Draw the mylar forward dead-centre and tie down with a single wrap of thread. I don't want to exaggerate the flash so...
... the biots are drawn forward and tied down next, just one turn of thread per biot will hold everything in place.
Colour the thread with permanent marker and cord-up to add bite and strength, then bind everything again HARD with 2-3 turns of thread.
Trim tag-ends with a sharp razor-blade. Nick-in just ahead of the thread, towards the eye, and slice back and forth with minimal pressure until the materials are released. Then whip-finish over the tag-ends to tidy things up and provide a blunt finish to the head. The slim abdomen and bulbed head is all part of the game. The abdomen should be a little slimmer than the natural, the head a little fatter. These subtle contrasts with the natural provide trigger appeal.
Several coats of Hard As Nails finish the fly and smooth the interface between the abdomen and head. This design is bomb-proof. The gloss cuts through the materials and adds natural transparency. You can see how subtle the flash is in this shot, it would be overstated if tied over the biots. The trout's eye is massively powerful, and subtlety is far more effective at triggering strikes.
Please remember Ed this July.
Saturday, 9 April 2011
#32 late-phase emerger SBS
This is a simple design - and a robust, surface drifter. Tailing adds stability and a dense, palmered hackle keeps the fly up-top. Footprint is everything at this scale and this design produces a messy dimple with blood red microfibbets and the barred teal barbs providing subtle, effective triggers. It's also broadly generic and covers late-phase emergence of most flies, including Diptera despite the inclusion of tails. I'll add wings in #20 - #26 to cover duns. Match colours for local requirements, you know the drill....
It's a quick and simple tie in #32, and one of the simplest micro-flies to fish. The light dun hackle is visible up to 15' against a dark backdrop - either fading light or the heavily brushed streams I hang out on. Varivas 8X Super Midge tippet is rated 2.05lb so you should be able to fish with confidence on most small, wild streams across the UK and Ireland. Can't speak for our cousins Stateside... maybe Midgeman can chip-in?
Hook: TMC 518 #32
Thread: Uni Trico 17/0
Shuck: Teal barbs x 2
Tailing: Blood red microfibbets
Hackle: Whiting Bronze Grade midge saddle, light dun
Set your hook correctly in the jaw to minimise wear and provide an open working area. HMH have videos on their website to educate their customers on this issue. It took me four years to save for my HMH, I don't plan to buy another vise.
I like to start at the eye, and lay a bed of thread to the bend, like priming a canvas or greasing the cake tin. Catch in two teal barns with a single trun of thread.
Next, catch in two microfibbets over the teal. These are drawn between thumb nail and pad of forefinger to add some curve. And I don't line them up, make one a little shorter. Not all triggers demand flash, pop or fizz.
Catch in your hackle concave edge down, or shiny side up and bring the thread forward level with the point. Take care with every wrap, if you brush the point you'll shread 17/0 thread.
Lightly dub natural mole and a touch of Fly-rite clear antron. The antron binds the dubbing and adds a hint of flash. If you dub mole very lightly it adopts an almost spikey finish, like the heavier furs used in Czech nymphs - but in microcosm.
Form a neat profile as you dub the body. Abdomen and thorax are one and the same on this design. And keep the eye clear, the hackle has yet to be tied off.
Palmer the hackle forward just short of the eye, the stem adds subtle segmentation to the body so keep the turns tight but open.
Darken the thread with permanent marker before lashing down the hackle and whip-finishing, 2 or 3 turns is fine if you tease the finish tight. You could leave it at that but genetic hackle is stiff and the gap is crowded so I'll trim the under-side to open things up and improve the footprint.
This basic design covers maybe 90% of my fishing in sizes #20 - #32. I still fish #24 - #28 paraduns because they are so pretty, and #26 - #32 spent spinners because at last light it just feels right. But I could likely fish an entire season with this basic design. It's all I've fished so far this year, so......
It's a quick and simple tie in #32, and one of the simplest micro-flies to fish. The light dun hackle is visible up to 15' against a dark backdrop - either fading light or the heavily brushed streams I hang out on. Varivas 8X Super Midge tippet is rated 2.05lb so you should be able to fish with confidence on most small, wild streams across the UK and Ireland. Can't speak for our cousins Stateside... maybe Midgeman can chip-in?
Hook: TMC 518 #32
Thread: Uni Trico 17/0
Shuck: Teal barbs x 2
Tailing: Blood red microfibbets
Hackle: Whiting Bronze Grade midge saddle, light dun
Set your hook correctly in the jaw to minimise wear and provide an open working area. HMH have videos on their website to educate their customers on this issue. It took me four years to save for my HMH, I don't plan to buy another vise.
I like to start at the eye, and lay a bed of thread to the bend, like priming a canvas or greasing the cake tin. Catch in two teal barns with a single trun of thread.
Next, catch in two microfibbets over the teal. These are drawn between thumb nail and pad of forefinger to add some curve. And I don't line them up, make one a little shorter. Not all triggers demand flash, pop or fizz.
Catch in your hackle concave edge down, or shiny side up and bring the thread forward level with the point. Take care with every wrap, if you brush the point you'll shread 17/0 thread.
Lightly dub natural mole and a touch of Fly-rite clear antron. The antron binds the dubbing and adds a hint of flash. If you dub mole very lightly it adopts an almost spikey finish, like the heavier furs used in Czech nymphs - but in microcosm.
Form a neat profile as you dub the body. Abdomen and thorax are one and the same on this design. And keep the eye clear, the hackle has yet to be tied off.
Palmer the hackle forward just short of the eye, the stem adds subtle segmentation to the body so keep the turns tight but open.
Darken the thread with permanent marker before lashing down the hackle and whip-finishing, 2 or 3 turns is fine if you tease the finish tight. You could leave it at that but genetic hackle is stiff and the gap is crowded so I'll trim the under-side to open things up and improve the footprint.
This basic design covers maybe 90% of my fishing in sizes #20 - #32. I still fish #24 - #28 paraduns because they are so pretty, and #26 - #32 spent spinners because at last light it just feels right. But I could likely fish an entire season with this basic design. It's all I've fished so far this year, so......
Sunday, 3 April 2011
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