# VIRTUAL FLY SWAP!!!



## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

I've got an idea...I know, painful and frightening, but stick with me.

Post your favorite flies throughout the "tying months" and a quick recipe or an indepth step-by-step and maybe a picture too, to help keep people entertained and trying new patterns for the winter. This way we can swap flies without all the work! Add in a story, or a fishing pic with your fly to add some gusto to it!

I will start tomorrow, after I tie a few more PTNs up tonight...but until then, feel free to start posting!


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Here's the PTN I have been tying.










Tail: 3-6 pheasant tail feather fibers
Body: 6-10 pheasant tail feather fibers, wrapped up 1/2 of the hook shank
Ribbing: Medium Copper Wire
Thorax: Three strands of Peacock Herl
Thread: 6/0 Black
Weight: ten turns of lead wire on hookshank
Hook: Sz 10 1x Nymph hook, various brands but Using Tiemco 5263.

I follow the in structions of the late, great, SD Fly Angler Al Campbell found hereat FAOL. A great site for beginners.

A weighted PTN kicks butt on bluegills in the summer, and was the fly I was using when I caught my first rainbow trout on the Turtle River in April of 2003. Man, that was an incredible season!


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

nj, I have the partridge breast skin drying, will bring it to the Dec meeting.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Dick -

Thanks! I am tying lots of Partridge-hackles now, I'll post them up shortly for all to see. Currently I'm doing Partridge and Oranges (will do some yellows and other colors too) and then some beadhead soft hackles and PTN soft hackles too!

Thanks again!


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## Skavenger (Nov 18, 2005)

Well everyone I am back in Alaska and counting down the days untill I move. In the mean time I am tying what is localy called the Blue Bomber.
It resembles a copper john and works pretty well here for grayling and some she fish. I hope to try and use this pattern for some local area panfish. If you would like a picture post a reply and I will fire up the digitail camera. Enjoy

hook size 16 model #20 Cabelas
Thread is blue poly
tail brown goose biots
body blue wire
head brass bead


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Sounds good to me Skav - let's see the Blue Bomber!


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## Skavenger (Nov 18, 2005)

ok so I took some smokeing pics of the blue bomber so size 20 elk hair caddis and some hopper patterns. I wanted to put them in the create photo album but they are to big. So the question is how do you shrink pics to get them to fit? I also am gonna throw up some year of my life pics that others have asked about. Its not often that you can see Iraq and other foriegn lands from the safety of your computer. Oh and I saw the classic killer whale or whatever trying to eat the PJ. Thats a nice Black Hawk Similar to mine except I had more guns and sun screen than that guy!


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

That and no jumping sharks!!!

Use a program like Photoshop to decrease the size of your photos, pixel wise. Or open them in MSPaint, and click on "Strech/Skew" and reduce the Horiz and Vert to 50% or whatever percent you like.

Good luck!


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

I call it "The Green Lantern"

Hook: Nymph/Wet, 2X Long, Size 10 to 16
Body: Green Dubbing
Hackle: Church Window Pheasant Body Feather
Thread: Black 6/0

See more on this fly at my site.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

The Partridge and Yellow
Hook: Nymph/Wet 1X Long Size 12-18
Body: One strand yellow floss
Hackle: Barred Partridge Feather
Thread: Rust 6/0


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## Skavenger (Nov 18, 2005)

Well thanks for giving the photo bucket site that is a really cool sight. I have placed some memories of some operations that I was part of and more importantly the Blue Bomber and a really small I geuss you can call it a sad caddis. When I was over seas I have made many a friends on all of the different fly fishing forums. We being the fly tiers that were in my unit recieved 1000's of dollars in donated equipment and what materials. All that was asked of us was to tie a couple dozen or so patterns for various people. My pattern was the elk haired caddis in size 20. Well as I was getting the address of one of our doner friends I got a sad replay of he committed suicide 2 days ago. So I have 11 size 20 elk hair caddis that I plan on fishing with. The 12th has been mailed off to the family and will be placed with a fallen friend. Also is a crazy hopper pattern not sure what it is really called but enjoy.
Mission:








hopper:








Blue Bomber:








Sad Caddis


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Skav - I LOVE that blue bomber man, I think that would even be a killer ice fly for winter fishing bluegills or perch. I like the blue wiring on the body.

Sorry to hear about the Caddis swap, that's a bummer...suicide is a weird situation. You have a name for that set of flies though, even if they are sad.

Keep em coming...you may want to down size your photos to 500x500 or smaller, for bandwidth's sake.

What's next on your list? I'm gonna go down and do some Carey Specials tonight. Keep tyin and posting...

BTW: Are we the only ones putting patterns together right now? Where's DCOYNUT and the rest of the tyers on this site?!?


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## Skavenger (Nov 18, 2005)

Well that next on my list to tie is the Stimulator. I will put smaller pics up for this one. Learning the digital/internet lingo/operations. After the Stimulators are tied I am going for Mr. Rapadian Bass Skater. Supposee to be a hot attractor pattern for small mouths so this will be another top water attractor pattern that I plan on trying in ND soon!
Pics will come of this soon to along with the recipe cause this pattern is a little further of the radar than others.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Ah yes, the Stimulator...a great tie! Those are a bit further off for me too! But soon enough!


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## Madison (Mar 1, 2002)

I've used a variation of the blue bomber on some WI streams..

The variation would be some gliss and glow flashing for the tail (3 strands) and Squirrely dubbing for the body and thorax..

Pattern we used was called the electric squirrel or Rabid Squirrel...

Keep it coming.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Mad - "Electric Squirrel" - Isn't that when a squirrel gets too close to a bug-zapper, or some sort of country line dance. Heh, sounds like a neat fly!










THE CAREY SPECIAL

Materials:
Hook: Nymph/Wet 3X Long Size 12
Body: Orange Nymph Dubbing
Rib: Medium Copper Wire
Hackle: Back Feather of a Ringneck Pheasant
Thread: Black 6/0

And even though I'm not tying them now, but since Skavenger brought them up I suuuuure have been looking forward to them - my best Royal Stim from last year.










ROYAL STIMULATOR

Materials:
Hook: Tiemco 200R Size 6-14
Tail: Elk hair
Rib: Fine Copper Wire
Body: Back 2/3 - Peacock Herl/Red Floss/Peacock Herl.
Front 1/3 - Yellow Dry Fly Dubbing
Wing: Elk hair
Hackle: Back 2/3 - Brown Dry Fly Hackle
Front 1/3 - Grizzly Dry Fly Hackle
Thread: Red 6/0

Kinda Christmas-y now that I look at it!


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## Skavenger (Nov 18, 2005)

Here is a pic of a Stimulator that I tied up and here is a new pattern for me. It is called Mr. Rapidan Bass Skater.

Hook Regular dry-fly(I used a Cabelas Model 3 size 10)
Brown 6/0 thread
tail is deer hair
grizzly hackle rib
body yellow dubbing
wing yellow calf tail
brown hackle

Stimulator









Mr. Rapidan Bass Skater









After I finish up the last Bass Skaters I need to tie a local guys Christmas order of egg sucking zunkers and some egg sucking leeches and so Pink Woolly Buggers that are not Wooly at all but he uses them to fish Chum Salmon...I will post pics after I have tied a few of them...yes they are ugly as you will see but the chum salmon love them.


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## Skavenger (Nov 18, 2005)

Not sure what this pink woolly is called but heres it and how you tie it.

Hook: Salmon hook
.25 lead wire wrapped around the middle of the hook shank
thread 3/0 black
Tail: Pink Marabou
body: Pink Chennele
Hackle: Black
Eyes: medium chain









This other Pic is of a extended body idea I was messing around with.









Please enjoy the Holiday season and drink responsibly...


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Skav -

Dude that Pink has got some SERIOUS MARABOU! LOL.

I'm heading to Fargo tonight to pick up some more hooks and necessaries for the next month or so. I've been swamped after work, so there hasn't been any tying this week...maybe next week.

Keep 'em coming!


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## Skavenger (Nov 18, 2005)

Well I am sure that everyone and there brother has heard of the trend that is taking fly fishing by storm and that is the copper hopper dropper. That is where you fish a Copper John behind a hopper pattern. The hopper more or less works as a strike indicator. With Grandmas Christmas money (thanks again Grandma) I went to the new Sportsman Warehouse the same giant store that they have in Fargo even looks the same and bought a new vice. I tied some Copper Johns.

hook: model 20 Cabelas size 16
lead weight wrapped inside bead head .025
body: Dans Ultra wire Chartreuse
tail:brwon goose biots
behind the bead there is peacock herl and scud back.








enjoy


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## Whelen35 (Mar 9, 2004)

I don't have a digital cam right now, but her is my fly for the red river when it is high in the summer months.
a size 14 wet hook.
3 strands of osterge plume for tail
4 turns of tinsel
and a large blob for head of dlack bubbing for head.

This fly works for tadpoles washed down in ditches as well as snails.
Cast to the curant breaks and you wil do wery wel. Waleye, pike, cats and carp, as well as goldeye will bite on this one.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Keepin it simple this week as I only got one night of tying in. Wrapped up a bunch of the following two nymphs. Both are easy, classic and effective on both trout and panfish.

First off, Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear Nymph (or GRHE in the tying world)










Hook: Size 12 Nymph
Weight: Six wraps of lead wire
Tail: Partridge hackle fibers
Body: Hareline Hare's Ear Dubbing
Rib: Gold tinsel
Wingcase: Turkey quill
Thorax: Hareline Hare's Ear Dubbing
Thread: Brown 6/0

Next, a simple nymph - the EZ nymph - which was one of the first I learned how to tie. There's a great step by step in Al Campbell's basic tying series on FAOL.










Hook: Size 12 Nymph
Weight: Six wraps of lead wire
Tail: Pheasant tail feather fibers
Body: 8-10 Pheasant tail fibers
Rib: Fine Copper wire
Wing: Tips of feathers used to make body
Thread: Black 6/0

Tight threads!


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## Skavenger (Nov 18, 2005)

Its good to see basic patterns are still used today. I am tying up some ants and will post my recipe and pics for those shortly.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Very cool Skav. Yeah, the basics are what get me started, I'm working up to the harder stuff...I'm just not home in the evenings much this month.

When you movin' to VC?


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## Skavenger (Nov 18, 2005)

Well I started tying ants and none turned out even close to what quality I wanted so I tied some easier patterns. I will be leaving Alaska some time in late April Early May. When I get to VC is cloudy still. It depends on how long and where I fish on the way. So far I plan on at least 2 nights in Montana.

Wet Hopper









A classic to follow ones before me.









This is just incase that Montana Creek opens up and I am still in Alaska!









If anyone would like the reicpes for any flies tied I will gladly write them and pm you them or post them.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Skav - Looks like more eggs than at a Shoney's all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet! Good luck in Montana, looking forward to meeting you and introducing you to a few bronze-finned friends here in VC when you arrive.

Here's a modified Zug Bug pattern I've been playing with the past couple nights. I went with a split turkey quill wing, looks kinda gnarly from the top. Lots of shimmer and flash with the silver tinsel and peacock sword tail and herl body.

TQ Zug Bug










Hook: Size 10 Nymph
Tail: Four peacock swords from middle of feather
Body: Three strands peacock herl
Rib: Fine flat silver tinsel
Wing: Turkey quill
Thread: 6/0 Brown


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## Madison (Mar 1, 2002)

Good looking yarn balls there!!

Very popular on the MN and WI rivers for steelies/loopers..

Feel the steel!!!

madison


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## Skavenger (Nov 18, 2005)

Well its a vary cold day in Alaska today -40 without the wind chill so I decided to test my patients and try and tie something completlely new to me. I looked through a book called Fly Fishing by Tom McNally. Its a older book and smells funny but it had a Muddler Marabou in it. I tied a few up just based on the pictures that are hand illustrated. So this is what I came up with.









Its got deer hair marabou gold tinsel and pea cock herl...Let me now what you think about this one please.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Here's a couple new ones, as this thread seems to have died, I'll post more in the coming weeks.










GRIFFITH'S GNAT
Materials:
Hook: Dry fly, size 14-24
Body: Peacock herl
Hackle: Grizzly hackle
Thread: Black 6/0 or 8/0










E's PARACHUTE HATCHER
Materials:
Hook: Size 10-18 Shrimp Hook
Thread: Brown 6/0 or 8/0
Tail: Brown Hackle Fibers, tied thick
Body: Rust Dry-Fly Dubbing
Wing: White Poly Yarn
Hackle: Brown


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Nice Nick!

Do you use those for a particular time of year? In ND or elsewhere?

I'm looking at starting to learn flyfishing this spring here in Washington when the runs starts in the rivers!

Any advice would be great! I'll be taking some lessons they offer, but would like to learn some of the other "little" things not taught in class...

Ryan

.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Ryan - The GG can be used just about any time of year. Trout eat a lot of midges in the winter (though they rarely surface feed, from what I have read) so there's even a chance you could catch them when the banks of your local stream are snow-lined.

The hatcher is for anytime that mayflies of any variety are hatching.

If you are looking for a site that gives great beginner's tips, try logging on to www.flyanglersonline.com and checking out some patterns and a few of the stories. The Late Al Campbell was a wonderful resource for fly angling in our area (as he lived in the Black Hills until his death last year).


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Sounds great! I'll let you know how I do...take some pics of the scenery etc... it is really goregeous out here.. we have temps in the 50's and the streams are running nice..

Ryan

.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Here's the Mohair Leech pattern I promised.










Materials:
Hook: 4X long Size 6 streamer
Weight: 10-12 turns of lead wire
Tail: Marabou
Body: Mohair yarn
Thread: 3/0 black


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## Skavenger (Nov 18, 2005)

With the great move back to ND approaching as fast as a flock of geese I figured I need to contribute something before I have all of my materials packed up. This is a unusual pattern called Pet's Wiggler. It is suppose to be good for still water trout.

The trailer is a size 16 try fly cut off.
Its wraped in red thread and has a copper wire wrapped body.
It is jointed to the main body with some 6lbs mono.

The hook is a size 12 scud hook. It's body is made up of red floss and copper wire. IT has a gold bead for a head and for its wings I used some pheasnt fibers.










Enjoy and hope to see all of you soon for I will be leaving Alaska May 14 and should make it to Valley City at the end of May!


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Clouser Minnow

Materials:
Hook: 6 to 2/0 Straight-eye
Thread: 3/0 to match pattern (black or white usually)
Body: White and Olive Died Bucktail / a few strands of Krystal Flash
Weight: Dumbell Eyes

A great pattern for baitfish-loving predators. I can't wait to catch a smallie on one this year. Fly fishing great Lefty Kreh has caught over 70 species of fish on this pattern in one form or another.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Finishing up the box for the year...here's some foam favorites!










FOAM ANT
Materials:
Hook: Dry Size 12-18
Thread: Black 6/0
Body: Black Foam
Hackle: Black
Wing: Antron Yarn










FOAM BEETLE
Materials:
Hook: Dry Size 10-18
Thread: Black 6/0
Body: Black Foam
Legs: Pheasant Tail Fibers


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

The Madam X is a cool and easy-to-tie hopper imitator.

MADAM X










Materials:
Hook: Dry 3X Long, Size 6-10
Thread: 6/0 Yellow
Tail: Coastal Deer Hair
Body: Yellow Dubbing
Wing & Head: Coastal Deer Hair
Indicator: Glo Egg Yarn
Legs: Rubber Leg Material


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## laptop100 (Jun 2, 2007)

i find it kind of cool how there are so many different ways to tie a fly.


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