The Jassid fly, Tutorial

  I really like this pattern. It has proven itself to me time and time again.  Vince sure put together a winner here. Although I only tie it his way when i go really small. Otherwise I like it and feel it is more effective with a peacock body. I also hackle them with hen hackle, from whiting bronze necks.  This help it sit lower in the film. I tie the heads larger than normal as well. I feel this is important for the beetle profile.

   It is a great beetle imitation that as far as i see it, has no rival. Don't fuss with a non-split nail. The fish don't care one bit about that, and to me it looks a lot more beetle like when it split apart. Kinda like a beetle drowned with its shell open and wings out.   Spent terrestrials put up a struggle to free themselves from there water grave, so it is important to carry imitations that represent this. 
     Lets twist one up.

H.T.P. Trout Bane tutorial

 As I have said and shown in the past with the trout banes, it is a tying technique, and that means many patterns can be spawned from it.  Here is one of my favorites and best producers. I call it the H.T.P. Trout bane, which is short for high test peacock.  Yup peacock and high test, how could it not be a trout favorite or a bane.
  I like this one tied on a Daiichi 1140 for small sizes and I also tie a 16 with a 1150. I dont have a real reason other than i like the way it looks and well the trout do as well.   I also hit the top with a very light coat of bug bond light. This keeps the peacock from blowing out and when applied lightly doesnt really take away much from the peacock.

  I like to fish this one with a twitch and short stripe. It works on the dead drift as well.

  So lets twist one up. If your on my home page you will need to click see the rest to view the tutorial.

Trout Bane tutorial

I have posted about this pattern in the past but the pics were sub par. So I redid the tutorial.  The trout bane is basically a tying technique I put together several years ago. It is a quick way to tie a two-toned buggy looking nymph, that the trout love.  I use the same technique to tie other T.B.s. All you need to do is to change the feather, thread color, and dub.  
  I usually will tie and fish these guy small. I like size 16-24 for all my banes. The technique allows for a nice slim profile which is great for small flies.  The fly is on the light side so it can be fished in the film with a little help from your floatant. Tied on light wire it will stay in the film, but i like to also have some tied on 1x heavy wire as well.  Dont shy away from other hooks on this one, they look great on scud hooks and emerger hooks.
  I like to finish all my T.B.s off with a light top coating of Bug Bond Light. This will protect the fly for many fish.  Now enough blabbering, Lets twist one up!  Click see the rest

Hi-vis Parachute flying ant tutorial and video

  Ants are great trout flies. Trout just love them, and if you have ever been on stream when flying ants start hitting the water. Then you know how the trout will ignore aquatic insects and go for these guys.   I was out on the heritage section of the Little Lehigh and the sacaun for some afternoons recently and this flying ant was the ticket.  Some times a little twitch to the fly did the trick.

  I like to put bright colored poly yarn for the posts on ant flies for the reason of usually i am working thin water during ant season. This calls for a long light leader, staying low, and back away from the trout. So the hi-vis post makes it easy to see the flies drift. 

Materials

Hook- Daiichi 1180 #12-18

Thread- Black Uni 8/0

Body balls- Black superfine dry fly dub

Wing- Midge crystal flash

Mid section- Black holographic tinsel

Post- Hi-vis poly yarn  chartreuse, yellow, orange and red are all pretty easy to spot

Hackle- Brown saddle hackle.

Lets twist one up!

Click see the rest for tutorials and video

The Royal Utah

  I know the name sounds boastful, but it is just my name for my version of the royal coachman dry fly. It is as simple as any coachman, I just use other materials than the norm.  I also tie it odd ball style, but with poly wings. Split poly wings have become a favorite of mine for dun style dries.  I just dont think you can beat the visibility, float, lightness, and durability.  Well anyways, enjoy the video.  Flying ant video is next.

Materials list. aka recipe

Hook- Daiichi 1180 #12-18

Thread- Black uni 8/0

Tail- Brown hackle barbs

Butt- Peacock hurl

mid section- Red holographic tinel

Rib- x-small silver wire

Wings- Poly yarn split

Thorax- peacock hurl (under hackle)

Hackle- Brown saddle hackle, wound over the peacock

The Davie spider technique and beyond.

  I have been hooked lately on tying using Davie Mcphails spider technique as a base model.  It makes some really nice ties such as the jungle spider, but I have been doing it with all sorts of feathers and different bodies, tags, ribs, you name it.   You can see Jungle spider tutorial here for an understanding on how to do this. You can also check out Davie's video here.   Ok so here are some patterns I have put together and some I have fished with some good catches.

Hook- Alec Jackson soft hackle hook #9

Thread- Uni 8/0 black

Body- Sparse otter dub

Rib- montana fly co, midge body thread, rust.

Tag- Red holographic tinsel

Wing- India grizzly hen

Hackle- India grizzly hen

I gave the rusty indian a go on my local spring, I picked up a couple of browns, but the trout quickly became in tuned to a bwo spinner fall. So i swapped out for a rusty spinner. I will be fishing this fly a lot more.  If your unsure where to score india hen capes try here and get free shipping to boot.  Be sure tell Dave Johnny sent ya.

Hook- Alec Jackson soft hackle #11

Thread- Uni black 8/0

Tag- Utc sparkle braid midge, peacock

Rib- fine silver wire

Body- Sparse beaver dub

Wing- Badger 

Hackle- Badger

Hook- Alec Jackson Soft hackle- #9

Thread- Uni 8/0 black

Tag- Small lagartun gold tinsel

Rib- Small Lagartun gold tinel(same piece as tag)

Body- *india bronze* peacock  This hurl has no green to it, only copper and bronze tones. 

Wing- pale furnace(greenwells) hen

Hackle- pale furnace(greenwells) hen

I have used this fly several times on the Saucan creek in Pa. It is a limestone spring creek, with gin clear water and finicky brown trout. I will just say it got me "more than four" each time. I was gonna keep a secret but what fun is that?  I fished it in the film and got some really nice browns with it.  I have been fishing quite a bit, but just havnt been posting reports or taking many pictures.  But what is a post without fish porn. 

 Just a couple of browns taken with the saucan secret. The gelatinous one in the middle missed it on its first strike and chased it down and slammed it. That one and the others put up a great fight on my 2wt.   If you like the alec jackson hooks contact j.w.trout and you can score them for a good price.  Be sure to tell'em Johnny sent ya.

Duck, Duck, Badger spey fly

Here is a spey fly I put together, i am hoping to get up north this season at some point. 

Hook- Mustad 36890 #6

 Thread- Amber pearsals
Tag- Mirage tinsel
2nd Tag- Medium gold oval tinsel
Body- Very sparse dubbed muskrat
Body hackle- silver badger
Rib- Medium gold oval tinsel
Hackle- Yellow mallard flank
Throat- Gadwall flank small
Wing- Bronze mallard
Eyes- Jungle Cock

The Jungle spider tutorial

 Here is a wetfly that I put together after watching Davie Mcphail do his spider pattern.  It is simply a variation of Davie's creation.  The pattern is an easy and simple tie, but just take it slow with the wings. The Davie spider consists of starling and you can see my version the Jungle spider consists of jungle cock.  



The tutorial can be vied by clicking the see the rest link to the right

A quick evening marauder attack

Well got out for a very short session yesterday evening with a friend. We hit my local tail water. We stirred up a couple of brookies. I was fishing the marauder and my friend was using a dry fly. The darkness closed in fast in the woods as suspected. It was a fun brief session and the fifty degree water felt great.

Tenkara glory, The Gurin'u-eru no eiko

Here is famous Greenwell's glory(gurin'u-eru no eiko) done up reverse hackle, aka tenkara style. Dont see why this baby wouldn't retain all of it glory.













Materials
Hook- Daiichi 1110 #16
Thread- Primrose pearsalls waxed
Rib- Gold wire small
Body- tying thread
Hackle- Furnace hen
Wing- Folded mallard.

Utah's Marauder wet fly, tutorail

Let's twist on up!  Click rest for the tutorial and recipe.

Tenkara Fly-The Aka Kayobi

Materials

Hook- Daiichi 1110 #16

Thread- Red silk

Body- sparsely  dubbed muskrat

Hackle- Brahma hen, Natural molted grey. (dark dun)

Tenkara premiere tying video! The Gin Seisho

  Here is my silver star aka Gin Seisho.  I put this pattern together some time ago but never fished it much other on occasions on one of my wet fly rigs. It was the only fly I fished the other day and well, as I said in my fishing report, it was all i needed. The fly is rather effective and in the spirit of tenkara it is simple to tie.   I really like this style of tying. It makes for some really effective wet flies. The hackle being the way it is, gives the fly a ton of movement, that just drives the fish bonkers.

  I fish this fly from top to bottom and have caught trout in all areas of the water column. I had good success with it in the film too.  Just a touch of dilly wax and she floats fine in the film.   Enjoy the video and be sure report back with how the fly did for you on your waters.

Gin Seisho

Materials

Hook- Daiichi 1110 ( great price at Jw trout on this model)

Thread- Pearsall"s gossamer silk- black

Body- tying thread

Mid tag- Mirage tinsel, small

Hackle- Brahama hen saddle natural

Dub- Fluff from bottom of feather.

Tenkara flies, The Bonten Risu and The Bonten Orenji

Bonten Risu, boast a sparsely dubbed body of fox squirrel dubbing, sparse enough that the thread bleeds through. A real nice buggy fly to drive the trout nuts. 

Thread- Pearsall 6a

Body- fox squirrel dubbin

Hackle- Pale yellow Brahma hen.

So what i did here in creating the Bonten Orenji, was to base it off the English spider pattern the partridge and orange.  Added a dubbed head, and changed the partridge for pale yellow Brahma. The silk and waxing it are the only similarities to the partridge and orange north country spider.   Here is the recipe.

Thread- Pearsall 6a waxed

Head- Fox squirrel dub

Hackle- Pale Yellow Brahma Hen saddle

Be sure to give me feedback on how these flies work for you, and have fun tying them.

      

A golden age fly, The Marlow Buzz, tutorial

Here is a truly old pattern. This fly dates back to the 1830s. It is known as the Marlow buzz or lady bird. Back then a "buzz" was a term for an emerger or wingless fly.   However this fly was intended to imitate a winged beetle.   Here is an excerpt  from fly anglers online.

"Edward Fitzgibbon, writing as Ephemera, said in his Handbook of Angling, 1847, 'What is called the buzz form, is an intended imitation of the natural fly struggling and half drowned. A fly with erect wings and one without them, or buzz, may be used on the casting line at the same time, the buzz imitation being the stretcher or tail fly.'

Ephemera also says: 'Some persons call this fly the Marlow Buzz, others the Lady Bird. At any rate it is intended to imitate a small winged beetle.'

You can read more about the fly here.  At any rate you can know this fly is a producer as it is still tied and varied in many different ways. As a matter of fact the starling and herl can be traced back to the buzz.  It is a rather simple tie, so let's twist one up!  Click read more for tutorial

A one feather fly

  Here is my latest video. It is a one feather fly that i tie up and use often for small mouth, well when i go under.  It is a very simple, easy, and fast to tie, and best part of all the fish approve. I mean what fish can say no to marabou. The feather i use for the fly is a "bird fur" feather.  These feathers are put out by whiting farms for the spey community.  They are excellent feathers for making some great action flies. My sponsor Casters fly shop carries it and with free shipping you cant go wrong. 
  I fish the fly dead drift with twitches, and fish it just like any other streamer.  The fly will hold well if you rib it, but not against the real toothy critter crowd. The action of the fly in the water is great. The fly pulsates and when pulling the fibers consolidate and form a nice slim profile that certainly gets some attention.   Twist them up in what colors you can get. I like black, brown, grizzly, heron grey, chartreuse, olive, and white.  The best part about the fly, is the more sloppy it is the better. So dont worry about trying to make this one pretty.

The Picket Pin video

Materials
Hook- Daiichi 2220 #10
Thread- Uni 8/0 black
Tail- Golden pheasant tippet
Body- Holographic gold tinsel
Rib- Medium oval tinsel
Body hackle- Brown rooster hackle
Head- Peacock herl

Foxy Starling wet fly with tutorial

  I call this fly the Foxy Starling.  I put this baby to the test and the wild brown trout approve.  It is a hair wing wet fly. The wing consists of fox squirrel tail fibers. The hackle is bleached starling. Bleach starling has a wonderful copper iridescent to it.     I have had luck with the fly on the dead drift and also dancing near the surface.  That sexy hook is a Alec Jackson Soft hackle hook. I really like the hooks. They hook and hold fish great, and like all daichii hooks they are incredibly sharp.

Materials

Hook- AJ soft hackle hook #11

Thread- Rusty brown MFC 8/0

Tail- Wood duck flank 

Body- Wood duck flank wrapped

Rib- MFC midge body thread- #740 rust

Hackle- Bleached Starling

Wing- Fox squirrel tail

 Lets twist one up, click read more

The Picket Pin, with tutorial

A 1910s era picket pin, tied by Johnny Utah

  The picket pin is rather well known fly that has stood the test of time. The fly was originated by Montana fly tier Jack Boehme, owner of a Missoula tavern and tackle shop.  That must have been pretty cool, go pick up some flies and have a beer or two.  I'd be more interested in those fish tales told at flies shops if i was guzzling a beer! Anyways.   The fly featured here in my tutorial is the one believed to be the original from around 1910.  However the original was tied with a gopher tail wing, but grey squirrel is a darn good match. 

A peacock body picket pin. Tied by Johnny Utah

  There are many different variations of the picket pin, most have a variation in body materiel.  I am sure you have seen or have tied and/or used the peacock bodied picket pin. Which tied to size is deadly around this time of year with the iso hatches.  The tie here is more of an American tradition, you know our original fly patterns, Streamers.  The fly can be tied with different color wings as well.
  









The fly is extremely versatile. Fish it as a streamer, a nymph, a dry fly, whatever you can think of, it has probably already been done with the fly.  Fishing it dead drift with twitches is a favorite amongst eastern anglers.   It is fun tie, and when you catch a trout, thank Jack for his creation.

Originator: Jack Boehme,

Hook: Mustad  79580, or equivalent, size 4-6.
Thread: Black 8/0 Montana fly co.
Tail: Golden pheasant tippet fibers (3-5).
Rib: Medium gold french tinsel.
Hackle: Brown rooster neck palmered over body.
Body: Flat gold tinsel.
Wing: Gray squirrel tail.
Head: Peacock herl.

Click read more for the tutorial 

A female slate drake cdc fly (Iso)

The female isonychia is often a shade of brighter colored olive when first hatch. It will then darken up into the more well known colors of the iso. With this little piece of knowledge comes more takes, because if females are hatching, your gonna be pressed to be putting up numbers with a rusty or mahogany dun. Tossing this fly around has brought me some great luck when I see a slate drake emerge. 

 Materials

Hook- Daiichi 1180 #12

Thread- Olive 8/0

Tail- chartreuse dyed grizzly hackle fibers

Body- Pale evening dun and brown dry fly dubbin blended

Post- 4 dun cdc feathers

Hackle- MP cdc dirty yellow.

 

Tying Johnny's heading to hatch Iso Nymph(video)

In this video I tie my hth iso. I call it the heading to hatch iso because of the black wing case. If you ever sample nymphs from a stream prior to an emergence, you will find with dark wing cases. Many times if you fish a nymph with a dark wing case you will get quite a few more takes.
   You can sub out the wing case material(turkey) for a synthetic material like silly skin or scud back. I like to use the turkey because I have a lot of it. Don't be fooled by the length of the video, I do a lot of explaining for the various techniques thought the fly. Once you have it, they are a rather quick tie that's well worth it. The stripe is optional, but I strongly recommend using a grey stripe. A white stripe while disappear when wet. The technique for the legs one the fly is a great one to learn. I use it on a lot of my nymph patterns.
   Fish this fly in tail outs and riffles and good moving runs. Isonychia nymphs are excellent swimmers, they are fast. Be sure to apply action to fly via rod twitches, swinging, and stripping. You can fish them dead drift and still pick up fish, after all the nymphs have to stop swimming at some point. Enjoy.

 Materials 

Hook-daiichi-2220-#12-#16. I like #14 best 

Thread-brown 16/0 or 8/0 

Tail- brown mini marabou or chickabou. 

Abdomen- brown bou 

Rib-black utc wire brassie 

Stripe-light grey life flex. 

Wing case- black section of turkey tail tip

 Legs- dark partridge Thorax- peacock herl.

Super hair trico spinner.

Got the notion from a forum for using super hair for spinner wings. So I gave it a go for a trico spinners.

Mayflies and a Yellow sally

These guys have been hatching lately on my local waters. There is a cahill, bwo, sulphur, and a blue quill. Theres quite a few pics so dont forget to click the read more.

Tying Johnny's quick bugger video

 Seeing how i am tying all these buggers for the cold water conservation school in June(see post cold water conservations school needs) I figured to help out anyone who like to tie some for the kids by making a video on how i do my quick bugger. Its a very simple bugger that takes hardly any time to tie at all, once you get the hackling technique down.   A rotary vise is necessary for the technique.

  The beauty of the quick bugger is that it only requires 2 feathers and thread.  The bou secures the hackle so the fish dont break it, and the flies are so quick and simple that who cares if  you lose them.  If you wish to add flash to fly by all means just add that step in, no doubt the flash can make all the difference some days.  Ok well  I am rambling like I do in my videos, haha.  Enjoy the video.   Thanks for stopping by the fly corner.

Materials

Hook- Your favorite bugger hook(mustad 79580)

Thread- Black mono cord

Weight- fine lead wire

Tail- Black Marabou

Body- Black Marabou, butt end of feather from tail

Hackle- Grizzly dyed olive rooster neck hackle. (the whiting bugger packs are great)

Another March brown wet fly

Materials

Hook- Daiichi 1560 #12

Thread- uni 8/0 orange

Tag- Gold Holographic

Tail- Bronze Mallard

Rib- Oval gold tinsel

Body- Fox squirrel dub. Cut up very fine

Hackle- Dark Partridge

Wing- Pheasant wing slips.

With the dubbin cut up fine the orange thread bleeds through wonderfully. Just dub it very lightly. The tag is just to add some flash. Sometimes that can make all the difference.