Featured Fly: J:Son Caddis Larva

This caddis larva is a spin off of the J:Son realistic flies. We now have these amazing flies in the shop, and will be getting a lot of their materials. This fly is made from using the Realistic Caddis Backs. 

Materials:

Hook: Orvis Tactical sz. 10-16 or TMC 2457 10-18

Thread: UNI Thread 6/0 - Black 

Rib: Ultra Wire - Small - Copper or Gold 

Body: SLF Dug Dub - Tan or Olive 

Head: SLF Bug Dub - Black or Brown 

Shellback: J:Son Caddis Backs 

∫Step 1: Make a thread base, tying in the ultra wire as you go.

Step 2: Dub the body, leaving about a 1/4 inch behind the hook eye.

Step 3: Dub the rest of the hook with brown or black SLF.

Step 4: Take your dubbing brush and pick out the dubbing.

Step 5: Tie on the Caddis Back right behind the hook eye.

Step 6: Use the ultra wire rib to secure the body down while making a segmented body.

Step 7: Cut the extra wire off and Whip finish.

Finished Fly: 

Spring Time in PA

Its been a great spring so far. Guide season is picking up, and the fish are really active. I am not going to bore you with all the details of my last few outing. So how about I just share the pictures from the stream.

Photos from the Tully:

Photos from State College:

Photos from undisclosed PA streams :)

Featured Fly - Blended Caddis Larva

I gave the Blended Caddis Larva its name, but I did not come up with the pattern. One of my State College followers Tom, who loves fishing caddis flies of Spring creek designed this fly. He showed it to me last year and I asked him if I could feature the pattern. He welcomed the idea, so I came home and tied a couple up. It has become one of my go to patterns on the Tully. To the untrained eye it looks just like a standard Caddis Larva, but in Tom's eyes its a special blend of dubbing and a unique rib. I will not disclose his special blend, mainly because I don't know it, but SLF Bug Dub has been working well for me!

Materials:

Hook: Orvis Tactical sz. 16-10 or TMC sz. 14-10

Thread: UNI Thread - 6/0 - Black, Tan, Brown

Bead: Tungsten Bead - Copper or Black - sized to match hook 

Ribbing: Antron Yarn (small portion) - Brown, Brown Olive, Chart.

Dubbing 1: SLF Bug Dub - Tan, Olive, Light Olive

Dubbing 2: SLF Nymph Thorax 

Step 1: Slide the bead onto the hook.

Step 2: Tie down the Antron rib as you make a light thread base.

Step 3: Dub the body all the way to the bead.

Step 4: Wrap the Antron, making a nice even rib.

Step 5: Dub the collar, and whip finish.

Finished Fly:

Interested in any of my flies, I now have a small selection of them for sale on the blog. Check out the Flies for Sale . This is located on the right side of the blog below the followers section. 

Central PA Smallmouth Bass

Andy and I had decided we would float for two days this past weekend. One day would be on a smaller trib to the Juniata River, the other the Juniata River itself. It was a great day on the trib, but with over an inch of rain Sunday night, our dreams of crushing some large smallies on Monday had been shattered. Never the less we stopped and grabbed some small town cooking for breakfast, put the boat in and chucked streamers most of the day. The water continued to rise and get muddier as the day went on. No hook ups except for a large carp that I stuck in the dorsal fin. The smallies were very aggressive on Sunday so that made up for the lack of fish on Monday. We started off prospecting with crayfish and hellgrammite flies, but quickly changed to an all white Roamer fly pattern. We hit the banks and stripped back, the smallies were blowing up right off the banks, super awesome. Thanks Andy for showing me around, yet again :)

The Roamer Fly Pattern - Mini Style 

The Roamers perfectly placed in this smallies face!

Interested in any of my flies, I now have a small selection of them for sale on the blog. Check out the Flies for Sale . This is located on the right side of the blog below the followers section.