Macro Flies

My lovely wife gave me a macro lens for my camera as a wedding present. I have been messing with it for a while now and can finally take a decent picture with it. I am no professional photographer here, but I do love taking pictures. Once we got back from Belize I made a goal to fill all my nymph boxes before I would go fishing. Well the before fishing part didn't work out, but I have completed filling in the gaps of all four boxes. The caddis box, midge box, sow bug box, and general nymph box, are all full. Here are few shots of some of my favorite patterns for most nymphing situations. 

Small Prospecting Nymph.

An Army of Prospecting Nymphs.

Orange Collared Pheasant Tail Nymph.

Pheasant Tail with a Hot shot. 

Psycho Prince Nymph and Pheasant Tail.

Artsy Black and White of a Squirrel Nymph and Pheasant Tail.

Two of my favorite Jig style flies.

Midge, Midge, Midge 

Variety of Midge Fly Patterns. 

Peaking Caddis Jig a 2015 Orvis Tactical Fly.

Simple Caddis Larva.

An army of Cress Bugs.

The Pink Sow Bug Fly.

Natural, Rainbow, and Pink my three favorite colors. 

The natural sow bug or cress bug is a great fly for all winter time fishing.

Featured Fly - The Reaper

Here is a little mixed up nymph that is a little out there. Mostly black with a blue hotspot, and Chartreuse ribbing. A great fly for prospecting those little wild trout streams around the state. I have become obsessed with the Orvis Tactical hooks, the short shank wide gape makes for the perfect hook. A lot of my most recent fly designs have been based around what I can tie on these hooks.

Materials:

Hook: Orvis Tactical Hook sz. 12 - 16

Bead: Tungsten Bead - Black sized to match hook 

Rib: Ultra Wire sz. Small - Fl. Chart.

Tail: Saddle Hackel Fibers - Black 

Hot Spot: Uni Thread 6/0 - Silver Doc Blue or Danville 70 - Blue 

Body: Goose Biot - Black 

Thorax: SLF Squirrel mixed with Ice Dub - Black & Peacock Black 

Step 1: Make a small thread base behind the bead.

Step 2: Finish making a thread base while tying in the ultra wire rib.

Step 3: Pull about 10 saddle fibers off and tie in. Tie these in a little down the hook bend.

Step 4: Make a small thread base or hot spot, then trim extra off.

Step 5: Tie a goose biot flush to the hot spot. Then move thread forward.

Step 6: Wrap the biot forward. Tying it off right behind the bead.

Step 7: Taking the ultra wire under the tail first, wrap forward making a rib.

Step 8: Take your blended dubbing and make a thorax.

Step 9: Make a small hot collar with the thread. Whip finish and cut off!

Finished Fly: The Reaper Nymph

Brew n' Bugs

Brew n’ Bugs is an open tie night at the shop. Every 2 weeks the TCO crew will be hanging out at the shop tying flies and drinking a different type of local micro brew. We will be setting up a table in the shop and tying flies to fill our boxes for the up and coming season. Come in and follow us step by step, or bring stuff and tie your own creations that go along with the theme of the night. We are going to be doing these through the beginning of April to see how it goes. If there is a positive showing we will be tying every 2 weeks for as long as people keep coming. There will be a $5.00 charge to help us with the beer and materials for the night. Each session will feature flies tied by a member of the crew, materials will be included to tie along.

Feb 3^rd: 6-8pm – Winter Tailwater Flies - Saucony Creek Brew 

Fed 17^th: 6-8pm – Spring Creek Bugs – Stoudts Brew

Mar 3^rd: 6-8pm – Spring Steelhead Flies - Appalachian Brewing Company

Mar 17^th: 6-8pm – Caddis Flies – Sly Fox

Mar 31^st: 6-8pm – Spring Tailwater Flies – Victory Brew

Apr 14^th: 6-8pm – Mayfly Season – Tröegs Brew

Shoot me an email if you are interested: Jake's Email

Featured Fly - Sunken Trico

Here is another trico pattern, I wouldn't say its my invention, but it does have a few twists to the traditional sunken trico in the shop. It has worked wonders for me the past few days. I fish it under a pop emerger or a CDC Caddis, only about 6-8 inches below the dry fly.

Materials:

Hook: 2488 sz, 20-26

Bead: Tungsten Bomb Beads sz. 1/16th - Black

Thread: 14/0 Veevus - White or Black 

Rib: Pearl Tinsel sz. Small 

Abdomen: Superfine Dubbing - White or Black 

Thorax: Superfine Dubbing - Black 

Wing: Antron Yarn - White, Lt Grey, or Dun 

Step 1:  Slide the bead on the hook and place in the vise.

Step 2: Make a thread base, tying in the tinsel as you go back.

Step 3: Thinly dub the body, leaving about a hook eye space behind the bead.

Step 4: Wrap the tinsel forward, making a nice segmented body.

Step 5: Tie in the antron for the wing. I tie this in with figure 8 thread wraps.

Step 6: Trim the wings to the length you prefer. For the sunken tricos I like the wings a little sparse.

Step 7: Using the same figure 8 thread wraps, dub the thorax with the black dubbing.

Step 8: Whip finish and Cut off!

Finished Fly:

Here are the two color ways, male sunken and female sunken

Featured Fly - Glass Butt Trico Spinner

Ok, so because I was so bad with the featured flies last month, I am going to try to over load you this month. Fishing and Tying has taken a back seat to life the past month or so, but its smallmouth and trico season, so let the fishing and tying begin! This is a simple fly that was shown to me by Wes years ago, it has be tested and proven. So I wanted to share it with everyone, Enjoy.

Materials:

Hook: TMC 2488 sz 20-28

Thread: UNI Thread 8/0 - Black 

Flash Butt:  Pearl Tinsel - Small

Wing: Poly Floating Yarn - Lt Grey, White, or Med Grey

Thorax: Superfine or Antron - Black 

Step 1: Make a tight thread base, tying in the tinsel as you go back. 

Step 2: Keeping the wraps tight, bring the thread forward about 3/4 of the hook shank.

Step 3: Wrap the tinsel forward, keeping the wraps tight. Tie off and cut excess.

Step 4: Take a small piece of poly yearn, and tie it in, you can trim to size once they it is secure.

Step 5: Dub the thorax, you do no need a lot of dubbing for this.

Step 6: Whip finish and cut thread.

It Happened Again - The Little J

The faces changed, but the story stayed the same. The Little J was on fire again. We fished it all over with great success, it defiantly helped that the bugs were all over the place. There were Drakes, Sulphurs, Caddis, and even a few Golden Stones. The whiskey was tasty and the potatoes with cheese and beacon started the day off right. I am going to let the photos tell the story. If you have not gotten the chance to fish the Little J, I would highly recommend getting out there ASAP! 

Hot Flies: Golden Stones, Pheasant Tails, Sulphur Nymphs, and Trigger Nymphs