This blog will take off where the book "Unsinkable Dry Flies" left off, listing new and different ways to tie flies by attaching a air bubble to the hook. The flies displayed may be imitations of flies found in other reference materials or something completely unique. If you have a new idea email us, we will endeavor to post it on the Blog with your credit.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Articulating Dry Flies and Nymphs

Articulating flies have been part of streamers for some time and a gentleman named Dave Hise started appling this principle to nymphs and dry flies.. A couple of months ago before I knew Mr. Hise was out there I started tying such flies in sizes 6 to 18 using both my unsinkable method as will as more conventional materials . The first fly I tied and fished was a red ant which I call my Fire Articulating Ant.  


To test any new fly I generally take it to a spot on my local river that gets pounded by drift boats as well as walk in anglers.  I don't always have success at such a place, but if I can catch fish here, I figure I can catch them anywhere.  To my amazement the articulating ant was an outstanding success.  This is what made me apply this articulating style to other flies both dry and wet as shown below.   These flies have a catch rate that would make most any angler happy.


To tie such a fly use two hooks and tie the back half of the fly first.  Then using a small section of something like Spiderwire (Braided Cord) in at least 15 pound test attach the back half of the fly to the forward hook that will become the front of the fly (See Below). 


After wrapping the front hook shaft with your thread (shown in yellow) fold the Spiderwire back and wrap again to insure the attaching line will not separate under hookup conditions. Once the hooks are connected you can finish tying the front half of the fly. The pictures below show the actual attachment method.  The last picture in the series the excess braided cord being clipped off prior to tying the front half of the fly.   


The two most successful flies I have tied to date are a salmon fly nymph and my own creation the Wonder Bug shown below.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Making Fly Wing Material - Fly Tying

Making wing material that floats is a fairly simple process. To start you need the following items:
1. A pressing table
2. Iron (Hobby or regular pressing iron)
3. Scissors
4. Heat-n-Bond
5. Netting or Polypropylene (PP) Hair
6. Polyethylene foam sheeting
7. Alcohol ink for additional coloring
8. Teflon Pressing Pad

The next step in the process is to determine the color of the wing material to be produced. The wing material can be colored with alcohol ink or just the use colored netting or hair. If ink is to be used it is best to apply it to polyethylene foam sheeting or in some cases directly to the Heat-n-bond material. If ink is used color the entire sheet of material to be used.



After coloring whatever material you are using cut a sheet of Heat-n-bond twice the size of the wing material to be made and lay it out with the colored sheet on top. Then add the netting or PP hair. In this sample the colored sheet is red and black netting is laying on the bottom half with PP black hair on the top half laid out in a random pattern. The Heat-n-Bond is now ready for folding after application of a second colored polyethylene sheet.

With the second sheet applied fold the Heat-n-Bond over to form a sandwich. The two sheets of foam, netting, and hair are all inside the folded Heat-n-Bond. The iron has been set on the hottest setting and the sandwich placed on a Teflon pressing pad to avoid sticking of the over lapping edges of the Heat-n-Bond.


Using the iron press the Heat-n-Bond from the fold to the outer edge until one side is completely flattened. Then turn the sandwich over and press the other side making sure that all edges on both sides are covered. Set the pressed sandwich aside and let it cool completely.








After the sandwich has cooled completely peal back one side of the Heat-n-Bond. Then peal the other side from the fold to remove the backing from the now completed wing material.




The finished material will look like these other examples we have made. If you do not use the polyethylene sheeting, as we did above, you should add another sandwich layer of Heat-n-bond to provide sufficient strength and prevent the wing material from tearing. It should be noted that you can also add glitter, flash, tinsel, or other attractor materials to make the finished wings more luminous.






Thursday, February 16, 2012

7 Killer Unsinkable Dry Flies

Red Eye PMD - Skwala - Stonefly







Mige Size 18 - Linneweh - Golden Stone








Black Caddis


These patterns are very effective