Showing posts with label fly patterns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fly patterns. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Lazy Caroline


For years the Lady Caroline has been one of my 'go to' patterns. It has an amazing ability to move fish when other flies will not. Over the years I have taught a lot of classes to help folks learn how to put one together. I continue to hear the lament of how hard it is to find good materials and how hard it is to set the wings right. I have been toying for a while with a reduced version but would not stop until I had one that contains the same fish moving magic. This is it.
Thread Red
Tag and rib - copper
body - brown olive dubbing
hackle - long ringneck rump followed by gape width red golden pheasant, a turn of each
wing - small clump of bronze mallard

Tying Video

Monday, December 14, 2009

Duncan's Golden Shrimp

For years I have been taken with the simplicity, beauty, and effeciveness of the old Irish Shrimp patterns. Starting from Curry's Red I have tied many of them, read many books about them, talked with folks in Ireland and Wales who tie and fish them, fished them myself, and muddled around with my own idea's. The first Duncan's was the beginning of my belief that I had put something together. I had tied a lot of Intruder style flies and huge shrimps and squids on Waddington Shanks. After fishing it another 6 years the new revision captures everything I was looking for in the beginning, and more. This pattern keeps the effective cone shape of the originals. It is tied almost entirely with Golden Pheasant feathers, hence the name. As a result it looks so buggy it may crawl out of your flybox or bite itself off the tippet. I fish it greased line on floating line or happily at mid depth on a sink tip or full sinking line. It moves fish. Winter or Summer. Salmon or Steelhead. I fish it in two versions. The regular size is about 3" in length and has a FITS Tungsten cone in M. This adds just a touch of weight but the fly still swims gloriously. The micro version is only 1" in length. The tube is only 1/2" so there is room for the hook behind. The micro get a FITS Tungsten cone in XS or S. If the water is clear or close then this will be one the flies on my tippet I can assure you.

Fot the recipe and step by step instructions click here