• Hook: Dai-Riki 135 #14-16
• Thread: 70 Denier Black
• Butt: SM Hot Yellow Ultra Wire
• Body: Peacock Herl
• Hackle: Soft Hackle (Oversized/White)

To start this fly I wrap 5 turns of the SM Ultra Wire tight against the hook shank and position it just above/behind the hook barb then glue it in place with the Zap-A-Gap, remove both tag ends. I twist them off and never clip them free with scissors, it saves your blades and leaves a cleaner looking finish. I typically prep a dozen in one color before I sit down to tie the batch. This has also been an effective pattern with Red and Green Ultra Wire as well. The body is made with the peacock herl wrapped close to form a bushy full body and finished with 1-2 turns of a soft-hackle, on my #14 flies I used traditional Partridge but for the #16′s I used this white soft-hackle that came free with a dry fly hackle I purchased a while back, both have proven to take trout. I measure the hackle from just behind the hook eye back to the wire above the hook barb. I’ll fish this pattern dead drifted behind a nymph but I find it best fished on the swing or by lifting your rod tip to bring the fly up from the bottom. This tends to trigger the desired behaviour again and again. This is a good attractor pattern that might be simulating a pupating caddis or perhaps a cased caddis that is peeping, either way this fly takes trout. Good luck.

p.s. This video was taken in HD format with the Panasonic Lumix TS-1.

Discipline By King Crimson. Check it Out, it might knock the hook out your vise.

Slide Show

Lately I’ve spent time thinking about trout and tying flies I expect to catch them with during the later months of summer. I’m working with deer and elf hair again, seems the first two flies always turn out junk, a W.F.F. dozen is typically fourteen, but don’t tell the pro’s that. I tied a half dozen Stimulators, flies that I remember working well for me in July and August. I bet they might be working now, I just haven’t tossed one to trout lips in a while. I used the Sporty Girl foam for the body which can be purchased at and Claire’s and I think I saw a few colors at Target. These flies will ride high and make for good lead flies with which to drop, say a caddis pupa pattern. 

After the Stimulators I went to work tying a W.F.F. dozen of the pattern that has recently brought me two spectacular Southeast Minnesota brown trout and a handfull of other beautiful fish. I don’t have a name for this pattern and being honest I should say that the pattern I watched Sershen crush an 18″ brown with provided the initial idea. Basically a bead-head bugger pattern with a twist of sparkle chenille for a hackle collar. I tied half the dozen with a tungsten bead and half with a regular bead all weighted on the under-body with weight wraps. I think these flies look slick and deserve a good name, I haven’t decided on one yet. Any suggestions? I might make it worth your while if something fitting comes across the wire, nudge nudge wink wink, know what I mean?

Slide Show

• Hook: Dai-Riki 135 Scud Hook #16-#20
• Thread: Any Color 8/0 or 70 Denier
• Tail: 2 Strands of Krystal Flash at a 90 Degree Splay
• Body: SM Gold Holo Tinsel
• Rib: SM Gold Wire
• Wing Case: Large Silver Tinsel
• Thorax: Peacock Herl

For the life of me I cannot remember where I saw this pattern but it was engrained in my brain after reading about it. I should begin by saying that this is a variant on that patter stuck in my brain, in that some of the materials I used are a slightly different color.

Crimp barb, place bead on hook and start thread. I did add just a few turns of weight behind the bead prior to starting the thread. Tie thread back to hook bend and tie in two tail sections as long as the hook shank. I chose to use a red krystal flash in the picture above. Tie in the gold wire and then the holo tinsel, wrap thread forward to just behind the bead. Note: Tie in the wire and tinsel with as few thread wraps as possible to decrease the bulk at that point in the fly, you want it to look skiny and streamlined all the way to the thorax without a large bump at the tail end of the fly. Wrap the tinsel forward being careful not to break the tinsel and to cover the entire body leaving no thread showing. Wrap the rib to the same point and tie off. Tie in the thicker peice of tinsel and then the peacock herl. Wrap a few wraps of peacock herl to form the thorax and then tie of at the bead. Pull the thicker tinsel forward over the herl to form the wingcase and tie off. Whip finish and your done. If anyone knows where the real instructions for this pattern are let me know, for now this is what I’ve got.