Wool

[Mike Connor]

You can use this for organising and viewing various e-books or transferring them to Kindle ec.

http://calibre-ebook.com/

[letumgo]

I fish a few patterns very similar to your fly. One is simply called a mohair leech. Another is called a fizzle bugger. And a third is a special seal fur bugger pattern created by Denny Rickards (famous stillwater fisherman/tyer). All of them have been very productive flies for me.

I will add your fly to my list. Thanks for sharing.

[Mike Connor]

It's not "mine" as such. The "original" was given to me by an old chap in Yorkshire over forty years ago and he had been using it for a long time then. Curiously enough it was the only fly he used.

As a couple of people mentioned various synthetic flies they know I have dressed, I must point out that those are all rather specialised patterns, mostly for saltwater and not appropriate on this board. When I wrote that I don't use synthetics I was really alluding to dubbing on small imitative flies.

[Mike Connor]

Since this might be considered a "wingless wet" in the broad sense, and it does work in freshwater on migratory fish and it uses a blend of hare fur and red wool in some cases it may be appropriate here.

This is one of my stand-by salt-water flies for many occasions and species, but mainly sea-trout in the Baltic. It has taken a number of species since I first designed it, including sea-trout, cod, pollack, mackerel, herring, and various flatfish, and despite trying variations and "improvements" and weighting schemes over a long period of time, the original has still proved to be best.



The shape is mainly due to the hook used which is a Gamakatsu LS-3113R bait-holder hook with a curved and sliced shank. If you wish, you may press down the slice in the shank before you begin dressing the fly. At least you should avoid cutting the thread on the slice!



You may dress the fly with weight if you wish, but I don´t. I prefer the more lively action of an unweighted fly in this case.The dressing is quite simple and uses cheap and readily available materials. These are some of the main criteria for all my flies. You will need:

THREAD: White or light yellow thread of your choice. You may also use red thread for darker reddish patterns, or even black thread for shrimps with a dark "core". The finished fly is quite transparent when wet, and looks even more lifelike.

HOOK: Gamakatsu LS-3113R in the size you wish to dress. This is a size 4, but you may dress them in various sizes. My most used size is a size 2. At one time I only carried this fly in size 2, but have found a few occasions where I needed a smaller one.

FEELERS AND CLAWS: A couple of cheap Indian Cree or Grizzly hackles, depending on general colour scheme required. Any hackles will do of course. I prefer marked hackles for most of my flies, but you can use single colour hackles if you wish.

EYES: Optional. Burnt mono or similar. These look nice, and improve the lifelike effect, but are not strictly necessary. The fish don´t care much it seems.

BODY : Mixed dubbed hare body or mask fur.

BODY HACKLE: same as claws etc. Cheap cree or grizzly cock hackle tips.

RIB: Copper wire. The wire MUST! be varnished. Most wire sold on reels is lacquered. If it isn´t it will corrode very quickly in salt water, and may also react with the hook metal in salt water. The hooks used here are protected with a very tough red finish. Affix your hook in the vice, and attach the thread as shown. Take the thread down to the position for the feelers etc. Don´t be tempted to go too far around the bend.



Select two hackle tips, strip the fluff and waste to size, but tie in some of the fibres as well, these act as "feelers", and tie in.



If you wish, you may now tie in either bead chain eyes, ( makes the fly swim upside down, and adds weight of course) or melted mono eyes, ( my preference). Simply melt the end of two pieces of mono slightly, and tie in. You may also use black or red amnesia nylon or similar if you want darker or coloured eyes. Clear mono shown here. Bind the mono down as shown, and it is a good idea to give the thread a tiny spot of clear varnish here.



Take the thread back to immediately behind the eyes, and tie in your ribbing wire as you go, ( You may also use gold, silver etc, but I have found copper wire to be the best).



Dub and form the body as shown, with a slightly thicker thorax, tapering off towards the tail ( Front of the hook here of course!). Here, I have used mixed hare fur with a tiny amount of "flash" blended in. On some flies a small amount of red wool mixed in is a good idea. This can sometimes be a little more effective than the plain hare fur, but use it with restraint!



Tie in your cree or grizzly hackle by the butt. Rib the dubbed body with the hackle as shown, in even turns. Four or five turns are ample. But this is also dependent on hook size of course. The hackle should suit the size of hook you are using. My most used size is a size 2. This one is a size 4.



Letting the hackle hang, rib tightly towards the tail in even turns with your copper wire. Tie off, form a small neat "head", and whip finish.



At this point you need a dubbing brush. This one I used here is made by glueing a piece of velcro to a lolly stick. ( Don´t use needles and the like for picking out dubbing! You will cut the thread! It will also take half of eternity to pick out dubbing on most flies using a needle!).( Velcro stick shown here being used to brush a freshwater shrimp);



Now brush the fly vigorously in a downward direction, on both sides, and then trim the hackle fibres below the hook by cutting parallel to the eye and the hook point, until it appears as shown. You may trim off any stray hackle fibres on top of the body at this time.



Varnish the "head" of the fly, ( the finishing knot at the tail in this case). And that was it. You may epoxy the backs of these flies, which makes them sink a little faster, and also makes them look a little more lifelike to the angler, but I don´t bother nowadays. They are extremely robust in any case, I have had quite a few fish on one fly. They do get a bit "raggy" of course, but this only makes them even better!That was it. The fly is fairly easy and quick to dress, looks lifelike, behaves correctly, and can be very very effective indeed.

I fish this pattern on various lengths and types of lines and leaders, depending on the sink rate I require. Retrieve SLOWLY! Shrimps move in fits and starts, especially when disturbed, but they don´t move in yard long jumps! Slow jerky retrieves, or short draws with pauses, are usually best.

These are the two sizes I normally carry, 2 and 4.



This pattern also works well for sea-trout in fresh water. I then usually add a little red ( crimson) fur usually fine red wool, to the dubbing. This red version is also often very effective on the edge of dirty water, and in some other circumstances.

You may of course "mix and match" as the fancy takes you, using seal fur, Fritz, or anything else you like, as body dubbing. This MAY "improve" results but the basic fly is very effective and I have not noticed any improvement using most additions. The basic pattern is always the same.

The hackle fibres below the hook make the fly more or less "weedless", especially when retrieved slowly. It will just "brush off" weed etc. But a fish can still take it easily.

Hope you enjoy dressing and fishing this pattern.

[Mike Connor]

The fly becomes very translucent when soaked, so it is important to use the right thread for the effect you require. I usually use white or light yellow, but occasionally a fly with a dark core catches better. So I carry a couple dressed with dark red or black thread. I only use the two sizes shown, but you can dress them in other sizes if you want of course if it suits your local shrimps better.

[letumgo]

Mike - Fantastic pattern and tutorial! Makes me want to run to the vice.

[letumgo]

Mike - I was carefully studying the photos and noticed what looks like a second barb near where you attached the thread. Are these hooks also used as bait hooks? Very interesting. I am frequently looking around for other style hooks, to repurpose them for fly tying. I use a hook that is generally use for casting jigs and bail baits, but it works great for baitfish patterns.

[Mike Connor]

I have a few more "Wingless wets" of that general nature. As long as nobody objects or feels they are inappropriate to this board, I can post a couple more.

Here is one that has been astoundingly effective wherever it was used on a whole host of fish species. It is NOT a delicate "soft hackle", and some might even argue that it is not a fly at all. It uses some materials that can not be described as "traditional" in any sense of the word, although I do use wool in most variations, but the fish love it. I got many letters and mails about it when I first published it some years ago, it was very very successful indeed on a lot of fish. Some of you might like to try it. Others may shudder at the prospect!

Connor's Crazy Fish



Select a hook first. here I have used a Gamakatsu LS-5213N size 4. ( These are good on crabs, and various epoxy flies, as the sliced shank holds them tight in the epoxy)

Mount your hook in the vice, and run on the tying thread at the rear.Tie in your wing as shown. I like Arctic fox for this, but you can use almost anything appropriate. Tie the butts of the hair in, whip finish, and varnish.You should have something like this;

Remove the hook from the vice. Now select a false fingernail of the appropriate size. It should be just slightly longer than the hook. Place a small bead of glue ( superglue, UHU etc ), in the middle of the nail, and press the fly down into it with the hook eye clear of the nail, in the position shown;



Put aside to set. Of course you can make up a whole bunch of these things in advance. When the glue is dry, mix up some five minute epoxy, and fill the hollow nail with it. When set, you should have something like this;



That was basically it! But now we move on to some interesting jiggery pokery! Using nail varnish ( What else!?! ) paint the fly as desired. ( plastic enamel and similar stuff works as well). I like to add a 3-d eye at the top rear or front of the fly as well;



The colour combinations and various other embellishments are legion! You can make mackerel stripes, flatfish colours, herring blue/green, etc etc. Or copy some of the other baits extant like "Fire tiger" and so on. I just used some glitter pearl here, and a few red spots. I left the underside translucent here, but you may of course paint it as well. Fish belly white is often a good choice.

I really did well on the mackerel with this one;



Bottom view. ( Hook wound with red wool before placing in the nail);

This fly does not spin, it wobbles! Fish usually hammer it hard, so be prepared! One may also alter the action and attitude of this fly very considerably by adding some weight. I will show you how to do that properly on the next pattern. This fly also has a major advantage over many others for one simple reason. When your wife asks you to do something or other, like digging the garden, or mowing the lawn, you merely reply, "Sorry love, can´t right now, I´m just doing my nails! " Should work OK, always works for them!

I got a few questions regarding the action and other things related to this fly, and here are the answers.

QUOTE
How does this fly come through the water? I mean, does it wobble with the nail side up, or down, or does it ride sideways? I'm trying to figure out which side to paint a lighter color for the belly.
UNQUOTE

When it is retrieved it wobbles, "flutters", and darts, more or less erratically, depending on the retrieve speed. Nail side down. When it is left to sink, it sways from side to side as it falls nail side down. I don´t usually bother painting the belly side, as the fly retains a lot of translucence if the belly is not painted. The colour of the painted nail shines through the epoxy. Also, normally the fish don´t see the belly side anyway!

Neither of the flies shown has a painted belly. The epoxy "shines" with the colour of the wool wrapped around the hook, ( if you do this).

If you want a white belly, wrap the hook with white wool for instance.

The epoxy in the nail gives it sufficient weight for a certain wobble. Adding weight ( lead etc) , at various positions makes it intrinsically heavier of course, and also alters the action. This takes some experimenting to find out what happens when one adds weight and where!

I have found that just the epoxy gives the most attractive action, and it is also then easier to cast. It can be fished very slowly, far more slowly than most any "hardware", and this is also attractive to the fish. One fairly major problem with hardware like fly-spons etc, is that it usually does not imitate an injured fish very well, because it has to be moved too fast. Injured fish can´t usually move very fast though. This thing with its slow wobble attracts a lot more strikes. It is often taken "on the drop", when it is simply falling through the water. The action is similar to that of a falling leaf.

In smaller sizes, ( a "pinky" nail) and a couple of simple colour schemes, this fly has proven absolutely deadly for trout, but there are many places which would not allow you to use it, as it might not qualify as a "fly".Over time, I have caught a fair number of species on it.
Finally, it has a major advantage over many other baitfish patterns, in that you only need to apply one eye! Laughing

For perch, a fly with an orange fox tail, and an orange nail with black diagonal stripes has proven very good. I will see if I can find it and post a pic. I have a box full somewhere. Incidentally it is not a spoon fly as such, but their are some vague similarities . You can find the original "spoon fly" here;

http://www.flyfishlouisiana.com/Spoon_fly_1.htm

It is much more complicated to make, and very difficult to "tune" as required.

There was also some confusion about how and why the fly works so well.

QUOTE
So you normally just paint the nail and not the epoxy to let the epoxy "glow"? But wouldn't that be the "belly" if it sinks and wobbles "nail side down"? Sorry, but I'm confused, which is my normal state of mind. I've just put together a few of them and they really look like they would be excellent on our panfish.
UNQUOTE

Ah,I think I see the problem. Wounded baitfish often tumble sideways. This fly is designed to imitate such behaviour , and of course also look like a baitfish! When one uses the term "belly" here in regard to the fly, one means the underside of the fly, in relation to the hook orientation in the vice! This fly imitates a fish on its side. The nail side is one side of a baitfish, but of course it is the "back" of the fly. The epoxy side is the other side of a baitfish, seen as the fish is falling or swimming sideways through the water. But the fish only usually see the nail side from below. The fly has no "belly" as such. It has a topside and a bottom side. In terms of fishing it, the nail side is the bottom side, and the epoxy side is the top side. Hope this is clear? It is quite difficult to formulate a clear explanation!

I do normally just paint the nail side. If you hold the fly up to the light, and look at the nail side, you will see whatever you have embedded in the epoxy glowing through. The nail, and the nail lacquer is translucent. The whole thing seems translucent as a result of this.
If you paint the epoxy side of the fly, you reduce the translucence. The epoxy side is the other side of the baitfish which the fish don´t normally see, as they are looking up at the nail side from below.

This is what the fish see ( difficult to backlight this and photograph it! I think I have gone temporarily blind as a result! ) when they look up at the side of the lure which is fishing nail side down;

This is the same fly shown above, but backlit. The translucence is only apparent when the fly is seen against the light. If you paint the other side of the fly, you will reduce the translucence, which however is part of the attraction of the fly



the translucence is very important on these flies. If you make them opaque they will still work but nowhere near as well.

Here is a version made to represent a Mackerel





You can get the false fingernails at lots of places, I got a few boxes of these at a local "dollar store" ( everything for a dollar. In this case a Euro). They come in a range of sizes, as shown here, and can be used to make some very interesting and useful patterns.

There are ten various sized fingernails in the boxes I got, and they are of course easily trimmed or shaped with fingernail cutters if desired. They are amazingly tough, and it seems the plastic imitates the hard crab shells very well, as these crabs are not ejected so quickly by the fish, as some yarn and similar crabs. This is what the boxes of "beauty nails" look like. There are several sets ( thirty nails) in each box. There are also "sticky pads" in the box for applying the nails, which you may use if you like, but glue works well, and the last step is to epoxy the crab anyway;



I dress quite a few fairly specialised patterns using these and a lot of other stuff!

[Mike Connor]

Mike - I was carefully studying the photos and noticed what looks like a second barb near where you attached the thread. Are these hooks also used as bait hooks? Very interesting. I am frequently looking around for other style hooks, to repurpose them for fly tying. I use a hook that is generally use for casting jigs and bail baits, but it works great for baitfish patterns.

Yes, they are "baitholder" hooks with a sliced shank. I use hooks that suit me, I don't care if they are "Fly-tying" hooks as such, as long as they work. These work well for quite a few things.

[Mike Connor]

Here are a few of those patterns mentioned. I will only post the patterns if specifically requested to do so, as they are really outside the scope of ths board, and some might object.