Well, last Wednesday night was the first of our four week Smallmouth themed tying class. We spent the evening talking about Smallie fishing, swapping stories, and tying flies. A great time was had by all and I am really looking forward to next week. The guys in the class must feel the same way, because we heard a lot of nice complements about the class. Thank you all for all of the kind words.
We tied two flies this week. We started with one of my personal favorite Smallmouth flies the Clouser Swimming Nymph. Developed originally as a Dragon or Damsel fly nymph, I am convinced that fish also feel it is a Crayfish imitation as well. This is one of the two patterns I use when I don't know what else to throw, a security blanket if you will. We tied the class fly in my favorite color combo, copper and rusty brown, however olive, black or dark brown are good choices also. We also gave the class a good tip about a special color fished during a certain time that has been very productive.
The second fly we tied was the Crystal Schminnow. This fly was developed by Norm Ziegler. Norm is a shop owner in Sanibel Florida and is considered the Snook guru. Originally designed for fishing his home waters we have been using this simple tie with great success on river bass. In the last year alone I have caught several species on this fly including Striper, Largemouth, and several different species of pan fish. A simple tie that uses only 3 or 4 materials, you can bang out a bunch of these in short order.
Here are the recipes for both flies
We tied two flies this week. We started with one of my personal favorite Smallmouth flies the Clouser Swimming Nymph. Developed originally as a Dragon or Damsel fly nymph, I am convinced that fish also feel it is a Crayfish imitation as well. This is one of the two patterns I use when I don't know what else to throw, a security blanket if you will. We tied the class fly in my favorite color combo, copper and rusty brown, however olive, black or dark brown are good choices also. We also gave the class a good tip about a special color fished during a certain time that has been very productive.
The second fly we tied was the Crystal Schminnow. This fly was developed by Norm Ziegler. Norm is a shop owner in Sanibel Florida and is considered the Snook guru. Originally designed for fishing his home waters we have been using this simple tie with great success on river bass. In the last year alone I have caught several species on this fly including Striper, Largemouth, and several different species of pan fish. A simple tie that uses only 3 or 4 materials, you can bang out a bunch of these in short order.
Here are the recipes for both flies
| Clouser Swimming Nymph Hook ; TMC 5263 # 6 Thread ; Brown 6/0 Bead ; 3/16 copper Weight ; 15 tursn of .020 lead free wire Tail ; medium brown marabou blood quill Dubbing ; Hares Ear Plus rusty brown Flash ; Copper Flashabou Legs ; speckled hen back Wing Case ; Peacock Hurl | Crystal Schminnow Hook ; TMC 5262 #4 Thread ; 6/0 color to match body Tail ; Marabou, color to match body Body ; Estaz, color of choice Eyes ; Large black mono eyes |
This class was a mixture of guys from the beginner class, the advanced class and a few new comers. It was great to see everybody in the shop and tying again. I know it has only been a week, it seems like it was much longer.
Here are all the materials laid out and ready to go.
After the intro the guys got right at it. Here we see two new comers to the class Frank and Brian Mac Jr. (Nice hat by the way). Here the bead is on the hook and the lead free wire has been wrapped up the shank.
Here is a good shot of "One Boot" Ed with a perfect tail. Ed ties some very clean flies, evident here in this picture.
This next picture shows several steps. We have completed the tail, added flash and the abdomen has been dubbed. Here is Paul V's fly, you can see the Peacock hurl wing case and the speckled hen that will eventually be the legs. He is getting ready to dub the thorax.
Here we see the finished Clouser swimming nymph. Just an all around great fly that catches a ton of Smallies.
Fly number two for the night was the Schminnow. We went with a Sunfish color pallet using Damsel green marabou, and Gold Estaz. To Spruce things up we added a beard of orange Ice Dub, but this is totally optional. My other favorite colors are white and root beer. We also know of one favorite color combo being a Chartreuse tail and Butter Rum body. That is the beauty of tying our own flies, the sky is the limit as far as colors go.
Here Brian Mac Sr is working his tail into place. Unfortunately this fly is so fast to tie the next picture is the finished pattern. Note the clipped marabou tail. I don't know what possessed Norm to do that the first time, but the pattern definitely swims better like this.
Everybody did a great job in the class this week. All the flies tied were more than "fishable" some were exceptional. I must say it is a pleasure to teach a class with good tiers that are enthusiastic about the flies we are tying. I am really looking forward to seeing the homework next Wednesday night. See you then.
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