The Final Smallie Class

 Wednesday marked the final Smallmouth tying class. I am really bummed out to see this come to an end. A great group of guys and fun, fishable patterns have made this class one of my favorites. Terry and I would really like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone that made this class possible. For the last night I was instructing and guess what...we tied a big articulated streamer. I think I see a pattern here, no pun intended. The Strolis Ice Pick was on tap for the evening and I believe everybody enjoyed the pattern. Before we get too far into this pattern lets look at some homework from last weeks class. 

 Here are two samples of what I would call exceptional flies. Paul R. took what he learned in two of our classes and combined them to come up with the "Blonde" Brandywine Crawler. At the right times this pattern will be DEADLY on Smallmouth! The "Gary's Albie Fly" looks good as well. To see how well an "Albie" fly works on a wild Trout stream click here to read last weeks report. Below are samples of more exceptional homework from the class. 

"One Boot" Ed did some fine work in these two pictures

"One Boot" Ed's second block of flies

Paul V with an impressive batch of homework.

Looks like somebody has Steelhead on the brain!

 After checking out the home work we started on this weeks pattern, the Ice Pick. I recently instructed the advance class on another Strolis pattern, The Headbanger Sculpin. On that pattern we did a rear hook and a Fish Skull shank to make the articulated joint. Many of the guys from the advance class are in this class also so I decided to show how to do a wire connection. Many of you know I don't fish with tandem hook flies, so at the end of class I took the sample fly and nipped the hook off at the bend. This is absolutely a personal choice, If you want to fish with two hooks go ahead, just be sure to check local regulations and please pinch the barbs down.  

Here is the recipe as we tied it in class. 

The Ice Pick
Rear hook ; Mustad 3366 #2
Tail ; white marabou and a little pearl Krystal flash
Body ; EP Sparkle Brush Pearl
Wing ; Black Rabbit Zonker
Connection ; 30# Dacron, 26# Surflon, Beadalon, Fire Line or Power Pro braided fishing line
Front hook ; Mustad 3366 1/0
Head ; Fish Skull medium head in silver bait fish color

  The great thing about this fly is that color options are only limited to your imagination  For bigger flies we use the EP Sparkle brush. For Small versions of this fly or if you cant find the right color of brush you can use the dubbing loop. 


  Here it looks like I have tied in the Marabou and Krystal Flash for the tail and The Rabbit has been tied on top. I am preparing the dubbing brush to palmer up the hook shank. 

Here "One Boot" Ed is working the brush up the hook shank.

Paul R. Working the same step.

 This Next photo shows the rear section of the fly complete. Dennis made a good observation that if you wanted a smaller version of this fly you could put the Fish Skull on now and be finished. That is a great suggestion. It would not have the jointed action, but, the rabbit and dubbing brush should provide ample movement. 

 The next step was the wire connection. You have options here. We used 30# Dacron in class. This is the same stuff we use as backing for your fly reels. Many things exist out there that are suitable for this step. Experiment until you find one that works for you. I used two pearl beads here, this is used to prevent the tail section from fouling around the front hook. Once glued this connection is EXTREMELY strong. My own tests have proven usually the back hook will bend or break before the connection will pullout. 

 The best part about tying articulated streamers is that the second half usually is similar or even identical to the first half. After you make the connection to the front hook just repeat the steps you did on the first hook. On this piticular pattern be sure to leave enough room for the head and you are finished. 

  This was a great fly to end the class with. Again we would like to thank all of the people that participated in this class. we truly hope you had as much fun in the class as we did. At some point this summer we all need to get together and fish some of these flies. until then.


                                                                                                                                                Tight lines...