Old Fashioned Fly Tying Contest

Old Fashioned Fly Tying Contest. The fly that received
ALL the votes is the Traditional Hackled Fly as the best Pale Morning Dun.
Thanks to those who submitted flies and those who voted.

THE WINNING FLY IS THE FIRST FLY SHOWN BELOW. It was tied by Hugues Silvain of Saint Christol les Ales, France. Congratulations Hugues!!!!!!

THESE WERE THE ENTRIES:

Tying the Paraloop Fly Style

The owner of the Jvice company (yes, he spells it with a "c") in South Africa sent me a new jaw for his wonderful vise system and he included a gallows tool. So, I was compelled to tie a Sparkle Blue Wing Olive paraloop style. You know, I don't think this fly is commercially available. I never see them in the fly shops. I think it is like the Water Walker style of fly. They are very life-like, but not sure you find them in fly shops.

I would highly recommend his tying station and accessories. His equipment is very high quality.
His site is: http://www.jvice.co.za/


The photo below is tying the Paraloop style with JVICE's "midge maniac" jaw. Very unique tiny jaws!!!!!

He has a video of tying the paraloop using his vise. Beautiful equipment!!





The photo below includes the top portion of the JVICE with the midge jaws.















This is a size 20 pmd paraloop - not as emerger with a shuck (as others above), but as adult dun.

This is my new Sparkle Dun for a Flav. A "Flav" is a Small Western Green Drake. We were lucky enough to fish the Lower Henry's Fork this summer in early July. We caught quite a few nice trout on this hatch. The insects hatched twice each day: mid-morning and mid-afternoon. We used a Sparkle Dun which worked. Next summer, I intend to have some of these to try as I think they will be quite effective.













The fly below is a Paraloop mahogany dun.













The fly below is a Sparkle Dun Flav Paraloop. It is ribbed with trimmed hackle feather.













The fly below is a PMD Sparkle Dun Paraloop

Fishing the Yellowstone Area

Top picture is of the Gardiner River. Rainbow is from Henry's Fork near Ashton, Idaho.


Could not stand not being able to fish until Spring. Although not a great time to fish in the Yellowstone Area, I made the trip anyway. I fished the Henry's Fork below Ashton, Idaho and all over in Yellowstone Park. The best fishing was probably on the Gardiner River just inside the North entrance to the Park. Funny, but no one in the West Yellostone shops mention this river. I wonder if it is because you might then hook up with Parks Fly Shop in the little town of Gardiner just outside the north entrance? Anyway, it is a beautiful little stream and has decent fish and lots and lots of elk running around you.


I have fished the Firehole River in the Park for many years. I knew that the fish there were smallish, but never actually inquired as to the reason. I knew it had something to do with the warm temperatures due to the geysers. I just assumed the adult fish moved out of there. This time i inquired and learned that the warm temps affect their metabolism and that a small 8 incher might be 2 years old!!! I knew it wasn't true that the small fish were easy to catch!!!!

Did stop in to get tying supplies at Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone. Neither Craig Mathews nor John Juracek were there, but I did prevail on a guide/employee there to demo Craig's Sparkle Comparadun. It is very true that you need the appropriate deer hair. The fellow looked at about 10 skins and rejected them all before finding one with the appropriate tips. He demostrated the fly and taught me a couple tricks. Really helped my tying after I went back to my room and tied some. Never too old to learn.

Video clip is of a bison between myself and the Firehole River.......

Variation on the Crackleback Fly

I apologize about the quality of these photos. Hope to bet a better system soon.

One of my favorite "seeking" flies, when no hatch is present, is the Crackleback. This fly can be fished dry and allowed to drag and swing under the surface. Then, it should be stripped in in short fast strips. It is very exciting when the trout hits the fly being fished this way!

The original pattern calls for a thinner body and only brown hackle palmered through the body. I have always liked the Adams style of marrying brown and grizzly hackle. I also like the new ice dubbing. So, the top photo is this revision to the original Crackleback

The second photo is an intermediate revision to the original Crackleback.



The photo below is a Crackleback I tied to imitate the original design by the folks at FeatherCraft in Missouri. The photo is so good because it was done by Hans Weilemann in the Netherlands. He has an incredible site which has high resolution photos of flies tied by a hundred or more tiers from all over the world. If you ever want to see a pattern go there. You can search by tier or by name of the pattern. The site is: http://www.danica.com/FLYTIER/

Fly Fishing and Fly Tying: Variant on the Standard Elk Hair Caddis

Fly Fishing and Fly Tying: Variant on the Standard Elk Hair Caddis

http://www.jvice.co.za/