KISS, I stole that phrase from my friend Mark Nichols he preaches that about his artificial lures, DOA, you may have heard of them. Anyway, the same thing applies to flies. Flies are designed for two things, catching fish and catching fisherman. The idea of this post came to mind as I was tying dock light flies for tonight's trip, as mentioned in the last post the lights have been my savior this week. The fly I have been using recently is a pattern that I stole from my friend Scott Cormier, he is the owner of the Southern Angler. Are you seeing a pattern here? Don't worry I only steal from friends and it is more of a trade off since I'm often the victim. Scott only ties a handful of flies a year, or at least that is our on going joke since he owns a fly shop. His newest creation is not much of a creation at all but man does it work. I know some of you guys reading this will say anything small on the lights will work and some nights that is true but I mean this critter has them crazy. Why? Because less is more in dock light flies. I think it is more about the material then the pattern. Synthetic materials are constantly evolving and the newest strategy by companies selling materials is to blend different materials so you do not have to. I love this concept. If I see a fly recipe and it starts, "take some of this, and a little of that, and mix it with this", I'm was not going to tie it! I have two kids and a very busy guide service, I need to tie a fly in minutes and there is nothing fast about blending materials. Problem solved, I can now tie killer flies fast with this preblended material. Here is my dock light fly, excuse me Scott's dock light fly. First, take a number 2 Gamakatsu glo-bug hook and put it in the vise. Take white thread or any color if you are lame enough to be out of white and high tie in a small clump of Steve Farrar's Flash blend natural. Follow that with another small clump of Steve Farrar's Flash Blend camo. Glue on the 3D eyes and epoxy it, done! I am obviously not revolutionizing the fly fishing world, but remember keep it simple stupid.
I think I should be sponsored by Corona?
As I was writing this post I got an email from one of the followers of this blog, RJ. It is so ironic how much his email related to this post. RJ had no problem with me sharing this email and after you read it you will see why, it is great stuff. Here is RJ's email:
Hey John,
I created this little fly that I thought you might be interested in checking out. I am not the best fly tyer, but since checking out your contest, I caught the bug, so to speak.
Anyway, like I said, it isn't that pretty, but it has other nice qualities. First, it is a true dry fly. I tied it on a really small hook. I think a #10. Then I tied some flash into the tail, and some hackle twisted around the hook to make legs. I then shaved off the top side of the hackle and covered it with this chartreuse foam. This was really helpful in seeing the fly floating in the water at night. I tied a few wraps around the green body, spaced out, to look like the joints in a shrimps back, and then tied in some mono eyes.
I created this little fly that I thought you might be interested in checking out. I am not the best fly tyer, but since checking out your contest, I caught the bug, so to speak.
Anyway, like I said, it isn't that pretty, but it has other nice qualities. First, it is a true dry fly. I tied it on a really small hook. I think a #10. Then I tied some flash into the tail, and some hackle twisted around the hook to make legs. I then shaved off the top side of the hackle and covered it with this chartreuse foam. This was really helpful in seeing the fly floating in the water at night. I tied a few wraps around the green body, spaced out, to look like the joints in a shrimps back, and then tied in some mono eyes.
Well, it is a stupidly simple fly, but I thought what the heck. If I can get a snook to pop a dry fly, then fresh water trout fishing will officially have nothing over saltwater! I tied it in January, but waited until last night to test it out. It was the first "warmer" night in a while and the current was ripping with the almost full moon. I fished it exactly like a fresh water dry fly - no stripping, just drift in the current through the dock light.
I couldn't believe it, but it got nailed instantly! It was just like a trout rise - which in my mind is one of the best takes in all of fishing. His mouth nudged up to it and with a boil he sucked it in. The rod went heavy and it was game on! My first thought was how the heck will I land this saltwater beast with a #10 hook and a whole lot of structure. But with a little finesse and some nice boat handling by Jeremy Neff, we pulled it off. I snapped a picture of the 25 incher with the fly in its mouth and then got the signal from the camera "replace battery!" I have no idea yet whether the picture took. We landed about 4 or 5 more on this fly and then switched to a clouser after it got rocked by a beast, but the tiny hook didn't set.
Anyway, I thought you might be interested because you probably fish a lot of people from up north who are very proficient with a dry fly. They would probably get a huge kick out of this. Also, you get to fish a lot more than me, and might find a way to improve it or get one with a bigger hook to float. Its pretty easy to tie and fish, or if you want me to give you some I will, but then you have t let me take you fishing!
Keep up the good blogging!
RJ
Thanks for sharing RJ. It is guys like RJ that motivate me to write this blog, so please get involved and send me any ideas or comments you can. On a side note, I meet RJ last year when I was invited to fish in the Martin County Boys and Girls Club tournament. He volunteers a lot of his valuable time to the club and he should be commended for it. Thanks again RJ. I look forward to the next Boys and Girls Club tournament so I can defend my title as "top guide", just a little plug for myself.
my redesigned guide service website http://stuartflyfishing.com/
my photography website http://pbase.com/stuartflyfishing
my photography website http://pbase.com/stuartflyfishing
