A Different Type Of Butterball

Well, all of the excitement of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are all over as I type this. I hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday. If you chose to go out to the stores on Black Friday (you are crazy) I hope you found what you were looking for, and if you were shopping online today when you should have been working, I hope you didn't get caught. We had a great holiday in the Irish Flies household. I had a great dinner with my wife on Thursday, got caught up on some work, and even got out on the water a couple of times. Before we talk about the fishing lets talk about the progress on my Winter fly tying project. 

​My new Tacky Fly Fishing Day Pack is now full and I will be posting more of the fly recipes in the coming weeks. Tonight I am going to share a new Olive Nymph I have been working on and an old standby. 

​A few years ago Hareline Dubbin came out with a product called Synthetic Quill Body Wrap. I believe this was originally designed to be used for dry fly bodies. Well, it makes a great nymph body also. I tie this pattern with and without a hot spot (although I am gravitating toward the hot spot as a favorite) A dead ringer for the small Baetis nymphs that are a staple in the winter diets of our local Trout, this fly will quickly become a go to pattern. Here is the recipe...

Hook; TMC2499SP-BL #16
Bead; Tungsten Black 3/32
Tail; Coq De Leon Light Speckled
Abdomen; Hareline Synthetic Quill Body Wrap BWO (SQB28)
Hot Spot; UTC florescent orange thread (optional) 
Thorax; Senyo's Laser dub Sculpin Olive

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This is a staple in my winter boxes.

I really like the "hot spot" version.

The second pattern I would like to share is a pattern I have been fishing for a long time. I really don't know if it has a name or the origin of the fly, I have seen versions of this pattern everywhere. Basically a buggy, dark nymph this fly can represent a plethora of aquatic insects. The biggest fly in my winter box. The buggy, dubbed abdomen and thorax on this pattern make it easy to hide a under body of lead.  I will often use this as an anchor fly in a triple nymph rig. 

Hook; Dohiku #302 size 14
Bead; Black Tungsten 7/64
Under body; 10 wraps of .015 LEAD wire
Tail; Coq De Leon Light Speckled
Abdomen; SLF Fox Squirrel Thorax dubbing
Rib; Lateral Line Flashabou
Thorax; SLF Dragonfly Dark dubbing

That Lateral Line Flashabou really adds flash to this pattern.

As mentioned I got to get out on the water a few times this past weekend. On Sunday my buddy Ed and I headed to our favorite wild Brown Trout tail water. We arrived at around 10:30 and fished till just about dark. It was a great day on the water with several fish landed. I fished a "tight line" rig the entire day. I had a Rainbow Warrior on as a point fly, and a Cinnamon Toast and the Hot Spot BWO as droppers. (I will highlight the Rainbow Warrior and Cinnamon Toast in my next post in this series) I guess I must have guessed correctly, because I landed several fish on each of the three flies. 

I different type of Butterball...

Now is the time to get your Winter boxes in order. I just looked at the extended forecast for December and it looks like we will have mild weather at least until the first of the year. Winter fishing can be some of the "hottest" fishing of the year. Till Next time...

                                                                                                                             Tight Lines

If you are interested of any of the patterns in this post custom orders are available. Please use the links at the bottom of the page to call or contact me.