Fly of the Week: Humpy

The humpy's development and history is shrouded in mystery and controversy. Essentially what I am saying is that no one really knows when the fly came into existence. Furthermore, a number of groups have tried to credit the several people for being the master creator behind the fly. Here is what I do know about it's history. The first time the flies pattern was documented was in the 1920's when the description of the flies unique hump shaped abdomen is clearly described in a fishing journal somewhere on the east coast. This would however lead on to believe that the flies origins would lead back over seas to Europe where there is not current record. Other publications during the 1940's in the Midwest actually brought the famous dry fly to be regarded as one of the most popular and useful flies in country. There are also stories of old timers tying humpys during this time period in a number of areas. However, it still took the marketing and business savvy of a California fly shop owner to finally bring the fly to the west coast making the fly a true national phenomenon. Today tiers enjoy a large variety of materials and colors in which to tie the humpy. It is probably one of my favorite dry flies because of the ease of tying one and the number of materials and colors one can tye with this fly. Here is Eric from one of my favorite fly shops in town doing a video demonstration of how to tie a Humpy.

Fly Tyer Magazine, Fly Tying, Fly Recipes, Fly Patterns, Fly Fishing - Runoff in the Rockies

Fly Tyer Magazine, Fly Tying, Fly Recipes, Fly Patterns, Fly Fishing - Runoff in the Rockies
Here is an interesting article from Flytyer magazine for fishing swollen rivers in the spring. Though I personally do not fish rivers much it is good information for the future and for those that do.

Fly of the Week: Pheasant-tail Nymph

Along with the gold ribbed hares ear, the pheasant tail nymph is one of my favorite flies for fly tying and nymphing. It's also one of the most productive trout flies in fly fishing. Frank Sawyer, an English river keeper, invented this fly pattern more than 60 years ago and used only pheasant tail and copper wire to tie his version of this simple fly, a deadly imitation of the Baetis nymph.Al Troth is credited with creating what has become the more standard (American) version, adding peacock herl and legs. Today, the pheasant tail nymph, or PT nymph, has many variations in the world of fly tying. Some fly tyers use different materials and colors for a thorax, some will add a bead head, and some will add a flash back to create the PT Flashback (I prefer the flashback myself.) Although not quite as simple as the hare's ear, the pheasant tail nymph requires some of the same fly tying techniques, and is equally as enjoyable a fly to tie.

INSTRUCTIONS:

HOOK: Standard Heavy Wire (TMC 3769)
THREAD: Brown
TAIL: Pheasant Tail Fibers (4-6 strands)
RIB: Medium Copper Wire (Small in sizes 16 -18)
BODY: Wrapped Pheasant Tail Herl
THORAX: Peacock Herl
WING CASE: Pheasant Tail
LEGS: Pheasant Tail (The ends used for the wing case, tied back)
OPTIONAL: Lead for weight, or a bead head, flash back

Tie in your thread and wind back to the bend. Tie in your Pheasant Tail. The tail should extend from the rear a half to a full hook length - make sure the tips are even before you tie them in. Tie in your copper wire. Wrap the Pheasant Tail forward evenly and tightly to just past the half way mark and tie them down. Now wrap the copper wire forward in the opposite direction and tie it down. The wire will leave you a slightly shiny segmentation and it will also keep the pheasant tail fibers secure. Now, if you want to add your flash do so where the PT ends and make sure the flash is on top of the hook and extending towards the rear. Tie down your pheasant tail, about 6 strands, with the tips extending over the hook eye. These ends will become the legs, so make sure they extend about one half of a hook length beyond the eye. The butt ends should be extending toward the rear. They will be pulled over and trimmed later to create the shell back. Wrap the thread back to where the body ends and tie in your peacock herl. Wrap the herl to create a thorax and tie off about a hook eye's length from the eye. Pull over the pheasant tail shell back. Tie off the PT and trim. Now pull over and tie down the flash if you added it, trimming the excess. Now split the Pheasant tail tips you left extending forward into two even groups on the sides and then carefully sweep them back along the sides and towards the shank. Tie down with about three wraps moving towards the rear, then build up a small head. This should create proper the legs that make this fly unique. Whip finish and add head cement. Useful for both Trout and Steel head applications

Fly of the Week:Judson Stone

This weeks fly is a new one I am going to try out this summer. Al and Gretchen Beatty featured this one on their "From the Fly Box" located at Idahoflyfisher.com. Since I am an Al and Gretchen Beatty fan I decided to make it this weeks fly of the week.

It's a must have pattern for Idaho streams where stoneflies live and that includes almost all of them. This pattern is particularly effective from early winter until it hatches into an adult in early spring. We like to fish it dead-drift through holding water. As spring approaches cast the nymph closer to the stream bank because the insects crawl out of the water to hatch on streamside vegetation. They often take up to a month to move to the waters edge from their homes in the more central part of the stream. The closer your offering is to their actual location spells success.
Judson Stone

Tied by: Merne R. Judson, Gunnison, CO
Hook: Size 12 to 16, Mustad C53S, 80050BR, Daiichi 1270, 1273, Eagle Claw LO52, TMC 200R, 2312, or DaiRiki 270
Thread: Brown Gudebrod BCS#66 or Uni-Thread Rusty Brown
Weight: Lead .020
Tail: Brown biots
Abdomen: Brown Kaufman stone mix dubbing, brown biot back
Rib: Fine copper wire
Wing pads: Two brown biots
Thorax: Brown Kaufman dubbing
Legs: Whiting or Ewing hen hackle
Antenna: Biots from wing pad
Head: Brown Kaufman dubbing, thread

Tying Instruction

1. Place the hook in the vise and wrap the lead wire onto the front part of the shank. Be certain not to crowd the hook eye; you will need the extra space later. Flatten the lead wraps with a pair of pliers. Attach the tying thread in front of the shaped lead, criss cross wrap over the weighted area, and wrap to a point directly above the hook barb. Apply head cement to the thread covered lead wraps.

2. Tie on the biots for the tail and use a ball of dubbing to divide them. Trim the excess; then tie on a single biot by the tip to later form the abdomen back. Attach the copper wire at this location as well.

3. Apply dubbing to the back half of the hook shank. Fold over the biot back and anchor it in the center of the hook where the dubbed abdomen stops. Wrap the copper wire forward ribbing over the abdomen. Trim the excess wire and biot.

4. Measure two biots so they are about as long as the hook. Bind them to the shank with the tips pointing to the back. Prepare a hen feather by removing the fluff and stroking the fibers back so they are straight out from the stem. Tie the feather on by the tip (concave side up) in the center of the hook shank.

5. Mentally divide the front part of the hook into three equal parts. Apply dubbing to the center most part, fold over the hen feather, and then the two biots. Bind all in place with a couple of thread wraps then fold the feather and biots back again.

6. Dub the next part of the thorax. Fold the hen feather over this second section, bind it to the hook, and trim the excess. Now fold over the two biots and bind them to the hook wrapping all the way to the eye covering the front third of our thorax. The remaining tips form the antenna. Dub over the thread wraps to form the head, whip finish, and trim the excess thread. Apply Aqua Head or head cement as needed.

Fly Of My Dreams

Fly of the Week: EMERGENT SPARKLE CADDIS

Spring is the time when we all look for the great hatches of mayflies, stoneflies, midges and most important for many of us caddis flies. Gary LaFontaine and his team studied caddis flies, and his book Caddisflies is the standard on the subject. He describes many fly patterns to imitate caddis species. Two of those are Deep Pupa and Emergent Pupa. If you have an opportunity to read Caddisflies do it. There is much there to help you be a better fly angler. You will also see there are many more great patterns and many variations of the Deep Pupa and Emergent Pupa patterns.


Zelon or Antron have a trilobal (three sided) fiber structure which has many advantages. Does it make good flies? You become a believer when you read pages 32-39 in Caddisflies. Statements like: “…in clear water the Sparkle Caddis Pupa drew the attention of trout three and a half feet away, while in the same situation a standard pupa drew the attention of fish no farther than a foot away.” and “The Emergent Pupa…on the stream was roughly three times better than a fly lacking the imitation of an air sack,…” It doesn’t clump or matt like other materials. It makes the fly carry air bubbles, and “The Emergent, hanging half I and half out of the water, kicks off a constant stream of bubbles.” This was part of the patterns unexpected effectiveness. At times the Emergent Pupa even broke selective feeding cycles. What more do you want?

Fish feeding on emergers are often mistakenly thought to be feeding on adults. Several years ago I watched a couple of fly anglers fishing over a bunch of rising fish. Since they were fishing the water I desired I watched them from a high spot. Through binoculars I could see the actively rising fish, and their floating flies drifting along untouched. However, most important I could see adult caddis floating unscathed for several hundred feet before they took flight. After the frustrated anglers left, they caught no fish, my friend and I went down and proceeded to hook and release many fish on pupa and nymph imitations.

How do you fish the Emergent Sparkle Caddis? Read pages 99 – 114 in Caddisflies for a complete discussion, but I’ll try to condense it a little. First is the dead drift approach. The fly is kept awash in the surface film where a trout can porpoise and eat it. For the caddis that does not ride quietly on the surface Gary recommends “the stutter and drift method,” which is more active. Put a slack line curve cast up and across with the fly landing downstream of the line. Then make a quick mend before the fly starts to drag. The mend should do no more than make the fly stutter sideways a little. Release a little line to extend the drift. Some species of caddis Gary calls runners or paddlers; Canadians call them traveling sedges. These caddis move across the surface more or less in a straight line and either take off or are recycled into trout with an explosive rise. Grease the fly, and retrieve it with long pulls to move it across the water surface. I have also watched caddis swim around in circles before taking off, but I have never figured a way to move the fly like that.

Enough talk, let’s tie it.

Materials & Equipment:

Hook: Dry Fly hook
Thread: 6/0 brown
Bubble or over body: Micro Zelon, a new product, was used to tie the pictured fly, but Zelon or Antron yarn are normally used, tan or caddis gold
Underbody: Mole hair and Quick Fingers Touch Dubbing
Head: Dubbed mole or peacock


Step 1: Start thread about mid shank, and wind rearward to the bend which on most regular dry fly hooks is a point right over the barb.

Step 2: Attach two clumps of Zelon or Antron at the bend of the hook. Place one bundle of Zelon or Antron on each side of the hook. As you tie, try to spread the fibers around the hook. Antron yarn might need to be combed out to fluff it enough to make a good over body.

Step 3: Ellen uses a variety of colors for the underbody, but on this fly she used mixed mole and Quick Fingers Touch Dubbing. Most tiers put a tacky dubbing wax on the thread and just touch the thread with a dubbing ball. She said that the touch technique was developed by Gary LaFontaine. Don’t roll it down like making a tight noodle. Note, about one quarter shank length is uncovered.

Step 4: Bring the bunches of Anton forward along the sides of the hook. Put a couple of not too tight thread winds just a front of underbody. Use a bodkin to pull out and bulk up the over body. Try to keep the over body evenly distributed around the hook.

Step 5: At this point you can put wing pads on the sides of the over body. Tie in dark soft hackles parallel to hook shank no more than three quarters shank length long. Sometimes a small bunch of lighter colored deer hair is added for a wing. Wrap mole fur dubbing or peacock herls for a head.

Closing Comments: Every fly angler needs this and other Gary LaFontaine patterns in their fly box. They are easy to tie and from the reports they are almost magic for catching trout. Then go out and fish them.

Fly of the Week: Taylor's Shrimp

The Taylors shrimp is one of the first flies I learned how to tie. It is very effective especially in water there scud and fresh water shrimp can be found. I also know a fisherman who ties this pattern on larger hooks for steel head and Salmon on the Columbia River and in fishing ocean bays. As the creator is Marv Taylor I give all the credit to him and this past month I got the story on how he developed the pattern. Marv was fishing a tex favorite on Horsethief Reservoir for a couple of days. he tried other patterns but found the tex to be the most effective. After some more research Marv discovered the fish where taking the Tex favorite as a scud. SO he tied this up with some materials he had with him and it worked even better than the Tex. You will notice that it is tied on a curved hook but as Marv explains you need some on curved to simulate swimming scud and some on straight hooks to show the scud in a resting state. Fish it Deep!!!! that where the scud hang out. This fly is easy to tie in fact of you can tie a Woolly Bugger you can tie the Taylors Shrimp. Colors: yellow and black variegated is best but I have found an olive and black chenille with a sparkle that I think works even better. Don't tell Marv! Also pale light yellow or light pink, natural Orange and very light tan and even a light off white or cream.

Hook: Regular shank (at rest) 8 - 14, weighted with .020 fuse wire; Standard 1X long (swimming) 8 - 14, also weighted.
Thread: Light olive, prewaxed 6/0.

Tail: Light-olive saddle hackle, tied on by the butt, half way down the bend.

Body: Dark-olive and gold (Dark-olive and yellow will work) variegated chenille, size small (Danvilles 0 size) tied halfway down the bend, and wrapped forward.

Legs: Light-olive saddle hackle, tied on at the bend and wrapped forward over the chenille, and trimmed on the top and on the sides.

HEAD: Light olive.