On The Fly
January 2013

"Fly tying is a school from which we never graduate"

   The Southern Oregon Fly Tyers invite you to attend their meetings the second Tuesday of each month. The next meeting is January 8, 2013. The meetings start at 6:00 PM, at the Madrone Hill Mobile Home Park community building near Gold Hill. Bring a friend, come early so you don't miss anything, and stay late. Tyers need not be experienced, and those with all levels of skill are welcome. Each meeting a member is encouraged to demonstrate a new or different skill, from simple to difficult. For more information, call Dan Kellogg at 773-4724.

   DIRECTIONS: Take Gold Hill Exit #40, off of I-5 and go west, toward Jacksonville, 1.3 miles, until you reach the brick entrance way to the Madrone Hill Mobile Home Park on the right. You’ll pass a golf course parking lot on your left shortly after leaving the freeway. After you turn right into the mobile home park, proceed to the community building which is located about 100 yards ahead on the left. The address is 8401 Old Stage Rd. Please park your vehicle on the bare dirt in the parking lot to avoid the wooden septic covers in the grass

PATTERN OF THE MONTH –Flavs or Lesser Western Green Drake

Hook -    Daiichi #1190 or equivalent, size 12-14
Thread - White 12/0 or silk , finish fly with brown thread
Wings -   Dark dun (grey) hen tips
Tail -       Dyed olive grizzly spade fibers
Body -    Dark olive turkey biot
Rib -       Bright yellow 6/0 thread
Hackle - Olive dyed grizzly

   Folks, Dan is going to be a hard act to follow, but I will do my best. The fly I picked for this month is the Western Green Drake and some, me included, know it as Flav's. There are 4 flies in the genus Drunella. The good news is all you have to do is pick a good pattern and use it for all 4, just change size. This is going to be a dry pattern, I've used this fly in spring creeks in Montana, here on the Rogue, Idaho and in Northern Calif. I will be tying it at the next meeting and it will be the first fly we tie in the upcoming tying class

Helpful Hints:

   About the white thread, as a lot of you know, I'm old school. White will not darken most fly tying materials when wet. This dates back to the 1600's or more. When my grandfather was teaching me, we would tie off the head then use black head cement. Hence, I'm using brown on the head and all I do is use a brown marker and color about 4" of thread to finish.


David E. Roberts