On The Fly
"Fly tying is a school from which we never graduate"
TYING NEWS
Several club members attended the Northern California
Fly Fishing Conclave in Redding last month. There are always new
patterns and materials to discover, new friends to make, and old
friendships to renew. There is talk about changing the conclave location
for year 2008. I will keep you up to date.
The Southern Oregon Fly Tiers met Tuesday, November
13th at the Madrone Hill Community Building near Gold Hill. We encourage
novice and experienced tiers alike to drop by the second Tuesday of each
month for a fun evening. We have room for everyone. At our last meeting,
we continued our monthly series of guest tiers in a tie-along format.
November’s guest, John MacDiarmid, gave an informative talk on the life
and times of the Fall Caddis in the Rogue River. I did the tie-along
portion on the Rusty Caddis. In December we have scheduled Mark Teeters
to show us his AP Nymph. If you are interested in this educational
experience, contact me and we will add your name to the e-mail list. We
can then let you know who will be the guest tier, when, and what
materials to bring.
PATTERN OF THE MONTH - Copper John
Hook: Standard nymph, TMC 5262, 5263
or equivalent; Size 10-18.
Thread: 6/0 or 8/0 black.
Head: Gold bead.
Weight: 20-mil lead wire.
Tail: Biots, brown or black.
Body: Medium copper wire.
Thorax: Peacock herl.
Legs: Partridge.
Wingcase: Thin Skin with Flashabou center stripe.
Tying Instructions:(for size 12 hook)
1) Slide a 1/8 inch gold bead onto the hook with the countersunk hole
facing away from the eye.
2) Wind four wraps of 20-mil lead wire behind the bead. Trim the ends and
slide the wrap into the hole. A drop of cement will help secure the
position.
3) Start the thread on the bare hook shank and form a tapered transition
to the bead. End the thread wraps to just above the barb.
4) Tie a biot on each side of the hook with each biot curving away from
the shank. Trim the biot butts and continue to smooth the body with
thread buildup.
5) Tie in the copper wire just behind the bead on the underside of the
shank. Wind the thread back towards the bend while keeping the wire
underneath the hook shank. Stop the thread at tail tie-in position, then
wind the thread forward to just behind the bead.
6) Wind the copper wire in close wraps forward to just behind the bead.
Tie off the wire and trim it.
7) Apply a single strand of Flashabou to the top of the thorax area. Tie
in a narrow strip of Thinskin on top of the flash.
8) Tie in 3 strands of peacock herl, wrap it around the thread and wind
it forward to form the thorax. Tie off and trim excess.
9) Select a partridge feather with even tips and clip out the center stem
¼ inch down from the tip, and position the feather on top of the thorax.
Take loose wraps of thread to hold the feather in place, and then pull
the butt of the stem forward until the legs are the proper length.
Secure with tight wraps and trim the excess.
10) Fold the Thinskin forward over the thorax and secure it just behind
the bead. Pull the Flashabou forward over the center of the wingcase and
secure it in the same spot. Trim the butt ends and whip-finish the
thread. Use a drop of epoxy or Softex on the wingcase.
The Copper John was developed by John Barr of Boulder, Colorado in 1996. By 2001 it was the number one selling fly in the Umpqua catalog and now is said to be the best selling fly in the nation. With lead and copper wire and a flash of color to accentuate the basic mayfly profile, this pattern dives quickly to the zone where the fish feed and hold. Although it plunges quickly to the desired depth it drifts much more naturally than a nymph with a split shot pinched to the leader. Even with its impressive sink rate it maintains an enticing profile that seems to imitate a wide variety of insects.
With a wide selection of copper wire colors available for you to use, the variations are many. Match the size and color to insects that are emerging. Green seems to correlate to caddis activity, chartreuse works well as a general attractor, red in smaller sizes can imitate Chironomid larvae, and silver with a silver bead, can flash like a bait fish. The latest variation has rubber legs for some realistic movement. So tie some up, give them a test flight and let me know how you do.
TYING TIPS
1) After you tie off and trim the copper wire, wrap the thread towards
the rear over the copper wire only enough to define the thorax area.
2) When you twist the herl around the tying thread you add durability to
the fragile herl.
3) The length of the legs should be about twice the length of the thorax.
4) If you use epoxy on the wingcase, tie up a half dozen or so flies
before mixing up a batch of epoxy.
Tie One On,
Dan Kellogg (you can contact me at FLYGUY@EZNORTHWEST.COM)