55 on the fly

I've been tying a bunch of these little buggers lately... Depending on the number of insects on the surface of the water, I like to fish this mayfly spinner as a dropper fly both on the surface and below.  I like to go the opposite.  If there are a lot of insects floating spent on the surface, then I fish this fly as a drowned BWO.  If there are only a few mayfly spinners on the surface, then I float this fly.  I don't want my fly to compete with the hundreds of real spinners available, I want the odds in my favor, so should you! BWO Spinner size #22 tied and photographed by Doug Korn materials list: hook: size #22 dry thread: MFC olive 8/0 tails: micro brush fibers body: MFC olive thread 8/0 wings: Needloft yarn in white - which will be a reflective clear in the water. thorax: DK#4 olive dubbing

This is my attempt to explain the wing tie-in method on the March Brown Vis-A-Dun that I tied in my last post.  Ya know pictures are worth a 1000 words... clear as mud... right? Now, I'm not sure how John Barr does it but....... here's how I tie them. Here you can see the wing tie-in. A single piece of yarn is pulled up from underneath on both sides of the hook shank and held upright, then posted up with minimal wraps, just 3 wraps up and 3 wraps down to form the post with a wrap in front and back. Nothing is done to split the wings they just end up that way.... you can also add a drop of superglue to the post if you like. This is the same set of wings cut to length. Give it a try and see how you do. It's a very easy and quick way to make wings. Hope that helps, let me know what you think... Doug... a.k.a. 55dougie

For most of my mayfly duns I tie a Barr's Vis-A-Dun.  It's a great thorax type pattern and one of my favorite's.  Whether in a BWO size #18 or this March Brown in size #12 it's highly effective. I even tie my Adam's in this pattern! March Brown ~ Barr's Vis-A-Dun tied and photographed by Doug Korn Materials List: Hook: MFC 7000 #12 Thread: 6/0 Danville in olive/brown Tail: Coq De Leon Rib: brown floss Wing: Brown Copper Needloft yarn or Zelon Hackle: Brown/olive grizzly in open turns, 3 behind wing and 3 in front Abdomen: DK#13 tan dubbing Thorax:  DK#13 tan dubbing note: cut "v" in bottom of hackle

This Snowshoe Apple Caddis, with a slightly heavier hook, sits low in the water looking hurt and vulnerable.  You can add a trailing shuck like a Clacka Caddis... In fact I like the snowshoe hare wing better than a wing of Zelon or Widow's web of the Clacka. Snowshoe Apple Caddis tied and photographed by Doug Korn bottom view materials list: hook: size #16 wet fly, 1x short, 1x strong thread: tan Serafil 200/2 back 2/3rds of the body: DK#3 Apple Green front 1/3rd of the body: DK#15 Oatmeal (tan) wing: natural snowshoe hare hackle: light ginger over sparsely dubbed thorax trimmed on bottom. 

My son Scott and I fished the Delaware River this weekend.  We fished the Main Stem on Saturday and the West Branch on Sunday.  This trip had a little bit of everything.  Saturday it was cold and windy with rain on and off making for some difficult fishing with only a few bugs hatching.  BWO's, Sulphers and some dark brown caddis were all that I saw in very small numbers and zero Isonychia's on this trip.  Later in the evening, just before dark we were able to catch a few and lose a few on Wiese's Coachman Clacka Caddis and some dark brown Korn's Spent Wing Caddis flies.  But the highlight of the day for me was seeing a bald eagle flying low, down the river towards us with a fish in it's talons.  It landed on the bank right behind us and started tearing and eating it... very cool. A Bald Eagle and his fish...  Later in the day we watched a Heron as it hunted not 10 yards from Scott.  It caught a mouse, killed it and the...