55 on the fly

Hi folks - 55 On the Fly here with my  "Bird in the hand"  Kuska.  It's made of basswood and has an antler toggle that is attached with braided deer sinew. The cup is the first Kuska I have ever made and was finished with pure tung oil.  It should go nicely with my hand made spoons.

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

Great fly for the Delaware River... tied and photographed by Doug Korn Materials list: Hook: MFC Dry #7000 in size 16 Thread: Danville 6/0 in olive/brown Tails: Micro dun color fibers from paint brush Wings: Needloft Yarn in gray dun Body: DK#11 gun metal blue-gray dubbing Hackle: med. dun note: cut "v" in bottom of hackle

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

Korn's EMT Loop Wing Emerger is my version of a foam loop emerger tied by several other people,  l ike Blue Ribbon Flies Craig Mathews and the late Dave Lewis, to name a couple. EMT stands for "Emerging Mayfly for Trout".  I tie this fly in three drake colors as-well-as several other colors like this March Brown and smaller sizes for BWO's and PMD's.  To fish the fly properly only grease the front hackle and foam loop.  This allows the rear of the hook to penetrate the surface film. You can also see my video on YouTube (see the side bar) to tie this very effective fly pattern. tied and photographed by Doug Korn Hook: MFC #7000 in size 12 Thread: Danville 6/0 brown/olive Shuck: brown zelon  Rib: brown floss  Abdomen: hares ear tan dubbing Wing: gray razor foam  Hackle: light bronze grizzly

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.