Ryan has been experimenting with a number of patterns. For July’s flytying he’ll lead us tying a wiggly damsel. A good choice for the Bondi Forest trip?
Hooks- main body- #14-16 wet/nymph hook (Tiemco 3769 for example).
Articulated shank- any hook of the same size with a straight eye will do, as the bend will be cut off it doesn’t need to be a good quality one, but a hook that works well is a Tiemco 101 #14-16.
Tail and body- olive marabou.
Ribbing (optional)- copper wire.
Eyes- black or gold bead chain. Extra small.
And finally some mono line. 3x tippet works well.
Zoom details will be provided closer to the event.
You may have recently heard about the passing of Shaun Gambrill. Shaun was a super keen fly fisherman and has always been keen to share his knowledge with all – starters to experienced folk – from the casting days to presenting to the club on loch style techniques. One of my earliest memories of Shaun was on a trip to Bondi Forest for some early season fishing. Part of the activity included fly tying where Shaun introduced us to the ‘Gambugger’…which is a Woolly Bugger with Shaun’s secret sauce body dubbing. Not only did he share the tie with us, but he also caught a swag of fish on it.
I will be leading the tie of the Gambugger on Wednesday evening. Please come along to have a chator do the tying – whether you knew Shaun or not.
If you are interested in participating let me know and we will explore how we can share around enough ‘secret sauce’ to allow you to tie two buggers. The ingredients you will need to get are:
Bugger wet fly hook – #14 to 10 (can be any wet fly or jig hook)
Bead – 2-3.5, or no bead at all
Marabou – black or olive
Secret sauce – can be sourced from Claude (substitute – rubber leggy dubbing)
Thread to suit your colour – or just black 6/0 to 8/0
I thought it was Peter who spotted this great video but apparently not. It is a collaboration from Jensen Fly Fishing and Orvis and demonstrates the impressive performance of a particular emerger pattern. There were comments that the segment showing the fly being tied is way too fast. I’ve taken the liberty to edit this section and slowing down the critical steps. Available here.
In preparation for John’s Saltwater event on 2-4 December we will be tying a version of the Pink Thing saltwater fly. It is one of the most popular flies for use in our region. Of course Clousers and Scuds are right up there also depending on what you are targeting.
Our tie on 23 November from 7:30 on Zoom will be fairly free form – meaning use whatever materials you have which approximate the materials list below.
I will be using:
Hook – Mustad #1 wide gape C47SD. Any straight eye, wide gape saltwater hook in the size your target fish might take will suffice.
Eye – dumbbell eyes. Any size or colour you think might work.
Thread – white Uni 6/0 thread. Go wild and use pink thread, even fluoro if you wish but make it relatively thick and robust.
Body – white Schlappen or any white chicken feather 8 cm or so long. White Grizzley Hackle as a lateral line. Pink or pearl flash.
Collar – pink Schlappen
We will talk about the RIO fly line you might like to use to cast a wind resistant fly and the wind-beater casting technique you may wish to use.
Join us to tie or just to watch
Here is Lyall’s production and BJ’s “black shadow” variant. Lots of pro tips from Lyall and his guest Paul.
Claude is tying up flies ready for a NZ trip and has chanced on this tie. I’m not sure if it will supplant the classic parachute Adams as one comment stated, but for sure much easier to tie.
Omitting feathers for wings makes things simpler. Lyall offered some advice “Don’t forget that Mayflys can also be brown and it might be good to have a couple with bright coloured posts.” Different light coloured posts will assist visibility in different lighting conditions.
Most material is easily identified, but the wing/post is poly yarn.
Nathan led the class via Zoom. Claude provided this:
Recipe:
Hook: curved hook: sizes 12 – 18
Thread: black, brown, olive, red or anything you have
Body: thread with either silver or copper wire
Thorax: Dubbing, peacock hearl or just thread. Coloured tinsel for the cheeks if you are keen.
Bead: Small or lead wire
Notes: There are so many variations
Those who are not up with midge fishing techniques are seriously missing out. Some will say midge fishing is just for lakes; how wrong they are. Midge are found everywhere, from fast flowing mountain streams to lowland rivers and lakes and swamps. There are around 200 species of Chironomid in Australia.
Midges can vary from pale olive green to black with every shade in between. A point to note is that in many instances the colour of the adult flying midge will be similar to that of the emerging midge. The key colours to carry in your fly box are pale olive, olive, black and blood red. To find some midge samples check the leaves on overhanging bushes or trees and you will see them there.
When is the best time to try fishing a midge pattern? Midge come off all year round, with late spring and all through summer being the best. But remember, it is the week leading up to a full moon when they prefer to hatch on mass. Midge on lakes can produce some of the most intense fishing that can be found on a stillwater. The best fishing times are from daylight to mid-morning, and again at last light.
After the early morning calm a breeze will normally come up and wind lanes will start to form; that is when the fishing gets really interesting. Wind lanes are like highways for feeding fish. As they form the floating food matter is compacted within these lanes and it is common to find a number of fish feeding at any one time. Keep your eye on the edges of these wind lanes as trout often cruise along the outside, using the rough area as cover and moving into the lane to feed whenever they so choose. On clear sunny days the trout will generally feed along the lane with the sun at their backs, as they have no eyelids so it is difficult for them to look into the sun, especially for fish feeding on the surf
As we start to see the yellow flowers of the wattle bloom, we know that native fishing around Canberra is just about to start. Please join some of your fellow CAA members, to tie or just chat, on Wednesday 24 August at 7:30 PM on Zoom. Invite sent separately to members.
Our mates at Boss Outdoors/previously known as Compleat Angler (ie Nathan) have assembled material kit. The kits have all the materials required to tie 4 flies in 2 colour variations.
Purple Head, Olive & Chartreuse Tail
Red Head, Olive & Chartreuse Tail
The kits are $20 each to purchase for members.
There are 12 kits available, but more can be made on request.
Notes from Claude:
If you love fly fishing for Australian native fish and are looking for a good fly this spring, look no further than the Donnie Brasco Fly. This is a great all-rounder fly for species such as golden perch, bass and the ever prized target Murray Cod (yet to catch one on the fly).
This fly can be tied in a variety of sizes. A good starting point for bass and golden perch would be to tie on a 1/0 hook. Larger hooks up to 4/0 would be ideal for Murray cod when summer rolls around. Both the body and tail of the Donnie Brasco Fly consist of rabbit fur. This material is well known for its fish enticing action. Cast these into the weed pockets, weed facing , rocky points and standing timber. When retrieving the fly with short sharp strips, rabbit fur tends to pulsate in the water, closely resembling the movement of a fishes fins.
Black and purple are proven colours when it comes to attracting Australian native fish. By tying on a purple tail and a black body you have a very versatile fly for both clear and turbid water. The fly can include a weed guard too. By tying a double loop weed guard you can work the fly right in among the structure without snagging up too often. The weed guard shown in the video offers good snag resistance whilst collapsing easily when a fish bites.
Purple (other colour) rabbit strip Black (other colour) crosscut rabbit strip Red (other colour) crystal flash Craft fur for body (optional) Eyes: Lead or other of your choice
Thank you Shaun for bringing this interesting design to our attention. This fly is particularly useful for those of us that use barbless hooks and get frustrated when we lose our droppers.
The Klink n Dink is one of the Klinkhammer patterns that are excellent at bringing fish up, designed to be used as a dropper fly to be fished in conjunction with additional patterns on the same rig. The ring tied securely to the curve on the hook makes this easy to tie a tippet to, keeping the tippet away from the hook itself, thus preventing problems when hooking fish.
When fishing in tandem, this dry fly can be used as an indicator when fishing alongside a weighted or beaded nymph, and has the ability to catch fish on either of the fishing flies used, making it an increasingly popular method of fishing on either rivers or still water fisheries.
This is a great way to tempt fish that are feeding on nymphs higher in the water to rise to a dry fishing fly.
Creator of this trout fly: Malcom Anderson (?)
Country of origin for this trout fly: Scotland
This trout fly is designed to be fished on Dams & Reservoirs, Rivers & Streams, Still Water
Recipe:
Hook: Klinkhammer style hook #12, #14, #16 (if you are game)
Extras: 2mm tippet ring, 4X tippet. If you don’t have tippet ring you could use just the tippet
Body: any dubbing, pheasant tail that you have and normally use for the klinkhammer
Thorax: peacock herl, sparkle dubbing – normally dark colour
Post: your choice of colour and type. You can even use some foam cut into a post
Hackle: I’m not picky…what you have in your tying kit.
Lyall was part of a Fly Fishers International Fly Tying Group member tying session where a Sunfish fly was tied …. not ever seen this fly pattern myself. Moreover Lyall said it was using coloured deerhair with a technique he’d never seen before.
