Christmas Flies

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Tonight we tried something completely different. The theme was Christmas flies and the goal was to mount our creations in a clear ornament for our tree at home. Well the creative juices flowed and everybody had a great time designing their Christmas flies. The 20 fly tyers were only limited by the material we had on hand. I enjoyed seeing fly tyers of all ages having a great time. If you held your jaw just right, you could mount your creation in a bulb that could be proudly displayed on your tree at home.

I will have details about the Phil Rowley Workshop out shortly. The workshop is March 9th and the theme is dubbing loops.

Karen and I would like to thank all of you who helped with a donation to help fill a Christmas hamper for a needy family.

Our next fly tying session is Monday January 7th, 2013. Have a fantastic Christmas holiday.

Bob

 

Doug wants to fish this creation on his next steelhead trip.

Salmon Flies with Dr. Bill Young

Hi Everybody!

Seventeen fly tyers came out tonight to take in Dr. Bill Young's presentation on techniques he uses to tie salmon flies. Bill and his son Will spent some time this past summer in Alaska chasing King Salmon with a spey rod. The guys came up with two patterns that worked very well. Of course these two patterns can easily be applied to fishing for other species like bull trout and steelhead. The neat thing about the flies we tied tonight is the endless colour combinations you could use.  The one fly pattern we tied was a tube fly. The materials we used reminded me of the television show MacGyver. Bill used paper clips for the tube needle and a standard plastic q-tip for the tube. I was impressed.

Next week is our final session before Christmas. We will be tying some Charlie Craven patterns!

Dr. Bill Young

Salmon Streamer with a Stinger

Hook: size 2-4  4xl streamer hook

Stinger: Octopus hook

Tail: Marabou

Body: Crystal chenille

Body: Rabbit strip

Collar: Marabou

Salmon Tube Fly

Tube: Plastic Q-Tip

Body:  Crystal chenille

Collar: Black hackle and marabou

Time to create some colourful salmon flies!

Will and Bill 

Honouring Bob Quigley

Hi Everybody!

Twenty seven fly tyers came out tonight to tie parachute flies and to tie a signature fly of the late Bob Quigley. Bob Quigley developed a cripple fly pattern that was a staple of so many fly boxes. Many a fly fisher (including me) has been caught fishing dry flies on the surface when an emerger would have been the answer to their fustrations. Tonight we tied a Quigley's Cripple that is imitates an emerging green drake. The rest of the evening, we focused on tying parachute flies. We started off with a parachute adams and then we tackled a PMX, ...a Parachute Madam X.

Monday evenings are lots of fun. We certainly have a great time and we learn lots of fly tying techniques from each other.

Next week Dr. Bill Young is our presenter. I wonder what Bill has up his sleeve? 

It was Bob's turn at the front of the class.

Tonight's flies.

 

Green Drake Cripple (Bob Quigley originator)

Hook: TMC 200R size 12

Thread: Olive 8/0 or 6/0

Shuck: Olive antron

Body: Olive ostrich

Rib: Yellow wire

Wing: Deer hair

Hackle: Olive or grizzly

High Viz Parachute Adams

Hook: Standard dry fly hook size 12 to 18

Thread: Grey 8/0

Tail: grizzly and brown hackle

Wing post: orange and yellow macrame cord

Body: Grey antron

Hackle: Grizzly and brown

Parachute Madam X

Hook: 3 XL dry fly size 8-10

Tail: Deer hair

Body: Golden stone antron

Rib: Gold wire

Wing: Deer hair

Legs: rubber

Parachute post: White macrame or polypropylene 

Hackle: Grizzly died olive

Thorax: Peacock herl

Concentration