Hi Everybody!
We had another great turn out of fly tyers who spent the evening tying chironomids. The entire evening was especially successful thanks to Troy Langelaar at TC Outfitters. Troy ordered in most of the materials for the evening. Some of the materials were tough to run down. Thanks Troy!
Just a few reminders:
1. Pub Night is this Friday, January 30th at Bo Diddley's Pub on the south end of Red Deer near Bower Mall.
2. Our all day Euro Nymphing Workshop with Phil Rowley is this Saturday January 31st. All the details are in a previous post! There are a few spots left!
3. Next Monday, Evan Ritchie is our guest tyer.
4. All the details about tonight's chironomids that we tied are detailed below!
I have been very fortunate to learn about chironomids from two very knowledgable fly fishers. Phil Rowley and John Kent have taught me a great deal about lake fly fishing. Today, I want to take the time to recognize John for his great fly patterns and fly tying ideas.
John is an innovative fly tyer who has spent many hours designing and tying lake flies. His time at Tunkwa Lake Resort certainly gave John the opportunity to develop flies that work! John's chironomids do an excellent job of imitating the naturals.
John told me about how the Dragon Lake Special came to be from a customer who described the chironomids at Dragon Lake. John got to work and quickly got this great pattern to his customer who had a lot of success. I have personally chironomid fished with this pattern in Manitoba with a lot of hook ups.
John also steered me into fishing a chartreuse chironomid while we were chasing the trophy fish in the Parkland Region of Manitoba. Well I had no chartreuse chironomids. I borrowed some beads from Barry Stokes and found some chartreuse diamond braid that I dismantled to create a chartreuse chironomid. I was giving this creation a try at Patterson Lake in Manitoba and I was surprised with its effectiveness.
The chironomid called The Patriot was shown to me by Doyle Clark from Idaho. I know Doyle has had a lot of success with this pattern and I do know that lahontan cutthroats will devour this chironomid.I have seen a few variations of this chironomid but the basics; red, white and blue seem to to be the winning ingredients.
There is always something to learn in fly fishing. I consider myself lucky to have some very knowledgeable individuals point me in the right direction. I appreciate their wisdom and advice.
John Kent
Using Unistretch as an underbody to help create a nicely tapered body is an idea that John Kent has used a lot.
Loon Thin Formulation UV resin is a great top coat to your chironomid!
Chartreuse Chironomid
Hook: Mustad C49S sizes 10-16
Thread: UTC Chartreuse 70 denier
Rib: Micro Tubing Mahoganny
Bead: 7/64s or 3/32nd Chartreuse
Underbody: Unistretch White
Guns 'n Roses
Designed by John Kent
Hook: C49S Sizes 10 to 16
Thread: UTC Wine UTC 70 denier
Rib: Micro Tubing Mahoganny
Body: Flashabou Gun Metal Grey (6916)
Thorax: UTC Wine UTC 70 denier
Underbody: Unistretch White
Dragon Lake Special
Designed by: John Kent
Hook: Daiichi Covert #11 and 13
Rib: Small silver wire
Body: UTC Wood Duck 70 denier
Thorax: UTC Rust Brown 70 denier
Bead: 7/64th or 3/32nd silver
Gills: White Unistretch
Underbody: Unistretch White
The Patriot
Hook: Mustad C49S sizes 10-16
Thread: UTC Red or Black 70 denier
Bead: White, 7/64ths or 3/32nd
Body: UTC Blue Tinsel medium or small
Rib: UTC Red Tinsel, small
Thorax: UTC Red 70 denier (or black)
(The Patriot is also tied with a 2 tone red and blue body with a silver wire rib!)
(The Patriot is also tied with a 2 tone red and blue body with a silver wire rib!)
As you can see, I order all of my beads from Canadian Llama Company. Kent and Amanda Glovett have provided prompt service at great prices.
Bernie and Alex working on their chironomids!
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