Central Alberta Fly Tying Club: March 2011

Monday, March 21, 2011

Snazzy Stimulators Monday March 21, 2011

It's hard to believe it's Spring here in Red Deer. Another snow squall invaded Red Deer but nevertheless 21 fly tyers came out to take in Bob's presentation on stimulators. This was a follow up session from two weeks ago when we tied stonefly nymphs. Tonight we tied several variations of Randall Kauffman's famous pattern. Tying stimulators teaches you so much technique in fly tying including sizing hackle, dubbing a body, tying in deer hair tails and wings and getting a good sense of proportion.

Stimulator fly patterns can be used for stoneflies in Alberta. In a few short weeks the skwalas will be hatching in southern Alberta and a dark green stimulator in size 10 can be a real asset. Later in May skwalas can be found hatching on the Red Deer River. As the season progresses, the golden stones start hatching on many Eastern Slopes Rivers. The cutthroat love to rise to a well presented stimulator dressed as a golden stone.

We have one final session on April the 4th when Dave and Amelia Jensen will be doing a special presentation on sight fishing. This presentation will include some amazing video that you will certainly enjoy. The presentation may inspire you to try sight fishing on our local rivers. There will be a $5 admission charge.

We will also have a draw for 4 tickets to the Central Alberta Trout Unlimited Dinner/Auction on May 12th. I do hope that you will consider supporting this event by buying a ticket. Its a great evening and there is lots of opportunity to bid on some real cool fly fishing gear, art, tools, etc. The best part is supporting the sport that we all love so much.

Bob at the Vice

Stimulator

Hook: TMC 200R sizes 6 to 14

Tail: Elk hair or deer hair

Rib: 3/0 yellow thread (or fine copper wire)

Body: Orange antron or ice dub

Hackle: Brown for the body

Wing: Elk or deer hair

Head: yellow antron/ice dub

Hackle for the thorax: grizzly hackle

Rubber Legged Stimulator

Hook: TMC 200R sizes 6 to 14

Tail: Elk hair or deer hair

Rib: 3/0 yellow thread (or fine copper wire)

Body: Golden stone antron or ice dub

Hackle: Brown for the body

Wing: Elk or deer hair with an orange polypropelyn underbody or synthetic

Head: yellow/orange antron or ice dub

Hackle for the thorax: grizzly hackle

Legs: Rubber

Skwala Stimulator

Hook: size 10 or 12 TMC 200R

Tail: Elk hair or deer hair

Rib: 3/0 yellow thread (or fine copper wire)

Body: peacock herl or peacock ice dub

Hackle: Brown for the body

Wing: Elk or deer hair

Head: dark green antron/ice dub/peacock herl

Hackle for the thorax: grizzly hackle

Legs: Rubber

The Gang working on stimulators.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Monday March 14th

Hi Everybody!

Karen and I are in Canmore skiing. Doug Pullen organized tonight's fly tying session and wrote up the text and took the pictures below. Thanks Doug.

Rick Miyauchi was our guest tyer tonight. Rick instructed 19 enthusiastic fly tyers who braved the heat waved that gripped Red Deer today. There was speculation that Rick would tie naked tonight but Rick felt that the group should stay focused on the 4 fly patterns that he offered the group. Based on years of experience, Rick has determined what elements within a fly that trigger a strike response. His focus is on the fly’s profile which satisfies the fish’s natural curiosity. Simple but effective is the name of the game.
Thanks Rick for a great evening of fly tying.

Doug reported that Dick Talleur passed away in February. Dick had written books and submitted articles to fly fishing magazines for decades. Doug also informed the group of Charlie Craven’s latest book “Charlie’s Fly Box”; lots of great patterns and detailed instructions. Doug also talked about a web site he discovered called “Fly Fishing Internet Radio”. There are many downloadable pod casts featuring interviews with almost every name in fly fishing you would care to listen to; a great source of information on every aspect of fly fishing.

The group was told that Dave Jensen will be presenting a video show on April 4 @ 7pm. Based on his New Zealand experience, he will bring some insight to the fascinating world of sight fishing for Trout rather than chasing hatches and snouts. There will be a $5 admission fee. At the conclusion of the video presentation, there will be a draw for some TU dinner auction tickets funded by the extra money raised by the fly tying club.

Next week is the Stimulator Challenge. Bring your favorite antron for stimies. We will start with size 8 and we will try to work our way down to size 16 (maybe).

The Last Resort Chironomid

Hook: Mustad C49 size 12

Thread: 8/0 black

Bead: 1/8 silver bead

Rib: fine copper wire

Body: 3 strands pheasant tail

Thorax: 1 strand of peacock herl

RK Mayfly Nymph

Hook: Mustad 3906B size 16

Thread: 8/0 black or olive

Tail: 6 strands of black hackle

Rib: fine copper wire

Body: 5-8 strands olive marabou (evenly tapered)

Thorax: 1 strand of peacock herl (1/3 hook shank)

Legs: 4 strands black hackle (tied in on sides of thorax)

Rick talking to the Gang.

Lots of concentration happening here!

Chabrous Nymph
Hook: Mustad C49 size 14
Body: chartreuse wire size brassie (coat with Hard as Hull)
Thread: 8/0 black
Thorax: grey dubbing

Notes: Try making a tri-coloured body using 3 separate coloured wire strands, ie- black/silver/red

Sparkle Booby

Hook: Mustad 3906 size 10

Thread: 6/0 olive

Body: small silver crystal chenille

Underbody: silver mirage

OverBody: olive fish hair

Eye Supports: 1/8 white booby foam

Eyes: adhesive stick-on eyes

Monday, March 7, 2011

Stoneflies and Hackle

Hi Everybody!

John Howard and his wife, Bonny who own and operate Howard's Hackle spent the evening with us. Many of the gang bought hackle for their fly tying. John spent some time explaining to our club why it's going to be hard to purchase quality saddle hackle in the near future without reaching deep into our pocket book. It looked like many of us bought hackle for everything from streamers to small dry flies. Thanks John and Bonny for coming up to Red Deer and spending the evening with us.

Almost 25 of us got to work tying three stonefly patterns. The three patterns were based on tying recipes from Jeremy Davies and Phil Rowley. I do know that these are great patterns all year although I love to fish a size 10 golden stone nymph early in the season. Fish the Tri-wire stone in faster riffles. It should sink like a rock.

If you are looking for an excellent web site that has fly tying tutorials, do take some time to look over Charlie's Fly Box. You will find some of tonight's patterns on Charlie Craven's web site.

Next week, Rick is our guest tyer. Thanks Rick for switching dates with me. Again it was nice to see new faces in the group. Newcomers are always welcome.