The Central Alberta Fly Tying Club meets during winter months. Weekly tying sessions begin at 6:30pm. Call Bob Vanderwater 403. 347. 3802 or email rdvanderwater@gmail.com
Tonight was our final fly tying session of the season. Twenty fly fishers came out to tie small, real small. It was a tradition that Doug DeWitt started several years ago. We continued trying to perfect our Blue Winged Olive patterns. We tied from size 16 right down to size 24. We tried a number of different ways to tie BWOs. Blue Winged Olives are usually our first mayfly of the year in spring and they hatch again in the fall. We tied mainly size 18 to size 24 today. That is small. Several tyers even tried tying with 16/0 thread.
Another fly tying season has come to an end. Special thanks to all of the presenters this year. As one of the gang said tonight, it is hard to see the fly tying sessions end but it also signals the start of the fly fishing season. Yahoo.
Remember that we have booked Maxwell robinson for the weekend of April 20th and 21st for both spey casting and single handed fly rod casting. Get a hold of Bob Vanderwater to book a spot.
Blue Wing Olive crawling around on the snow in early spring.
BWO Thorax
Hook: Standard dry fly sizes 18-22
Tail: Micro-fibetts or Coq de Lion fibres
Body: BWO superfine antron or goose biot
Wing: Midge hackle or ostrich herl grey
Parachute BWO
CDC BWO
BWO Trude
BWO Comparadun
Wing: Snowshoe rabbit or coastal deer hair
Bruce Tilbrook at the vice and below is his book Sausage Men which is now available at the Fishing Hole in Edmonton.
Evan Ritchie was our guest fly tyer tonight and he decided that a fun fly would be just the ticket. Evan showed us one of his favourite pike patterns called the Foam Flat Fish. Tie them large and work the weed lines. You might just see your flat fish disappear with a big swirl. Pike find it hard to resist this great pattern. The neat thing about this pattern is that it dives and then comes back to the surface. Very cool idea Evan!
We then tied the King Prince. It is another effective variation in the "Prince Nymph" Series of flies.
Remember that the Central Alberta Trout Unlimited Dinner/Auction is April 25th at the Black Knight Inn. Please support this worthwhile function. It is a fun filled evening and the proceeds go to Central Alberta Trout Unlimited.
Next week is our final fly tying session of the season. Bring olive 8/0 thread or 16/0 olive thread. Bob Edens has the 16/0 thread. We are tying BWO patterns.
My buddy Roy Saunders always looked forward to the Stanley Cup Play-offs when he lived on Vancouver Island. Yes the hockey play-off were on but Roy went looking for his fly rod because he knew the sea run cutthroat were roaming close to the mouths of the rivers and creeks on the east side of Vancouver Island looking for salmon fry to dine on. When the salmon fry were released by hatcheries, the sea run cutts were close by to feed. Roy shared three excellent fry patterns that work great for cutthroats on the west coast. The mouths of the Oyster River and Sooke River are a great place to look for sea run cutthroats. Roy has tested these patterns out on Upper Kananaskis Lake and he was pleased to report that these patterns are a winner on our Alberta lakes too!
Thanks Roy for showing us these excellent patterns.
Next week we will be tying Blue Winged Olive patterns. Bring 8/0 olive thread. We will be tying on small hooks!
I always look forward to the all day seminar that Phil Rowley puts on for our club. Today was the 6th Saturday workshop that Phil has put on for us. The gym was full with 25 avid fly tyers and Phil challenged us to master tying with dubbing loops, using a magic tool and making our own dubbing brushes. Our gang is certainly developing into proficient fly tyers. The 10 patterns they worked on today certainly helped to expand their tying skills and confidence at the vice.
Why Dubbing Loops?
*Durability
*Translucency
*Reinforce & control brittle materials
*Manage thick stemmed feathers
*Combine dissimilar materials
*Divide tails
Phil is an outstanding instructor. The day flew by and the smiles on the faces of our gang was a testament to their success and what they learned.
Thanks Phil for another educational day.
Just a reminder that we do have fly tying this Monday night. Roy Saunders is our guest instructor. See You then! We are down to the final three tying sessions of the year.
Phil Rowley
Fly Craft Fullback-Flashback
Hook:Mustad S82
3906B #12-#8
Thread:Black or Olive
Tail:Pheasant Tail
Rib:Fine Copper Wire
Body:
Arizona Synthetic Peacock, Ice Dub or Peacock Herl
Wingcase:
Pheasant Tail Topped with Mirage Opal Mylar
Thorax:Arizona Synthetic Peacock, Ice Dub
or Peacock Herl
Legs:
Partridge or Indian Hen Back
Poly Spinner
Hook:Mustad
R50-94840 #12-#16
Thread:Color to Match
Tail:Microfibbets
Body:
Dry Fly Dubbing
Wings:Poly Yarn
Combining Different Materials Together
*Dubbing loops can be used to combine different
materials such as dubbing and Crystal Chenille together
*Dubbing loop must always be at least 1.5 inches
shorter than chenille
*Cal Bird style or crochet hook dubbing tool
*Load loop then bring chenille down parallel and spin
tight
Dubbed Girdle Bug
Hook:Mustad
R74-9762 #6-#10 Weighted
Thread:Color to Compliment Body
Tail:Superfloss
Body:
Dubbing Spun Together with Crystal Chenille
Legs:Superfloss
Antenna:Superfloss
Grizzly Dragon
Hook:MustadR74-9672
#6-#8
Underbody: 7/8 Slim foam
body, tan or black
Body:Grizzly
marabou, trimmed to shape
Wing Case:Scud
Back, Olive, ¼”
Legs: Stretch Floss,mottled
with a permanent marker
Head: Arizona Synthetic Peacock
Eyes: Booby Eye
Body Foam, black
CDC Scud
Hook:Mustad C49S
#10-#14
Thread:Olive
Rib:Fine copper or gold wire
Body:Dubbed mixture CDC and
Light Olive Diamond dubbing
Shellback:Olive Scud Back, 1/8” wide
CDC-A Primer
*CDC or Cul De Canard
*Feathers located around preen gland of water fowl
*Ducks and geese most popular sources
*Buoyant, gathers air bubbles
*Excellent material for both dry and wet flies
*Material gains its buoyant air trapping qualities from
individual barbs not oil
CDC Caddis Pupa
Hook:Mustad C49S
#8-#14
Thread:UTC 70 olive or
brown
Body:CDC
Thorax:CDC
Hackle:Partridge or Mottled Hen
Reinforcing Herl
*Dubbing loops can reinforce peacock herl, ostrich herl even pheasant
tail
*Use thread or wire dubbing loops
*Dubbing loop must always be at least 1.5 inches
shorter herl
*Cal Bird style or crochet hook dubbing tool
*Don’t twist tight at first
*Spin a few times, wind forward, spin again, wind
forward etc.
Here is a short video of Phil showing how to reinforce peacock herl.
Bullet Proof Prince
Hook:Mustad S82
3906B #12-#8
Thread:Black or Olive
Tail:Brown Goose Biots
Rib:Fine Gold or Copper Wire
Body:
Peacock Herl
Legs:
Partridge or Indian Hen Back
Wings:
White Goose Biots
Dubbing Brushes
*Wire based dubbing brushes are strong and easy to
produce
*Easy to pre make quantities of dubbing brushes for a
variety of uses
*Use soft copper wire
*Can be made by hand or by using a dubbing block or
machine
Training Coarse Dubbing
*Heat cup or glass to boiling point
*Saturate fly in hot water for a few seconds
*Stroke fibers back so they flow
*Set fly aside to dry
Ruby Eyed Leech
Hook:Mustad
R74-9762 #6-#10
Thread:Color to Compliment Body
Tail:Dubbing Fibres
Body:
Arizona Simi-Seal Dubbing Brush
Bead:
Red Glass
Head:
Copper or Gold Cone
Controlling & Dubbing Brittle Materials
*Aftershaft are the soft, brittle secondary feathers attached to
main body feathers
*Best sources include pheasant rump and grizzly marabou
*Aftershaft feathers can be used to form mobile bodies and
thoraxes
*Dubbing loops do an excellent job controlling fragile
materials such as aftershaft feathers
*Use dubbing wax to hold materials in position
*Form dubbing loop around materials
Aftershaft
Leech
Hook:Mustad
R74-9762 #6-#10
Thread:Color to Compliment Body
Tail:Marabou
Body:
Aftershaft Feathers
Hackle:Pheasant Rump
Popsicle Leech
Hook: Mustad
R74-9672 #2-#8
Thread: Color
to compliment marabou color
Tail: Marabou
mixed with a few strands of Flashabou
Hackle: Polar
Chenille
Body: Crystal
Chenille, color to compliment marabou color
Phil has asked me to pass the following information along about Saturday's workshop. He would like you to have the following along:
Fine Copper Wire
Lead Wire or Lead Wire Substitute (.020” or .025”)
Dubbing Wax
UTC 70 Olive (For Split Thread Dubbing)
6/0 Olive Uni Thread
UTC 70 or 8/0 Brown
UTC 70 or 8/0 Black
Be sure to bring a dubbing twister, spinner, hook or whorl. We are going to hopefully use them or demonstrate all of them as they each have a place dubbing.
If you are having trouble locating any of these materials, give Bob Edens a call (403-304-8362)
The workshop will start at 9 am. Do come early and have coffee and visit! Bring your lunch. If you want to order pizza, Karen will organize that sometime during the morning. Phil will have some video to show at lunch time.
We will also be using magic tools. Phil will be providing these for the workshop.
We will have juice and water and a mid morning snack.
The workshop is at Mattie McCullough School. The school is located at 26 Lawford Avenue. Travel east on 32nd Street as far as it goes. The school is located just to the south of the end of 32nd Street. There is parking on the north side of the school.
The workshop will wrap up at approxiamtely 4 pm.
...also we will be having the Central Alberta Trout Unlimited Garage Sale at the same time right at the front door of the school. We will have some tables with items to sell. The proceeds will go to the seller and Central Alberta Trout Unlimited.
All the materials for the workshop are bought and ready to go. See you Saturday for an educational day of fly tying.
