Effective Fly Patterns That Are Easy to Tie with Ralf Kuntzemann

I always look forward to Ralf' Kuntzemann's fly tying sessions. That are just plain fun and his simple creativity makes me wonder why fly tying needs to be complicated. Ralf is also thrifty. His flies are not expensive to tie and they definitely catch trout. Tonight Ralf shared 4 fly patterns and the learning centre was full of keen tyers. Ralf's flies are so straight forward and at times, seem too simplistic. Imagine making a leech that has one step, tying marabou onto a hook. Done!

Ralf also showed us how to make a deer hair dubbing brush with his Norvise. I do not think that Ralf brought tying materials other than straggle string that was bought at a fly shop.

Thanks Ralf! There were a ton of laughs tonight and we all had an opportunity to think outside of the box!

Next week is our final tying session of the season! Garnet Clews is back to do another session. Garnet is an accomplished Bow River guide and he will be sharing more of his effective guide flies. Garnet asks everyone to bring:

3/0 red thread (210 denier)

6/0 black thread

3/0 brown or tan thread

Dubbing spinner

Clip for CDC fibers

Darner Dragon

Hook: TMC 200 R size 8-10

Thread: Black 6/0

Body: Deer Hair

Legs: Pheasant tail

Eyes: Foam

Chopped up deer hair that Ralf made dubbing brushed with to make his dragon fly patterns. Just add a bit of basic dubbing (antron).

Deer Hair Caddis

Hook: Curved Caddis Size 12-10

Body: Straggle

Wing: Deer Hair

Nymphs

Hook: Curved caddis hooks

Body: Stretch material

Thorax: Ice Dub

Marabou Leeches

Bead: optional-brown glass

Body: You favourite marabou tied behind bead

Ralf buys his hooks in bulk from Temu in the 1000s. Yes they are not from a big name manufacturer, but he has had excellent experiences with these hooks!

Rick forgot his tying vice so he tied his flies by holding the hook in his fingers. I cannot tell the difference!

 

News Release-Information on Coal Mine Activity West Of Red Deer

 Tale a look right here:

https://valoryresources.com/news-releases/

This is definitely cause for concern. Phone your MLA. Coal mining in Alberta is going to harm our blue ribbon trout waters.

Bomber Flies with Doug Pullan

There are dozens of books, magazine articles and u-tube videos that discuss dry fly fishing techniques. The fly is only part of the equation of success; the other important part is the presentation. All the usual dry fly methods can and are effective under the right circumstances. Upstream, across-stream and downstream dead drifts, as well as skating or swinging a dry fly down and across to create a wake, all catch fish. 

New fly patterns are created every year but we often forget how effective older patterns are. One such pattern is the Bomber Fly.

The Bomber Fly was originally named the Commotion Fly. It was first invented by Reverend Elmer J. Smith from New Brunswick in the early 1960’s and was first fished on the Miramichi River for Atlantic Salmon. He got the idea while watching a young boy catch sea-run brown trout using a deer-hair mouse pattern.

Early versions of the Bomber Fly were all brown; but in the late 1970’s, various shades of dyed deer body hair became commercially available. White and brown bodies were decorated with red, orange or yellow hackles with various colours of calf body hair or calf tail for the fly’s front and back protrusions. Some colour combinations have come and gone but the brown body with white tails has been the most enduring and successful of all the variations.

The Bomber is a dry fly that uses only a few materials. All materials are tied on either a hook or a tube being sized to the target fish. Calf body hair or calf tail, hackle feathers and deer body hair make up this very effective pattern.

The body of a bomber is made up of deer hair. Deer hair is prized for its buoyancy due to its hollow nature. Not all hair on a deer is suitable for making the body of a bomber. Hair from the body of the deer is coarser than belly hair and is ideal for spinning. When selecting deer body hair, look for hair that is relatively straight and has a good mix of guard hairs and under fur. The length should be appropriate for the size of the fly.

The body of a bomber should not be too tightly packed being more effective to the fish, where bombers that have the deer hair body is too tightly packed and neatly trimmed with lots of hackle are the ones most effective at catching fly fishers. The fly should ride high and float well on the water’s surface. 

Anglers that are devoted to the Bomber Fly will often make subtle changes to their bomber designs and their choice of colours. Sometimes it is tiny details that make all the difference between success or failure. Seasoned anglers may carry different versions of their Bombers to suit specific water conditions. Water clarity, light intensity, depth, currents, turbulence, structure, fish preference and the fishermen’s confidence level are all factors that must be considered. 

The Bomber is very popular with steelhead anglers on the west coast, the Atlantic salmon anglers on the east coast of North America and also those anglers that are successful using Bomber variations targeting trout. 

We are down to our last two tying sessions for the season! Both sessions will be a load of fun. See you Monday!

Monday March 10th- Ralf Kuntzemann

Monday March 17th- Garnet Clews

Regular Bomber 

Hook: Daiichi 2117 Size 6 

Thread 1: UTC 140 or UTC Gel Spun 200d White

Thread 2: UTC 70 Black

Front Wing: White Calf Tail

Tail: White Calf Tail

Body: Natural Deer Body Hair 

Hackle: Saddle Cock Feather Brown

Mini Bomber 

Hook: Daiichi 2117 Size 10

Thread 1: UTC 140 or UTC Gel Spun 200d White

Thread 2: UTC 70 Black

Front Wing: White Calf Tail

Tail: White Calf Tail

Body: Natural Deer Body Hair 

Hackle: Saddle Cock Feather Brown

Skip Back Callabaetis and Chopka Variant Callabaetis with Rick Miyauchi

Rick Miyauchi was our guest instructor  for 11 tyers keen on taping into Rick’s vast fly fishing experience. He presented his 2^nd part of his 2 part series on fishing tactics and two of his personal Callabaetis fly favorites. In part 1, he talked about fly setups and leaders. His part 2 presentation focused on fly lines which included the characteristics of floating, sink tips, intermediate, sinking lines and the use of poly tips. He stressed the importance of understanding that similar fly lines from different manufacturers may perform differently. 

Rick covered how water temperature affects the oxygen level throughout the water column. Lake structure was discussed showing how it influenced where fish reside.

 He talked how different retrieves affect sink rates when using sub surface fly lines and the different tactics used when fishing from shore and from a boat. He demonstrated various line retrieves from pinch strips to very fast stripping. He emphasized the importance of a broken rhythm vs a constant strip action. A mixture of slow and fast strips with strategic pauses will result in more fish hookups. 

Thanks Rick for a very informative and enjoyable evening.

Skip Back Callabaetis

Hook: Daiichi 1760 #12

Thread: UTC 70 Black

Rib: Copper wire

Tail: Pheasant tail

Body: Peacock Herl or Peacock  Ice Dub

Thorax: Peacock Herl or Peacock  Ice Dub

Legs: Pheasant tail

Shell Back: Pheasant tail

Chopka Variant Callabaetis

Hook: Mustad 94833 #14

Thread: UTC 70 Tan or Watery Olive

Post: White Antron

Tail: Dark Dun hackle fibers

Body: Super fine Callabaetis dubbing

Hackle: Dark Dun feather

Details for Fly Tying Monday on February 24th and March 3rd with Rick Miyauchi and Doug Pullan-Updated!

Hi Everyone! 

Thank goodness this frigid air is on the way out!

Our next two fly tying sessions are February 24th with Rick Miyauchi and March 3rd with Doug Pullan!

For Rick's tying session, he will continue to show everyone strategies for fly presentation as well as tie several excellent callabaetis patterns.  As you can see above, we do have some amazing callabaetis hatches in Central Alberta.

Bring tan 8/0 thread for this session!

Doug, on March 3rd, is doing a session on tying bomber flies. Yes they work great on the Red Deer River and even on occasion on our local lakes. This will be an excellent opportunity to master spinning deer hair as well as finding out about the correct deer hair to "spin." You can certainly apply techniques of spinning deer hair to a number of other great fly patterns that can be used locally!

For Doug's Presentation bring:

UTC 140 in white or Gel Spun white 70d

UTC 70 black

Dubbing Spinner

Double sided razor blade

Super Glue

 

Dreaming of Belize, ...Soon!

As I stumbled to the coffee pot, I check the outside air temperature. So cold. I poured my coffee, sat down and my mind raced to warmer climates. I just wanted to head to YYC and get on a plane with Karen and our salt water set ups. It is coming soon. Doug, my buddy Scott, Taryn and I will be headed to San Pedro soon. The pictures below will tell you why! It is an outstanding fly fishing destination as well as a great place to relax and just plain have fun!