Thursday, December 3, 2020

Getting Out to Fly Fish-Great Therapy


It is December. Most fly fishers are now focussed on fly tying. When the warm air spills over our Eastern slopes, a mad dash to the Red Deer River maybe in order. Today that big blue Alberta sky beckoned us to get outside. The fishing is not very fast and furious but with a little luck you can connect with walleye, whitefish and maybe even a brown trout! We did just that today!

The best part of the day is connecting with some friends. It seems that seeing friends outside is the only way at the moment. We all drove separate vehicles out, that is a pain but necessary during the pandemic restrictions.

Dr. Bill and I love the outdoors. We mostly focus on skiing this time of the year. Right now just talking and listening is great therapy.

No frozen guides today. It was one beautiful day. I could feel the sun on my face today. I loved that!


 

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Tying a Frenchie Nymph- Another "Go to Nymph"


A Frenchie Nymph is really a simplified pheasant tail that is heavily weighted and has a hot spot! It an excellent nymph that quickly gets deep. Take a look at the way Tim Flagler ties it! You can certainly substitute different ice dubs for the thorax. Experiment! 

Thanks to Dan Reaman for showing us this fly during one of our club's tying sessions!


Frenchie Nymph

Hook: Favourite nymph hook sizes 12-16
Thread: Pink 8/0
Added Weight: 0:015 lead equivalent
Bead: Tungsten 7/64ths
Tail: Coq De Leon (can certainly use pheasant)
Body: Pheasant tail
Rib: Gold wire, small
Collar: Shell Pink Ice Dub or your favourite colour of ice dub










 

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Tying the Rainbow Warrior

Virtual Fly Tying!

Hi Everybody!

I have grown to like this Lance Egan pattern called a Rainbow Warrior. I like to tie them small (size 16 and even smaller). It is an excellent nymphing/searching pattern that I have had a lot of success with. Take a look at the video below. I have detailed how I tie it! It is slightly different than the way Lance ties it. A fairly straight forward tie.

I do tie them with either a rainbow bead or a silver bead. I also do use jig hooks.




Rainbow Warrior-Lance Egan

Thread-8/0 red
Bead-silver or rainbow
Hook: Nymph hook size 14-20
Tail: Pheasant
Underbody: Red thread
Overbody: Pearl mylar
Thorax: Rainbow Dubbing 
(I made my own dubbing for the thorax initially, I am sure you could substitute lots of different dubbings here)