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The Jersey Herd

Dave Cammiss — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:07:02 +0000

The Jersey Herd was created by Tom Ivens for reservoir fishing in the early 1970s . It derived it’s name because the early pattern’s body was made from the gold colour foil on the milk bottles known as gold tops. At that time the Jersey cows were the ones milked to give the best full cream milk, hence the name Jersey Herd.

It is still a useful pattern to have in your box. Materials have changed over the years and the body is now usually made of copper lurex ribbed with copper wire, or goldfingering. I have used a material called new body czech which I prefer. This fly like so many others from that era still catches a lot of fish and is well worth giving a try.

The Dressing

Hook - L/S 6, 8 or 10
Thread - Black
Tail Back & Head - Peacock Herl
Body - Either Copper Lurex ribbed with copper wire, Goldfingering or New Body Czech.

Dave C and The Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg1L38TH5Wc

The Yellow Dancer

Dave Cammiss — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:53:33 +0000

The Yellow Dancer is a relative newcomer on the fly fishing scene. It is a ‘sport’ of the original Woolley Bugger devised by our friends north of the border. It has proved to be a ‘must have’ fly on most Scottish still water trout fisheries. As is always the case it has spawned the usual derivatives, Black Dancer , Orange Dancer, and I expect in the fullness of time we will have the Highland Dancer. I had to resort to my favourite fishing magazine , Fly Fishing and Fly Tying to get the dressing. It is a straight forward tie if you do the proper preparation.

The Dressing

Hook -- Kamasan 175 or similar , sizes 8 / 10.
Tail -- White marabou with a few strands of pearlescent micro flash.
Body -- Rainbow flashabou or similar.
Rib -- Fine gold oval.
Hackle -- Long yellow cock palmered.
Head -- Gold bead to suit hook size.

Dave C. and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzFN7APj62s

The Dark Stone Fly

Dave Cammiss — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:23:07 +0000

This is a pattern more popular in the USA , and New Zealand , than here in the UK. It is a large fly that makes only a brief appearance as an adult fly. In it’s nymphal stage it is a generous morsel for a trout.

I would suggest a long shank 8 hook for both the nymph and the adult fly. The pattern I have tied is from a book by an American author , Edson Leonard , dated in the 1950s. A large pheasant tail nymph with a leaded underbody would be adequate for the nymphal stage.

The Dressing

Hook -- Long Shank 8 ( light wire )
Tail -- Bronze Mallard ( a generous bunch ) optional
Rib -- Fine Mono
Body -- A mix of brown and grey Seals Fur. Dub 3/4 of the hook length. After tying in build up a base for the wing. The wing has to lie flat along the top of the body. If the wing ‘ cocks up ‘ carefully unwind and apply more even turns to the base and try again.
Hackle - 2 Cree Cock Hackles ( brown as an alternative ). Wind the 2nd hackle through the 1st. Make a nice neat head and tie off ( as an option you can trim the underbody hackle fibres ).
Wing -- Brown Turkey quill , doubled and tied flat .
Antennae -- ( optional ) bronze mallard fibres.

This is an easy pattern to tie and it just might be useful to have a couple tied in case you are there on the right day.

Happy Fishing

Dave Cammiss and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za7kJZVrfVY

Palmered Hackle Alternatives

Dave Cammiss — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 23:34:05 +0000

Palmered hackle flies have been popular from the early days of flytying and were a feature of many of the early salmon flies.

They still are popular with many of the traditional flies and are increasingly used on modern lures to impart movement on a fast retrieve, ie. Woolley buggers, Damsel nymphs and Yellow dancers.

There are two ways of tying in and securing the hackles on palmered flies. Both are equally effective and it comes down to personal choice.

Method 1 -- The Ribbing material is tied in at the tail end. The hackle is tied in by the but end at the head of the fly and wound down to the tail in open turns. The ribbing material is then wound from the tail to the head in open anticlockwise turns, securing the hackle, and tied off at the head. I personally feel that this is the more secure way.

Method 2 -- The hackle is tied in by the tip at the tail of the fly. The hackle is then wound in open turns to the head and tied off. The only benefit of this method is it saves weight on a dry fly.

Dave C. and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM8jK9lQE24

The Sedge Fly

Dave Cammiss — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:09:40 +0000

This pattern sits better in the water and either static or moving it does behave like a sedge. I even found that when it was gunged up with slime and sunk it still caught fish. I suggest you tie some up in 10s and 12s and and keep them ready in your fly box. I only wish I had some of these when I went to New Zealand earlier this year.

The deer hair patterns are more complicated to tie and create a mess when you trim them up and I feel are less effective.

The Dressing

Hook Lt. wt. L/S 8,10,12,14. (kamasan 830.)
Thread Brown.
Hackle Blue Dun/ Red Game. Trim off the all the hackle fibres projecting downwards.
Body Cream dubbing ( possum under fur) tied meaty.
Thorax Cream Antron(optional).
Wing Cream antron ( I use Partons dapping floss.)
Flotant Mucilin or similar

Dave C. and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQpEjMTo1SE

The Double Half Hitch

Dave Cammiss — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:08:06 +0000

Those of you who have watched my flytying lessons will know that I favour the double half hitch for finishing off my flies rather than the whip finish. Do not be deterred from learning the whip finish either manually or by one of the various tools available.

I learnt my fly tying over sixty years ago when the whip finish or double half hitch was rarely used. In the early days when eyed hooks became popular many of the commercial flies were finished off with a single half hitch with well waxed thread…..no varnish! This practice was resurrected when it was decided to train young women in Africa and Asia to tie the flies. At that time I was tying for several local tackle shops and was told that I had to abandon my practice of finishing every fly with two double half hitches and varnishing the heads. This was by one of the men who had gone abroad to set up these factories and instruct the local tyers. Not only did I have to tie an inferior fly my price was halved, but not the cost of the materials or hooks. Needless to say I gave up tying for the retail market. But I digress.

The double half hitch is relatively easy if you follow the instruction clip. If you have trouble pulling the thread through the first loop, with your finger, try using a bodkin or the end of a short knitting needle, even a pencil. Always tighten the thread slowly and direct it to where you want it to lie .Cut the thread do not break it off.

Remember practice makes perfect. Just keep tying the knot on a bare hook until it is second nature to you.

Happy Fishing

Dave Cammiss and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qziAKQ3ZIgI

The Woolley Bugger

Dave Cammiss — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:05:51 +0000

This is a lure which is equally effective in rivers and stillwaters, particularly for rainbows.
The most popular colours are olive, black, orange and red. Can be tied on longshank 8s, 10s, and 12s. For rivers I prefer a size 8 wet fly hook.
Early season on stillwaters a size 8 L/S olive fished on an intermediate line is a good starter. On my recent trip to N.Z. I had about a dozen rainbows to 3lb. in a fast river all on olive and orange woolley buggers on size 12 L/S in a morning session.
There is little new on the tying of this fly which we have not covered on previous lessons.

Materials

Hook -- L/S size 8, 10 or 12 -- wet fly 8
Thread -- To match body colour
Rib -- Gold or Silver oval -- Gold or Silver wire optional
Body -- Black , Olive, Orange and Red Chanille
Tail -- Marabou to match body
Tail Flash -- Colour to match
Hackle -- Henny cock, colour to match body ( long enough for 2 turns at head and 3 turns down the body )
Gold Bead -- optional
Clear Varnish ( cement ) -- for the head

Happy Fishing
Dave C and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC4LO_nXoKE

The Booby

Dave Cammiss — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:12:45 +0000

The Booby is a relatively recent addition to the flyfishers arsenal. The original patterns were tied using polystyrene balls tied together in the mesh from ladies tights and tied in at the eye of the hook. The way they wobbled about was how the fly acquired its name. Their other main disadvantage was that if you applied varnish to the head and some got on the polystyrene it was only a question of time before either one or both ‘deflated’.

The fly had proved so successful on the stillwaters, particularly for rainbows, that some enterprising angler came up with booby tube which could be supplied in various lengths and was not damaged by varnish.

That is the material we have used on the demo.

The variations on colour of head, chenille, cactus chenille or the marabou tail is limited only by the imagination of the tyer. Green and white and orange and white are favourites.

The ‘fly’ is usually fished with a sinking line. Once the line has settled on the lake bed the booby will be floating above it at the height of the leader. You can be lazy and sit there and wait for a rainbow to cruise by and take the fly, or you can retrieve your line in long pulls, allowing time between for the fly to lift back up to its original height. As you pull the line the booby is drawn to the lake bed.

In recent years the competition fishers use boobies to fish the ‘washing line’ method. Usually, I believe, with an intermediate line. The booby is fished on the point and 2 droppers with nymphs or buzzers on the cast. This method is used to explore different depths where the fish are feeding.

I do not believe our American friends have discovered this ‘fly’ yet despite their Dolly Parton probably being responsible for its name.

If you like sitting on the bank and taking it easy this fly might be worth a try. It has accounted for some big fish.

Materials

Hook long shank 10 / 8
Body orange chenille fritz
Tail orange marabou
Head plastazote tube orange or white
Tying silk orange
Tail flash optional
Please note color variations are optional ( white /green -- black / green )

Regards

Dave Cammiss and The Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_8hw80abiE

Texas Rose Muddler

Dave Cammiss — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 23:51:34 +0000

The original Muddler Minnow was introduced in to this country from America in the late 1960s.It was tied to be an imitation of the sculpin minnow. The original pattern enjoyed great success on the Midland reservoirs when it was first introduced. British reservoir anglers, as always, have this shameless habit of ‘improving’ everything that they try. It was not long before the Black muddler, black body and silver rib, was the in fly quickly followed by the Texas Rose and the Orange muddler, orange body and gold rib.

The one thing they all had in common was the deer hair head. This was achieved by using spun deer hair and clipped to form a bulky bouyant head. Hook sizes from long shank 6 to 10. It can be quite an exciting fly to fish when you strip it through a big ripple when the trout are high in the water. You wont get as many as you miss but it can liven up a days fishing.

Once you have mastered the tying in of the deer hair and trimming it to shape there is no end to the patterns you can tie.This lesson has already inspired a line of thought with muddlers which I have not yet seen tied and I think they are looking promising.

Materials

Hook long shank 10 / 8
Body orange wool or chenille
Rib silver lurex
Wing dyed yellow hair -- goat or calf tail
Head spun deer hair
Tying silk orange

Happy Fishing

Dave Cammiss and The Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaORKACMsKQ

The Minkie

Dave Cammiss — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:40:17 +0000

This fly has been around on UK stillwaters for about ten years now. It was not mentioned in the 1992 edition of Fly Patterns by Taff Price. I first heard about it when I was working as a warden at a local trout lake. Until that time I had been tying zonkers. The principle for tying is the same except that the thin strips of mink were used instead of rabbit.

The mink is a finer fur and can be tied in smaller sizes than rabbit. The early patterns were often tied with a rib running through the fur on the same basis as the New Zealand Matuka series. Now everybody seems to be happy with the mink strip tied in at the head and tail only. I was reluctant to change, but was eventually able to convince myself that provided you wet the underside of the strip well, with saliva ( spit ), and stretched it tightly to the head and secured it with enough tight turns, it would be OK.

The benefits of mink are the colours available, white, silver and black/brown. The fur is very mobile and seems to shimmy with even the slowest retrieve. The colours of the the body in fritz or chenille are limited only by your imagination.

If you do decide to cut your own strips ( provided your grannie has let you have her mink coat ) there is a right and a wrong way to cut the pelt. You will need either a very sharp stanley knife or a scalpel with a fresh blade.

Place your pelt fur side down and mark the skin size in biro ( pen ) in strips about 4mm wide, head to tail. If you can get your Grannie to help get her to hold one end while you run the blade of the scalpel, preferably with one sweep, down the length of the pelt. Do not lie it on the bench you will damage the fur! Once you have got the first strip done the rest are much easier.

As a lure I would give it top marks. I rarely use lures but at the weekend I did try one I had tied for the video and was rewarded with a 4lb. rainbow.

Materials

Hook long shank 6 / 8 /10
Body fritz chenille any color
Tail / Wing mink strip -- white / silver / dark brown
Head chain bead -- silver / gold
Tying silk black

Happy Fishing
Dave Cammiss and The Team