Learn Fly Tying » pattern

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 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

The Baby Doll

Dave Cammiss — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:41:40 +0000

This fly originated in the very early 1970s and was attributed to a Brian Kench. It differs from earlier more traditional patterns in as much that there were no moving parts. Despite this it quickly found favour with the fly fishers of the day on the reservoirs and still waters, thanks mainly to the publicity given to it by Bob Church.

At that time I was tying flies for three of the local tackle shops and I was inundated with orders for the original baby doll and the several variants it had ‘spawned’. Fortunately Jean, my lovely wife, took it upon herself to deal with all the ‘baby doll orders’ and left me free to carry on tying proper flies.

It was only after a good day at Eyebrook reservoir that I appreciated how good a fly it was. Despite its success over the years it has fallen out of favour and given way to more exotic creations when more man made materials became available to fly tyers.

I would suggest that before you tie this fly you make sure your hands are clean. The baby wool is fluoescent and loses its appeal if it is grubby. I would also suggest that you scrap the fly after a days fishing, after all it is cheap as chips to make.

If you want to give your ‘doll’ a ghostly look gently stroke the wool body with an emery board to raise the fibres, but make sure that the head is well varnished and dry first.

Materials

Hook -- Long shank or Streamer hook ’8′ and ’10′.
Thread -- Black or Red.
Body/Tail -- White ‘Baby Wool’.
Rib -- Silver wire (strong).

Good Luck and Happy Fishing.
Dave Cammiss and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHQytZ6RDKk

Daddy Longlegs (Crane Fly)

Dave Cammiss — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:39:43 +0000

The crane fly is a land based insect which features in the fly fisher’s armoury because it is an ungainly flier and regularly finds it’s way on to lakes and rivers by accident. They usually appear about August time and can be quite an abundant food source for the trout either on the surface or as they get caught up in the surface film and drown.

Their long legs make them very distinctive and all the imitative patterns are based on this feature. They can be tied with a detached body on short shank hooks or wool body tied on a long shank hook, there are even gold bead versions.

The most common and certainly an effective pattern is tied with hackle point wings and knotted cock pheasant tail fibres for the legs on a long shank size 10 hook. The most trying part of this fly is tying the knots in the pheasant tail fibres. Try to acquire the centre tail feathers from a mature cock bird. These fibres will be longer and stronger. I also tie two together at the same time, it saves time and the trout do not seem to notice.

A variant of the daddy long legs is the hopper. For this pattern don’t give it wings and tie a seals fur dubbed body with lurex ribbing.

Hook -- Long shank size 10
Tying thread -- Brown
Body -- Brown wool or floss
Rib ( optional ) -- Fine copper wire
Wing -- 2 brown grizzle hackles over back
Legs -- 2 pairs of knotted cock pheasant tail fibres each side of the body
Hackle -- Brown cock hackle

For the Hopper

Body -- Seals fur ( any colour )
Rib -- Lurex silver or gold
Hackle -- Colour to match

Happy Fishing from Dave C and the Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p4LMMAoA68

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 Cormorant

Dave Cammiss — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:07:23 +0000

This fly has its origins in fly fishing competitions. It is neither a nymph nor a lure but can be fished as either. Primarily a still water fly it can also be used on rivers and tied with a silver or holographic body. It bears more than a passing resemblance to a butcher , only with more mobility.

The early patterns were tied with a body of peacock herl with a wire rib. More recently you will see them tied with fine fritz or metallic bodies, usually silver. This is because of the fragility of peacock herl.

The materials are very basic:

Hook -- Heavy weight wet fly size 10 / 8
Tying thread -- Black
Tail -- Tag of Flour. Red wool / Floss
Body -- Silver / Red wire
Wing -- Black marabou
Wing flash ( optional ) -- Red lurex

A good fly to have in your box, particularly if you do boat fishing.

Regards, Dave Cammiss and the Team.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzgPk8XBL9Y

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

The Partridge and Orange and The Greenwells Glory

Dave Cammiss — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 13:04:32 +0000

Today we will be explaining how to tie wet flies and spider patterns, the old standard, partridge and orange popular in the north country and the Greenwells Glory, which is more universal, and has also stood the test of time. You will find them both easy to tie and well worth a place in the box of river fishers.

The Partridge and Orange has only two materials, the hackle and the tying silk. The hackle is from the back of the old english grey partridge. The ideal hackles do not have distinct brown bar across the top but those with a lesser bold bar are acceptable and you will find that most commercially sold packs have a mixture. If you want the best go out and shoot your own. Only joking. There is another similar grey hackle on the partridge plumage which is well worth using and can be used for the partridge and yellow.

The older school of fly tyers always laboured that hackles on spider patterns had to be very sparse. To do this you strip the fibres off one side of the hackle before you tie it in. To do this correctly lie the hackle on top of the hook with curved side of the feather uppermost, grasp all the fibres on the side away from you and peel them gently off to the stem. Tie in the hackle as shown on the video clip and wind round the hook 2-3 turns and tie off at the head.

You will find some tyers who recommend tying the hackle in by the point. By all means try this once you have got the hang of doing the basics, but beware, the points of partridge hackles are very fragile. You can (and I often do) actually tie the hackle in whole and give it 2 turns and tie off.

The brown partridge can also be used for the march brown spider, the partridge and yellow and damsel nymphs.

The Greenwells Glory has only three materials, the hackle, the tying silk and the fine gold braid or wire for the rib. The hackle is from a hen cape. You can either buy a full cape or buy a packet of hackles. The disadvantage of a cape is the relatively small number of hackle of a size but it does give you a better selection of sizes but they are usually more expensive. If you want to tie a dry pattern you will have to use a cock cape, it has stiffer fibres and floats better but the dressing is the same. The book states that the tying silk should be primrose and well waxed, (use beeswax), because it transforms the colour to light olive.

Hooks wet fly sizes 12 / 14 / 16.

Once you have mastered these two all you need are the various hackles to open up a new world of spider patterns.

Hope you enjoy the lessons. Beware it has been said that fly tying can become addictive.

Regards
David Cammiss and The Team

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDdpkx-4IbU

The Montana Nymph

Dave Cammiss — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 23:07:37 +0000

This was originally an American pattern which became popular in the UK in the early 1990’s for reservoirs and stillwaters. It has now become a very popular fly which features in most fly boxes.

The American original was dressed as an imitation of the larva of the stonefly in the rivers in the Montana region and was dressed on long shank hooks sizes 6…10.

Over the years in the UK the pattern has been slightly modified and whilst called a nymph it is usually fished as a lure. The thorax is tied with chenille in fluorescent yellow, green or red and the most popular size is a long shank 10. I modify my version slightly. I tie in a bunch of black cock hackle fibres for the tail and for the wing case I use Sparton ‘new body czech’ which is more durable and adds a little sparkle. You can also use black nylon wool which is not as fragile as chenille which our American cousins favour.

I think you will find this one quite easy to tie and it will be a good addition to your fly box.

This series of video clips is down to the enthusiasm of my younger son Jonathan. He not only does the camera work but he keeps me focussed on my commentaries and does all the work on the web site. I have the easy part tying the flies.

We will endeavour to comply with your requests but please accept that I have had no experience with salt water flies. I am in my seventies and this old dog is not too keen to learn new tricks. However just remember whatever you tie the principles are the same only the materials are different.

Materials

Hook long shank 6 / 8 /10
Tail black cock hackle fibres
Body black chenille
Thorax flourescent chenille -- green / orange / red
Wing case black wool
Dyed black hackle
Tying silk black

Happy Fishing
Dave Cammiss and The Team.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbjVLx48dxI

The Cats Whisker

Dave Cammiss — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:21:55 +0000

Today we will be showing you the Cats Whisker, a fairly modern lure for stillwaters.

Do not be put off by this fly’s flashy appearance. It is relatively easy to tie and can be very effective. It was always the first choice of my fishing colleague Ken until I managed to convert him to nymphing. He still sneaks one on when the going gets tough.

The original version was tied with the head from bead chain from the plug in the sink. I prefer to use a gold or siver metal bead and I dont think it matters which you use.

The popular colour chenille for the body is fluorescent green but orange and red are good alternatives. You will find the Marabou used for the tail and wing strange to use at first. Just remember to wet the base of the fibres and form a shuttlecock as shown.

You will find the fibres get everywhere, if you dont have a den you may have bother with the wife!

Materials

Hook long shank 6 / 8 /10
Tail marabou white
Body flourescent chenille -- green / orange / red
Wing marabou white
Head gold bead or bead chain
Tying silk black

Happy Fishing

Dave Cammiss and The Team.