Today, Friday the 27, was opening day for the Somerset Fly Fishing Show. I presented a fly casting class this morning for 8 students. All of us had a great time. My long, and I do mean long, time friend, Ray Oswald, attended the class. Ray and I went to Penn State together, 1962-1966, and fished around the state. He lives in eastern Pennsylvania, now and fishes the Little Lehigh, the Broadheads, and others in the region. The class learned the Foundation Casting Stroke, the Elliptical Stroke, wrist casting, arm casting, thee Three Point Grip, Reach Mends, Hauling, and a whole bunch more. They did great! Ray and I s spend some time together touring the Show before Ray had to get back home and I had to give a Power Point on “Long Flies.” The crowd was heavy today—more like a Saturday than a Friday. It was great to see so many people out and excited about the coming 2012 season.

If you’re in the area, come on out and say “Hi.”

The casting class all did a great job with new ideas and techniques.

Today's crowd was large and very enthusiastic.

There's a lot to do at the show. This is my good friend, Michael Mauri, demonstrating Spey Casting.

Select a hackle of appropriate size for the hook being used, prepare it, and tie it in at the base of the wing. I tie in both in the front and in back of the wing post. Be certain to leave plenty of bare shaft at the base of the hackle feather so that it can be easily started in its parachute turns. To form the rear of the thorax, spin a tiny bit of dubbing on the thread and figure 8 it in front and back of the wing post. Keep it light, but thoroughly cover the area. Now, spin just enough dubbing onto the thread to form the frontal portion of the thorax, this is not very much, so keep it thin. Leave an inch of so of thread between the hook shank and the top of the dubbing (Figure 1).

Wind the hackle parachute style around the very base of the wing post; it should go onto the area at the base of the wing where the thread was previously wound when the wing was tied in. Tie off in front of the wing. This will use up the bare thread between the hook shank and the top of the dubbing. Clip away the waste end of the hackle and wrap the dubbing to form the front portion of the thorax. Tie off and clip away the thread.  Clip the wing to length. Fold it back over the top of the hook and clip it as long as the back of the hook bend. Place a generous drop or two of thin, flexible head cement into the base of the wing , and a tiny bit on the thread of the head (Figure 2).

Notice that this is a single feather, gray hackle Parachute Adams. I prefer this color to the mixed brown and grizzly normally used. It is not so bright in strong sunlight.

Figure 1. Tie in the hackle, form the rear part of the thorax. and spin the dubbing on for the front portion of the thorax.

Figure 2. Wind the hackle, form the thorax, cut the wing to length, and apply the ccement.

My friend, Theo Bakelaar, from Holland is the one who introduced gold beads into the U.S. fly tying community. To attract attention to the idea of gold beads on the heads of nymphs and other sunken imitations, he got the idea to paint his his own head with gold. Trouble was, he used spray paint for cars. Not easy to get off. But, my, did he change the landscape of fly design. He just sent me a photo of one of his tying demos in which he appeared with a gold bead head. Great stuff.

Theo as Mr. Goldbead in the early 1990s.

After the thread has been wrapped forward to secure the tail, stop and add the body dubbing to the thread. Leave about an inch of bare thread between the hook shank and the top of the dubbing. It’s much easier to apply the dubbing very tightly when twisting it on an inch or so down from the hook, rather than trying to get one’s fingers up tight against the hook. Now, wrap back to the rear of the shank. This will use us the inch of thread and bring the dubbing right up into place ready to wrap on to form the body. Wrap the dubbing forward to form a nicely tapered body. Now, pay close attention. Remember that production tying is not just speed tying. It’s also really good tying. So, as you wrap the dubbing forward, don’t be afraid to stop and back up a turn or two and re-wrap, add more dubbing, or remove dubbing, until you get the body just right.

Now for the wing. I prefer to us a sparkle nylon yarn or similar material so that the wing has some “zing” to it. Besides, it makes tying in the wing much faster and more effectively that using calftail or other hairs. Chop off a chunk of yarn about six times the length of the finished wing (this length is easy to handle) and separate out a clump that is ½ the final thickness of the wing. Fold this chunk up and around the hook shank, immediately ahead of the body. Secure the clump with figure-8 wraps, and then wrap around the base of the wing, just above the hook shank, 8 to 10 very tight turns (Figure 1).

Figure 1. After adding a tapered, dubbed body, fold the winging material up around the shank and secure it with figure-8 wraps. Then, wrap the thread very tightly around the wing post 8 to 10 turns just above the shank.

Tenkara fishing is finding a good following among U.S. anglers. Certainly it is fun and different. More important, it teaches one some very needed skills about using the rod in fighting and landing fish.

Tenkara has a good presence at the Fly Fishing Show. A Tenkara group was not only present in Denver, but they also gave great demos and presentations on the sport of Tenkara. Jason Klass posted a photo of me in Denver using a regular fly rod and demonstrating the Bow and Arrow cast, which is often used by Tenkara anglers.

There are many other casting tactics that can be adopted straight from casting with a guided rod, including such novel casts as the side-arm roll cast, single-handed Spey, C-cast, Snap Cast,, all the Reach Mend variations, and much more. For a more thorough examination of this highly refined “pole and string” style of fishing go to www.tenkaratalk.com/

The Bow and Arrow Cast is important to all fly fishers. It is a favorite of mine and a good way to introduce the concept of Presentation. Photo by Jason Klass.

The Parachute Adams is one of the best all-around emerger imitations out there. There are production tactics that make it fast and easy tie. First is the fan tail. This tail not only helps the fly position itself in the film, but also suggest a partially cast nymphal or pupal skin. Start the thread around the mid-point of the shank and wrap to the rear. Build up a small ball of dubbing right at the very start of the bend (Figure 1). Select a small clump of hackle fibers to be used for the tail. Pre-trim them to length. Tie them in a couple of turns ahead of the small ball of thread, and then wrap back tightly to the ball. This will cause the fibers to flare into the fan shape. Wrap forward to lock the fibers firmly in place (Figure 2).

Figure 1. Start the thread near the center of the hook and wrap to the rear. Form a thread ball right at the bend.

Figure 2. Attach the hackle fibers and wrap back tightly against the thread ball to flare them into the fan shape..

A major part of every fly fishing show is the casting demonstrations by a variety of well-known angling instructors. There are opportunities to learn a new wrinkle in a rod grip, a particular casting tactic, a different way to mend line, and much, much more. Take time at the shows to watch the casting demonstrations, and the take time after the show to practice newly acquired skills.

This is me demonstrating the Long Range Bow and Arrow Cast at the Denver Fly Fishing Show. My friend, Michael Mauri, another casting demonstrator shot this photo for me.

After the abdomen is completed, a clump of peacock herl is tied in to be used to form the covert. The herl is pretrimmed so it can be tied in quickly and accurately. The thread is wrapped forward to the eye and then back to the rear of the abdomen. Dubbing is spun onto the tying thread and pushed up to the hook shank. Don’t worry if it’s a bit loose on the thread. It will be spun in a loop and will be absolutely secure (Figure 1).

Form a spinning loop. The dubbing will be on one leg of the loop. Pull a good sized clump of guard hairs from the back of a cottontail rabbit skin, and insert them into the loop at right angles to the thread. Spread them out along the top inch or so of the loop, and then spin the loop tight (Figure 2).

Wrap the spun dubbing/guard hair legs forward over the thorax, stroking the guard hairs back after each wrap so they are not trapped by the subsequent wrap (Figure 3).

Stroke the hairs that are sticking up out to the sides, fold the herl forward tightly over the top of the thorax and secure them at the head. Tie off the thread in front of the herl. Clip the waste end of the herl to the same length as the hook eye. Stroke the guard hair legs out to sides, and cut off any that are sticking downward (Figures 4 & 5).

Figure 1. Tie in the pretrimmed herl and apply dubbing to the tying thread.

Figure 2. Form a spinning loop and inset guard hairs in the loop at right angles to the thread.

Figure 3. Spin the loop tight and wrap it over the thorax .

Figure 4. Fold the herl over the top of the thorax and tie ti down at the head. Trim the legs off the bottom of the fly.

Figure 5. The completed Hair Leg GRHE, top view.

Day 3 of the show opened at 8 am for me and 20 others with our Bible teaching. Then at 8:30 it was off to another fly casting class until 11 am. At 11:30 I gave a presentation on Reading Waters. After a quick lunch, I gave a casting demonstration,  and then signed books in the author’s booth. Despite the fact that the Broncos and Steelers were dueling it out here in Denver, the crowd was still enthusiastic and stayed to the very end of thee day.

My next show is the Somerset show at the end of the month.

A very good late sunday afternoon crowd at the fl;y casting demo.

The Denver Show open on Friday the 6th at 10 am with a real boom. The line ran out the door as people waited to get in. And quickly the aisles filled with fly fishers. My first program was a casting demo at 1:5, and the areas around the pond was packed with anglers eager to watch. We had a fun filled 45 minutes. Then there was time at the author’s booth, a presentation on Long Flies, and a fly tying demo in which I tied a number of collared imitations. Day tow started at 8:30 an with a class on casting. 10 people worked their way through wrist casting, the three point grip, arm casting, elliptical stroke, a variety of mends,  the “C” pickup, shooting line, the triple shoot, curve casting, and other exotic casting and mending tactics. In the afternoon there was a stint in the author’s booth, a casting demo at the pond with nearly 200 people in attendance, and a program on Fishing the Film. Many, many people were in attendance today. Great show. If you’re in the area, drop in and say Hi.

The line for the opening day went out the door.

The day 1 crowd quickly filled the aisles.

The crowd on day 2 stuffed the aisles.

I like to use wire to rib the GRHE because it adds just a bit of weight to the fly, helping it dive through the surface film, and, more importantly, it reinforces the body, making the fly nearly indestructible. Look very carefully at the end of the wire where it’s been wrapped on the hook. You will notice that there’s a bit of wrinkle right at the end. This prevents the wire from pulling back and out from under the thread wraps. This is especially important when using mid-weight to heavy-weight wires. Jason came up with the way to get this little nub on the end of the wire. He folds the wire over one of the scissors blades, right at the very back of the blade (next to the hinge joint) and then snips. Bending the wire over the blade produces a tiny burr at the end of the wire when it’s cut. When tied in, the burr prevents the wire from slipping free.

As noted in the last post, the rib is tied in by wrapping rearward, which also brings the dubbing up to the rear of the abdomen, ready to go. Winding dubbing is not a one-shot deal, take what you get and whine if it’s not perfect. Rather, as the dubbing is wound forward, the tyer constantly evaluates the shape and thickness of the body. If the dubbing is too thin, the tyer backs off a turn or two and add a touch more. If the dubbing is too thick, the tyer backs off and removes a tiny bit. Remember, production tying doesn’t just make flies as efficiently as possible, it also makes them of the best quality possible.

Once the dubbing is in place and looking good, the rib is wound. I counterwind the rib so that the turns of the wire “Xs” across the turns of the dubbing, in order to strengthen and re-enforce the dubbing. This can be done by winding the dubbing counterclockwise and then winding the rib clockwise, or visa versa. I use the visa versa; that is, I wind the dubbing clockwise and the wire counterclockwise. I do it this way because I may have to unwind the dubbing to get it just right, and I find this easier to do when winding clockwise. When I get to the thorax, I continue to wrap the wire several more turns to add a bit more weight, before clipping off the waste end (always use the very back of the scissor blades when cutting wire).

Notice the burr on the end of the wire where it's tied in.

Counterwind the wire rib to re-enforce the body. Make a few wraps on the thorax region to add a bit more weight to the fly.

I have been asked many times to demonstrate the tying of Hair Leg Nymphs. It’s the dressing of the legs that causes most people the most problems. But there are a number of production tactics that can also be demonstrated by this imitation. So, in the next several blogs we will use the dressing of the Hair Leg Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear to demonstrate both the hair leg process and some other production tying tactics.

Here are four  production tactics that are used to start the fly. We’ve mentioned two of them before, but let’s look at them as we race forward. (1) Attach the thread at the front of the thorax and wrap to the rear. This is a production tactic that saves time and thread (notice no thread on the head of the hook). (2) Tie in a tail of pheasant-tail fibers. The butt ends are pre-trimmed to extend to the head so that they can simply be tied in making an underbody  of uniform diameter. Wrap forward over the tailing materials. (3) Wrap back, but halt at the center of the shank and apply the dubbing for the abdomen. (4) Leave a couple of inches of bare thread between the dubbing and the hook shank. This serves two purposes: first it’s much faster and far easier to apply the dubbing a couple of inches from the shank, rather that trying to twist it on the thread so close to the hook that you stab yourself on the point. Second, we’re going to use that bare thread to tie in the rib as we wrap rearward. Next time: applying the dubbing and wrapping the rib.

Apply the thread, tie in the pre-trimmed tail, and twist on the dubbing.

Tie in the ribbing wire as the thread is wrapped rearward to the end of the abdomen; this brings the dubbing up the hook ready to wrap forward to form the abdomen.

I love the Poly Caddis because it is fast to tie, rides high, can be pulled under to suggest a diving caddis, and catches fish. Gary LaFontaine used the Poly Caddis on a regular basis for just those reasons. In it’s original design, I just tied the wing in at the head and allowed it to extend back over the top of the hook. In the past season, I wanted to give the fly a little more realistic caddis appearance, so I began fussing with the way the wing is applied. What I came up with is just about as simple as the original fly, but is stronger and gives has a better look, at least to my eye. Here’s the way it’s been re-designed.

Step One. Apply dubbing thinly over the rear half of thee hook to form the abdomen.

Step Two. Tie in the poly yarn for the wing facing forward over the eye. Wrap the thread tightly, right to the eye, then back to the abdomen.

Step Three. Tie in an appropriate sized hackle.

Step Four. Wind the thread forward, wrap thee hackle “X” Style and tie off at the head. Spiral the thread rearward through the hackle to re-enforce it.

Step Five. Stroke the hackle on the top of the fly out to the sides, fold the wing back tight over the thorax and tie it securely at the back of the thorax. Tie off at the rear of the thorax. (1/3 of the way back on the shank) Trim the hackle off the bottom of the thorax. Place a good-sized drop of thin flexible head cement on the top of the thorax and allow it to sink in, re-enforcing the hackle and wing.

Updated (see below).

Jason is slaving away over not only hot pixels, but hot photos as well. There’s a great deal that goes into making a page look as nice as the ones below. This is the first page of flies in Chapter 10 in our soon-to-be-released book, Long Flies. I think it’s absolutely top shelf.

The updated page after some layout/text tweaks and color correction work by JB: