RecipeHook: Mustad 9674 (Size 6)
Thread: 6/0 Red Uni
Weight: .025 Lead Wire (10 wraps)
Body: Hareline Krystal Hackle (or Pearl Estaz)
Tail: White Maribou
Face: Red Hen Neck Feather
This is my version of Ward Bean's Red Faced Wobbler. Ward is one of my heroes, the guy is a great fly tyer. My version is very unkept compared to his, but it works. It just looks so sloppy compared to Ward's. His have a nice taper and the "red face" is just the right size. Mine is kind of messy and the face is too long.
The big difference is in the swimming action. Wards is a compact dart that swims beautifully and smallies go out of their way to slam on it. I need all the help I can get you see... More swimming action means I can be lazier with my line and still tempt fish!
It doesn't matter if you tie yours perfect (like Ward's) and overgrown and ugly (like mine), they both catch fish!
By the way, this is the user friendly version of Shenk's Streamer. If you have read Holschlag's book and want to try to tie a Shenk's Streamer---STOP! Trust me and just tie Ward's Red Faced Wobbler. No rabbit fur, dubbing loops, and trimming. In fly tying you sometimes have to pick your battles! This streamer is a winner and it is easy to tie.
I came across your post today - 11 months after the original post. As they say - better late than never :-)
ReplyDeleteI have been tying with krystal hackle this past year and found it to be very productive.
Your version of the Red Faced Wobbler looks excellent. I'll have to give it a try.