Gunnar Brammer Bulkhead Craw

Get over to Gunnar's YouTube page and check out his tutorials.  He is a fantastic tyer!

Fly Fish Food - Baby Fat Minnow

If you haven't spent any time on Fly Fish Food's website you need to drop what you are doing and get there now.  I tied a few of these tiny minnows for trout, but used the techniques to tie up larger minnows.  Simple and killer.

Fly Fish Food has kits available online, can't get any easier.

Feentra's Thunder Chicken

Photo from:  Coop-Fly on Blogger

Recipe Link Here

Here is a great pattern by Kevin Feenstra at Feenstra Outdoors from up in Michigan.  This is listed as a steelhead pattern, but I have caught crappies and smallies galore with it.  Super simple to tie and easy to cast this is one of my new favorites.

CK Topwater Kreelex Tutorial

This is our newest online fascination, Chuck Kraft's Topwater Kreelex.  The final popper looks simple, but the shaping of the cork head, painting and sealing takes a ton of time. You can order popper kits or finished flies from Eastern Trophies Fly Fishing to save time.  Make sure to check out the other patterns on their website.

Chuck Kraft is a true smallmouth legend!

Phil Rowley's Foam Minnow

I have been tying these up on a larger hook for smallies. Has been working very well.

The Modest Minnow by: Tight Lines Fly Fishing Company and Black Earth Angling

Another great one from the guys at Tight Lines Fly Fishing and Black Earth Angling!  Make sure to stop by their sites and give them support.

If you listen closely he refers to something called "The Crash" in the video.  Here is the link that sheds some light on the term!  Looks pretty dang incredible to me!

The Wisco Cisco by: Tight Lines Fly Fishing & Black Earth Angling Co.

The guys at Tight Lines Fly Fishing and Black Earth Angling uploaded this pattern a few days back on YouTube.  This is a fantastic pattern to tie up.  Haven't fished it yet, but it sure looks fishy.

Give it a go and thanks again for stopping by!

How to Tie Trevor's Sculpin - OPST

I like this one because it has a minimal amount of materials. Have to admit that I have never seen a bead tied in mid-shank.  Very cool...

Disco Sculpin with Jerry French - OPST

Graboid Leech by OPSTSkagit

I think this is a good looking pattern.  I spoke to the people at OPST at the Great Waters Expo and saw derivatives of this on their bench.  Their use of the dubbing loop and the replaceable stinger hook concept is excellent.  

I went to the 2018 Great Waters Fly Fishing Show today....what a great show!  Like most of you I attended the show to see exhibitors, catch some presentations and chat with friends.  The highlights for me were as follows:

• Tim Landwehr's Presentation: Becoming a Better Smallmouth Angler.  The basis of the presentation was rooted in Tim's book Smallmouth: Modern Fly-Fishing Methods, Tactics and Techniques.
• Bob Nasby and Paul Sandstrom's Skagit Demo.  Bob and Paul explained the basics of spey casting in the colleges pool.  Very informative!
• The OPST tradeshow booth. The members at the OPST booth set me straight on the Skagit formula for my single handed rod.
• The Hawkeye Fly Tyer booth.  Mike Jacobs runs a nice business in Iowa. A great source for fly tying materials. Don't forget Mike's Bronze Goddess pattern for smallies.
• Anglers All Wisconsin. Luke is an excellent guide up in Ashland, WI.
• Lunds Fly Shop in River Falls, WI.  Brian runs a very good fly shop, if you haven't been there you should make the trip.

The show was well attended and WELL WORTH the price of admission.  By far the best fly fishing show of the year in my book. 

R.I.P. Lefty Kreh

We are sorry to announce that the great Lefty Kreh passed away today at 93 years of age.  What a great ambassador to our sport.  What a fantastic life...

Pat Cohen's Devil Drifter - Cohen's Creatures

As a fly tier and fisherman you should know who Pat Cohen is - if you don't...you really need to.  The man is widely known as a true artist with deer hair. His deer hair bugs are absolutely stunning.   His talents are not limited to hair bugs though.  Check him out on YouTube and you will see his work outside of deer hair firsthand.  He also has a website that sells all sorts super high quality materials, finished flies, tools, DVD's etc.

Last week I placed an order on Pat Cohen's website Super Fly.  I decided to try my hand at one of Pat's "Cohen Creatures - 3" Hellgrammite."  After watching Super Fly's video on YouTube I was sold.  Pat shipped the order right away and I received the shipment in a few days.  The end result is pretty dang nice <see above>.

The hellgrammites are cut from Ultra Suede and come to you white in color.  You need to color them with permanent markers....not a big deal.  I used a Sharpie...took a few minutes to get a jet black body.  You could certainly make the bugs in olive.

I will say that Pat's Carp Dub is really great stuff.  He is right when he says it doesn't get any buggier that that!  Has some sparkle, rubber legs....super buggy stuff.

Here is Pat's YouTube video on the Devil Drifter:

I'll be placing additional orders from Pat very soon. Great purchase experience and even better end product!

Last thing....I put one on the floor to see if the dogs would be fooled and my German Shepherds backed away.  They wanted no part in that ugly bug. The smallies will be lined up this summer to sample away.

St Paul Fly Tiers Event - Andy Selvig

Photo Courtesy of St Paul Fly Tiers

 Last Thursday I attended my first St Paul Fly Tiers meeting/event and it was REALLY good.  The group welcomed Andy Selvig to demonstrate how he ties stacked and/or spun deer hair bugs. The bug shown above is one of "his."  The deer hair is packed so tight you can actually sand it with sandpaper!

Andy took on the Wilderdilch pattern for the event, a swimming pattern created by fellow St Paul Fly Tier -Tony Stifter.  Andy's finished Wilderdilch 2.0 was very impressive, but I must say....Tony's original is an excellent fly in its own right (seen below).

A few years back I saw a picture of Tony's Wilderdilch and decided to try my version.

Tony's Original Wilderdilch

Smallmouth Fly Box Rendition

Anyway...Andy's deer hair creations are not meant to sit in a glass box (they are that beautiful), they are meant to be fished.  Without question the heads will survive Mack Truck style hits.  The density of the heads are formed using Pat Cohen's "Fugly" Hair Packer.  Here is a YouTube video of the tool, so you can see the scale of the beast. If you are serious about packing deer hair you should invest in one.

Here are some more pics of Andy's work from the St Paul Fly Tiers website.  The pictures really show the quality of Andy's work.  Thanks again to Andy and the St Paul Fly Tiers crew for pulling the event together and showing us Andy's unbelievable work.

Upcoming Chequamegon Bay Trip

Photo Courtesy of www.anglersallwisconsin.com

Looking forward to my early season trip to Ashland this year.  Luke and the folks at Anglers All do a fantastic job on the Chequamegon Bay. The smallies are a real blast!

My son and Captain Luke from our 2017 trip

Happy New Year Post

Hook:  Mustad 33903 Size 2

Tail:  Spirit River Mottlebou (Brown)

Body:  Homemade Airhose Dubbing <see below>

Eyes:  Aluminum Sea Eyes/Spirit River Holographic Eyes

Weed Guard:  30# Nylon

This is my first attempt of tying something fishable for a long while.  My apologies for the roughness of this one.  To be honest I am not wild about the color scheme and the head portion the fly in the picture, but not bad for a first attempt.  The fishy elements are sure there...

Last year I caught my largest fish on something I made just like this, but in a larger size.  Had the homemade dubbing and large Sea Eyes.  The large size made it hard to cast....I am hoping this smaller size will be friendlier to cast.

I have been watching a videos from Missouriflies on YouTube over the holidays.  He really ties some nice patterns that catch fish.  Take the dubbing above, it is made out of various yarn colors blended in a container with an air hose.  Here is Missouriflies video on how to make your own dubbing:

As you can see, you can create some super buggy stuff in minutes.  The pattern above is a blend of brown, red and black yarn from Walmart.  My kids and I made bags of long(er) dubbing in an hour, it was fun to do!  Sky is the limit here...color, fiber length etc.

The other element I love is the weed guard.  His are much better than mine, but with practice mine should get more refined.  Here is Missouriflies showing how it is done:

The use of the Mustad 33903 Kink Shank hook comes from Joe Cornwall at Fly Fish Ohio.  The kink is a perfect place to park eyes and leave enough room for a head - especially if you incorporate the weed guard.  I could have wrapped the dubbing further up past the eyes and still had room to anchor and finish a guard.  If you don't have any 33903 hooks they are worth picking up for weight forward flies (like Clousers).  See below from Joe Cornwall:

Thanks again to Missouriflies and Joe Cornwall for posting all of the information and inspiration.  Missouriflies sells flies on his website if you feel like supporting his efforts.  Visit Fly Fish Ohio for more information on fly fishing and fly tying.

Happy New Year everyone!