Felted Reel Pouch Complete

Here is a complete felted reel pouch. The button is carved bone and is a nice touch. All in all I really like the final design and it really protects the reel while in transit to the river.

You'll also notice my new mint Browning Silaflex! The wool is a nice addition to the vintage package.

Vintage Revelation Fly Reel

This is a garage sale find that is really nifty. I've had it for years and it balances out my vintage Fenwick FF806 perfectly.

The guys at the Fiberglass Fly Rodders site said this reel was made for Montgomery Wards. My boys call it my Iron Man reel....

Ward's Articulated Streamer

Recipe
Hook: Mustad 3366 Size 2
Thread: 6/0 White Uni
Tail (Tip): White Marabou
Tail (Body): White Pearl Wapsi Palmer Chenille (Large Length)
Transition: White Marabou
Body (Main): White Pearl Wapsi Palmer Chenille (Large Length)
Eyes: Prismatic Dome Eyes
Weight: 10-20 Wraps .025 Lead Substitute

This is a fly that I initially emailed to Ward Bean at www.warmwaterflytyer.com and it didn't look this good. Ward had an articulated minnow pattern on his site that used hackle to build up a nice body. I loved the pattern so much I started trying to mess with different materials. This is when Wapsi Palmer Chenille came into the picture. One email to Ward, he made tweaks and made a beautiful streamer. This is my version of Ward's Articulated Streamer followed right to the tee. Go to www.warmwaterflytyer.com for detailed tying instruction.

If you look closely you can see this fly is actually 2 hooks joined with hard mono (see picture on right). The rear hook section is clipped, so there is no hook - just the shank. The mono joint allows this streamer to really have a beautiful swimming action. Ward is a great tyer, so this fly performs as expected...fabulously!

The best thing about Ward's patterns is he often uses the Mustad 3366 hook. For some reason many tyers are starting to shy away from this hook for fancy Tiemco hooks costing 4X the cash. I get these hooks from size 1/0 - 12 at Captain Hooks for $3 per 100.

Prismacolor markers dress out the fly. I went simple and used with a 60% Cool Gray marker, but Ward does some up that look exactly like baby perch and bluegill. Give it a shot, it is fun to dress these little guys up. Don't bother with a Sharpie....they will fade.

Kudos to Ward for perfecting this pattern and making it beautiful!

Called in sick....had trout fever!

This one had a funky gill plate?

My wife lands a nice one...releases it!

Swim home little boy!

This was the hot fly today! The March Brown Flymph.

Hairy Fodder

image courtesy of flyartstudio.com

Recipe

Hook:  Eagle Claw #410 60 Degree Jig Hook (Size 1/0)

Thread:  Mono

Tail:  Layered Sili-legs

Body:  Rabbit Zonker

Rattle:  Micro Worm Rattle

Flash:  Gold Krystal Flash

Weight:  Dumbbell Eye (1/50 oz) 

Craig Riendeau is the creator of this fly pattern and I love it.  Craig has really come up with a winner here.  This is the only subsurface pattern he fishes and he catches loads of smallies.

Bulk 3D Holographic Molded Eyes

I just got my shipment of bulk 3D holographic eyes and they are awesome. Make sure to hit www.bustinbassbaits.com for holographic eyes. They sell the 3D ones, not the tape kind.

I ordered 500 for less than $10 with shipping through his Ebay store. Now I see he has a website that is even cheaper - $15 per 1000! My local fly shop sells 24 for $4 and for some reason I burn these things up. For my initial order I went with 4, 5 and 6mm silver and red eyes, but there are plenty other colors and sizes to choose from.

The Syn Minnow

Recipe
Hook: Mustad 3366 (Size 4)
Thread: White Flat Waxed Nylon
Underbody: Hareline Silver Holographic Dubbing
Body: Layer 1 = Puglisi EP Filers (Polar Bear)
Layer 2 = Pearl Hareline Ice Wing
Layer 3 = 3 Strands Krystal Flash
Layer 4 = Spirit River Polaraire
Head: Dubbed Spirit River Polaraire or Any Synthetic Dubbing Material
Eyes: Holographic Eyes
Weight: None

So many of us choose to tie on weight forward, or heavily weighted flies for river smallmouth. I know I tie on all sorts of weighted offerings all the time. I always felt like I needed the extra weight to "get the fly down" to the fish. I know now it is a mistake to ignore unweighted flies in a river.

The swimming action of this pattern is awesome. I took it out to test and the crappies wouldn't leave it alone, especially when the fly was stopped and drifting down in the water column. This is the beautiful thing about flies, they move differently than hard lures. This little guy swims towards the surface and really resembles a wounded baitfish. Weight would ruin the action of this minnow, so leave it off!

I got this minnow from a post on The Bass Pond, another Yuku site I hit. It needs holographic eyes in a bad way, but you get the idea (they are in transit from a mail order house).I really like the simplicity and built up body of this fly - EP Fibers, Ice Wing, Krystal Flash and Polaraire. You can't see it very well in the picture, but the holographic dubbing on the underbody is a very nice touch.

At the vise this minnow feels like a smaller, simpler Murdich Minnow. On the water it performs just as nicely too! This is another one I have big plans for this summer!