RRTU FLY OF THE MONTH

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                                                                    March
                       OLIVE CDC COMPARADUN

TIED BY JASON WARNER

HOOK - TIEMCO 101 (size 18-24)

THREAD -8/0 OLIVE

TAILS - DUNN MICRO FIBBETS

BODY - OLIVE TURKEY BIOT

WING - DUNN CDC

HEAD- OLIVE DRY FLY DUBBING

 

The Olive CDC Comparadun is a small Blue Winged Olive imitation that is a fairly easy tie and floats with a low profile in the surface film. The fly is a theoretical collaboration between the Caucci and Nastasi Comparadun and the CDC influence of Rene’ Harrop. While the description holds a lot of big words and names, the easy little tie is a fishcatcher.

 

To learn more about the Olive CDC Comparadun you can read “Hatches II”  by Caucci and Nastasi or “Learning from the Water” by Rene’ Harrop

            
                                                        Brown Trout taking winter olives on a Pennsylvania limestone in February

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                    February

                               Prince Nymph

TIED BY JASON WARNER

HOOK - TIEMCO 3761 (size 4-18)

THREAD -6/0 Black

BEAD - BRASS OR TUNGSTEN

TAILS - BROWN GOOSE BIOTS

RIB - GOLD WIRE OR TINSEL

BODY - PEACOCK HERL

HACKLE - BROWN HEN NECK
HORNS - WHITE GOOSE BIOT

 

 

The Prince Nymph was developed by Doug Prince back in the 1930s. The Prince is a timeless classic that seems to imitate nothing and yet everything A fly that has spanned 80 years and has inspired many variations with the advance of synthetic materials. A Google search will find you a Bloody Prince, a Psycho Prince and an Ice Prince. Thank you your Highness. To learn more about the Prince Nymph you can read “Basic Fly Tying”  by Charlie Craven.

                        
                                    Brown Trout on Snow taken by His Highness, in a place you cant know 

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                                                                        January

                            STONEFLY NYMPH

TIED BY JASON WARNER

HOOK -  (size 6-14)

THREAD - BLACK 8/0

DUBBING - BLACK

LEGS - BLACK HEN BACK FEATHER (APPROPRIATE SIZE)

ANTENNAE/ TAILS -BLACK PLASTIC RIBBING

BACK - BLACK THIN SKIN

 

RIB - FINE SILVER WIRE

Stonefly nymphs inhabit most of our local trout streams. The nymphs are often the largest nymphs  in the river because they can take up to two years to mature. They are active all year long and need rushing water over their gills to breath, which explains why the can easily be found in quick cobbled runs. They are sensitive to oxygen content and water purity.  So Stonefly populations can  reveal the health of a river. To learn more about Stoneflys check out “Fishbugs”  by Thomas Ames Jr.

                                            

                                            
                                        Stones from the Ken lockwood Gorge and a brown that was fooled by one

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                    December
 

 

                                GRIFFITHS GNAT

                          

 

TIED BY JASON WARNER

 

HOOK - STANDARD DRY FLY HOOK  (size 16-28)

THREAD - 8/0 BLACK

BODY -PEACOCK HERL

HACKLE - GRIZZLY

This fly was developed by George Griffiths, who is credited with helping found Trout Unlimited. This fly is the fly that seems to imitate everything that small. It is fairly easy to see for as small as it usually is, especially when freshly treated with your floatant of choice. The Griffiths Gnat is also occasionally tied with a shuck, emerger style.

It can also be tied in larger sizes to represent an entire midge cluster.

 

To learn more about midges and the Griffiths Gnat check out “Modern Midges” by Rick Takahashi and Jerry Hubka or “Flies for Trout” by Dick Stewart and Farrow Allen.

                                              
                                                                    SAME GNAT AS ABOVE BUT SET ON A STANDARD DOMINO

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                          November

                            
                            Caddis Larvae (Rhyacophila)

TIED BY JASON WARNER

 

HOOK - SKALKA PUPA HOOK (size 12)

THREAD - 8/0 BLACK

RIB - FINE SILVER WIRE

BODY -GREEN DUBBING

HEAD - BLACK DUBBING

BACK - THIN SKIN

 

Every fly box has one or two, or twelve different versions of a caddis larvae. There are more varieties of caddisflies than any other aquatic insect. The Rhyacophila, is a caddis that can appear in early April or late November, and is represented by one or more species at almost any time of the year. The caddis larvae are also known as rock worms or green rock worms.

The Henryville Special (the dry fly imitation of the Rhyacophila) was tied by Ernest Schwiebert for the Broadheads river in Eastern Pennsylvania.

To learn more about Rhyacophila check out “Fishbugs” by Thomas Ames Jr. or “Bug Water” by Arlen Thomason


                      
                                                Caddis image from:  http://flycurrents.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html

 

 

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October

Slumpbuster

 

 

 

  

TIED BY JASON WARNER

 

 

 

 

 

HOOK - TIEMCO 5263 (Size 4-12)

THREAD - OLIVE 70-DENIER ULTRA THREAD

RIB-CHARTRUSE ULTRA BRAID

BODY-PEACOCK ULTRA BRAID

WING-OLIVE PINE SQUIRREL

COLLAR-SAME AS WING

CONE- GOLD TUNGSTEN

 

 

 

 

 

The Slumpbuster was the creation of John Barr. Barr  tied the streamer to to have the perfect baitfish profile, subtle flash and lifelike movement in the water. The Slumpbuster is the opposite of the flashy/rubber legged/ florescent streamer that Barr felt fish often flashed at but, didn’t always strike. He likes to fish the Slumpbuster in tandem with a slightly larger version as the point fly.   

 

To learn more about the Slumpbuster see “Barr Flies ” by John S Barr

 

 

A well stocked fly box that the FOTM author often “Borrows” from

 

 

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                September

                                        Gold Ribbed Hares Ear


TIED BY JASON WARNER
HOOK - MUSTAD  9671 (size 10-20)
THREAD - BROWN 8/0
DUBBING - NATURAL HARES EAR
TAIL - WOOD DUCK FLANK
WING CASE - GOOSE PRIMARY FEATHER
RIB - GOLD WIRE BEAD - OPTIONAL
(PICTURE ABOVE IS BEADED)

The Gold Ribbed Hares Ear is a tried and trusted basic nymph. It resembles everything and yet nothing really specific. It can be tied in any color and multiple sizes, weighted or unweighted, beaded or unbeaded and can be effective floated at the outset of a hatch. It is a true Jack of all trades and a must in every flybox. On our local waters it seems to fish well early in the season when nymphs are large and abundant.

              South Branch Brown fooled by a BGRHE

  

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            Summer Time
                (June, July, August)

                SUMMER TERRESTRIALS  - ANT
 

 TIED BY JASON WARNER
HOOK - MUSTAD 94840 (size 10-20)
THREAD - BLACK 8/0
DUBBING - BLACK
HACKLE - BLACK HACKLE (APPROPRIATE SIZE)

In "Terrestrial Fishing" by Ed Koch he starts his chapter on Ants saying that of all the terrestrial patterns, he would suppose that Ants would be the the most productive and consistent trout taking pattern.
The Ant can also be fished wet (sunken) as written about by Mike Lawson in “Spring Creeks” where he attributes some great fishing to a wet ant as a dropper under a Grasshopper pattern.
To learn more about the Flyfishing of Ants you can read "Terrestrial Fishing" by Ed Koch

Photo from Google Images

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May

X CADDIS

TIED BY JASON WARNER

HOOK - TIEMCO 100 (size 12-22)

THREAD - 8/0 TAN (match body color)

SHUCK - AMBER OR GOLD ZELON

BODY - ZELON DUBBING BLEND

      WING - DEER HAIR

The X Caddis was developed by Craig Mathews as an emerging caddis trapped by its pupal shuck. It was developed for the Henrys Fork’s selective and large rainbow trout. A caddis, like a mayfly trapped in its shuck is “easy pickins” for a hungry trout and the X Caddis proves the theory.
To learn more about the X Caddis you can read “Fly Patterns of Yellowstone Volume 2"  by Craig Mathews and John Juracek

                                                “Fly Patterns of Yellowstone”  as a backdrop for X Caddis

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                   April

 

FEMALE HENDRICKSON THORAX DUNN

TIED BY JASON WARNER

Recipe:

HOOK - MUSTAD  94840 (size 10-14)
THREAD - TAN
TAILS - DUNN MICROFIBETTS
DUBBING - PINK HENDRICKSON
WING - DUNN HEN FEATHERS
HACKLE - DUNN HACKLE (APPROPRIATE SIZE)

The Hendrickson, or Ephemerrlla subvaria for those you keeping score at home, is the first major mayfly hatch/emergence of the spring that starts to draw crowds on our rivers.  The first patterns were tied by Roy Steenrod and were named after his fishing partner Albert Everett Hendrickson. The above fly is tied Thorax style to lay low in the water.

To learn more about the Hendrickson you can read “Trout Fishing in the Catskills” by Ed Van Put or “Mayflies” by Ted Fauceglia.

HENDRICKSON MATERIALS ON THE NY VISITOR GUIDE

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March

THUNDER CREEK

 

 

 

  

   TIED BY JASON WARNER

Recipe:

HOOK - TIEMCO 9394
THREAD - WHITE 3/0
FLANK-PEARL CRYSTAL FLASH
BACK-ROOT BEER BUCKTAIL
BELLY-WHITE BUCKTAIL

EYES- LOON HARD HEAD




 

The original Thunder Creek was tied in 1963 by Keith Fulsher to imitate baitfish. The fly is tied in a variety of color
schemes and sizes to imitate the baitfish of your local streams, lakes and oceans. The fly has been successfully fished for
numerous species from Atlantic Salmon to Tarpon. One of the keys of tying the Thunder Creek is that it should be tied
sparsely.



To learn more about the THUNDER CREEK see: “Thunder Creek Flies” by Keith Fulsher