The nail knot is one of the first knots learned by the beginning fly fisher. It’s used to attach backing and a leader to a fly line. In both these uses the knot has a core (the fly line) inside the wraps of the backing or leader butt. Another early learned knot is the double surgeons or two turn overhand knot. It’s used to attach tippet to a leader. It too is a nail knot but coreless. If you take more than two turns you still have a nail knot but with a longer cylinder of the wrappings. Nine years ago Tim Flagler recognized that a ten turn overhand knot in red monofilament would give him a translucent cylinder that he could use as a detached body midge larva. Juan Ramirez learned of Tim’s technique and used a multi-turn overhand knot in green monofilament to form an extended body for a caddis pupa (actually two versions). But the earliest entry in using a nail knot in monofilament for a translucent body is this month’s fly. It’s the creation of Doug Swisher. It uses a whip finish directly on the hook wire. Yes, a whip finish is a nail knot which is most easily recognized if you wrap your whip finish always forward toward the hook eye in none overlapping turns before pulling the knot tight. This is also the most durable way to whip finish since the return is totally buried under the wraps and not exposed to cutting by the trout’s teeth.

When you read the name Doug Swisher I’m sure you think of his pioneering book with Carl Richards, “Selective Trout”. In that book they introduced many new fly styles that more closely resembled real insects as compared to then existing designs. But after that book Swisher continued to explore various attractor designs. The Madam X and Parachute Madam X are very well known. But his Mono Caddis Pupa was also part of his exploration. He never published this pattern until quite recently but I learned of it directly from him in the early 90s.

The learning was on a float trip on the West Fork of the Bitterroot River that I took with him. The West Fork is a not a caddis stream and we fished mayfly and stonefly patterns. But at lunch we got to talking about where I fished back East. I mentioned the Beaverkill and Swisher immediately cited his personal experience on the Beaverkill and the effectiveness of his Mono Caddis Pupa there. I asked how he tied it. As I recall he said something like this. “Take a 12 or 14 scud hook, add an appropriate size bead, do a hand whip fish with Berkeley Solar Green Mono directly over the back of the hook, and finish with a collar of my black Rub-a-dub dubbing which you can buy on my web site. The mono should be about the same diameter as the hook wire. Be sure to pick out the collar well since the dubbing has lots of small rubber wigglies that give the fly lots of action. The mono fluoresces and gives the pattern lots of pizazz”. He gave me a tying sample from his box and told me he carries the pattern with him wherever he goes.

Upon returning home, I ordered the dubbing and went to Efinger’s to see if they had the mono which they did. So I bought spools (300 yards) of sizes 15lb and 20lb which match hook wire for 14 and 12 hooks. When the dubbing arrived, I tried to tie the pattern but doing a hand whip finish on the bare hook as Swisher recommended was beyond my skills. You have to control the two ends of the mono plus the loop and I only have two hands. Swisher somehow manages this but I couldn’t and still can’t. So I tied in one end of the mono with the tag facing backward and used a Matarelli Extended Reach Whip Finishing tool to form the body. This takes a little wiggling as a large loop is needed for the many turns required for the body of the pattern. And the loop shortens and the mono in the loop twists with every rotation of the finisher. This makes the loop want to furl. But, with a little practice, it’s definitely doable. I give extensive details in the tying instruction section. And a cheating hint.

Even after many years of use, I still have lots left on my Berkeley spools. But this mono is currently available on Amazon (Amazon Smile gives returns to CJTU). If you have any Sunset Amnesia mono in chartreuse color, maybe used in making indicator leaders, you can use it instead. As for the dubbing, Swisher closed his sales web site several years ago so his dubbing is no longer available. But when I ran out I started using Pine Squirrel dubbing hand mixed from material cut from a black Pine Squirrel zonker strip. It has lots of long guard hairs in it which act like Swisher’s wigglies. The trout haven’t noticed the difference.

In recent years I’ve used Stren Gold mono in 12 lb test to tie a tan version of this pattern. Tan thread is used to tie down the mono. It also works well locally and in the Catskills. I show it in the photo in size 16 along with the green versions in sizes 12 and 14.

Material List:

Hook: Barbless Scud, sizes 12, 14 (Saber 7258 in photo)
Bead: Gold Brass or Tungsten (1/8” for 12; 7/64” of 14) A Black bead may optionally be used.
Thread: Danville 6/0, Chartreuse
Body: Whip finish of Berkeley Solar Green Monofilament (20#, 12 turns for 12; 15#, 14 turns for 14)
Dubbing: Black Pine Squirrel

Tying Instructions:

1. Thread bead onto hook and mount hook in vise.


2. Attach thread behind bead and wrap in touching turns back to bend then back in open turns to bead.


3. Cut about a 1 ft section of mono and slide one end into back of bead with mono on top of hook shank. This stabilizes the bead. Overwrap mono with thread in touching turns back to just around the hook bend keeping mono on top of shank. Then wrap thread back over mono in touching turns to bead. Whip finish and cut thread.


4. Grasp the mono extending back from the hook at its midpoint with your left hand. Pull the mono toward you and insert your extended reach whip finisher in the mono between the hook and your left hand grasp. Rotate the whip finisher to pinch the mono coming from the heel of the whip finisher against the hook shank just above your left hand grasp. Rotate whip finisher three times. This will hold the mono tag firmly enough that you can release your hold on the tag and use your left thumbnail to pack the three whipped coils to the left. Take three more turns with the whip finisher. Again pack those coils to the left with your left thumbnail. At this point the loop to the whip finisher will have shortened enough to make further turns difficult. So use your left hand to pull the mono leading to the heel of the finisher to the right. This will shorten the mono tag off the back of the hook and increase the loop. Take three more turns with the finisher and pack coils. Increase loop as before. Take three more turns. For size 12, you are done with coils. For a size 14 you need one more cycle of loop increase and final two whip turns. Now pull your finisher to the right and slowly ease out the mono over finisher heel keeping tension to the right with the mono in the finisher hook. Then pull the mono off the back of the hook to close the loop and when tight on finisher hook remove finisher and give final tightening. Clip the mono tag at the back of the formed cylinder.


5. Reattach thread ahead of mono cylinder and dub a collar of the black pine squirrel ending behind bead. Whip finish thread and pick out dubbing. Add cement.


6. Pat yourself on the back for successfully dealing with that nasty twisting mono.


7. If you are having trouble with all this, once you’ve tied in the mono with tag facing back, you can just wrap the mono forward in touching turns to the back of the bead, tie off and clip. This will give you a Swisher’s Mono Caddis Pupa Variant. It won’t offer reverence to Swisher’s original but the trout won’t be able to tell the difference. I still tie my patterns as described in steps 1 through 6 because I can do it quickly. But I suspect most you will be irreverent

I’ve previously reported my admiration for tyers who treat fly design as a problem solving exercise. Darrel Martin is one of those tyers. He has written two books and was the feature writer on fly tying for many years for the now defunct Fly Rod & Reel magazine. I met him at an International Fly Tying Symposium over 20 years ago where I watched him tie this Month’s pattern.

The problem he was attempting to solve is that in the early stages of a mayfly hatch trout are sometimes not taking the few floating duns but are taking the about to “pop” nymphs just under the surface. Bulges and flashes are indicative of this. So he wanted a “damp” nymph that held just at the surface. You might say you can just grease up a regular Hare’s Ear Nymph for this situation and indeed you can. But Martin wanted to insure the nymph wing case rode right in the surface in all sorts or flow conditions, something not always achieved with a greased Hare’s Ear. To achieve this he used a dry fly hook instead of a heavier nymph hook. And further he used a hackle parachuted around a poly yarn wing case with the fly tied in reverse. Tied thus the parachute hackle and the yarn hold up the hook bend, the heaviest part of the fly. Poly yarn is slightly less dense that water and floats. And the hackle fibers spread out parallel to the water surface also float.

I’m providing the materials list and tying instructions for a March Brown version of Martin’s nymph. But you can change hook size and dubbing colors to match other mayflies. I’ve made two slight materials substitutions to the pattern I saw him tie. The first is I use the newer Semperfli Poly instead of the Wapsi or Hareline Poly that he used. It’s got a slight crinkle in the fibers and seems to float a little better. Second, I use Haretron dubbing instead of regular Hare’s Ear. I like the sparkle from the added Antron fibers. The length of the hackle fibers can match the hook size or can be longer. I carry some with extra long fibers for use in turbulent runs.

Even with all the floating aids in the pattern, a little grease on the wing case and hackle fibers doesn’t hurt. Still it can be hard to see so I usually tie it on fluoro tippet as a trailer to a regular dry. Be sure to turn your cast over well so the nymph lands away from the dry. With this design the hook eye and attached fluoro are slightly under water giving no shiny surface tippet trail to spook a wary fish.

Material List:

Hook: Barbless 1XL Dry Fly, #12 (Saber 7211 in photo)
Thread: UNI 8/0, Brown or equivalent
Wing case: Semperfli Poly Yarn, Iron Blue
Hackle: Barred Ginger or Grizzly, 2 to 3 hook gap fiber length
Thorax Dubbing: Haretron Dark Hare’s Ear
Body Dubbing: Haretron Ginger

Tying Instructions:

1. Mount hook in vise, attach thread behind eye and wind thread back in touching turns to just around hook bend and then in open turns to half way point.


2. Cut a half card width section of the poly, run a comb through it to align fibers, and tie in with tag end rearward. Overwrap backward to slightly around bend.


3. Take three wraps up the yarn and three wraps down then one around the shank. This forms a short post.


4. Prepare a hackle and tie in on far side of post with shiny side up, tip facing back. Leave thread at forward edge of poly post.


5. Wind hackle CCW around post, 3 wraps up and 3 wraps down. Tie off with three wraps using hackle under method. Trim remaining tip.


6. Dub thorax back to mid shank. Separate hackle fibers at front of parachute and pull yarn down and tie off. Trim yarn at an angle to form a tapered under body.


7. Dub body and tie off and whip finish at eye.


8. With a dubbing brush or Velcro, tease out fibers horizontally on both thorax and body. A few swipes eyeward give the fly a nice tail. Cement.

I’d bet that almost all of you have one or more Copper Johns, the design creation of John Barr, in your nymph box. No wonder, it’s the number one selling nymph in the world. But Barr created many other productive patterns. This month’s fly is not well known but is my favorite of all his creations. I first learned of this pattern by reading an article by Barr in Fly Fisherman magazine in the late 70s. As I recall he was fishing a light cahill dry fly during a Pale Morning Dun hatch on Nelson’s Spring Creek outside Livingston Montana. He could see hatched duns floating by but the trout were totally ignoring his offering. Finally, late in the day, he hooked and landed one of the very cautious Browns. While unhooking this fish he noticed a few rather squashed up bugs in the trout’s gill rakers that weren’t quite fully developed duns but were beyond nymphs. We call these emergers now days. Anyway, in his motel room that night he used what he had in his portable tying kit to create a close as possible replica of what he had found. The next day he was, of course, very successful using his new design. Since then he slightly modified his original design to take advantage of materials and hooks he did not have in his kit.

His first tie was on a dry fly hook, a TMC 101, because that’s what he had. He now prefers a curved emerger or scud hook. He had no mylar originally but now incorporates a mylar flash back. He used brown hackle from the base of a saddle for the tail or nymph shuck.and still does. I believe antron yarn is a better choice because of its translucency and have listed it in the pattern description. Don’t use Zelon since it tends to float and you want the back of the fly under water when fished. The body and thorax are still just dubbing. The key design feature is a thorax cover of hackle fibers folded forward. The fibers are separated and pulled back on the sides as emerging wings. Barr used and uses dry fly hackle fibers. I think hen fibers, being softer and more mobile, work better. While Barr’s original was for the PMD, he later added a version with Baetis coloring. It’s this version I cover in the tying procedure since Fall Baetis will soon be on our local waters. But don’t be hesitant in tying versions for other small mayflies. A Paralep version with a pheasant tail back end Hare’s Ear thorax works great and sized up a bit matches a Hendrickson.

You can put some paste on the thorax cover and fish this pattern in the film as an almost dry. Or you can drop an untreated version off an indicator dry. Catches fish both ways.

Material List:

Hook: Emerger, #18 – 24, e.g. TMC 2488 or DaiRiki 125 (Saber 7259 # 18 used in photo)
Thread: UNI 8/0, Iron Gray
Tail/Shuck: Brown Antron or Brown Saddle Hackle Fibers
Body: Olive Brown Superfine Dubbing
Flashback(optional): Pearl Flashabou strand
Wingcase and Wings: Dun Hen Fibers
Thorax: Adams gray Superfine Dubbing

Tying Instructions:

1. Debarb hook and mount in vise, attach thread behind eye and wind thread back in touching turns to start of hook bend. Return thread to behind eye.


2. Attach a short length of the brown antron yarn ( ½ strand or less) and wind back to bend. An alternative is to use a teased out section of brown antron dubbing. Clip yarn to ½ shank length.


3. Dub olive brown Superfine up to half point. Barely cover the thread.


4. Tie in a piece of pearl flashabou, tag backward.(optional).


5. Tear off a small section of dun hen fibers and attach with tips back


6. Dub thorax with the gray Superfine. Again barely cover the thread.


7. Pull tips of hackle forward and tie down behind eye. Pull flashabou forward and tie down behind eye. Fold back flashabou, tie down and clip.


8. Separate hackle fibers into two equal bunches. Pull one bunch back on each side and tie back.


9. Form a nice head and tie off thread. Cement.


10. Clip wings to shank length.

By this time of year the thick hatches of aquatic insects are long gone. But there can be thick falls of flying ants. Just what are flying ants? They are sexually mature versions of those ants we find crawling around our gardens. When an ant colony is ready to expand many males and females develop wings and leave their colonies with the purpose of mating and forming new colonies. They collect in great numbers to help protect themselves from predators and give themselves a better chance of finding a mate. When a mating swarm is over a stream some tumble down and create a feeding frenzy by the local trout. So if you are fishing at the time of such an “ant fall”, you’d better have a flying ant pattern in your box.

This month’s pattern is my amalgam of a number of published patterns for flying ants. I’ve tied and photographed it in cinnamon colors since I’ve found that locally this color scheme fishes best for me. But you can also tie it in black or black and cinnamon. The pattern is a candidate for all sorts of material and hook variations. I’ve used UV Ice Dub but Antron Dubbing, Superfine, and many others will work just fine. The flash in the wings helps both the trout to pick out the fly and also the angler to spot the fly as it drifts. I’ve used Krinkle Mirror Flash but Hareline Lateral Scale seems the same material. Or Saltwater Flashabou will work just fine. The wing can be any of the Poly Yarns. I’ve used Hareline Polypro but Semperfli, Wapsi, or McFlylon will do. If your eyes are bad, use a hot color instead of white. If your eyes are super, use 2 or 3 dun colored CDC feathers.

If I tie the pattern on a standard hook, I use a down eye dry. With a fluorocarbon tippet, the leader at the fly tends to get submerged eliminating the surface light steak seen by a trout from below caused by a floating tippet. The idea is to not give any unnatural surface impressions near the fly. A new idea I’m just trying is to use a jig hook. The tie in of the fluoro is well below the surface assuring no unnatural impression. This is an idea of Welsh Tier Nick Thomas published five years ago but widely hitting the rounds of the internet Forums and YouTube only recently. Lots of dry patterns can be tied and fished on a jig hook. Give the idea a try.

https://eat-sleep-fish.co.uk/content/2016/05/dancing-jig

Material List:

Hook: Barbless Jig, #12 or Barbless Wide Gap Dry, #12 (Saber 5220 and Saber 7210 in photo)
Thread: UNI 8/0 Camel
Dubbing: Ice Dub, UV Cinnamon
Hackle: Barred Ginger
Flash: Krinkle Mirror Flash, Pearlescent
Wing: Poly Yarn, White

Tying Instructions:

1. Mount hook in vise, attach thread behind eye and wind thread back in touching turns to start of hook bend.


2. Dub a small “football” starting at the bend going forward to the 2/3 point.


3. Prepare a hackle sized to hook, tie in, wrap forward 4 turns, tie off. Clip hackle waste.


4. Dub a very small ball going forward about 1/16 inch. Attach a short piece of flash at its midpoint, wind forward two turns, fold forward part back, over wrap back to front of small dubbing ball. Flash should now be in the shape of a “V” looking down on fly.


5. Attach a short piece of Poly Yarn at its midpoint, wind forward two turns, fold forward part back, over wrap back to front of small dubbing ball. Poly should now be in the shape of a “V” looking down on fly.


6. Dub a head tight against the flash and yarn folds.


7. Whip finish and cement head.


8. Tug on flash and yarn to assure they both are in a “V” configuration. Trim yarn to back of rear dubbing ball, Trim flash 1/16 inch longer than yarn wing. Notch out bottom hackle fibers.


9. A little paste floatant on the wing will hold the ant right in the surface film where it should be drifting.

Summertime and the fishing’s not easy
Flows are slacking and the temperatures are high
Bugs not hatching so trout are not looking
Hush, little trout fisher, don’t you cry

This is the last FOTM before the summer trout doldrums set in. I’ll soon be turning locally to pursuit of warmwater species (bass, panfish, carp) from late June through late August. You should too unless you are going to the Rockies. But then, as September nears, air and water temperatures start to decrease and thoughts of pursuing trout again renew. This month’s fly is intended to be fished when safe fishing for trout in New Jersey resumes. It uses only one material, super hair, tied to a hook with precise thread control. With care in exactly following the tying instructions any intermediate tier should have no problems with it.

This pattern is the creation of Neil Patterson, not particularly well-known in the US but very well known in the UK where he writes a monthly column for the British magazine Fly Fishing and Fly Tying. His signature pattern is the Funnel Dun which some of you may recognize. Patterson considers fly design and tying as a problem solving exercise. You don’t just choose materials and put them on a hook because you can but because material choice combines with tying technique to solve a problem. This is the philosophy of New Jersey’s own saltwater guru, Bob Popovic, and many other tiers whom I admire.

The problem this pattern solves is temptng eats late in the season when “trout have seen it all”. You want something small with no features that signal obvious fraud. Something that has the translucence of a natural creature like a caddis or midge larva. Something with a little action like wiggly legs. Something that triggers the reaction “Looks like fish food, let me taste it to see”. Solution, the Glass Caddis. So, tie it now so you’ll be ready for late Summer. Might even try it in mid-June. Bluegills like it any season.

You should fish this pattern upstream as a dropper off a small dry or terrestial. Use 6x fluoro for the dropper link so the Glass Caddis sinks slightly. Be sure to turn over your cast well so the Glass Caddis lands upstream of the indicator fly. I’m often surprised to see the indicator fly dip when I see no take.

Material List:

Hook: Tiemco 200R size 18
Thread: UNI 8/0 Black
Body: 6 strands Super Hair , yellow chartreuse

Tying Instructions:

1. Debarb hook, insert in vise


2. Start thread 1/16 inch back from eye, wrap back 1/16 inch in touching turns.


3. Tie in bundle of 6 Super Hairs on top of hook shank with 2 inches ahead of eye, rest pointing back.


4. Wrap back 1/16”, make a 1 or 2 turn whip finish to secure thread in place.


5. In touching turns wrap backward facing bundle slightly around bend then back to thread.


6. Again in touching turns wrap bundle back going not as far as first time then back to thread. Tie off hard on top of shank. This will give you a tapered body.


7. Wrap thread forward over both bundles until 1/16 inch behind eye then back in touching turns to where body was tied off. This forms dark thorax.


8. Fold both bundles back on far top side of shank and tie down hard with 2 turns. Bring thread under thorax to 1/16 inch behind eye.


9. Bring bundles forward on far top side and tie down at thread position.


10. Bring thread under thorax again to where body was tied off.


11. Bring both bundles back on near top side of shank and tie down hard with 2 turns. Bring thread under thorax to 1/16 inch behind eye.


12. Bring bundles forward on near top side and tie down at thread position.


13. Bring thread under bundles and make 2 wraps behind eye.


14. Separate bundles (they will be of different lengths) and tug to opposite sides. X wrap to hold them out perpendicular to the hook shank. This forms legs. Whip finish at eye.


15. Trim thread. Fuss to get leg fibers separated as best as possible and trim to length.


16. Coat everything with Thinned Liquid Fusion, make sure eye is clean and let dry.

I’m sure most members of CJTU are familiar with the fly tying traditions and patterns of the Catskill region. Theodore Gordon started things off there followed by a plethora of now famous continuers including the Darbees, the Dettes, Lee Wulff, and Poul Jorgenson. But other regions of the country have their own contributors who generally are known more locally than worldwide.

This month’s fly comes from the Great Lakes region, specifically Michigan. It is an evolution of the Borcher Special Dry Fly first tied in the 1940s by Ernie Borcher of Grayling Michigan. No synthetic materials were available then, only natural ones as the by-products of hunting and farming. He thus used these natural materials to imitate the many large bodied mayflies prevalent in Michigan streams and ponds. The original has dun colored hackle tip wings and a collar hackle of mixed grizzly and brown. You can think of it as a dark bodied Adams, another pattern of Michigan origin. The Adams evolved from grizzly hackle tip wings to a parachute version with a white hair post. The Borcher Parachute has had a similar evolution.

Michigan has a large population of deer and, in the Upper Peninsula, moose. Wild turkeys are found throughout the state. So it’s not a surprise that the Borcher parachute uses moose body hair for a tail, white deer belly hair for a wing, and wrapped turkey tail fibers for a body. You can, of course, use calf body hair for the post (I do) if you only fish this pattern locally. But don’t take your flies to Michigan. Trout there love deer and hate cows and will reject your fly automatically.

In local streams fish the pattern when large spinners are out. Vary the size to cover Hendricksons, Grey Fox, March Browns and Isonychias. In your fly box, a row of various sizes of this pattern looks particularly nice next to a row of various sizes of Parachute Adams and is equally useful.

Material List:

Hook: Standard Dry Fly, size 10, 12, 14 or 16 (TMC 100, size 12 in photo)
Thread: Danville 6/0, black
Tail: 4 fibers Moose Body Hair
Rib: Fine Gold Wire
Wing Post: White Deer Belly Hair (Calf Body Hair Optional)
Body: Fibers from Turkey Tail (6 for size 12)
Hackle: Grizzly and Brown Hackles (Over sized by one, e.g. a 10 hackle on a 12 hook)

Tying Instructions:

1. Debarb hook and mount firmly in vise. Attach thread at ¼ point and wrap backward in touching turns to the bend. Use thread to make a small bump right at the start of the hook bend. Trim thread tag.


2. Tie the Moose fibers in with tail length of two hook shank lengths. Wrap over fibers back to thread bump. This should raise and split the fibers slightly. Tug tail fibers into two groups at sides of hook shank. Cross wrap to stabilize in split position. Tie wire going forward to ¼ point, tag end back.


3. Tie in Turkey fibers near tip, base ends pointing back. Overwrap back to bend then bring thread to attachment point. Trim tips.


4. Stack a small bunch of deer or calf body hair and tie in tips forward, length about a shank length. Wrap back slightly then lift and trim butts at an angle. Wrap back over butts forming a tapered under body. Bring thread to front on hair bunch.


5. Pull hair vertical and wrap in front to hold vertical then wrap base of hair as a post foundation for hackles. Thread to front of post


6. Tie in hackles together, fibers horizontal, tips forward, then bring thread behind post and finish tying in butts. Thread to front on post.


7. Wrap turkey fibers forward to post then under post and one wrap in front of post. Tie off and clip butts.


8. Counter wrap wire all the way to thread. Tie off and helicopter off wire tag. Bring thread behind post then to front of post.


9. Wrap hackles together up post two wraps then down under previous wraps. About 7 or 8 wraps total. Tie off using thread under technique. (see the video if not familiar with this ). Wrap thread to eye and finish with whip finish. Trim thread and hackle tips. Cement head.

Does this scenario ring a bell? In a morning in late Spring trout are flashing in a nice run out in front of you. So you put on a double nymph rig with patterns matching the expected hatch. But you hook nothing and the trout continue flashing. You could just sit on a streamside rock and wait for the hatch. Or you could put on other patterns and keep nymphing. But what patterns? When this happens to me I put on two different sizes of an attractor nymph, the Zug Bug. And, more often than not, I hook a few fish before dry fly activity starts. The Zug Bug become my “when all else fails” pattern.

The Zug Bug is an old pattern, created by Pennsylvania tier Cliff Zug back in the 1930s. My path to tying and fishing it started in the late 1990s. I was in the Blue Ribbon Flies shop in West Yellowstone talking with owner Craig Mathews about fishing Cliff and Wade Lakes on one of my next trips. I asked him what flies I should take. He told me that many old-timers swear by Zug Bugs and that I should be sure to bring some in sizes 10, 12 and 14 if I went. At that time, even though I knew the name, I had never tied or fished that pattern. I asked Craig what the Bug represents. He admitted he honestly didn’t know but there are damsels, dragons, caddis and small minnows in the Lakes and trout could take the Bug for any of these or as just an attractor to mouth.

So, during the following Winter, I tied up Zugs in 10s through 14s, some weighted and some not, and stuck them in my nymph box. While I did get back to the Yellowstone area the next season, I didn’t get to Cliff or Wade Lakes as I had thought. The Bugs idled in my box for many years. Then, about ten years ago, when I experienced the scenario I described earlier I started running through my nymph box with no results until I tried the Zugs. They caught a few trout. The next time I encountered the opening scenario I put the Zugs on as the first option and again hooked a few trout before dry fly time. So, that’s the history of my “Zugs to the rescue plan”.

The pattern is simple to tie. Peacock sword, peacock herl, tinsel ribbing, a triangular mallard wing case, and brown soft hackle collar are all that are needed. For those that you weight use non-lead wire. You may someday want to use the flies in Yellowstone Park where lead is illegal. How will you know if a fly is weighted? I use black thread at the head for weighted ones and brown thread for unweighted ones. Then, even though they may get shuffled around in fishing and replacing, I’ll always know the heavy ones.

So, give a pair a try when other patterns fail, weighted on the point fly, unweighted on the dropper. Hopefully, the Zugs will be the drug to give you a tug.

Material List:

Hook: 2xl nymph, 10-14 (In photo a Saber 7231, #10)
Weight:(Optional) non-lead wire about 14 wraps,020 for 10s, .015 for 12s and 14s
Thread: Danville 6/0, black for weighted, brown for unweighted
Tail: 4 Peacock Sword Fibers for 10, 3 for 12 and 14
Rib: Silver Oval Tinsel, small
Body: 6 Peacock Herls for 10s, 5 for 12s and 4 for 14s
Hackle: Furnace Brown Hen Neck
Wingcase: Mallard Flank Feather, triangulated

Tying Instructions:

1. Debarb hook and mount firmly in your vise.
2. Option 1 weighted - Add wire wraps. Locate wraps so leading edge is 2 eye lengths behind hook eye. Attach thread at front of wire wraps and wrap back and forth over wire to secure to hook. Trim thread tag. Leave thread at rear of wire wraps. Attach Peacock Sword fibers so they extend ½ shank length beyond start of bend and wrap back to bend then forward to wire. Trim fibers at back of wire. Attach tinsel on the far side of the hook shank, front abutting wire and tag back. Wrap back to bend and then forward to initial thread tie in point.
3. Option 2 non-weighted – Attach thread 2 eye lengths behind hook eye and wrap back to bend and then back to initial attachment point. Trim thread tag. Attach Peacock Sword fibers so they extend ½ shank length beyond start of bend and wrap back to bend then forward to initial thread attachment point. Trim forward facing fibers. Attach tinsel on the far side of the hook shank. front at thread attachment point and tag back. Wrap back over tinsel to bend of hook then back to thread attachment point.
4. Align the tips of the Peacock herls and trim butt ends even. Tie in by butts with tips forward. Wrap herls back to bend pushing hanging thread backward with each wrap. This packs the herl nicely as you wrap it back. At bend take two wraps of thread over herls then spiral thread forward to initial attachment point and take two wraps. Half hitch to prevent bump off when wrapping rib. Herls are now counter wrapped with the thread. They will be further reinforced when you wrap the rib. Trim herl tips.
5. Spiral tinsel rib forward to thread, 4 or 5 wraps, tie off and trim tinsel. Half hitch.
6. Select a hackle so that the fiber length near the tip is about 1-1/2 times the hook gap. Pull tip fibers back to create a triangular tie in tip. Tie in the triangle and wrap hackle forward 3 turns. Tie off and trim hackle base. Wrap thread back slightly to hold hackle fibers angling back and down. You want to leave top of fly as clear as possible before installing mallard triangle..
7. Part the sides of the Mallard feather about half way up the top part of the feather. This will leave you with a triangular tip which you tie in flat on top, good side up, with 2 thread wraps. Then pull base of feather slightly forward so a few side fibers are under the thread and angle of the fibers is slightly narrowed. Trim base of feather, form a nice thread head, whip finish and varnish head. Trim backward facing part of mallard feather about 1/3rd shank length behind eye. If you try to use a section near the base of the Mallard feather, the triangle formed will be overly wide.

Have you ever heard the belly of a trout “crunch” as you unhooked it in the net? If so, I’m betting it was on a New Jersey stream about this time of year. The source of the “crunch” is cased caddis and our local rivers are loaded with them, particularly the Musky. I have a belief that the trout are getting tired of scooping up the minutia I mentioned last month and are looking for a big meal as water temperatures warm. Yet, the nice “clean” chunks of food in the form of mayfly and stonefly nymphs are still growing while in hiding. So the only option for something “big” is a cased caddis which includes a lot of indigestible material. I’m not a biologist and have no hard data to support this belief but experience hasn’t dispelled it.

My favorite cased caddis pattern is the Peeping Caddis. I learned this pattern while attending a class by the famous British tier Oliver Edwards at the International Fly Tying Symposium in the late 1990s. And for many of the intervening years I’ve tied it as taught then. But, fly tying materials continually change and to take advantage of these changes I’ve updated my tying of this pattern lately to incorporate a few of the new options.

Different species of case-building caddis form their cases with assemblages of different materials. Some like small rocks and coarse sand granules. Others like twigs or other wood pieces. Some generate the material for their cases and cases look rubbery. Some use a little bit of all these options. As you can see from the above photo, this month’s pattern is a compromise. It doesn’t exactly match any of those you see on the stream but puts together key features from many of them. It consists of an imitation of a caddis case with a head representing the caddis larva peeping out from the case. A soft hackle behind the head represents the legs of the larva. Some weight at the head of the fly on the side of the hook opposite the bend causes the pattern to ride hook point up as it bounces along the bottom, hopefully snag free.

As for updates, Edwards used a 2XL or 3XL straight shank nymph hook in size range 10 to 14. I like a York bend hook like the TMC 2302 in the same size range merely for the aesthetic reason of providing a nice curve upward from eye to hook point in the final pattern. For larva, Edwards used a synthetic yarn burned to give a black head. I like pearl core braid similarly burned since it provides a bit of additional sparkle. For weighting Edwards used a tin BB crimped on a short strand of monofilament. I like a slotted tungsten bead which wasn’t available when he designed the fly. Tungsten is much heavier than tin so the weight can be smaller and less intrusive. And the bead surrounds the hook shank and won’t pull off like the BB might. Penultimately, Edwards used hare’s ear dubbing to form the case. I like the modern dubbing of hare’s ear mixed with antron to give a little sparkle to the body which in the naturals is typically provided by small coarse sand particles. Finally, Edwards used a loop of thread to hold the dubbing which is twisted and wound to form the case. Modern threads like 6/0 Semperfli are very strong and split easily. So split thread dubbing is quicker and easier than using a loop. No need for a dubbing whirl which always seems to be getting in the way with the thread bobbin when you use a dubbing loop.

As for fishing this pattern, you need drift it on the bottom as a tail fly. A small nymph on a dropper a foot above the caddis is recommended. This combo should serve you well when it’s crunch time.

Material List:

Hook: York Bend, #10-#14 (In photo a TMC 2302 #10)
Thread: Danville or Semperfli 6/0, tan
Bead: 5/32” Slotted Tungsten, Brown or Black for #10. 1/8” for #12 and #14
Weighting: .025 Non-Lead Wire
Head: Chartreuse Pearl Core Braid. White also an option.
Legs: Brown Partridge or Hen Saddle
Body: Hare’s Ear Plus, Antron/Hare Dubbing

Tying Instructions:

1. Debarb hook, insert hook point through round hole side of bead and move bead to hook eye. Mount hook in vise.
2. Attach thread securely to hook behind the bead and wrap back 1/8”. Cut a ¼” length of the wire and push into the bead slot causing bead to stabilize on the top side of the hook. Overwrap wire with thread. Touch with super glue.
3. Burn the end of a length of the braid. Cut a 1” long piece of the braid and tie in with burnt end back extending about a hook gap. Tie down to back of wire and trim so braid end abuts wire end. Bring thread to back of bend.
4. Prepare and tie in a Partridge feather by the tip, good side up and base of feather pointing backward. Make two wraps and tie off. Trim waste.
5. Pull dubbing from package in small bundles so fibers are aligned horizontally and form a column of the dubbing bunches on your bench. Pick up with a clip. I use a stationary clip purchased from a Dollar store.
6. Spit thread with a fine bodkin and insert dubbing in gap. Pull bobbin tight trapping dubbing. Spin bobbin clockwise as you look down on it. Use bodkin to free trapped dubbing fibers as bobbin spins.
7. Wrap dubbing forward to bead, pulling dubbing ends back with each wrap. You’ll have to experiment to get the right height of the column of dubbing inserted in the split thread. You may want to do this as two shorter columns instead of one longer one.
8. Pick out dubbing with a velcro brush and trim body to shape.
9. Place some super glue on about 1” of thread below the hook. Whip finish and trim thread.

With the recent very chilly days the trout are lying deep. But they still have to eat and without prominent hatches they can’t be too choosy. So you need to show them a small simple fly that can represent many food forms, something that doesn’t have features that offend so that they have to take the fly in their mouths for a taste test before letting it drift by. You might recall Ozzie’s video of a rainbow continually sampling small objects in the drift. Enter this month’s pattern, the 3$ Bridge Serendipity, known affectionately as the 3$ DIP. Depending on the body color, the DIP can look like a midge, a baetis nymph, a caddis larva or lots of other aquatic minutia. All of these are staples in a trout’s cold water diet.

As you can see from the photo, the pattern consists of only a hook, thread body, wire rib, a short deer hair wing and Krystal Flash horns. So it’s a simple pattern that experienced tiers should be able to tie from the photo. Only nonobvious step in the way I tie it is that the hair is tied in with the tip ends pointing forward. Sometimes you’ll see this pattern with a bead head. But I prefer it without a bead tied on a heavy wire hook to give it some weight. You can, however, add a small gold or silver bead head if you want.

I like this pattern mostly in two sizes, 16 and 18. I’ll sometime tie a 20. Body colors I prefer are black, brown, and olive. If you like chartreuse, by all means give it a try. Gold or silver ribbing wire seem to work equally well. For the flared deer hair head I use both regular and bleached deer. I haven’t notice any difference in effectiveness.. Just don’t make the wing too bulky. With these color and size options, there are lots of candidates to tie up for your box. Fortunately it’s very quick pattern to tie so filling a large section of your box won’t take too much time.

Like many of the patterns I’ve featured lately, this pattern traces its origins to guides and shops in the Yellowstone area. Ross Merigold, who guided for Blue Ribbon Flies, started the path to this version of the Serendipity pattern with a floss body ribbed with wire. Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon flies, corded up Zelon for the body, no wire rib. Nick Nicklas, another Blue Ribbon Flies guide, went to a simple thread body and wire rib. The name comes from the 3$ Bridge area of the Madison River where it first earned fame. And finally, Kelly Galloup of the Slide Inn added the flashy horns. Kelly claims the horns make the pattern more effective on sunny days but don’t seem to make a difference on cloudy days.. I haven’t done enough comparison testing to form an opinion on this. So take your choice on whether you want to add them. If tied in you can always cut them off.on the stream.

As for fishing this pattern, you want it drifting near the bottom. A double nymph rig with an indicator or a Euro rig work fine. Just put the DIP on the tail so it can dance around as your anchor fly drifts downstream.

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: Umpqua U105, DR 075 or equivalent, sizes 16, 18, and 20 Saber 7221 #16 used in flies in the photo
Thread: Danville 6/0 - Black , Brown or Olive
Rib: Gold or Silver Wire – small for #16, extra small for #18
Body: Tying thread
Wing: Regular or bleached deer Hair, approximately 15 fibers
Horns: Regular Pearl Krystal Flash for 16 or 18, Mini for 20

Instructions:

1. Mash barb on hook if barbed and mount in vise.
2. Attach thread to hook at eye and wind back about ¼ way. Trim thread tag. Tie in wire, long tag back and wrap back a few more turns. Pull wire back so front tag just disappears under thread. Continue wrapping thread back over wire to start of bend.
3. Built up a tapered thread body with multiple back and forth passes ending with thread just behind eye.
4. Rib forward with wire and tie off at thread position. Helicopter wire off.
5. Pull deer hair fibers from hide patch, clip tips, and tie in with “tip” ends just behind eye. Hair fibers are held on top of hook shank as you pull down on thread so hair flares on top. Don’t allow fibers to spin. Wrap back a few turns. Cut hair butts to length as shown in photo.
6. Loop a single stand of Krystal Flash around thread and tie in and overwrap slightly so strands are on opposite sides of fly and pointing backward. Trim strands to just beyond back of hook.
7. Form a small thread head, whip finish, add cement to head and to thread body.

I first tied this month’s fly in early 1996 shortly after being introduced to the potential of using glass beads in fly patterns by Jim Pettis as described last month. My intent was to produce a close imitation of the aquatic earthworms that are prevalent in tail waters like the Big Horn and Missouri rivers and the Spring Creeks around Livingston MT and in Eastern Pennsylvania. It is really just a size variant of the San Juan Worm fly pattern that had been around for over twenty years. My idea was to connect the worm material to a hook with only a small glass bead instead of tying down the material along the hook shank as was usually done. I thought this would allow the material ends to wiggle more.

The pattern was an outstanding producer from the start in a basic red or wine color scheme that represents such worms. It has been a staple in my fly box ever since tied. I believe there are a number of reasons for its effectiveness. First, it is the right size and color. Next, the weight of the glass bead keeps the fly near the bottom when fished on an indicator or Euro rig. The bottom is where natural aquatic worms are most prevalent. Finally, the weight of the bead combined with a down eye scud hook causes the fly to ride hook point up so that it tends not to snag bottom vegetation nor collect such vegetation as it drifts.

For a about a year I thought I had invented the attachment technique. Then, when reading Joe Warren’s 1997 book on “Tying Glass Bead Patterns”, I discovered another tier had beaten me to this technique by several years. I consoled myself by recognizing that I had at least created the attachment technique independently.

Tying this pattern is extremely simple as evidenced by the very short set of instructions below. After all it’s just vernille threaded through a bead, the bead then impaled with a hook, and the result tied and glued in place. But an exactly matched set of materials is needed for the version that I believe most closely matches the size of aquatic earthworms. The vernille (ultra chenille) used must be small enough to easily be threaded through the bead and the bead must have a large enough hole to accept the vernille and hook. I use 10/0 beads which are available from craft suppliers. The holes in 11/0 beads are just too small for easy threading. My preference is for silver lined beads with an AB (pearly) finish but plain silver lined beads work just fine. I use the vernille manufactured by Cascade Crest tools which has a 1mm diameter. It is available from The Fly Shop (where I first got mine) in size labeled Mini. Or you can purchase it directly from Cascade Crest or the Fly Shack (one of our sponsors) in size labeled Small. Local fly shops do not carry this product.

Other Ultra Chenilles in size Micro are available from Hareline and Wapsi and are stocked by local shops. The diameters of both these chenilles are about 1.5mm making them too large for a use with10/0 beads. You’ll have to use 8/0 beads with these. Flies using this latter chenille-bead combination work just fine although I stick with my slightly smaller version through stubborn support of my original. A VERY SMALL drop of gel super glue holds the bead in place. Regular superglue wicks into the vernille around the bead and stiffens the vernille such that the vernille breaks off after a few fish.

The Worm on the left side of the photo uses 1mm wine vernille and a 10/0 red bead. The Worm on the right uses 1 mm red vernille and also a 10/0 red bead. The Worms in the center are a recent modification, adding two beads instead of one. This slightly heavier version seems to work a little better in the freestone streams of our area and in sections of tail waters where flows are faster than in Spring Creeks.

Pattern Recipe:

Body: Vernille(1mm diameter), red or wine
Bead: 10/0 AB SL Glass, red
Hook: Size 14 Scud Hook, TMC 2487 or equivalent
Thread: Danville 6/0, red
Glue: Gel Superglue

Instructions:

1. Cut a 1-3/8” section of vernille, flame ends to taper. Use bobbin threader to pull through bead.
2. Debard hook. Impale bead with hook, mount hook in vise, slide bead to rear.
3. Start thread behind eye and wind back in touching turns to half way point. Pull vernille to desired final position and tie down with six turns. Then wind thread under vernille to eye. Whip finish twice and trim thread. You won’t be using head cement since it might wick into the vernille.
4. Place a dab of gel super glue on a piece of paper. Use a bodkin to place a VERY small amount at the vernille tie down point.
5. Side bead forward over glue.