The Clown Clouser

The Clown Clouser

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I use to be a tournament bass angler! Memories of jigging tubes and walking zara spooks for big bass still invade my dreams and at heart I think I will always be a tourney angler even if I never participate in a another tournament again. During those days, I used a variety of jerkbaits, and one particular jerkbait that always produced -- when of course the fish wanted it, that is -- was the Clown by Rapala. This jerkbait worked for bass, pike, muskie, walleye and anything else that would hit a jerkbait-style lure.

I can remember many stinkin' hot summer days when nothing would bite, only to have the clown talk one or two fish into taking a nibble. And during a tournament on a hot summer's day, one or two fish may have just been enough to take first place!

Skip ahead a few lifetimes and here I am:  a dedicated fly angler.  There are times when I think back to my tournament days and I am reminded of Rapala's Clown jerkbait. And well, I figured I may as well get busy and tie a few to see how they work! 


Since my intended targets for this fly are bass and walleye, it was a no brainer (at least to me) that this fly would be tied Clouser style. This is a variation on the clown colors; it is not an exact replication. After playing around with a few dressings, I have arrived at this particular dressing as the one that is most preferred by bass and walleye. 

Tie a few up and let me know how you get on with it!

Happy tying!
Nikki


The Clown Clouser
Hook: Saltwater 2 - 4/0
Thread: Danville's Flymaster Plus 210 Denier, Red 
Eyes: Large lead chartreuse 
Tail: Yellow Finn Raccoon with yellow holographic Flashabou
Sides: Blue Finn raccoon tied on each side directly behind the lead eyes
Belly: White Finn raccoon
Wing: Yellow Finn Raccoon with yellow holographic Flashabou
Collar: Red EP sparkle brush

FLEYE FOILS are coming!

A guest blog by Bob Popovics

I'm sure you all can imagine how happy I was when Bob Popovics agreed to guest blog at Flies of Fancy!  He needs no introduction, but I'll give him one anyway.  Bob has been fly tying for decades and has brought to the fly fishing world many innovative flies, like the Surf Candy, that have since become standards in everyone's fly boxes.  He continues to develop new products that shape the fly fishing world, and today he's blogging about his latest creation -- FLEYE FOILS.  

Welcome, Bob!

It's been a long road to get this little project started. 

Back in January, I met Ibbi Mesinovic at the Marlboro Fly Fishing Show.  He showed me something I might be interested in.  A foil!  Neat little item.  Very shiny, shape was cool, and had little tying tabs in the front to easily attach to the hook.  One foil to each side of the fleye was also right!  This looked very similar to a wish I had many years ago, but because the cost to get it started was too much, I scrapped the idea. 

But Ibbi's idea was a better one.  The tying tab was cool, but already done with Tab-Eyes; the shape was fine but needed to be re-shaped, but because it was one side at a time, I was impressed.  My idea so long ago was all-in-one to wrap around a hook.  That was the epoxy era.  NOW, we are deep into the light-cured acrylics and a wraparound foil would not be so good since it would likely shield the light from certain spots and not allow for proper curing of the gel.  With epoxy this would not have mattered.  

I asked Ibbi if he would make these to my specs, and he agreed.  I drew up a few ideas over the next month and finally the FLEYE FOILS are ready to be sold.  Three baits are featured, the Bay Anchovy, the Silverside, and the Sand Eel.  Three to four sizes in each.  Easy and quite fun to tie! The fly is a simple basic, pre-epoxy frame but with Fleye Foils on the sides.  Using the acrylics was easy because I could slide the gel between the foils from the top and bottom, cure it, and put a finish coat on top of all of it and DONE!  The belly sac was there, the stripe was there, and the eye was there!!!  Even a mouth and gill lines were there.  The Surf Candy was looking very smart all dressed up, and so easily tied! 

I hope everyone has a good time using the FLEYE FOILS and maybe they'll even bring out the fun in making something so easily that looks so good.  I sure had fun getting all this together and I am excited that people will enjoy it, too.  Bob Popovics

FLEYE FOILS can be purchased at TUFFLEYE

And the winner is.....

The winner picked by Rafflecopter was Entry #37, Mel M. Mel said that she is going to use these tubes for steelhead and redfish.  Awesome choices!  :)


A big thanks to everyone who entered! Flies of Fancy and McFluffchucker are teaming up for pike fly giveaway in June! Keep an eye out for that!


Once again, congrats to Mel on winning this giveaway. Send us pics of the steelhead and redfish you catch on your new flies, Mel! 


Nikki

Claret wiggly nymph

Hook: #8 heavy wire wet/nymph.
Weight: Lead wire 0.4mm.
Thread: Danville’s Flymaster 70 Claret.
Tail: Black rabbit zonker fur.
Rib: Copper wire, brassie size.
Abdomen: Claret hare’s ear dubbing.
Shellback: Turkey tail.
Legs: Black spandex or any silicone rubber legs.
Thorax: Claret hare’s ear dubbing.
Head: Claret thread.

This fly has proven to be one the most productive carp flies that I have tied. It works in clear, stained, off color or muddy turbulent water. As far as I can tell the only thing that matters is if you fish it or not!

I tie all of mine exactly the same regardless of the depth or size of water that I will be fishing, and for carp size #8 standard shank seems to be the winning size. Once I complete the fly I liberally coat the shellback and head with hard as hull. This adds durability to the fly, although between the fish, snags, brush and trees I typically go through about a half dozen each time I go carp fishing…view full tutorial.

Shea's Bucktail Deceiver

My daughter has been enamored with fly tying since before she could walk. I recall one afternoon when I was sitting at my tying desk working away when suddenly there were tiny fingers and someone was standing beside me watching.

Yup, it was Shea! She had pushed a wooden box I kept feathers in over to my

desk and climbed on top of it and managed to balance herself so she could

watch me tie. She was only twelve months old!

Over the years she has spent time at the desk herself with bobbin in hand, tying

away. In the early days she tied flies with scraps of materials. It was very cute!

She is now nearly eleven years old and can tie very nice flies! She created

the egg pattern she named "Three Scoops Please" which was a huge hit this

steelhead season.

Pictured below is her two most recent flies, Bob Popovics' Bucktail Deceivers!

Both are tied on a small HMH tube and are completed with a Eumer large brass

cone. She did a brilliant job for her first attempt tying tube flies with cone heads!

Well done, sweetheart ;)

Pollock!

Earlier this week, I found a few CDs with pictures from when I lived in Ireland. I was very excited to see that among pictures of family and friends there were also a few photos of fish. Very exciting! Here are two pictures of pollock that were both taken on baitfish flies. Pollock are one of my favorite fish to target; they are strong fighting fish that make deep dives when hooked. I have broken at least two rods that I can remember on fish that were above 8 pounds. Much like carp, when you get them near shore and are ready to lift them out of the water they typically have one last run in them. If you have the line clamped tight and you are not expecting this last run, it can spell disaster if you have a large fish hooked.

Schools of pollock will attack just about any baitfish that swims close by. A selection of streamers in sizes 2 through 1/0 will cover most situations. The two color combinations that I have had the most success with are red/yellow and blue/white. 

Deceivers, whistlers, sliders, hollow ties, epoxied flies, not epoxied flies, pollock are not biased; they'll hit patterns without discrimination! And so fly selection is not as crucial as presenting the fly at the appropriate depth. The fly needs to get down quickly, so a lead core sinking line is the best option. Armed with a fast sinking line, a selection of baitfish patterns and a stripping basket you will be prepared for battle.

When pollock are close into shore, they prefer the deep rocky reef and cliffs that overhang on the water. They school up underneath these areas and ambush their prey. Cast out and allow the fly to sink to the appropriate depth then retrieve in short strips or long fast pulls. To find the right depth, I would count down the sink line until I found the depth the fish were at. Takes often occur right at your feet a few feet below the surface of the water, and rest assured that these takes are very hard. It is extremely exciting to be pulling your fly out of the water for a cast only to have a pollock that was chasing your fly leap out of the water and take the fly in the air! That is an awesome experience!

Just to note, pollock are cousin to the cod and are lovely tasting fish! Their flesh is a bit softer and more flakey but nonetheless gorgeous for fish and chips or fish pie. They were a favorite in my household and I really do miss fishing for them! So if you're visiting or you live in Ireland or the UK, do put some time into fly-fishing for these fish, you will not regret it! I miss being in Ireland and fishing for these fish, so write and tell me your pollock stories! 

Tight Lines!

Nikki

The Gurgler

It's springtime! The water temperatures are rising. The bass are beginning to move; it's time for their spawn. Active, hungry, aggressive smallmouth bass:  Can we say fun, fun, fun!

Jack Gartside's Gurgler is a great top water pattern, especially for locating active bass. I tie this pattern in white, chartreuse and black, and I typically tie on an overwing of natural grizzly hackle. The black works well at night and early in the morning, and depending on where you are fishing it may even entice a walleye for some top water action.

I dress my Gurgler a bit differently than the original as I opt for cactus chenille for the body; Jack palmered a hackle feather for the body. I have also tied huge bulky versions on wide gap stinger hooks to imitate frogs with great results!

Heavy thread wraps may cut through the closed-cell foam so be mindful of this when working with this material! Measure a piece of foam that is twice the length of the hook shank and tie it on the length of the shank. Once you complete the body, fold the foam over and secure it directly behind the eye of the hook. I add a few drops of head cement to the foam crease for added durability.  The portion of foam that extends above the hook shank is the part that will cause the commotion in the water. If you want a slider action in the water then simply whip finish after tying down the foam at the head. If you would like the fly to have more popping action, then make wraps in front of the foam. These thread wraps will cause the foam to be angled.  Whip finish once you are satisfied with the angle of the foam.

When fishing this pattern I retrieve it in three different ways:

1. Jerk the rod tip while doing a figure of eight or slow stripping retrieve of the line.  This causes the fly to skip and spit water.
2. Jerk the rod tip and strip one to two feet of fly line simultaneously. This action will make the most noise and disturbance.
3. Cast out and simply lift the rod tip slowly, causing the fly to skim across the surface of the water, making a wake.

I vary the retrieves until the fish let me know how they want it!

It is worth mentioning that this pattern is a multi-species fly; it will catch many different fish that are willing to hit a top water fly. Tie it in the appropriate size for the species that you are targeting and have fun!

Seriously…. what is more exciting than watching a fish explode on a top water fly?

Hooking and landing it I suppose!   ;-)

The Gurgler

Hook: Standard fresh or saltwater hook

Thread: White

Tail: White Bucktail, twice the length of the hook shank. Pearl angel hair on each side with one cock grizzly hackle feather on each side of the tail.

Popper: Closed-cell foam

Body: Pearl cactus chenille

Fly fishing for carp!

This video is so well done, the music, the cinematography, all beautiful! I hope you enjoy watching and listening as much as I did. Keep an eye out for the spectacular cast at around the two minute mark.

Enjoy!
Nikki

The Executioner

Here in northeast the spring steelhead run is in full swing and in the UK and Europe the salmon season is also happening. A great fly that is well worth tying is the Executioner. Tie it on hook sizes appropriate to the waters that you will be fishing. I have seen dressings of this fly where a black cock hackle is palmered over the body, a great way to create a fuller body for the fly. Typically I use red Danvilles flymaster (70 denier) thread to tie this fly and use the floss as I indicated in the dressing below. You can of course tie the entire fly with hot orange thread or floss. The Executioner is such a great and versatile pattern, it can be fished on floating or sinking line. It's also a very good low water pattern. Tie a few and let me know how you get on, or better yet send me a pics :)

The Executioner
Hook: Salmon or spey, single or double. (I tied the one pictured here on a Alec Jackson Spey #3)
Thread: Red
Tag: Fine oval silver tinsel
Tail: Yellow cock hackle fibers
Rib: Oval tinsel
Rear body: Glo-bright floss #4 or hot orange floss
Front body: Flat silver tinsel
Shoulder hackle: Black cock
Wing: Black squirrel or black fox tail
Cheeks: jungle cock
Head: Glo-bright floss #4 or hot orange floss

Fly Tying Tutorial – Extractor Dabbler

Fly Tying Tutorial – Extractor Dabbler

Hook: 6-12 heavy wet
Thread: Black
Tail: Red golden pheasant feather
Rib: Small oval gold tinsel or small gold wire
Body: Flat medium gold tinsel
Shoulder Hackle: Lemon yellow
Throat Hackle: Red golden pheasant feather
Wing: Bronze mallard dabbler style
Eyes: Jungle cock (optional)

The Extractor was created and tied by Michael Rogan of Ballyshannon, and a large number of people still refer to the fly as Rogan’s Extractor. It is a superb fly but sadly, for one reason or another, it has fallen through the cracks and is not as commonly used as it once was. Which is a real shame as the fly will produce fish on those awful days when nothing else will work. After all, Mr. Rogan did name it the “Extractor”!

The fly that I am presenting here is tied dabbler style (the dabbler created by Donald McClearn of Co Down, Ireland), the original fly is dressed standard wet fly style. Either way, the dressing calls for the yellow hackle to be long and “sweeping back”. Regardless if tied traditional or dabbler style it still is a beautiful fly. view full tutorial…