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Originally Posted by: William Schlafer  I've had good luck with the Baby Boy hopper. There are days when it seems it's the only thing the Trout are interested in. It can pass for a small hopper, a cricket, June Bug, or some other chunky form of insect.
In general when fishing hoppers or other similar patterns, smaller is often better. I've gotten many more rejections from large hoppers, but the smaller ones in size 10-12 are usually taken without hesitation. Just for fun, last March with snow still on the ground, I tied on a small hopper just to see if anything was looking up. I was surprised when I got a couple of strikes. I've been told Hippie Stompers will work year round.
-Bill Yup. Most of my hoppers are on 10s and 12s. The Chubby C's in the picture are 10s. Last winter I got to a spot on a stream with a stretch of slow, slick water I couldn't get close enough to to tight line with my Euro rig. Bottom was soft and there was a back eddie, and I couldn't step into it without kicking dirt in their faces. So I needed to make some longer casts. Normally would just put on an indicator, but I couldn't find one in my pack for some reason. But I did find a Hippie Stomper I'd stuck in one of my nymph boxes and never put back where it belonged. Tied on another dropper, put the Stomper on, and kind of hoped nobody would see me fishing a terrestrial in February. Made the first cast, the Stomper drifted about two feet, and got absolutely crushed.  |
"Our tradition is that of the first man who sneaked away to the creek when the tribe did not really need fish."
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 Rank: Super Fly
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Here Kitty Kitty...  I have some time off, so I decided to tie up a few more Silk Kitty Streamers. These things are a bit time consuming to tie, but look awesome when finished. Rams Wool is so much easier to work with than deer or elk hair.  -Bill |
“You'll never look back on your life and wish you had spent more time in the office." -- Brian Trautman, Captain SV Delos |
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Rank: May Fly
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Nice Kitties. I like these things a lot. Have the bulk of a deer hair head so you get the profile and water push, but you don't have the buoyancy, so they fish a little better on a floating line. They're a really good smallie pattern too.
Yeah, ram's wool is a lot more forgiving than deer hair. Take a look at Kelly's Butt Sump pattern. I haven't fished it yet but tied some up for this season. Looks like a killer small stream streamer to me. |
"Our tradition is that of the first man who sneaked away to the creek when the tribe did not really need fish."
- Roderick Haig-Brown
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 Rank: Midge
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Very nice flies, Bill. Kelly Gallop designs and ties some great flies - streamers in particular - but the naming sort of gives me the creeps. I've been working on a number of Gunnar Brammer's flies ( https://streamersbygunnar.com/) and he uses strung fuzzy fiber in a dubbing loop for a number of the heads, basically as a synthetic substitute for wool heads. Wool heads are a lot easier...
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Gunner ties some really nice streamers, but they can be tricky to put together. Awhile back I tied some Seasoned Geezers and Trout Nuggets with varying results. I struggled with using the plastic fish masks for the head. Somehow they never turn out as nice as his. Plus I like the weight of a dumbbell head towards the front of the fly to give it that nice diving jigging motion.
-Bill |
“You'll never look back on your life and wish you had spent more time in the office." -- Brian Trautman, Captain SV Delos |
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Rank: Midge
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Originally Posted by: William Schlafer Gunner ties some really nice streamers, but they can be tricky to put together. Awhile back I tied some Seasoned Geezers and Trout Nuggets with varying results. I struggled with using the plastic fish masks for the head. Somehow they never turn out as nice as his. Plus I like the weight of a dumbbell head towards the front of the fly to give it that nice diving jigging motion.
-Bill Yeah, that's been my problem too. I think I'm going to play around with building dubbing brushes this weekend. I think they'll work better than the dubbing loop heads.
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Originally Posted by: JGF
Yeah, that's been my problem too. I think I'm going to play around with building dubbing brushes this weekend. I think they'll work better than the dubbing loop heads.
Pre-made dubbing brushes at my local fly shop are very expensive. I tried making my own, but they're really time consuming and difficult to get right. If you don't have the right wire, they won't wrap correctly. I just gave up and used Polar Chenille, or longer fiber ice dub in a dubbing loop instead. -Bill |
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I tied up some of Gunnar's Mini Death Grips this winter, and they use the strung fuzzy fiber in a loop. Seems like it's really picky about density, and I think he even mentions that in one of the videos. I kind of got the hang of it eventually, but there were some fails for sure. I do like how they turn out when you get them right though.
I love fish skulls. Fish probably don't care a bit, but I think they make a well dressed bug. Just have to keep checking your spacing once you get close to the front of the hook.
I should post some pics of the aftermath of my streamer tying binge. It...got a little out of hand... |
"Our tradition is that of the first man who sneaked away to the creek when the tribe did not really need fish."
- Roderick Haig-Brown
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