Author Archive

Gusto – sunburst variant

This is my variant of Peter Morse' Gusto fly and is one of my go to flies when targeting barramundi in Lake Awonga.

It's dressed on a #3/0 34007 stainless hook which is quite a heavy hook and that creates an effective "keel" effect. It has a long marabou tail and a dense hackle collar which creates plenty of currents around the fly that really get the marabou moving.

The overall length of the finished fly is around 10cm long.

sunburst-p
Hook Eyes Thread Tail Tail Flash Body Front hackle
Tiemco 34007 stainless in size #3/0 Spirit River 'real eyes' 7/32" My preference is white cotton Yellow marabou blood plume Sure Strike violet krystal flash - 6 strands FNF jelly chenille in Picricish colour One red saddle hackle and one grizzly hackle died deep red

Process

A
  1. Starting at a point a little back from the eye of the hook wrap the thread in tight touching turns down the front 1/5 of the hook shank.
 sunburst-a

B
  1. Tie in your bead chain, dumb bell or real eyes on top of the hook shank half way along the thread base using figure 8 wraps. To tighten the connection wrap the thread around the base of the eyes on top of the hook shank. My preference is Spirit River 'real eyes' 7/32" with double pupils of black inside red.
  2. Continue winding the thread to directly above the point of the hook.
 sunburst-b

C

    Making the tail is a 3 step process

  1. Select two matching blood plume marabou hackles and tie the first one in on top of the hook shank. Make sure that the marabou is tied in horizontal not vertical.
 sunburst-c

D
  1. Select a couple of long strands of krystal flash and tie two along the front side with equal amounts projecting behind and in front of the fly.
 sunburst-d

E
  1. Take the strands projecting in front of the fly over the shank of the fly and face then back down behind the fly and lock them in that position with a couple firm wraps of thread
 sunburst-e

F
  1. Select the second blood plume marabou hackle and tie it in on top of the first blood plume marabou hack and the krystal flash.
 sunburst-f

G
  1. Trim off an excess hackle butt and lock the tail made up of the first blood plume hackles, the krystal flash and the second blood plume hackle in place along the top of the hook shank to a position directly above the point of the hook.
 sunburst-g

H
  1. Tie a length of FNF jelly chenille in on top of the hook shank directly above the point of the hook
  2. Take the thread forward half way between above the point of the hook and the back of the dumbbell eyes.
 sunburst-h

I
  1. Wind the jelly chenille forward in tight touching turns to the thread./li>
  2. Tie the jelly chenille off at that position and trim away the excess.
 sunburst-i

J

    This fly need a dense array of hackles that fill the remain free space on the hook shank so select hackles that have some fluffy barbules and a majority of hackle barbules that are about 1.5 times the gape of the hook. For this fly I have selected a red saddle hackle and a grizzly hackle that has been died red. Depending on the length of your hackles you may need up to 4 hackles.

  1. Tie the red saddle hackle in directly in front of the jelly chenille body.
 sunburst-j

K
  1. Tie the grizzly hackle in directly in front of the first hackle.
 sunburst-k

L
  1. Pull the grizzly hackle aside and wind the saddle hackle forward in uniformly spaced turns in the space between where it is tied in and just behind the dumbbell eyes.
  2. Lock the saddle hackle in behind the dumbbell eyes with a couple of firm wraps of thread.
 sunburst-l

M
  1. Trim away the excess tip of the saddle hackle with a sharp blade.
 sunburst-m

N
  1. Take up the second hackle and wind that forward through the saddle hackle in uniformly spaced turns.
  2. Lock the grizzly hackle in place between the saddle hackle and the dumbbell eyes with a couple of firm wraps of thread.
 sunburst-n

O
  1. Trim away the excess tip of the grizzly hackle with a sharp blade.
  2. Build up a neat cone shaped beak in front of the dumbbell eyes.
  3. Trim away any excess thread.
 sunburst-o

P
  1. Varnish the beak and the tie in of the dumbbell eyes with a couple of coats of red nail polish.
 sunburst-p

Last Updated: April 28, 2018
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Categories: Big fish flies - temperate & tropical destinations, Flies, My fly boxes, Saltwater - tropical, Trout flies
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Black epoxy bugger – silver TBH, UV spine & red butt

This fly is my take on one of the flies that was promoted by our 2018 Northern Ireland Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships team guild as being a productive fly for use in the lakes that we fished there. Because of the lack of body dressing and the epoxy body this fly sinks quickly and apparently is great option for stocked rainbows in particular.

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Last Updated: April 28, 2018
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Categories: Flies, Trout flies, Woolly buggers & variants
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Lake Jindabyne – January 2018

The first snippet headed "Monaro" provides the first credible incite I have seen that alludes to why trout fishing in the lake has declined in the last 6 years. The second snippet headed "Pumped Hydro" adds to my concerns for the lake. Since the Snowy MKII upgrade was muted I have been expressing my concerns about redfin being introduced to our trout lakes.

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Last Updated: January 27, 2018
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Categories: Blog
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Chatto’s blue water minnow

This is a larger blue water version of my very successful 'Flats minnow". It's a very fishy looking fly and has a little blood spot that adds to the appearance of the fly being a wounded fish.

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Last Updated: January 22, 2018
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Categories: Big fish flies - temperate & tropical destinations, Flies, Saltwater - offshore, Saltwater - tropical
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Red TBH damsel

I first used this fly in Canada in 2016 at the Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships. Tied by Josh Flowers from Tasmania I doubt that a session on the lakes passed without every team member tying this fly on for at lease some of the time. I have since learned that it’s a very successful fly in Central Tasmania at any time when damsels are around.

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Last Updated: January 19, 2018
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Categories: Flies, Loch flies, My 'trout' lake wet fly box, Trout flies
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Hackle – fabricate a hackle

Select a hackle that has barbules that are around the length of the shank of the hook. Opps! "the smallest hackle I have is far to big for this fly ... I'll have to make a hackle"

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Last Updated: January 9, 2018
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Categories: Free fly tying
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Fly recipe template

Description

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Materials

 

Hook Bead Weight Thread Tail Rib Body Wing casing Thorax
Size #12 & #14 Knapek nymph Copper tungsten bead: 3.0mm for size #12 and 2.5mm for size #14 Lead wire: .020 for size #12 and .015 for size #14 Uni-thread 6/0 dark brown Coq de Lion brown cock hackle fibres Soft copper wire: Med for size #12 and Sml for size #14 Pheasant tail feather barbules UTC Mirage Tinsel opal small 75% Hends hare dubbing grey and 25% Hends spectra dubbing 15/grey

Process

 

A
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B
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C
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D
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E
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F
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G
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H
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Last Updated: January 7, 2018
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Categories: Templates
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Bibio blob

One of my favourite flies for waters where there is midge activity is the bibio and when I am fishing those waters most of the time I have a bibio on the top dropper. This blob is fast becoming a go to alternative to a bibio for me.

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Last Updated: January 2, 2018
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Categories: Flies, My 'trout' lake wet fly box, Trout flies
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Tequila blob

It took me some time to get into using blobs but these days there are plenty of trout waters where I include a blob in my team most of the time. This is one of my favourites blob flies particularly when the waters have a good population of rainbow trout.

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Last Updated: January 2, 2018
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Categories: Flies, My 'trout' lake wet fly box, Trout flies
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NSW – Fishing season reminders

Closed seasons for popular fresh water species in NSW for 2018.

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Last Updated: January 1, 2018
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Categories: Blog
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