Flymen Blog
Imitations of craneflies are very popular in Europe and not without reason, they are great, buggy fishing flies!
Even though it’s not that often you encounter a real “hatch” of these insects, they tend to be present during most of the summer and trout will take them if they crash land.
I tie these flies in 3 sizes and fish them quite often, not just to imitate craneflies, but more to show fish something that looks very tempting when they are opportunistic (which they are most of the time).
Learn to tie this next-generation stonefly.
Being known as a pretty major streamer lover, I often get lumped into the crowd that only ties big, gnarly streamers. But I'm also a fly fishing guide, and not everyone enjoys throwing streamers on 8-weight rods with sinking line all day, so nymphing is a huge part of my guiding.
The Wiggle Stone is my standard when nymphing deep in a stream where stoneflies live. As with any Stonefly pattern, the most important question is "How quick does it get to the bottom" and with the Nymph-Head Evolution Stonefly tungsten beadhead, this pattern goes straight to the bottom and into the strike zone.
Fly Recipe
- Hook: Kona Nymph Streamer 2XL (NS2), size #6
- Antennae: Sili-Legs
- Bead Head: Nymph-Head Evolution Stonefly tungsten beadhead, brown, size large
- Underbody: .025 Lead Wire
- Tail: Sili-Legs
- Ribbing: Mono Thread
- Case: U.V. Chewee Skin
- Wax: Loon High Tack Swax
- Body: Wiggle Dubbing (in a dubbing loop)
As streamer fly fishing has risen in popularity, streamer designs have taken off like never before.
If you haven't noticed, there are a lot of designs out there. One thing I've noticed about the plethora of new streamer patterns is that many of them (other than a few highly specialized designs) are designed basically around one thing: catching trout in fast-moving water.
So when I grabbed a handful of cleverly crafted baitfish patterns and headed out to my local warm-water bass lake, I found them highly lacking in some important qualities. They didn’t catch very many fish. I quickly realized that something designed for moving water didn’t automatically fit the bill when things became more static.
My answer was to just develop my own streamer patterns and fish away, but if you don't tie your own or have countless hours to experiment and design your own stuff, I realized that the already established cold-water patterns can be just as effective for warm-water species — they just need some adjustment in rigging and common sense when it comes to fishing techniques.
Here are some tricks I’ve used to adapt some commercial fly patterns to be as effective on your local warm-water lake as they are in the famous rivers they were intended for.
Learn to Tie This Next-Generation Squid Fly Pattern
Giovanni mostly targets dorado with his Squid fly pattern, but says that most small- to medium-size pelagic fish are going to gravitate toward this fly. He recommends fishing it on an intermediate line.
I discovered this fly pattern on the Flymen Fishing Co. Instagram feed while looking to see what fly tyers all over the world have done to use Flymen fly tying materials in creative ways. One of the first (and coolest) flies I saw was Giovanni De Pace's (@giannidepace) Squid. This is a slightly modified Flymen version of Giovanni's Squid, I think you'll like it!
Fly Recipe
- Hook: Kona Xtra Strong Stinger (XSS) 1/0
- Laser Dub (to help spread the materials)
- Underbody: Senyo's Aqua Veil Chenille
- Body: Ostrich Herl
- Body: Fish-Skull Faux Bucktail
- Body: Polar Flash
- Tentacles: Loco Legs
- Body: Rhea Feathers
- Tentacles: Saddle Hackle
- Head: Fish-Skull Fish-Mask, #7
- Eyes: Surface Seducer Dragon Eyes, 7 mm
- Loon Thick
- Loon Phosphorescent Powder
- Mantle: Fish-Skull Chocklett's Body Tubing, 1/4"
- Fins: X-Select Marabou
Learn To Tie This Incredibly Realistic Yet Easy-to-Tie Hopper Pattern
This popper fly pattern comes from the creative mind of custom fly tyer Adam Harman. Using the Double Barrel popper body on a hopper pattern makes perfect sense – maximum floatation, keel, and water disturbance on the pop! It just works.