Thursday, November 16, 2017

Some Work From My Desk

Good morning. A bright picture to start the day, along with my second cup of rich coffee and I'm ready to type. A good frame of mind is necessary to do this and all the help I can get as well as what medium I get it from helps. A few flies here, the first couple of them were tied with CDC. I never tried fishing them but they looked good on the vise.



The CDC spider. This one tied on a curved hook.


Another CDC fly...looks like it might be eaten.


These next two spiders are tied on some pretty cool looking hooks. They are Mustad 94842, they feature an up-turned eye. This one has a mole dubbed thorax and a very nice feather for it's hackle. The feather is from a partridge and is located on the shoulder.


This fly also tied on the up-turned eye hook. It features a sparse dubbed body of natural mole and another feather from the partridge shoulder.


Fumbling through Smiths' book North Country Flies I found this fly. Most of the materials I can't get but from the description I think it looked like this. I fished this the other day and it was working well until a tree ate it.









20 comments:

  1. I love the 94842. It was a favorite of Pete Hidy, who used it to tie flymphs after the Allcock Long Mayfly hooks were no longer available.

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    1. William Shuck
      Thanks
      Bill, Doug Duvall tied some flies for me and he used that hook. So I went to a few local fly shops to buy some and you know what, no one had them. They are a tough hook to get. I like the way certain flies look when tied on this hook. And now you tell me the 94842 was a favorite of Pete Hidy, well I had to locate a few more of them.

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  2. I am interested in the CDC spiders. I've used a CDC bodied caddies the last two years and find a much better uptake than my normal DHC. I am looking to incorporate some CDC into a "standard" to use through the spring in my dry-dropper routine, especially early on when I am less prone to detect subtle takes.

    I will try a CDC thorax this weekend on a couple flymphs as I work on my two hand technique. I can see a dozen CDC spiders in the vice for Monday night tying session at the Grotto. I really appreciate this post.

    CDC. Yea, should be using that. Hmmm. CDC.

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    Replies
    1. spike
      Thanks
      The CDC caddis is a fly that has worked well over the years. Having seen a few emergers tied with cdc I said "give it a shot" though I've not fished these I can't say how they will hold up. The testing time is upon us.
      I wish I knew your first name?

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  3. Nice looking flies, Alan.
    Those trees can be voracious when they get a taste for well tied flies!
    Cheers,
    Steve.

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    Replies
    1. Steve Hynes
      Thanks
      Steve I chuckled when I read your comment. Stopping to think, "he's right".

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  4. Good morning Sir! Nice patterns....love that first one.

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    Replies
    1. Ralph Long
      Thanks
      Ralph, there looks to be some gracious movement with those cdc flies. I can think of a gentle pool, say 8pm in June...hold on.

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  5. I'd like to have a dollar for every fly I've tied that's caught a tree. Nice looking flies Alan.

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    Replies
    1. Howard Levett
      Thanks
      Howard just when your on a roll, fish striking the fly, catching a few and along comes a tree....

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    2. Usually it's right after I roll a fish and miss it......"OHH, sunnuva...." It's right after that a branch grabs my next back cast. :)

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  6. Great flies, Alan. CDC must move around plenty in the water to make fly quite life like. Little fishing opportunity for me lately, I have looked at my flies and identified some that I didn't use for one reason or another. I have taken them apart and mostly tied soft hackles on the hooks. One can never go wrong having those in the arsenal.

    In case I don't post again, I want to wish you and Jeanette a nice Thanksgiving. Thanks for what you do here on your wonderful site.

    Best, Sam

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    Replies
    1. Parachute Adams
      Thanks
      Sam recycling hooks, that's right up my alley. When it's dark at 5 there's not much time for fishing the evening hatch. Late fall-winter fishing can be trying at times.
      Well friend you and your family enjoy that great family holiday known as Thanksgiving.

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  7. Hi Alan. I like turned up eye hooks, as well. Might be my imagination but they seem to hook the fish better. I even tie, still water trout trolling patterns on heavy black turned up salmon hooks. Happy bird, you and yours!

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    Replies
    1. John Dornik
      Thanks
      John I can't comment on the hooking qualities of the up-turned eye, but they sure look good.
      Trolling flies on salmon hooks, that sounds very interesting.

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  8. Alan
    Beautiful flies that catch both trout and the fisherman.

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    1. TROUT1
      Thanks
      Pete I can't remember who said that, "most flies in the bins are to catch fishermen" some truth to it.

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  9. Nothing to add as those above got it all. Just to let you know I stopped by.

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    Replies
    1. Mark Kautz
      Thanks
      Mark your alway's welcome and it's appreciated.

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  10. Alan
    I would fish any of these patterns in cold or warm watergreat work at the vice--thanks for sharing

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