Fly Tying Recipes & Patterns

Get step-by-step instructions from Joe Jackson on how to tie the versatile Craft fur Baitfish, along with full materials list and techniques.

Guest Blogger: J. Stockard Pro Chris Williamson from Washington state. Follow Chris on Instagram @lessthancivilized . This Parachute Poly Wing Stonefly is basically a beefed-up PMX... One day, in the middle of nowhere up the Lewis River in WA, I ran into an older man who was having really good success with a large PMX he had tied with a really big elk wing. He handed me one on his way out, and I continued the success story, which became a very productive evening. I tied many variations of the PMX since then, and there are a couple of ways I like to tie it. one is similar to this body with a poly wing, and the other is a less buoyant body material that rides really low with a big elk hair wing to keep it afloat. Parachute Poly Wing Stonefly Recipe: HOOK- Firehole 718 size 10 or similar. THREAD - Semperfli nano silk 100D brown. LEGS/TAILS - Hareline fine round rubber brown. ABDOMEN - Wapsi 1mm razor foam brown, Semperfli dirty bug yarn caddis brown. WING - Hareline para post wing dark grey, Hareline midge flash root beer. THORAX - Dirty bug yarn caddis brown. POST - Hareline para post wing Fl. Orange. HACKLE - Whiting grizzly saddle feather. Poly Wing Stonefly: Step-by-step Put your hook in the vise — I went with the Firehole 718. Start your thread. Tie in the polypropylene yarn. Trim the yarn about 1/8” behind the hook. Tie in the round rubber to create the tails. Trim the tails to the desired length. Tie in the 1mm razor foam. Tie in the dirty bug yarn. Make two wraps with the dirty bug yarn and then secure it with one wrap of thread. Pull the razor foam forward. For the first segment, I like to pull the foam pretty tight to create the smallest segment possible. Secure it down with thread and make three wraps over the foam to define the segments. Repeat two more wraps of dirty bug yarn. Pull the razor foam forward and add another three wraps of thread over the foam. For the next two segments, add three wraps of dirty bug yarn to make larger segments. Once you have four segments and the shape of the body is to your liking, secure the yarn and foam down. Trim both pieces of material off and make sure everything is secure. Add rear legs. These do not have to be knotted legs if you want to save yourself some time. Tie in midge flash for the underwing. Now add the polypropylene yarn and fold it over to double the volume of the wing. I chose Hareline Para Post Wing Fiber because I like the rough texture it adds to the wing. Trim both the wing and the flash to the desired length. Now add the second set of rear legs, leaving space between both tie-in points to fit the body material later on. Tie in front legs — make sure to leave room behind the eye of the hook. Add head cement or super glue to tie-in points and secure with thread wraps. Split the legs and prepare to trim them. Trim one piece off each lower leg section. Add the dirty bug yarn to the thorax and secure tightly in front of the wing. Tie in the parachute post in the center of the thorax. I like to tie the post on this pattern pretty thick, so I double the Para Post Wing Fiber over before I secure it — this gives you four strands of material to make up the post. Wrap the dirty bug yarn forward. Use the yarn wraps to create proper spacing between legs, then secure the yarn behind the eye of the hook and whip finish. Turn the pattern down in the vise so you can get a better angle on that parachute post. Now tie in your hackle feather — I like to go with a bigger hackle feather for this pattern, maybe a size 10. Wrap your hackle down however many wraps you would like. Now apply super glue to a small portion of your thread and wrap around the bottom of the post, securing the hackle and post and eliminating the need to whip finish. Trim your post to the desired length and the pattern is now complete. Christmas Stonefly Jig - Fly of the Month Read more Royal Stimulator Fly Pattern - Fly of the Month Read more Slaughter Stone Golden Stone Fly - Fly of the Month Read more

It's about that time of year again where spring is in the air and the first mayflies are starting to make their presence known. It can be an exciting month for east coast anglers when the Maccaffertium vicarium is in your favorite stream. Pardon my eloquence in using the Latin nomenclature (which simply highlights the fact that I can use Wikipedia.) I'm talking about the March Brown here. A classic sailboat-looking mayfly that in many waters is the first of the year to hatch. Are you tired of dry fly fishing with a #18 winter caddis or #20 midge? Well you're in luck if you're fishing waters with a March Brown hatch. These bugs are much bigger and and are commonly found in the #12-14 range. Now there is no shortage of March Brown patterns out there. Every respectable tying book will have a version of it, and often in all varieties-- nymph, wet and dry. In fact, it first appeared in Dame Juliana Berners' "A Treatise on Fishing with an Angle" published in the 1490s. I'm going with the wet version for this month's fly, with the recipe from Dave Hughes' "American Fly Tying Manual" published in 1986. His is a simple yet elegant pattern that I think Dame Berners would have been proud of. Recipe Hook: Core C1530 Wet Short Fly Hook, sizes #10–16 Thread: 8/0 UNI-Thread Waxed Midge — Tan Tail: Ringneck Pheasant Tail Pair — Natural Body: Natural Hare’s Mask Hackle: Soft Hackle Hen Saddle Patch — Ginger Wing: Duck Quill Pair — Brown

This month’s pattern is Matt O'Neal (Savage Flies)'s variation of C. Jim Pray’s original Black Demon streamer which was described in Joseph Bates’ 1950 “Streamer Fly Tying and Fishing.” The Black Demon was essentially a dark version of Pray’s more popular Silver Demon which was a well-known fly in the early half of the 1900s. The Evolution of the Black Demon As often happens with popular patterns, they get modified and changed over the years. And for various reasons -- sometimes to match a particular situation or sometimes for the simple reason of a tier’s personal preference. The Black Demon as a steelhead fly may be one of these examples. Sometime in the 1930s, the pattern evolved from a gold tinsel body with barred wood duck feathers for a tail, to what you see here-- a black floss body with a silver rib and golden pheasant crest feather for a tail. While both patterns are still tied and fished today, and while slightly different, they are both still called the Black Demon. John Shewey in his 2015 “Classic Steelhead Flies” does make the differentiation by adding (black body) in parentheses to the more modern version. Now if you’re one of the few tiers fortunate enough to have a decent jungle cock cape these days, using a couple of nails will really give this pattern a classic look. I wouldn’t worry at all if you don’t though (you can substitute for the artificial version) and, Bates version from 1950 doesn’t have them and it’s still a beautiful pattern. Black Demon Recipe Hook: Salmon #4-8 Thread: Black Tail: Golden pheasant crest feather Tag: Silver tinsel Body: Black floss Rib: Silver tinsel Throat: Orange hackle Wing: Black bucktail Eyes: Jungle cock (optional)

I usually fish this articulated streamer with a floating line when the water is lower in the late summer months, they are especially effective when you want to imitate a wide-bodied prey item such as shad or sunfish. I cast out and erratically retrieve the fly in short three or four inch strips and then let the fly pause for a bit. The tail will really sway and wag in the current, and the flash and legs really gets the fish to target the fly aggressively. In the late summer shad will move into my local river and the bite is on. I have included my favorite colors for the Flank Steak, tie some and go whack some fish.

Guest Blogger: J. Stockard Pro Chris Williamson from Washington state. Follow Chris on Instagram @lessthancivilized. This pattern is my go to for imitating stonefly nymphs. I threw it together before a float on the Yakima river and it has earned a permanent spot in my box. For golden stones and summer stones I usually tie this pattern on a size 12-10 3xl jig hook. This pattern finds the bottom very quickly and works well under an indicator or on a tight line rig. Christmas Stonefly Jig Recipe Thread- Semperfli Classic Waxed Thread 12/0 red Hook- Firehole 523 BL size 12 Bead- Firehole Slotted Stone 4.5mm true blood TAIL- Semperfli Dirty Bug Yarn olive caddis, Hareline Stripped Goose Biots white Abdomen- Hareline Half Round Rib red medium, UTC Ultra Wire white small Thorax- Semperfli Dirty Bug Yarn olive caddis, Fulling Mill Nymph-Rap white 4mm, Semperfli Mirror Tinsel 1/32” red Legs- Hareline Life Flex blood red Tying Steps 1. First put a 3xl jig hook in the vise with a 4.5mm slotted tungsten bead.  2. Next add 8-12 wraps of .020 lead free wire. 3. Secure lead wraps to the shank with thread. 4. Tie in 2 strands of dirty bug yarn in, brush it out, then trim to desired length.  5. Add 2 goose biots for the tails. 6. Tie in mirage tinsel, D-rib, and wire. Wrap mirage tinsel forward and secure it just before the thorax. 7. Wrap the vinyl D-rib forward and secure just before the thorax. 8. Wrap wire forward just between the gaps in the D-rib and stop and secure just before the thorax. Now tie in your red tinsel and your latex just behind the bead and towards the rear of the fly, stop where you want the thorax to begin. 9. Tie the rear legs in on each side. 10. Tie in your dirty bug yarn. 11. Wrap your dirty bug yarn 2-3 touching wraps forward then secure the yarn with your thread.  12. Pull your latex and tinsel forward and secure it down in front of your yarn wraps and continue thread wraps forward to the bead. 13. pull your latex back and wrap your thread back towards the 1st segment where you ended your yarn. 14. Now tie your in the rest of your legs. I like to tie them in and then tie the front legs forward creating a gap between them but this is not necessary.  15. Wrap your dirty bug yarn forward going between the legs all the way forward up to the bead and secure it down with your thread. 16. Now pull your latex and tinsel forward and secure it just behind the bead.  17. Take a sparse amount of gold ice dub and create a small dubbing noodle and wrap it around the collar and whip finish.  18. Ilike to add a little solarez bone dry and cure it with a UV light.

As we move into the colder months, the Rainbow Warrior tends to lure finicky fish when nothing else is working. There's several different variations for this, but here in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, using black thread under the flash seems to be the ticket. If the black thread isn't doing the trick, try a few different colors to find just the right look that the trout are going for.

The Razor Foam October Caddis is a fly that I've been tweaking for the past year, and I finally have the pattern finalized. The CDC collar not only gives the fly lots of movement, but paired with the foam body, it allows it to sink rather slow. You can use a tungsten, or brass bead on this one, depending on how fast you want the descent.

This month’s pattern will be familiar to many smallmouth (and big trout) anglers and for good reason. It has been a killer warmwater streamer throughout the country and guides from Idaho to Virginia will swear by it.