Fly of the Month

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: #10-16 wet fly Thread: Tan Tail: Pheasant tail fibers Body: Natural hare's ear dubbing Hackle: Light brown hen Wing: Natural duck slips

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.

This is a green drake pattern with added foam for an unsinkable parachute pattern!

The exact version of this month’s pattern comes with a bit of mystery behind is provenance. The original is most definitely credited to the legendary Theodore Gordon, who is most remembered as the father of the American dry fly. One of the first hair wings of this type, Gordon likely created the Bumblepuppy in the 1890s. In a 1903 letter to John Gordon, published later in The Complete Fly Fisherman, he sings its praise: