Brown Hackle Blog: Fly Patterns And Other Angling Miscellany

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2010-09-15T02:37:00.000-07:00

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Bass in a beautiful Maine lake

2009-07-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

Photo by Beth B.

Earlier this month (July 2009), we traveled back east for vacation. Part of our trip included a stay at a cabin on Great Pond, Belgrade Lakes, Maine. My New Hampshire-based brother-in-law is also a fly fisherman, so this gave us the chance to paddle around our arm of the lake in an old canoe, casting to the rocky shoreline and/or trolling. We caught a mixed bag that included smallmouth, largemouth, rock bass, and one small pike. Flies that worked well included one of my homemade wine-cork poppers, Bakke's Dragonfly (steelhead dry), and traditional Muddler Minnows. The best fish were caught trolling Muddlers in approx size 4.

FYI the solar-powered house we rented ("The Rink") is owned by Ben and Emily Swan, who direct Pine Island Camp. It is a great location and the lake is beautiful. Ben and Emily gave us a very enjoyable tour of the camp, and lunch with the campers.

All in all, it was a wonderful, classic NE summer experience.

Yours Truly, multitasking.
Photo by Kate

Old English Iron Blue Dun

2008-10-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

From Trey Combs, Steelhead Fly Fishing and Flies (Frank Amato, 1976):

Tail: Golden pheasant red breast feather fibers
Body: Blue-gray dubbing (muskrat) ribbed with oval silver tinsel
Hackle: Natural black or dark gray
Wing: Gray goose or gray squirrel tail

This was Peter Schwab's favorite steelhead pattern. he called it, "the most universally successful fly I have ever seen." For Schwab it was best a clear water summer-run dressing, and he fished it at the exclusion of many patterns he had designed and made nationally famous. (p.95)

note: my example in the photo uses natural gray sheep's wool rather than muskrat.

Floating Fillet Knife on the cheap

2008-10-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

I recently found a brand new Quikut American Angler fillet knife at Goodwill. I didn't like the cheap, narrow plastic handle, but the blade was sharp and flexible, and for $1.99 there wasn't much to lose. I sawed off the handle -- which was actually made of polypro and quite tough -- and replaced it with a new handle in walnut and cork. The tang on the blade was very short, so I extended it with a strip of scrap metal before epoxying it all together. For extra strength, I also ran four sections of strong wire (bicycle spoke) lengthwise through the handle. Next step is to make a sheath and it will be a nice addition to the camping and fishing kit.

Before & After:

You can see that my handle is much larger than the original. When you're wet, cold, and wearing gloves, a large handle made of non-slippery natural materials offers great ergonomic benefit.

If you like this kind of thing, Helle of Norway makes a nice one ($63 at Ragweed Forge; look for the Hellefisk model). Brusletto (another Norwegian company) also makes one; $69 at World Knives.

Campari & Lime Polar Bear Spey

2008-09-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

hook: silver 1/0 Spey hook
tag: silver tinsel
body: lime green and raspberry dubbing, wound in silver tinsel loop along with natural polar bear fibers of various lengths.
wing: natural polar bear length of body
collar: mallard flank
head: red

new fishing buddy

2008-06-16T07:33:00.000-07:00

Made a new friend at Armitage Park yesterday:

Beautiful afternoon, although very windy as you can see from the video. Caught four fish, all cutthroat -- one on green bodied soft hackle, two on Greenwell's Glory (wet), one on Brown Hackle Bee.

p.s. thanks to my wonderful family for the Father's Day gift of new *breathable* waders!

Old Fly Patterns

2008-04-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

Inspired by easy access to old angling literature via Google Books, I've been tying some British patterns from the 19th century. Here is one I'm anxious to get in the water:

from Ewen M. Tod, "Wet Fly Fishing, Treated Methodically"
London: Sampson Low, Marston (1907).

p. 236:
".... During the first week of May, in 1877,
I was busily fishing "the Tummel," with
frost and snow all round me.....
Curiously, even now, I remember that
my best fly was one I dressed with the
neck hackle-feather of the cock starling,
but with the addition of a mere dot of "
peacock herl," placed immediately under
the hackle itself. I presume that it gives
additional lustre to this imitation, and so
attracts the trout, especially in cold dark
days, when he is not inclined to show his
nose on the surface of the water. "

Flies pictured:
hook: wet fly hook #14 - 18
abdomen: waxed primrose silk
thorax: peacock herl.
collar: starling

The Greenwell's Glory is a 19th century pattern from the north of England. The pattern has a lot of history; here is an extensive article. It looks like a good match for the Blue Winged Olive, a very important early and late season hatch here in the Willamette Valley. Here are a couple of variations:

from Tod, page 210.
"GREENWELL'S GLORY.
Body. — The yellow tying silk, waxed with cobbler's wax,
to impart to the body a greenish-yellow hue. This is ribbed
over with yellow gimp, or finest gold wire.
Hackle— Coch-y-Bonddhu.
Wings. — Blackbird, tied in a bunch, and split.
Season. — April, May, June, and September ; in fact, it is
the most valuable and generally useful of all the wet flies
known to the author, who obtained the pattern direct from
the Rev. Canon Greenwell himself, so that it is authentic."

2008 NW Fly Tying Expo

2008-03-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

Kate (Atlantic Salmon Fly) by Harry Lemire. Photo by Andrew Bonamici, 2008

A few images of Harry Lemire, Dave McNeese, & Steve Brocco here.

Wild Turkey: very close to home

2006-08-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of wild turkeys here in Western Oregon , including a flock that hangs out on the local golf course. Here's one that paid a visit to our back deck this afternoon. Click the photos for a larger view. [note: there are a couple different subspecies of wild turkey in Oregon, Merriam's & Rio Grande. I think this is a Merriam's because of the white tail margin, but am not 100% sure. If you know, send me a note.]

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Steak Knives

2006-08-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

Best steak knives
Six picks from the uber-high end to Crate & Barrel steakhouse-style knives.

By Kate Bonamici, FORTUNE writer-reporter
May 23, 2006: 3:51 PM EDT

NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - You've got the grill. You've got the dry-aged steaks. As you get in shape for summer and start serious consideration of upcoming cookouts, give equally serious thought to how you plan to slice your finished masterpiece.... more->
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Kate interviewed Eugene, OR knife expert Bernard Levine for this one, and got some good background & interesting recommendations. Unfortunately the William Henry is out of reach for the time being ($2,900 for set of six, williamhenryknives.com ), but I like the idea of using non-serrated paring knives or other small fixed blades such as the A.G. Russell Woodswalker ($9.95 each, agrussell.com). A similar possibility is the Opinel paring knife ($7 from Ragweed Forge).

March Browns

2006-04-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

The Western March Brown mayfly (Rithrogena Morrisonii) is one of the season's first (& best) on the McKenzie and other west coast rivers. Westfly has a good overview, with links to effective fly patterns. Some of my own versions are pictured below.

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March Brown Wet Fly
This sparsely tied winged pattern works well in the McKenzie River, Oregon. The sample in the photo has caught six fish, so the tinsel is looking beat up, but it is still good for a few more. Look at the segmenting on the natural in Arlen's photo on Westfly , and you will see why silver tinsel is a good feature for this pattern.

hook: #12 or #14 standard wet fly hook (shown: Partridge Capt. Hamilton)
tail: pheasant tail
body: pheasant herl, counter-wound with silver round tinsel
hackle:golden pheasant flank (rusty orange), tied beard style
wing: hen pheasant

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March Brown Soft-Hackle
Hook: #12 or #14 standard wet fly hook (shown: Tiemco 3761)
Tail: Brown Hungarian Partridge fibers
Body: dubbed fur, counter-wound with silver round tinsel. My McKenzie March Brown blend is approx. two parts tan, & one part each olive & cinnamon
Hackle:Brown Hungarian Partridge
Wing: none

2006 NW Fly Tyers Expo

2006-03-26T18:34:00.000-08:00

A few photos from the 18th annual fly tying expo, sponsored by the Oregon Council of the FFF:

Here is John Shewey tying up a beautiful Brad's Brat with polar bear wing. John is a great tyer and a fine writer and researcher (UO Journalism grad).

Dave McNeese tying a crayfish fly.

The flies in this display spin around for viewing, just like rotisserie chickens. Looked like something from the 1940s.

A near-life size blackbird catching a damselfly at the Henry Hoffman booth.

Casting clinic with Henrik Mortensen, 11 March 2006

2006-03-12T08:52:00.000-08:00

As a benefit for the Native Fish Society, the Caddis Fly Shop (Eugene, Oregon) sponsored a spey-casting workshop with Henrik Mortensen of Scierra.

We met at the shop and then proceeded to a gravel bar at Armitage Park, on the lower McKenzie River. There were two instructors (both named Henrik BTW), and the focus wasn't on spey casting per se, but on a Scandinavian approach to the two-handed rod that powers the cast by pulling with the lower hand rather than pushing with the upper.

In this photo, for example, you can see that Henrik keeps his right arm close to the body; the power is coming from the underhand pull and by shifting his body weight, rather than by pushing the upper hand forward (as in British Spey casting). We also worked a lot on foot position and general body mechanics. The two-handed rod already has ergonomic advantages and I think this approach really capitalizes on them; done right, these casts produce little or no strain on the shoulders. Henrik M's casting demonstrations were something to see. At one point he was laying out beautiful casts without using his arms at all except to hold the rod in place; it was all done with the body.

Here's a brief video of Henrik M demonstrating a counterclockwise loop that moves the line upstream to set up a cross-stream cast.

Many thanks to Chris Daughters & the Caddis Fly staff, Native Fish Society, and the Scierra instructors for a beautiful and instructive day on the river.

photos by Andrew Bonamici, 2006.

McKenzie River, March 4, 2006

2006-03-04T16:27:00.000-08:00

After a very wet winter, we're having some beautiful weather in the Willamette Valley and the rivers are dropping into shape. Today, the forecast was sun in the morning, with possible showers in the p.m., high temp 55F; nice conditions for the March Brown hatch on the Lower McKenzie at Armitage Park. The water was cold and the sun stayed bright, so there wasn't much of a hatch -- I only saw one dun on the surface. Even so, it was a lovely afternoon and I managed to land five cutthroat & cutt/rainbow crosses ranging from 8 - 12 inches, all on the same #12 Brown Hackle Bee. It will only get better from here, so watch this space. Best,

Andrew

Adding some images

2006-01-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Reader:

At long last, I have acquired a digital camera and am starting to add images to the posts, starting with the Brown Hackle Bee. Be patient; more will follow.

Tight lines,

ARB

Scandinavian-style knives

2005-10-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some Nordic-type knives that I've put together during the past couple of years, using blades purchased from Ragweed Forge. These are all working knives that are used camping & fishing. The Karesuando even gets used in the garden -- I'm finding that I prefer it to clippers for jobs like cutting back ivy, blackberries, perennials, etc., mainly because there's less repetitive motion needed, therefore less stress on the hands. The sheaths are all heavy black leather made in a deep folded style.

If you have any questions about these, feel free to e-mail. Enjoy!

Here is a laminated stainless "Ola" blade from Helle of Norway, approx. 2.25" ; walnut & rosewood handle:

Laminated stainless "Turmann" drop point blade from Helle, approximately 3.25"; maple handle:

Sandvik 12C57 puukko-style straight blade from Karesuando, Sweden; handle is bois d'arc (aka Osage Orange):

LOW WATER/GREASED LINE PATTERNS

2005-02-22T10:36:00.001-08:00

Lady Caroline
The conventional Lady Caroline uses a golden pheasant hackle and bronze mallard wing. The bucktail+grizzly substitutes are used here to provide a buggier appearance, esp. effective in the fall when October Caddis are available.
Hook: light wire, #8
Thread: Claret
Tail: Golden Pheasant crest
Rib: flat silver tinsel
Body: blended olive & brown
Hackle: soft grizzly hen
Wing: fine brown bucktail

Andrew's Black
Hook: light wire, #8
Thread: Claret
Tail: Claret
Rib: flat silver tinsel
Body: Black
Hackle: Black
Wing: fine brown bucktail

Spider Spade
Hook: Partridge CS2 (looped down-eye)
Thread: Black
Tail: fine bucktail
Rib: fine oval silver tinsel
Body: black seal substitute (SLF)
Hackle: teal flank tied spider-style

SUMMER STEELHEAD PATTERNS

2005-02-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

SUMMER STEELHEAD PATTERNS
Green Butt (Hairwing Atlantic Salmon pattern)
Tag: Silver oval tinsel
Butt: Fluorescent green antron over flat silver tinsel
Tail: Golden Pheasant crest
Rib: Silver oval tinsel
Body: Black seal substitute (SLF)
Hackle: Black Wing: black or brown mink or equivalent fine hair
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Purple and flourescent green seem to work well for Willamette Valley steelhead. "VRC" is for the Valley River Center shopping mall, where Eugene steelheaders can park their cars or bicycles when fishing the town run.

VRC Purple
Tag: Silver flat tinsel
Butt: Fluorescent green antron over flat silver tinsel
Body: Purple Antron ribbed with oval silver tinsel
Underwing: Purple Antron (same as body)
Hackle: Purple
Overwing: Bronze Mallard

VRC Purple Spey
Tag: Silver flat tinsel
Butt: Fluorescent green wool or antron over flat silver tinsel
Body: Purple Kreinik's Blending Filament (shown) or Antron, ribbed with oval silver tinsel.
Hackle: Spey hackle over front portion of body, faced with a beard of teal or guinea fibers
Wing: Cinnamon colored Mallard flank

WINTER STEELHEAD PATTERNS

2005-02-22T10:35:00.001-08:00

WINTER STEELHEAD PATTERNS General Practitioner (Shrimp Fly)
Hook: Partridge CS10/2
Thread: Orange
Tag & Rib: Silver Braid
Tail: Orange Elk
Body: Scintilla/Mohair blend
Wing: Golden Pheasant body feather tied in several stages
Hackle: Golden Pheasant rump

Polar Shrimp
Hook: Partridge CS10/2
Thread: Orange
Tag & Rib: Silver Braid
Tail: Orange saddle hackle & Golden Pheasant tippet
Body: Orange seal substitute (SLF)
Hackle: Orange, with GP tippet & natural guinea beard
Wing: Calf body hair

Pocket Pal

2005-02-22T10:35:00.000-08:00

Pocket Pal

Derivative of the Trude, this has become my go-to dry fly for small mountain streams. on either slope of the Cascades, in the Rockies, or in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It is visible in shaded pockets, durable enough to bounce off the rocks, and the fish grab it with abandon.

hook: dry fly hook #12 - 16
tail: Golden Pheasant tippet (shown), or brown or cree hackle fibers, or moose hair
body: black dubbing ribbed with silver oval tinsel (rib optional)
wing: white calftail or pref. calf body hair, downwing (caddis/stonefly) style
hackle: brown or cree dry fly hackle in front of the wing

Here's a pretty Baker River (NH) brookie that rose to the Pocket Pal:

Irresisticaddis

2005-02-22T10:34:00.001-08:00

Irresisticaddis

A downwing version of the Irresistable. Like the Goddard Caddis above, this is a great combination of flotation & silhouette.

hook: #12-16 standard dry fly
thread: tan or brown
tail: moose hair (optional)
body:caribou or deer hair spun & clipped. Try tan with a black stripe in the middle.
hackle: For best silhouette, none. For *huge* flotation & skateability, palmer a stiff hackle through the spun hair.
wing: Deer or elk hair, downwing with butts uncovered to form head (a la Elk Hair Caddis).

Goddard Caddis

2005-02-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

Goddard Caddis: Another simplified pattern (antennae are omitted). This floats for a long time & provides a great silhouette. The flotation comes from the caribou, so hackle quality isn't critical. This fly has fooled some large trout in the Deschutes & Snake Rivers. I am currently experimenting with an all-black version; haven't had time to fish it but will post reports if it proves successful.
hook: #12-16 standard dry fly
thread: tan or brown
body: natural caribou hair spun & clipped into tent-like adult caddis shape
hackle: a few turns of brown hackle

Blueblack Stone:

2005-02-22T10:33:00.001-08:00

Andrew's Blueblack Stone: A good generic weighted nymph.
hook: #12 TMC 3761, weighted
thread: black or dark brown
tail: black biots
body: abdomen: dark blue floss overwrapped with closely spaced segments of flattened out 15# brown monofilament (or dark brown swannundaze)
thorax: black angora mixed with some brown, palmered with dark brown hen hackle
wingcase: black quill section with plenty of lacquer for durability

tying durable flies

2005-02-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

Since I'm tying non-commercially, I don't mind taking some extra steps to be sure that the fly holds up for more than one or two fish.

Securing body materials & hackles: A light coat of head cement (I like Dave's Flexament) over the shank helps secure body materials. Some kind of cement is especially important under a tag of flat tinsel, but I like a dab under oval tinsel as well. A body of flat tinsel always get counterwound with oval tinsel, & palmered hackles counterwound with wire &/or oval tinsel. I often run a few turns of thread back through a regular hackle, then forward to the head before tying off. In the Brown Hackle Bee pattern above, the thread is lightly dubbed before this step.

Depending on the size of the fly, I always use at least two and usually three whip finishes of five turns. On trout flies, I usually don't worry about an overcoat, but wax the thread really well before whip finishing, or put the whips over a little dab of head cement. Steelhead flies get a final coat of 30-minute clear epoxy.

Brown Hackle Bee

2005-02-22T10:23:00.000-08:00

Tied & photographed by ARB

My favorite fly -- when in doubt, fish the BHB. This is a simplified (i.e. wingless) cousin of the McGinty, Western Bee, or Hari Kari Bucktail, developed a few years ago during a bad yellowjacket season. The fly works well wet or dry, in rivers or in lakes. The fish seem to take it for a yellowjacket, stonefly nymph, or dragonfly nymph, depending on where & how it is fished.

hook: #10-14 TMC 3761 or equivalent wet fly hook
thread: black or dark brown
tail: claret hackle fibers; substitute red-colored Golden Pheasant fibers (from body feathers)
body: black angora or similar dubbing, ribbed with dark gold floss (Pearsall's #156 Stout)
hackle: brown hen or soft rooster, palmered through front 1/3 of body. Counterwind a lightly dubbed thread through the hackle before finishing the head; this improves durability & provides a full, buggy silhouette.

The McKenzie River trout finally chewed through the silk rib of this BHB, but the fly is otherwise intact. (photo by ARB, September 2008)

The Brown Hackle Bee was featured in Gene Trump's "Fly Wrap-Up" column in Flyfishing, November/December, 1997 (Portland, OR: Frank Amato). Tied & photographed by Gene Trump, reprinted by permission

A BHB Testimonial From Maine Thu, 28 Jun 2001 09:14:31 -0700
From: "Werner J. Rothbacher"
Subject: Re: oregon flies (was:Fishing guy's address)
To: "Andrew R. Bonamici"
Organization: Bowdoin College

Hi,
Thanks for your message and yes my son and I had good luck with your Brown Hackle Bee in one stream up in the woods of Maine, we had a bite
in almost every pool and we had great fishing for two days, but there were lots of biting flies too. Nothing like the fishing in Oregon.
...snip...

A BHB Testimonial From Eastern Oregon [Blitzen River]
August 11, 2003
Andrew --
Thanks again for the flies.... I used your bee imitation with great success. I caught at least two dozen fish on them before breaking them off (poor tippet). They held up beautifully....
Best regards,
John