FlyTalk

Here's another killer pattern from Fly Talk's resident tying guru, Brian Schmidt of Umpqua Feather Merchants... KD

Winter fly fishing for trout is often overlooked by the summertime weekend warriors, not only because of the cold weather, but also the lack of prolific hatches. The cast-to-catch ratio is generally widened to the point that many would rather stay in the warmth of the house and tie flies. Generally speaking, winter is more of a nymph fishing season than dry fly fishing (also is a deterrent to many), but here is one reason that you need not stay inside during the winter months wishing you were fishing.

Midges are a primary food source for trout all year long in both still waters and in rivers and streams, and definitely a fly for the winter. This Mercury Black Beauty midge pattern is indispensable during the cold months. Pat Dorsey created this twist after years of midge fishing tailwaters around Colorado. Pat is known for his Mercury series of flies and his extensive knowledge of tailwater fishing, so when he came to us with this pattern we smelled money.

The basic Black Beauty is a simple midge pupa imitation; well, it’s a simple insect to imitate in this stage at least. With nothing more then a few standard materials this fly will catch fish. Pat took a closer look at the natural occurring insect and added a few highlights to improve upon its outstanding reputation. If you watch the video attached to this you will see that the natural insect builds up a gas bubble around its body and at the head giving a sheen to length of the body. As the insect wriggles itself toward the surface film to emerge as an adult, the flash given off by the gas is a signal light to the fish. This was a perfect match for what Pat had started years before with his Mercury series. With a Mercury bead at the hook eye and a single strand of Flashabou across the back of the hook shank, the fly is a very close match to the natural.

Hook: Tiemco 2488 size 18-22
Thread: black 8/0
Body (abdomen): black thread
Body (thorax): Superfine dubbing black
Body (back): flashabou pearl
Rib: extra fine copper wire
Bead: extra small mercury glass bead

KD: Here's another hot tip from Fly Talk's tying guru, Brian Schmidt of Umpqua Feather Merchants:

When trying to match the hatches of small mayflies such as Baetis and PMD’s, a couple things can get in the way of being successful: 1. These insects have very thin abdomens which many flies fail to represent well. 2. You need enough weight on the fly to get in the face of the feeding trout.

Many of the naturals have abdomens that are in fact thinner than the wire the typical nymph hooks are made of; this, right out of the gate, is an issue that can be tough to overcome. Mike Mercer was able to figure out a solution that left people asking, “why didn’t I think of that?” His use of a short shank, thin wire “dry fly” hook was the key to what is now an extremely effective fly on all types of waters. Using the Tiemco 921 as the base for his fly; he started to design around the thin wire a sleek abdomen made of one of the thinnest natural materials available. Peacock herl is no stranger to nymphs, and has been a staple on many of the more famous imitations available. If you take off all of the fuzz on peacock herl, you are left with a durable stem that is light brown and flat. This lends itself perfectly for keeping a thin abdomen on an already tiny fly. As for using enough weight to get in the face of the feeding trout... you can’t use lead wire and keep the fly thin. Many drainages don’t allow for lead to be used either, so a bead head was the answer…to some extent. On such a small fly the standard brass beads just wouldn’t cut it unless you were to use an oversized bead. Which in fact works perfectly with the Tiemco 921 given it’s large gape. So there you have it, the two largest issues solved. All Mercer had to do now was finish the fly in such a way that trout wouldn’t think twice about eating it.

Because the fly has an over sized bead and as thin an abdomen as they come, the thorax had to “fit” in there somewhere. Mercer used a dubbed thorax with an epoxy coat to give it the appearance of the gasses that build up at the wing case of emergent insects. This distended appearance of the thorax, slightly larger then the abdomen was pretty much the icing on the cake.

Mike Mercer has been a long time friend of Umpqua Feather Merchants, so when we saw his Micro Mayfly we know it was another winner. Over time the fly has gained popularity from coast to coast and is now available in many colors to match all the local hatches and in the sizes and weights to help anglers get the upper hand on even the most finicky of trout. Twist up a few for yourself, recipe below.


Hook: Tiemco 921
Thread: 8/0 color to match the fly
Tail: Three Pheasant Tail fibers
Rib: Fine silver wire
Abdomen: Stripped Peacock Herl (use a pencil eraser to remove the “fuzz”)
Wing Case: Pearl Flashabou over Dark Turkey Tail fibers. Coated with 5 min epoxy
Thorax: Buggy Nymph Dubbing color to match the fly
Legs: Pheasant tail
Collar: Buggy Nymph Dubbing, same as thorax
Bead Small: Copper Bead, Tungsten or Glass bead depending on where you plan on fishing

-Brian Schmidt

Another gem fly recommendation from Brian Schmidt at Umpqua Feather Merchants, recipe included:

Tracy Peterson developed this pattern as a combination baetis nymph/Midge larva on the Bighorn River in Montana. This was during several years of very low flows that saw an increase in the duration of midge hatches and the demise of certain mayflies like PMDs and Tricos. It was initially unweighted for the reduced water volumes during these drought summers. And boy, did it catch trout... lots and lots of them. As its effectiveness became known, Tracy, a commercial tier, filled local orders for 250-350 dozen for the Bighorn alone, so Umpqua Feather Merchants decided to add it to the arsenal and offer it to the public in 2007. Thin and sparsely tied… ribbed with gold wire… involving the magic of peacock… with a thin flashabou wingcase, it has all the ingredients to be a trout magnet. Baetis? Midge? We feel that like other great all-around nymphs such as the Pheasant Tail and Mercer’s Micro Mayfly, the Skinny Nelson is simply highly effective trout food... basically a fish’s slice of pizza.

When Tracy began guiding out of Livingston, the fly tagged along and proved itself on area rivers such as the Yellowstone, the spring creeks, and the Madison. In Oregon it has scored on the Deschutes, Metolius and Crooked Rivers. Especially with the addition of a Tungsten bead, this fly is now cooking with all burners. It is deadly as a weighted point fly with another small dropper nymph, and frequently matched the unweighted (original) Skinny Nelson… two slices of pizza. It’s also a highly effective dropper below a dry fly and is perfect for a dry/dropper rig on the bigger flows like the Deschutes and the Madison. Whether the original – un-weighted version – or the Tungsten beaded one, I doubt that there are very many waters where this fly will NOT catch fish. And like many effective fly designs, this one is seemingly so darn simple.

The recipe:

HOOK: TMC 3761
THREAD: black 6/0
TAIL: Pheasant tail fibers
ABDOMEN: Black 6/0 Thread
THORAX: Peacock Herl
RIB: fine gold wire
WING CASE: Pearl Flashabou
BEAD: Tungsten black sizes 2.3 – 2.0

-Brian Schmidt

Once again, Brian Schmidt from Umpqua Feather Merchants serves up a classic from the bench. How many of you are into the Euro nymph thing? I'm just starting to groove with it, and it's pretty wicked. Even if you're wed to high sticking, this one belongs in the box... Deeter

Vladi Trzebunia of Poland and the Polish Flyfishing team designed this pattern to win the World Fly Fishing Championships in 1989. That year, with this fly and the newly created method of fishing known today as Polish nymphing, Vladi caught more fish by himself than the next three ranked teams combined. If that doesn’t speak for the fly and this technique, then I don’t know what does. From that day on, the Polish nymphing technique (later altered by the Czech team and now known throughout the flyfishing world as Czech nymphing) has ruled the waters during most flyfishing competitions.

You might be asking yourself “what is the difference between Polish and Czech nymphing?” Well, the Czechs simply modified Vladi’s technique. Polish Nymphing consists of two or three moderately weighted flies; the body of the fly is woven tightly to give it very little resistance as it sinks. The flies are pulled through the water slightly faster than the speed of the current on a tight line. Czech Nymphing uses the same number of flies, but they are heavily weighted. The flies are in contact with the angler via a tight line, but are rolled across the bottom of the river bed. Though it’s not the most enjoyable way to spend an afternoon on the water, it is the most effective way of putting numbers up in a competition (or just for fun) and has become the method of choice for serious competitors.

Umpqua Feather Merchants offered Vladi the opportunity to make his flies available to the public in 2008, and he jumped at the idea right away. This is nothing more then a woven grub by the looks of it; with two tones and tungsten bead to give it a faster sink rate, the fly rotates in the water giving the fish a look at the two tones flashing before them and entices strikes from even the most stubborn trout. You need to give this fly a try, even if you are not into the whole Czech or Polish nymphing approach. The fly is also fun to tie, and you’ll be surprised at the number of combinations of colors and sizes that you’ll be successful with. You can use this weave on just about any kind of bug you tie, not just a caddis or grub. Here are the ingredients you’ll need to get going:

Hook: TMC 2457
Thread: Uni White 6/0
Eyes: N/A
Tail:N/A
Legs: N/A
Body: (Top) Uni Stretch Shrimp
Body: (Bottom) Uni Floss White
Rib: Small Copper Wire
Collar: Arizona Synthetic Hares Ear
Bead: Tungsten Gold Bead to match Hook Size

By Brian Schmidt

Greg Garcia's Mother's Day Caddis, courtesy of Brian Schmidt and Umpqua

We all celebrate Mother’s Day, but in some areas of the West, some celebrate it better than others. This essential little gem that Greg Garcia came up with incorporates everything that a Caddis dry fly should have to match the Mothers Day hatch; it's been tested for years, and proven on rivers such as the Arkansas River in Colorado.

As with many standard dry Caddis patterns, this also has the elk wing that has become a staple for imitating Caddis. Greg added a few strands of flash as an under-wing below the bleached Elk to give his version a touch of pearlescence that also helps with visibility in low light conditions. The Superfine dubbed body is black, which gives great contrast to the lighter colored wing and the bright green glass bead at the bend of the hook. Why the bead? Well, two reasons…1) When the female caddis returns to the water late in the day to lay their eggs, they have a green egg sac that naturally appears toward the 10th section, or the end of their abdomen. 2) This fly will be seen by feeding trout; they'd have to be blind to miss it. The placement of the silver-lined bead mimics this stage of the caddis fly perfectly, though Greg’s fly works extremely well throughout the hatch. The fly is finished off with a grizzly-dyed brown rooster hackle that gives the fly the essential footprint to keep it afloat as well as giving the illusion of the spayed legs of a natural. I have had great success fishing this fly alone, as well as dropping a soft hackle; such as a partridge and orange, off the bend of the hook. It’s a great fly to fish in the pocket water of small mountain streams and along the grassy banks of slower meadow runs.

When Greg showed Umpqua Feather Merchants his creation, we “smelled money” and it was a “no brainer” to accept his fly as one that we would offer to the public. Check out your local fly shop and get yourself a handful or follow the recipe below to tie them for yourself… you can’t go wrong with this fly. -- Brian Schmidt

Hook: TMC 100SP-BL #14-18
Bead: Green Glass Seed Bead 15/0 size
Thread: 10/0 olive to secure the bead, then 8/0 Black for the rest of the fly
Abdomen: Black Superfine Dubbing
Underwing: Pearl Krystal Flash, Red Krystal Flash and Pearl Mirage Strands
Overwing: Bleached Elk Hair
Hackle: Grizzly Dyed Brown Rooster Saddle or Neck Hackle

We're proud to introduce Fly Talk's official "Fly Guy," Brian Schmidt from Umpqua Feather Merchants. He's the premier talent scout for all things hook-and-feathery, and an esteemed fly innovator. He's agreed to showcase the hottest patterns for us ... think of it as getting online guitar lessons from Eric Clapton, transposed to the world of fly tying. Deeter

Schmidt says: Umpqua Feather Merchants’ Jujubee Midge has won acclaim as a deadly midge pattern, whether drifted to finicky browns in the small spring creeks of Pennsylvania, or deep in Cheeseman Canyon on the famous South Platte River of Colorado. For fishermen unfamiliar with this fly, it will make a positive difference for your day on the water.

This pattern was created by Charlie Craven. The Jujubee is a midge pupa of simple elegance; durability and bugginess, making this a fly you don’t want to be without.

What makes this fly so delectable to trout, you ask? Why the Jujubee over simple thread midges? Well, one thing you must remember when choosing a midge to tie on is segmentation. For a midge to be as effective as possible, it must have segmentation. After all, what details on a midge really stand out? Take a Zebra Midge for example ... a fantastic fly, the only detail on the fly is the ribbing or segmentation Other than that it’s thread on a hook. What Charlie has done with his Jujubee Midge is take the segmentation to the next level and expanded the possibilities beyond the color of available wire. The Super Hair used on the abdomen of the fly is available in a plethora of colors and the combinations are extensive enough to match any color midge you’ll find on your home waters. Next, the fly must be slender throughout. Midges are tiny in nature, and many of the materials, be they synthetic or animal, are just too thick and bulky. Super Hair was an excellent choice due to its thin nature allowing you to use multiple filaments to adjust or create the contrasting body dimension you desire. The fly is finished off with a sleek thorax and Flouro Fibre wingcase and wingbuds that are subtle enough to look realistic, and give the fly just enough sheen to be eye-catching, yet not overly flashy.

Fish the JuJubee Midge as a dropper under a dry, in a multiple nymph rig, or cast it alone. In any scenario, trout will view it as FOOD. Give this fly a try, or try tying a few for yourself. Your fly box will thank you.

Hook: TMC 2488 #18-24 Thread: 10/0 white, colored with black marker for thorax and head or switch to black 10/0 thread for the thorax as shown. Must use white thread under abdomen to allow true color of Super Hair to show through. Abdomen: Super Hair, color combination of your choice. Two strands of primary color and one strand of contrasting rib color. My favorite color combinations are two olive and one black, two chartreuse and one black, two black and one white and two red with one white. Wingcase: White Umpqua Flouro-Fiber Thorax: Black tying thread or white colored with black marker. Wingbuds: Remaining stubs of Flouro-Fiber from wingcase, pulled back along sides of thorax like legs.