Howdy,

As most of you know, in addition to operating the online fly shop, I’m also a partner in a guide service business – Oregon Outdoor Excursions.   This gives me a unique opportunity to witness my fly patterns in action, in the hands of other anglers – beginners and experienced fly casters alike.  As any fly tier will attest – catching a fish on a fly you tied is a great experience.  Sharing those flies with another angler on the water and watching them have success takes that experience to another level.  Providing proven flies to a guide client that is paying you their hard earned money is critical. 

For the past several years that I’ve been in the tying business, I’ve sent dozens and dozens of flies all over the world.  Sometimes I get an email with a fish story or a photo of fish they’ve caught, but most of the time I just have to assume the flies worked for the customer because they returned to the website to buy more flies.

An assortment of flies from Riverwood Flies

It’s been an eye opening experience to guide fly anglers.  I get to be there as an angler uses the flies I tie.  I get to see them present the fly in their casting and fishing style.  I get to provide input on how a client should fish the fly, and many times, see the fly presented in a manner that is different than how I’d fish it.  In other words, it’s hand’s on sharing of information.  Both the guide and the client learn a few things.

When I’m guiding, I do very little fishing.  But when I do break out a rod and fish along side a client, generally, I’m not using the same flies I handed to them.  I’m experimenting with other patterns so I can find out how they work.  I have several patterns that are proven for different situations, times of year, flow, clarity and other factors, but I feel it’s important to have several tricks up my sleeve. 

I’ve had one new pattern this summer that’s become a client favorite.  It’s a variation of a caddis adult that I saw in a fly fishing magazine a few months back.  As with several adult patterns, this one fishes well both as a floating dry imitation and as a drowned or emerging adult.  In fact, it catches more fish after it sinks!  The original patterned called for deer hair, but I used elk body hair as a substitute.  I also use a variety of hackle colors at the head of the fly to match a variety of caddis species in the area. 

The Elk & Mallard Caddis

I really liked the looks of this pattern, primarily because it reminded me of one of my favorites – The Goddard Caddis (aka G&H Sedge).  Most Goddard’s I tied are made from Antelope hair, which is very hollow and floats great, but is also brittle and gets torn up after several fish.  The Elk & Mallard doesn’t float nearly as well, but it holds up much better.  This fly has seen some 20 fish days and still goes back in the fly box at the end of the day to be fished again.

Here are a couple shots of some of this summers catch on the Elk & Mallard:

Rose's pretty Native Rainbow

John's Native Cutthroat

Needless to say, this fly will be a regular on the boat and one of the first flies handed to clients anytime caddis activity occurs (which happens to be about 75% of the year here on the North Santiam).  It’s proven itself to be a winner and will sit right next to the Goddards, Split Wing Mayflies, Yak Caddis, Partridge & Orange and the other “go to” flies we carry on the boat. 

It’s been a great year so far here on the North Santiam and we’re finding some very nice Rainbows and Cutthroat.  As usual, lots of fish in the 8-12″ range, but we’re also hooking into a few 14-17″ fish on just about every trip.  Some of the best fishing of the year is just around the corner with more caddis, mayflies, and other bugs left to hatch.  And as always, subsurface fishing with nymphs is productive any time of the year.  The North Santiam has a very rich and diverse bug population for fish to feed on.

The Spring Chinook and Summer Steelhead run is winding down, but there are still plenty of fish in the system and we’re seeing some, mostly in the upper reaches of the river.  Steelhead will get more aggressive as the summer wears on and fall approaches.  Give us a shout at 503-767-BITE  or visit the website at www.oreoutdoor.com – we’d love to show you our river!

Tight Lines!

Dave

Howdy,

This month’s flies feature a classic from Fly Fishing innovator Lee Wulff and one of my personal patterns.

Trout Fly of the Month

Wulff Style Mayfly

 Recipe:

• Hook:  Dry Fly sizes 10-16
• Tail:  Moose or Elk Mane
• Body:  Natural Dubbing (Beaver, Fox, Oppossum, Muskrat)
• Wing:  Elk or Deer Body Hair, divided
• Hackle:  Brown, Tan, or Grizzly

The Wulff series of fly patterns were developed by Lee Wulff. It presents a bushy, high floating fly, that remains visible into the evening twilight, and rides well in rough water. Every modern fly angler should have one or more of Lee Wulff’s innovations. He designed and sold the first fly fishing vests, championed reeling with the left hand on fly reels (so the rod was in the stronger right hand), invented the first palming spool fly reels, introduced the fly-O casting practice rigs, popularized the “riffling hitch” for salmon fishing and designed the popular triangle taper lines. However, Lee Wulff’s best-known innovations were in his flies.

Wulff patterns were the first flies to use hair for fly wings and tails. Almost all dry flies available in the winter of 1929/30 were, according to Wulff, anemic and too delicate, which he ascribed to their British tradition. The reason for very slim flies was that if a fly was too bulky the feather materials did not have the buoyancy to hold it up. Wulff also noted that dry flies with wings and tails of feathers get slimed up and are not very durable. To Wulff, the solution was obvious use bucktail (deerhair) for tails and wings. The mobility and buoyancy of elk and deer hair has made it a favorite North American fly tying material. 

Steelhead Fly of the Month

Riverwood Eyed Critter

 Recipe:

• Hook:  Salmon/Steelhead size 2-6
• Tail:  4 Dyed Grizzly hackle tips
• Rib:  Gold Tinsel
• Body:  Purple Angora Dubbing
• Body Hackle:  Purple Schlappen
• Wing:  4 Dyed Grizzly hackle tips
• Eyes:  Dumbell or Spirit River IBalz

The Riverwood Eyed Critter is a big purple thing with eyes.  Long schlappen body hackle and dyed grizzly hackle feathers for the wing and tail (four feathers at each location).  Finished with a dyed guinea feather for the collar.  The body is angora dubbing.  I developed this fly for fishing deep runs and pools for both Steelhead and Salmon.  With the weighted eyes, this fly will get down in the water column quickly.  

Tight Lines!

Dave

Howdy,

Western dry fly anglers can celebrate spring with the arrival of Caddis hatches.  Sure, there are BWO’s, March Browns, and a variety of stoneflies in the air, but the caddis hatch on some rivers is so prolific that all other bugs seem insignificant.  Such is the case here on the North Santiam. 

Soon after a few consecutive warm days in April, the little speckled caddis begin to appear.  By little, I mean equivalent to a size 14-16 hook.  The shoreline is crawling with them.  Bump the bushes or wiggle a tree branch and a cloud of them scatter in all directions.  A standard Cuttwing Caddis or Double Wing EHC will serve you well.

Caddis Fog

All  Caddis varieties have the same basic profile in the air and on the water. Wings extending beyond the body when at rest, fluttering madly while in the air.  It’s said that caddis are able to drink and that’s the reason they dip to the water surface so often.  Most other bug species (mayflies, stoneflies, etc.) are only on the water surface for 1 of 3 reasons – 1) to allow their wings to dry after emergence, 2) to deposit eggs, 3) when they die and fall there. 

Following close on the heals of the the speckled caddis is the bigger tan/grey variety.  These bugs are equivalent to a size 10-12 hook.  Again, the Double Wing EHC is a good choice, along with the Goddard Caddis (my personal favorite).

In my opinion, choosing a caddis fly imitation is not as critical as choosing mayfly or stonefly patterns.  I’ve had sucess with a variety of caddis patterns over the years.  Because the hatches overlap, size is not as important and the color just needs to be “close enough”.  Right now for example:  Both the small speckled and medium sized tan caddis are available to trout.  I can choose just about any caddis adult pattern - EHC, Double Wing EHC , Cutwing, Goddard, Trude, etc. – in size 10-16  AND in just about any shade of Grey, Tan or Brown and get a fish to rise to it. 

Here on the Santiam, the caddis species hatch throughout the spring, summer and fall months.  Starting with the tiny speckled fellas and progressively getting bigger as the season wears on until the grand finale’ of the year brings out the Fall (or October) Caddis – the grandaddy of them all. 

October Caddis

For a number of years, these big caddis had me baffled.  I’d had OK luck using Stimulators and large Goddard patterns, but never really felt I was getting the most from this hatch.  I’ve tied a number of experimental flies, using a variety of materials, but never felt I got it just right.  However, this past fall I began collaboration with Yakima river guide Derek “Cutthroat” Young of Emerging Rivers Guide Service.  Together we brainstormed on perfecting a pattern to imitate this hatch.  I tied up 5 or 6 completely different patterns and sent them up to Derek for testing.  He reported back with details of what he liked and didn’t like about each pattern.  He also contributed some ideas of his own based on his observations of the bugs over the years.  After a couple more “back and forth” shipments and trials, we settled on a pattern and Derek gave it a name – “The Yak Caddis”. 

I tied up a dozen of the final versions and shipped them north to Derek.  I tied one more and headed for the river.  The smell of head cement still lingering on the fly as I tied it to my leader.  On the first cast, with only 10 seconds on the water, the pattern was slammed by a pretty little Santaim Native Cutthroat Trout.  Better yet, after releasing the fish and giving the fly a shake, it still drifted nicely in the surface film on the next cast.  The fly fished very well for me over the next couple days.

The Yak Caddis takes it's first Santiam Fish

Derek’s first experience with the new pattern was even more memorable.  I’m a little fuzzy on the details, but will try and relay the story as close as I can.

Derek was taking a 1st time client on a trip down the Yakima River.  This fella was primarily a Czech Nymph angler and somewhat new to dry fly fishing.  Derek took him to an area of the river with your basic riffle, run, pool configuration to show him the basics of working the water with a dry fly.  Derek made his first cast into the seam at the base of the fast water and WHAM!  A very nice 18″+ Yakima Cutthroat inhaled the fly.   Needless to say, Derek and his Guide Client were both very impressed with the fly and continued to catch fish with it on the rest of the trip.

We had a winner.  My quest for the killer October Caddis pattern was over. 

I could not have done it without the input, testing and analysis from Derek Young though.  Remember, I was kinda stuck for ideas and had been working on it for a couple years – never getting it right.  Derek made it happen by bringing fresh ideas to the table.  He pushed me to think “outside the box” and try things differently.

Late last fall, we submitted the fly pattern to Orvis (as Co-Developers) for consideration for inclusion in their fly catalogs.  The hatch ended, months passed,  and we just kind of forgot about it all.  Earlier this week I received a message from the head of Product Development at Orvis.  He was in Wyoming fishing the Shoshone river and had one of those epic weekends catching 14-18″ western slope cutthroat trout – many of them on our pattern.  Obviously the pattern works just as well as an Adult Stonefly imitation as it does as a October Caddis imitation!  He also informed me that Orvis would be picking up the pattern for future catalogs. 

If you’re still reading along, you’re probably feeling a little ripped off right now.  You thought this was going to be some killer insight into fishing with caddis flies and it turned into me bragging about the Yak Caddis.  Please accept my apologies, but I’m pretty excited about all this.  It’s kind of a big deal for me.  A small-time, online fly shop guy having one of his patterns picked up by the giant that is ORVIS.  It’s my blog and I’ll brag if I want to…………..

I’m done bragging now and will get back to fishing caddis flies. 

In summary, grab your favorite pattern from the fly bin and hit the water.  The caddis flies are here and trout are waiting to inhale them.  Get a good selection of colors (tan, grey, brown, olive)  and sizes (8-16) and you’ll be able to match the hatch throughout the fishing season.  On those rare days when nothing is happening on the surface…. don’t give up on the caddis….. just think “under the surface” and tie on a soft hackle, rusty squirrel or hare’s ear nymph.  On a river system like the Santiam – caddis are available ALL the time and in all stages of the life cycle – larva, pupa, adult or ovapositor!

Tight Lines!

Dave

P.S. – When next fall rolls around, remember the Yak Caddis – let one fly and hang on!

Howdy,

The younger boys and myself did some bug collecting this morning down at the river.  In about 30 minutes time, we collected 5 species of bugs in various stages of life.

 We began by searching the rocks and brush along the shoreline.  We found several old stonefly cases and small mayfly nymphs.

Next we broke out the net and setup in some fast  current, then began lifting rocks and stirring up the gravel.  We found several nice specimens this way.

We wound up with 3 smaller caddis larva outside of their cases.  Several cased caddis (including the large October Caddis).  We also saw several mayfly nymphs of various sizes and colors.  Stonely nymphs were also plentiful.   The prize of the day was an October Caddis Nymph about one and a half inches long.

From left to right – Small caddis larva, October caddis larva with 2 stonelfy nymphs, Giant Stonefly (Salmonfly)Nymph and Mayfly Nymph.

I realize that this is the time of the year when most of us are thinking about dry fly fishing, but you should keep in mind that the waters are full of bugs at various stages of life this time of year.  We explored about 30 feet of shoreline in our outing and this is just a sample of what was available.  There is a lot of food available to trout that most fisherman never see. 

This little bit of exploring also makes a strong case for the use of the “hopper-dropper” method.  It’s a great time of year to tie on your favorite big dry fly and run a nymph of some sort off the hook bend.  You double your chances for a hookup and can make an attractive offering to fish that are feeding on the surface and near the bottom.

View the slideshow below for all the pictures of this outing.

Tight Lines!

Dave

Howdy,

I started up a new rod project this week – a 14 ft., 9 wt., 4 pc. double handed spey rod.  After building a 12′ 6″ this spring, I’ve come to enjoy this Scandinavian style of fly fishing.  I have a long way to go before I consider myself to be proficient in spey casting, but I can manage to fling big flies quite a ways.  I feel I’m ready to step up to something a little bigger now. 

As you can see from the photo below, I’ve just started the process.    The rod sections have been aligned and marked.  The handles, butt cap, reel seat and winding check have been assembled and epoxied in place.  Next comes the guide placement and alignment, followed by thread wrapping and coatings.  I’m not sure what colors I’ll be using on this one, so stay tuned……………

14 ft. Spey Rod in progress

Local river guide Bill Sanderson reports that Salmon will begin spawning real soon here on the North Santiam.  Bill knows this river like the back of his hand, so if he says the salmon are about to spawn, then it’s time to get ready!  He recommends using flies and lures that are orange.  I’d have to agree with him on that.  Big trout (rainbows and cutthroat) and steelhead will be holding downstream of the spawning salmon waiting to pick off an easy, high protein meal.  Any eggs that get disturbed or don’t get covered will drift downstream and be picked up by waiting fish. 

Later in the spawn, this same fish will get another nice meal eating the decomposing pieces of flesh from the spawned out adult fish.  I do like to use a wide range of colors and fly patterns to take advantage of these conditions.  Orange, red, salmon, pink, flesh and other similar color tones will work well.  Also, don’t just focus on egg patterns.  Fluffy marabou patterns like popsicles and such will work well.  Leach patterns are also important this time of year.  It isn’t just fish that hang around the spawning redds.

Don’t put away those orange flies too early though.   Following close on the heals of the spawning salmon will come the October Caddis hatch – Big Orange bugs as long as 2″.  The larva will exit their cases, morph into adults and begin the mating/egg laying cycle from September  through early November.  Read more about them here: http://blog.riverwoodfliesonline.com/?p=8

Here are some of my favorite fall patterns for trout:

Fall Trout Selection

Top Left – October Stimulator, Top Right – Goddard Caddis, Bottom Left – Olive Double wing EHC, Bottom Right – Tungsten Stone Nymph

Caddis Larva

These caddis larva flies can be effective in the fall as well.  They are a fairly good imitation of the october caddis larva as they appear outside of their cases.  Tied on curved scud hooks (heavy wire) with a tungsten bead head.  The body is made of split fibers of antron with bushy dubbing bound between (like a dubbing rope).  It creates great body segmentation up the head area where I’ve used spiky woodchuck dubbing.

Here are some of my favorite fall patterns for Steelhead:

Fall Steelhead Selection

Top Center – Eyed Critter, Center Left – Bomber, Center Right – Steelhead Humpy, Bottom row – Low water Spey flies.  The eyed critter will pass for a leach or smaller fish.  It’s also a great fly for fall Coho Salmon.  The flies in the center of the picture are referred to as skater or wake flies.  You present them by casting down and across stream, then skim them across the current creating a “wake” or disturbance on the surface of the water.  The bottom flies are simply a smaller version of a normal spey style fly that is effective on heavily pressured and spooky fish.  The steelhead humpy (center-right) also makes a good october caddis pattern.

Tight Lines and great fall fishing!

Dave

Howdy,

Oregon Rivers are running high and cold this week.  We had some pretty decent storms move through the first part of last week, followed by temperatures in the 80′s this weekend.  Combine a bunch of rain runoff with high mountain snowmelt and you get some serious water – Serious and Dangerous!

As usual this time of year, the weekend news reports told of drownings and near misses.  People need to realize that just because it’s 80 degrees, that doesn’t mean it’s a good reason to go swimming or tubing.  That water that looks so clean and cool is hovering in the low 40′s!  Not only is the water very cold, it’s running very fast.  It also likely contains a fresh batch of debris – stumps, logs and brush wads.  Recreational folks aren’t the only ones that need to take care.  Even experienced anglers can easily get in trouble.  Please be careful out there folks!

Summer Steelhead

Fish counts for Salmon and Steelhead heading our way have been sporatic the past couple weeks (probably due to the crazy weather).  But the numbers so far look encouraging.  Over 6,000 Sping Chinook and nearly 3,000 each of summer and winter Steelies have passed Willamette Falls so far this year.  The next couples weeks should be interesting.  Not only will some of those fish be populating the North Santiam, but we should also be entering the peak period of the Chinook and Summer Steelhead passages.  A few weeks of continuous 1,000 fish (chinook) and 300 fish (steelhead) days would make for some decent summer fishing here in the upper river.

Caddis Fly

Bug hatches have been following the weather and are just as sporatic.  There are still some stoneflies hatching, but most of the Giants are done.  Caddis of various species are making an appearance as well as the usual Blue Wing Olives, which will continue to hatch on and off throughout the year.  If you’re not seeing any suface activity to match (adults), change flies to nymphs and emergers.  Klinkhammers, Sparkle Pupae, soft hackles and basic nymph patterns (Princes, GRHE, and PT’s) will get you some takes. 

Goaddard Caddis

Personally, I’ll stick with an adult bug dry imitation longer than I should just because I like watching the take.  But when things are very slow on top, the sub-surface stuff will generally get you connected to a fish. 

Steelhead tactics will begin to tansition over the next couple months.  Clear and stable water, along with higher water temps will cause most fly casters to downsize and mute the colors somewhat.  The popsicles, moal leaches and similar flies should stay in the box more often.  Traditional Pacific Northwest hariwings in sizes 4 and 6 will be a good choice.  Smaller (3-7) and less flashly Spey and Dee patterns work well too.  Big nymph patterns can als0 produce in the summer months.

I’ve made a few changes on the Oregon Outdoor Excursions website by adding some historical fish count data.  I also uploaded a bunch of photos to the photo gallery page.  Give it a look if you get the chance.

New Products

Rabid Prince

Recent additions to the Riverwood Flies website include the additional of Turkey Tail and Wing Feathers and an addition to the trout nymph selection – the Rabid Prince. 

This pattern is a merger of two very popular patterns – the Prince Nymph and the Gold Rib Hare’s Ear.  It has the body features of the GRHE ( bushy mask dubbing and gold rib) and the biot wing and tail of the Prince Nymph.  It’s a great fly to use when you find those smaller cased Caddis species that use primarily wood debris and pine or fur needles to build their home.  These species are generally found in slower or even still water, therefore, I don’t add any underbody weight or bead heads.  When swept away into faster currents, these particular bugs will drift higher in the water column.

Tight Lines and Be Safe!

Dave

Howdy,

The fishing has been pretty slow the last week or so, but the weather has been great!  Blue skies and upper 40′s, low 50′s during the day.  Not much moisture to speak of though.  A little snow last week and small rainstorms this week.  River levels are stable.  We could probably use some big storms to get things stirred up again.  Makes the fish move and can also make them more aggressive.

Trout are feeding on the surface in the afternoons lately.  Mostly sipping midges and gnats.  Really small stuff hatching around here – better stick with 18′s, 20′s if you want to match them.  Grey’s and creams would probably work.

Lady Caroline Spey

I spent some time recently tying for “fun” after being chained to the bench tying for orders and swap flies lately.  I tackled some patterns I haven’t tried in a while.  After struggling with some classic streamers for a swap, I found that my feather handling has improved.  I tied a few Lady Caroline Speys and actually enjoyed working with the Bronze Mallard slips!  Then I downsized and tied up some Wulff style mayflies.   I used Coastal Blacktail deer for the Wing Posts and Tails, and some Red Fox dubbing for the body.  A really nice looking fly that floats VERY well.  Tied on a size 10 dry fly hook, it’ll pass for a caddis adult just fine. 

I acquired a waterproof camera last week and have played with it just a bit.  I hope to get some good underwater shots of all types of aquatic life for posting here on the Blog.  It’s also nice not to have to worry about drowning a camera if I happen to take a spill while wading!  Guess I won’t have any excuses for not having fish pictures anymore.  The camera also has video capabilities.  That should be fun to play with. 

Spirit River I-Balz (tm)

I finally bit the bullet and have added a few more products to the online fly shop.  From the beginning, I’d been avoiding the “metal” and “thread” products – it just seemed to overwhelming.  But I figured I can’t really be a fly shop without them.  So I did my research over the winter and have begun stocking up on Hooks, Beads, Tying Thread, Floss, Wire and Tinsel.  For the Hooks, Beads and Eyes I’ve selected the product offerings from Spirit River here in Oregon.  Their Spear-it ™ Hooks, Brite Beads ™ and I-Balz ™ products are great additions to the shop.  I’m going with the Danville line of thread, floss and wire/tinsel products.  As always, I don’t sell anything that I won’t use myself.  Not only will you find these products available for purchase, but if you purchase flies from Riverwood, you’ll see these materials used there. 

Whole Chukar Skin

In addition, we’ve also added full bird skins.  Guinea Hen, Chukar, Ringneck Pheasant, Golden Pheasant and Grouse are now available.  Whole skins with the wings  in place.  If you’re looking for the most possible types, shapes and colors in a particular feather, buying whole skins is the way to go. 

Another reason to use whole skins is the ability to create your own custom color tones and dye a batch of feathers (or the entire bird) to suit your tying needs.

And finally, I’m pleased to announce a new member of the Riverwood Family.  Tammy Goodwater, a fly tier from Omaha, Nebraska has a couple patterns that have been added to the trout and stillwater fly collections.  She ties a mean Parachute Hopper and a very nice Crawdad imitation.  Both flies are sure to be a hit on (and under) the water this year!

Tight Lines!

Dave

It’s October Caddis time here in Western Oregon and up and down the west coast.  The October, Fall or Giant Caddis (Limnephilidae Dicosmoecoes) Adults begin their egg laying dance on western rivers this time of year.  You’ll generally see them come out to play in mid-afternoon and continue until well after dusk. 

These bugs are HUGE, up to 2 inches long, not including the antenna!  They range in color from creamy yellow to fire orange.    Leg color usually matches the body color.  Wings are generally a darker brown with dark lines and semi-transparent – like stained glass windows.  The thorax region is quite shaggy looking.

Stimulators are one of many flies used to imitate this big bug.  The fly in the photo is a variation
on a Stimulator with a foam wrapped body, peacock herl rib and hackle stem antenna. 

Legs would probably be a good addition to this pattern and maybe some brown monofilament for the antenna instead of hackle stems.

The thorax region is angora dubbing, blended with orange, red and brown angora wool fibers.

Size 8 Bent Shank Stonefly Nymph hook

Muddler Minnows can also be quite effective.  Treat with floatant , but don’t be to upset if the fly becomes submerged.  It can represent a drowned adult just fine.

This pattern is modified slightly using Golden Pheasant Back and Breast feathers for the tail and wing instead of mottled turkey feathers.  Antelope hair was used for the head and over-wing.  Run a wire rib over the flat mylar tinsel body to segment the body some.

Size 8 3x streamer hook

Segmented Foam Body flies are another VERY popular pattern used to imitate the October Caddis.  The are a quick tie, with or without the antenna. 

The hair wing (deer or elk) is tied on top of the foam tie in location, adding some bulk to the thorax region.  Hackles are tied in beginning on top of the hair stubs. 

A favorite of mine is to make a “sandwiched” foam body using a golden yellow outer foam with orange center. 

You also take a thin strip of foam, grasp each end and twist in opposite directions.  Bring the ends together and the foam with twist back on itself, making a nice “woven look” body.  Tie it in at mid-shank.   Try two colors as well for variation.

Note:  I tried this pattern the other night tied on a standard dry fly hook – #10.  Got lots of strikes but no hookups.  On that version, the segmented body extended past the hook bend quite a ways.  I think what was happening was that the fish were targeting the rear of the fly and completely missing the hook. 

That makes some sense when I think about it.  The egg laying adult females are skipping over the water and only extending their rear body segment into the water to deposit eggs.  That’s probably what the fish key in on.

One interesting bit of information for those of your who haven’t experienced it –  If you happen to smack a few of these bugs while driving, you’ll know it!  They make quite a loud noise and a very big mess on the windshield of your vehicle.  If you don’t clean them off, you’ll have quite a mess the next time it rains.  For some reason, the remains of this bug on a windshield, with a little water mixed in, will create what looks like a glob of clear silicone caulking.  Windshield wipers only smear the glob across your field of vision!  Then when it dries, it becomes a hard epoxy like substance. 

I’ll leave you with a couple parting images here to study and maybe develop your own ideas for patterns.  If you live in one of the Pacific bordering states, you’ll likely find these bugs on your local waters. 

Oh yeah, I should also mention that the red-ball stick pin is not a feature found on the bug in nature.  Please don’t try to find body materials to imitate that item. 

Note how far the wings extend beyond the rear body segment.  As mentioned earlier, I’m pretty sure that the rear body segment is the target of feeding fish.  Another thing to keep in mind:  These photos show the bug at rest.  Unless the insect is dead and floating on the surface, it will look much different to the fish below the water’s surface.  When skipping along the water and dipping momentarily to deposit eggs, the wings on the insect are fluttering at a high rate of speed.  That’s why deer or elk hair makes such a great wing material.  The wider and flatter the better in my opinion.   Here’s a shot of the bug in motion and more closely representing it in flight:

As mentioned in my previous Blog entry, I’ve added a couple video clips to the website recently.  Check the one showing how to tie segmented bodies if you haven’t tried that before.  

Tight Lines!

Dave