Langrumpa Bugger

Posted on 15 April, 201315 April, 2013 by Håvard Eide cdc dr hends inspired tmc tungsten utc

Hook: DR 305 #10
Thread: Sheer 14/0 White
Tail: From the bottom: White CDC, Mallard Flank, Green CDC
Body: Hends Superfine Grey, Whiting Hackle, UTC Ultra Wire Silver
Head: 3mm tungsten bead

This is basicly a variant of a wooly bugger, but it has a story: last year I was in a cabin in Norway near langrompa lake and inspired by the nature and colors (we walked a lot in the moutain around the cabin) this pattern came to be as a memory of this great place. I like freestyling when tying with whatever I have in front of me, and this is one of those outcomes. The white (from moss and snow) and the greens was very predominant in the mountain around us, so the tail represents the nature around langrompa lake Also tied this on a TMC 5263 #10: To give you an idea of the nature that inspired this pattern:

CDC Suspender Midge

Posted on 14 April, 201314 April, 2013 by Håvard Eide #26 cdc gamakatsu midge sheer suspender taimern

Hook: Gamakatsu C12-BM #26 barbless
Thread: Sheer 14/0 Red
Body: Sheer 14/0 with UTC Ultra Wire Small
Thorax: Taimen Beaver Dubbing Black
Wing: Single white CDC

A tiny suspender on the Gamakatsu #26 barbless hook. As you can see on this picture I have a tendency to tie in too close the hook-eye, but thanks to the large eye on the C12-BM this is fishable.

The Fly Tier’s Benchside Reference

Posted on 13 April, 201313 April, 2013 by Håvard Eide book jim schollmeyer ted leeson tying

Title: The Fly Tier’s Benchside Reference
Author: Ted Leeson, Jim Schollmeyer
ISBN-10: 1571881263
ISBN-13: 978-1571881267
Pages: 444
For me this is the reference book that I keep on my desk: this is not about patterns, discussions about what to tie for different species or rambling about non-essential things, but to the point descriptions about specific techniques that you need for achieving the best result. Each technique is presented short, but with a very clear description accompanied with pictures for that specific part of the fly. In addition to the main explanation that has pictures with blue background there are also alternate steps (for achieving the same result) on some of the techniques to show how it can be done with a different approach.

I use this book as a reference when tying (very good when looking at online videos where quality is not that good all the time) and for sitting down and learning new techniques – Just pick a section (Extended Bodies) and implement all the different techniques in a training session.

The book contains 400+ tying methods presented with 3000+ color pictures, and have chapters like:

Hook Preparation
Thread Handling
Tails and Trailing Shucks
Dubbed Bodies
Woven BodiesUpright Wings
Parachute Hackle

and many more. The full index and some of the material is available for preview if you click on the cover on the book at amazon.com

Tiny Adult Down-Wing Midge

Posted on 12 April, 201312 April, 2013 by Håvard Eide #30 gamakatsu midge tiny tmc varivas

If you read towards the end of the excellent book “Tying Small Flies” the following pattern shows up in the “32s!” chapter: Tiny Adult Down-Wing Midge.

I’ve tied some flies on the TMC #30 before, but I had a package of Varivas #30 Ultra Midge and Gamakatsu C12-BM #30 that I hadn’t tested out yet, so this ended up as a showcase between the three hooks.

All flies tied with Sheer 14/0 for body, CDC as wing tied in with TMC 16/0

TMC 518

I like the 518: it has a nice hook-gap and good strength in the hook that can deal with “some” force. The eye is small, but that is only to expect in these small hooks. For standard dry-fly in the #30/#32 this is my preferred choice.

Varivas 2300

First time I tie on the Varivas 2300. Compared to the 518 above this must be handled with a delicate hand! The hook is really light and bends with only the smallest amount of force. On the positive side: the hook-gap is slightly larger than on the 518. I have not fished this yet, but my initial thought is that I would trust the 518 over this hook, but that is to be seen later this summer.

Gamakatsu C12-BM

It is barbless, curved and has a extra large eye. The feel of the hook is now better again: it feels strong and can deal with some force. The extra large eye makes this a better choice for attaching it with cold fingers when you are out next to the river.

The hooks

All hooks together to show the big difference in eye size:

The packages together with their respective midges on top:

The pattern itself is easy to tie in on these small hooks. The 518 is still my favourite, but the Gamakatsu is a very good runner-up after this round, so I will experiment some more with that hook before the summer (it is also the only barbless I have seen in this size)!

Dubbing: Hare’s Ear Plus Dubbin

Posted on 11 April, 201311 April, 2013 by Håvard Eide dubbing hareline

When I first started tying flies I went and bought a little bit of everything, testing out material and figuring out their properties is easy when you can go into a store and feel it, but it is harder when you are trying to order online – you never quite know what you get. So: this is the first post for looking at dubbing: this material that you can find in so many variants (and not to talk about blending your own…). For now I will try to look at different types of dubbing as they appear directly from the package.

Hare’s Ear Plus from Hareline consists of rabbit fur combined with Antron, making it a very good blend for wetflies and buggy nymphs (but also emergers that needs a bit of life)

A little bit of dubbing: you can see the roughness of it, this is a nice and coarse blend.

Tying in on a Mustad 9480 #14

A lightly dubbed hook – will generate a lot of life in the water:

Wrapped a wire around the hook and lightly brushed the dubbing. With so little dubbing you can see it doesn’t add much to the version above:

A trimmed version of the one above: the colors makes a roughness to the body that I like. This is how I apply this to emergers:

Applied a very generous amount to a D-R 135 #14 hook with wire twisted around the hook and brushed it a lot to show how it can come out for nymphs:

Langrumpa Bugger

CDC Suspender Midge

The Fly Tier’s Benchside Reference