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Sunturn Spey

2014.12.21.dryfly.me.sunturn_speyHook: Alec Jackson Spey #1 1/2 Heavy Wire
Body: 1/3 Lagartun Black Silk Floss, 1/3 The Fly Co. Yellow Seals Fur, 1/3 The Fly Co. Red Seals Fur
Rib: UNI-Mylar Silver #10, UNI-French Oval Small Gold, UNI-Mylar #16 tied reverse over the hackle
Hackle: Foxtail Hen Neck Red, The Fly Co. Yellow Rooster Neck, Black Heron. Order: red, yellow and finally black in front
Wing: Veniard Mallard Duck Bronze Large

Today is winter solstice, and here in Norway this marks the coming of more daylight and the start of a journey towards the spring where we once again will get to go out and flyfish for trout and salmon. One of my favorite beer breweries here in Norway is Nøgne Ø, and they have a tradition to brew a batch of Sunturnbrew on this very day. It is dark, has lots of flavor, fits perfectly with my tastebuds and is a massive 11% alcohol!

2014.12.21.dryfly.me.sunturn_spey_bottle

Some years back I bought some bottles to see how it matures, and I open one bottle every year, on winter solstice, the very day it was created. This batch was brewed back on 2010.21.12 and is batch number #573. Today I was inspired when I saw that the brewers are at it again and are creating another batch of this great beer! I sat down and thought about the taste, the label, the winter solstice and created this spey fly that I call “Sunturn Spey”, a homage to Nøgne Ø and their Sunturnbrew.

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The main idea came from the white to yellow to red writing on the label, I also wanted to convey the darkness of both the beer and the time of the year that we have.

2014.12.21.dryfly.me.sunturn_spey_frontThe flow of the hackle together with the seals fur dubbing represents the sun coming out of the darkness. I would like to get some clean Sunturnbrew labels and mount this fly in a frame together with it and send it to Grimstad to the brewers!

2014.12.21.dryfly.me.sunturn_spey_sideDetail from the body: the counter-wrap will ensure that the hackle stays in place

2014.12.21.dryfly.me.sunturn_spey_back_detailA double mallard wing on top:

2014.12.21.dryfly.me.sunturn_spey_topI’m very happy with how this fly came out, and I could frame it, but the colors and shape of this fly makes it one that I will tie up a few of to have in my salmon box for when the summer comes!

SBS: Polar Magnus

I have done some Polar Magnus lately and I thought it would be good to do a SBS on this great seatrout fly. This is a pattern that can be changed with different colors and hackle and this is how I tie them to ensure maximum durability during fishing.

Hook: TMC 777SP #8
Thread: UNI 6/0
Tail: Whiting Hackle tips
Body: Hareline Ice Dub
Body Hackle: Whiting
Rib: Copper Wire
Front Hackle: Foxtail Hen Red
Eyes: Bead Chain Gold Medium

1. start with thread from the hook eye and add a layer back and then towards the eye again. Add a pair of bead chain eyes, here I have used a medium gold version, but can be substituted with different sizes and colors. You can also add the eyes on the underside of the hook
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2. When tying in the eyes: wrap in a figure-eight around the hook to securely tie in the eyes, if not they can start to slip. Also make sure you apply a good amount of pressure on the thread here to secure the eyes, you can also add some superglue to the wraps when you are done to secure the eyes even more.

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3. Find two hackle tips and tie them in around the hook point (or where the hook bend starts), tie them in on the side of the hook

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4. The hackle tips should form a V going back

2014.11.11.dryfly.me.polar_magnus_sbs_45. Tie in the hackle and when going back add a copper wire

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6. Add dubbing to the thread, this can be varied in different colors and variants but I like the Ice Dub on this fly

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7. Dub the body but stop a little bit before the eyes: you want to have room to tie in the hackle

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8. Tie in the body hackle, this can again be varied: short or long, and be added in short or longer turns around the hook, this depends on how you want the final fly to appear

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9. When you reach the end of the dubbing make sure to keep the hackle tight while you counter-wrap the copper wire around the body all the way to the front of the dubbing

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10. The first copper wrap here is keeping the hackle down and secures it in place. Make sure to not get the wire above the hackle so that it is trapped

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11. I have ribbed the fly with a lot of turns here, this will make sure the fly is durable and will add a little bit of extra weight to it as well

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12. After cutting away the hackle tip (keep it to make more tails on other polar magnus!) and the wire tie in a red (or pink) hackle

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13. Wrap the hackle 2-3-4 times (depending on how much hackle you want and the profile you want the fly to have) and tie it in just behind the eyes. Secure the thread with a whipfinish and you have the final fly:

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14. To make sure the fly is even more durable and will endure everything that happens to it I add some Bug Bond above the thread between the eyes and cure it with UV

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15. The Bug Bond keeps the eyes securely in place, but make sure that you don’t cover the hackle in it

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16. A alternative Polar magnus with red copper wire and pink spey hackle, just to show how you can mix this pattern up

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A batch of Polar Magnus done and ready to fish:

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Mickey’s Ghost Variant

2014.10.30.dryfly.me.mickey_ghost_red

Hook: Partridge Carrie Stevens Streamer #2/0 10xl
Thread: Sheer 14/0 Black
Tag: UNI-Mylar
Body: UNI-Floss White underbody, UNI-Floss red
Rib: UNI-Mylar
Belly: Red bucktail, yellow bucktail
Throat: Red Schlappen
Underwing: Peacock Herl, Golden Pheasant Crest
Wing: The Fly Co Yellow Rooster Neck, Foxtail Red Hen Neck
Shoulder: Silver Pheasant
Cheek: Jungle Cock

A variant of yesterdays Mickey’s Ghost, but this time with red body. A little bit cleaner this time, and the silver pheasant sits better. A fun pattern to experiment with!

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The two ghosts together:

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Mickey’s Ghost

2014.10.29.dryfly.me.mickey_ghost

Hook: Partridge Carrie Stevens Streamer #2/0 10xl
Thread: Sheer 14/0 Black
Tag: UNI-Mylar
Body: UNI-Floss White underbody, UNI-Floss yellow
Rib: UNI-Mylar
Belly: Red bucktail, yellow bucktail
Throat: Red Schlappen
Underwing: Peacock Herl, Golden Pheasant Crest
Wing: The Fly Co Yellow Rooster Neck, Foxtail Red Hen Neck
Shoulder: Silver Pheasant
Cheek: Jungle Cock

A big streamer again: I have been doing some variations of Mickey Finn lately based on a article from globalflyfisher.com and today it was time for this big Mickey Finn variation of the Grey Ghost: Mickey’s Ghost. I’m missing a good JC since the one I have only have nails that are ok in small size, that said: the new Silver Pheasant skin I got today outweighs that for the time beeing! I’ll come back to that skin in a separate post.

A closeup of the body: the GP crest is on top of the underwing and falls off to the sides of the body, a really nice example on how to use material in a different way; I’m going to explore Carrie Stevens patterns this winter, that’s for sure

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The different variations I’ve made the last week:

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