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Craft Fur Shrimp

2015.09.06.dryfly.me.shrimp

Hook: Gamakatsu F314 #4
Thread: UNI 6/0 Pink
Mouth: Mallard, Pink Craft Fur
Antennas: Super Hair Tan
Eyes: Easy Shrimp Eyes
Rib: Mono
Body: SLF Saltwater Shell Pink
Hackle: Pink Craft Fur
Shell: EP Fibres Pink UV, Bug-Bond

I have been chasing a Whiting Spey salmon pink cape for a while to tie up shrimps, but there is a shortage, so: craft cur can be used instead to tie them up. This is a pattegrisen pattern that I haven’t fished with previously, so I need to head out to fish this one of these days!

#26 Parachute

dryfly.me.2014.04.17.parachute_swapHook: Gamakatsu: C12-BM #26
Thread: UNI Trico 17/0
Body: Hends Superfine
Thorax: Fly-Rite Extra Fine Poly Rust
Wing: Wapsi Polypropylene, Whiting Hackle

Another one for a swap targeting Caenis. This time a parachute emerger  on one of my favorite tiny hooks: the gamakatsu C12-BM, great big eye that really helps when tying it on a 7x tippet.

 

dryfly.me.2014.04.17.parachute_swap_finger

 

#30 Parachute

2013.05.dryfly.me.parachute_30

Hook: Gamakatsu C12-BM #30
Thread: Sheer 14/0 Pale yellow
Tail: Mallard Flank White
Body: Fly-Rite Extra Fine Poly #0 Golden Yellow
Wing: Poly-Yarn
Hackle: Whiting Bronze Brown

Down to the smallest of hooks that I have, the Gamakatsu C12-BM #30 has a (relatively speaking) large hook-eye, making it much easier to deal with when trying to tie it on! The hackle was not very well tied in so you can see the thread got a bit loose behind the hook-eye.

The first time I’ve tied in both tail, dubbing, hackle and wing on a #30 hook, and all without magnification glasses ( I really need to get me some of those soon!). The hackle is the worst part of this: first of all you need to find something small enough, secondly the small hackles takes nothing to tear, so the process can be a bit hard on the eyes and concentration!

CDC Suspender Midge

2013.04.dryfly.me.midge_suspender_red

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.

Tiny Adult Down-Wing Midge

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.

2013.04.dryfly.me.midge_down_wing_tmc

 

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.

2013.04.dryfly.me.midge_down_wing_varivas

 

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.

2013.04.dryfly.me.midge_down_wing_gamakatsu

 

The hooks

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

2013.04.dryfly.me.midge_down_wing_together

 

The packages together with their respective midges on top:

2013.04.dryfly.me.midge_down_wing_packages

 

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)!