Articulated Leech

This is a relatively new leech pattern and I haven't gotten time to fish it much, but its been in the water and it looks good. It has three segments that make up the body of the fly and it moves super well. It keeps its tapered profile in the water. You can use a sharpie to color the thread used black or you could just use black thread, but to make it easier to see the placement of the thread wraps I used a brighter color.

Materials: Cross-Cut Rabbit Fur, Rabbit Strip, Marabou, Dumbbell Eyes, Tube-Fly Tube.
Tools: Vise, Scissors, Bobbin, Tube-Fly Tube Holder.
Hook: Size 2 daiichi, Articulated Shank from the fisherman co. (if you don't have articulated shanks, use a hook shank that is roughly 2" long).

If you don't have a tube fly holder for your vise you can use another hook shank or make two segments. If you don't have tubes used for tube flies, you can use the tube on a plastic Q-Tip that are available at any convenience store.

Step 1: tie in the rabbit strip on the back hook. Tie in so that it is tied down in the back and the front (two places) of the hook shank.

Step 2: Do a loop connection with braid on the back hook. Attach the tube fly tube holder with a tube on it. Start a thread base and tie down the the rabbit strip to the back of the tube. Leave about 1/8" of space between the tube and hook.

Step 3: Dub the body of the tube.

Step 4: Tie down the rabbit strip in front of the dubbing. Whip finish and apply head cement.

Step 5: Feed the two ends of the braid through the tube.

Step 6: Tie in dumbbell eyes on the underside of a hook shank. Tie down the braid securely just as you would a stinger hook. Tie down the end of the rabbit strip on the back of the front hook shank.

Step 7: Tie in a piece of cross cut rabbit fur. Wrap the rabbit fur up the body and tie off just under 1/2" behind the dumbbell eyes. Tie in a marabou feather.

Step 8: Palmer the marabou around the hook shank in front of the rabbit fur creating a collar. Spin a dubbing loop in front of the marabou collar using rabbit fur.

Step 9: wrap the dubbing loop with rabbit fur behind, over top, and in front of the dumbbell eyes. Once the desired profile of the head is reached tie off the dubbing loop and clip any extra thread that was left over from the dubbing loop. Whip finish and apply head cement.

Small Stone

This is a small stonefly pattern that I use for steelhead. It is tied on a size 8 hook, so it is not really a small stonefly, but it is small in terms of other steelhead flies. It is a pretty standard nymph pattern and there aren't too many unique features about it, but it works. Here are the step-by-step directions. 

Materials: Goose Biots, Ice Dubbing, Bead Head, Copper Wire, Flash.

Tools: Scissors, Vise, Bobbin.

Step 1: Slide bead head on the hook and make a thread base behind it.

Step 2: Tie in two biots in the rear off the back of the hook shank so that they form a "V"

Step 3: Tie in a piece of wire in the rear of the fly. Dub the body leaving space behind the bead head to tie off the wire.

Step 4: wrap the wire up the body and tie it off. Tie in flash. Dub the rest of the body up to behind the bead head.

Step 5: Fold the flash overtop the dubbing to form a wing-case.

Step 6: Dub a small collar in front of the flash and behind the bead.

Step 7: Tie in biots; one on either side of the bead facing forward. Whip finish and apply head cement.

Mylar Foam Baitfish

This baitfish pattern can be fished in a number of ways. If fished on a floating line it can be fished on the surface when the bass are targeting baitfish in the higher water column. If fished on a sinking or intermediate line, the fly will sink slower than a normal streamer, which is a great technique if you are using a tandem rig with this fly as a back fly. It is a fairly simple pattern and can be extremely useful as a baitfish imitation.

Materials: Foam, Mylar Tubing, Marabou, Eyes, Hot Glue.
Tools: Vise, Bobbin, Scissors, Hot Glue Gun.
Hook: Any streamer hook will work.

***(Change the color of the mylar to match the baitfish or use a sharpie before applying glue)***

Step 1: Tie in a marabou tail.

Step 2: Right behind the hook eye, tie down mylar tubing so that the hook eye is in the center part of the tubing.

Step 3: Tie a sheet of foam on the top of the hook shank and securely rap it with thread.

Step 4: Whip finish the thread.

Step 5: gently pull the tubing back from the from of the fly towards the rear. Once folded back, Apply hot glue, epoxy or silicone to the tubing in a small amount and spread it smoothly around the body.

Step 6: Glue on eyes.

Finished

Sexy Legs

While out in Wyoming, I fished this pattern and it worked well. I was surprised because I had originally tied this pattern for Bass and carp, but the trout loved it too. It is another good all around pattern that works. It is a really simple and quick fly to tie.

Materials: Craft Fur, Dumbbell Eyes, Hackle Flash, Rubber Legs, Marabou (optional).
Tools: Bobbin, Vise, Scissors.
Hook: Any streamer hook will work.

Step 1: Tie down led dumbbell eyes.

Step 2: Tie rubber legs off the back. tie down a piece of hackle flash roughly 3" long and rap it up the hook shank keeping the gaps constant.

Step 3: Tie down craft fur on the top and bottom and secure with raps of threads in front of the craft fur.

Step 4: Whip finish and clip the ends of the craft fur.

RJ Shad

A buddy of mine recently needed a shad pattern for bass fishing in Georgia. The colors that match the shad down there are a bit different from what I would imagine, but he insisted that it needed to be blue, white, and purple with red eyes. Whatever colors are fine with me as long as it catches fish, and that it does. I shipped him a small order of this pattern and he loves it.

Materials: Synthetic Fibers, Flashabou, Dubbing, Plastic eyes, Hot glue.
Tools: Vise, Scissors, Bobbin, Hot glue gun.
Hook: For bass and other big fish, I prefer saltwater hooks, but if fished for trout any streamer hook should work fine.

***(The colors on the back can be changed to match the color of baitfish in different areas)***

Step 1: Tie in flashabou in the tail

Step 2: Wrap the hook shank in the same colored dubbing as the flashabou in the tail.

Step 3: Tie in the darker colored synthetic fibers on the top and the lighter colored fibers on the bottom.

Step 4: Fold the ends back over.

Step 5: Tie in Dubbing of the same color to the top of the fly.

Step 6: Apply hot glue to the front of the fly and move the materials to match the shape that is wanted.

Step 7: Glue on plastic eyes to each side of the front of the flies.

Finished batch

Foam Surface Baitfish

One of my favorite ways to target bass is by fishing them when they are busting baitfish on the surface. It is a awesome way of testing how fast you can make an accurate cast. When a bass takes the fly off the surface, the take is remarkable. They simply blow the fly out of the water. This is a very simple pattern that has worked and is very easy to tie.

Materials: Sheet foam, plastic eyes, marabou, hot glue.
Tools: Vise, scissors, bobbin, hot glue gun.
Hook: Any wide gap hook works. I prefer a saltwater hook because of the durability and strength.

***(I prefer white foam because it matches the underside of baitfish but other colors can be used)***

Step 1: Cut a sheet of foam that is a about 2" long. Poke a hole in the center of the foam and cut a split in the foam a quarter of the way on one end of the foam.

Step 2: Tie in a marabou tail off the back of the hook shank. (The use of flash in the tail is optional). Whip finish and clip the thread.

Step 3: Push the eye of the hook through the hole in the foam.

Step 4: Fold the foam over. Apply glue to the inner side of the foam and squeeze the two pieces together until it dries.

Step 5: Trim the foam into an oval shape using scissors.

Step 6: Glue eyes onto either side of the front of the body.