Flies With Attitude Ep:38 The Bunnyciever

A little fly that i first had the pleasure of meeting many moons ago in the north western Alaskan bush.
We were in the middle of the week when something changed in the weather that altered the pikes attitude. We were having a lot more follows and less positive eats. The fly of the week was without a doubt the simple bunny. Red and white was all they wanted. But no more....It's at that time that our guide pulled out a small bunny , red and white again but this time the head was made out of deer hair.
The sink rate was much slower. It didn't hang  but had a nice slow sink compared to the previous models we fished that were sinking like a brick. Fishing floating lines it was very easy to see how the fish were eating this new offering.
They were still following but they were taking the fly too! The eat was super lazy, just a slow kick of the tail , the mouth barely open but wide enough for the fly to disappear inside!

Tips for this tie:

1. I like to cut my own rabbit to get a wide zonker 8mm to 10mm is perfect for pike.
2. Tie the mono after the zonker and not before. You will see how more effective it is that way to keep the zonker from wrapping itslef on the hook while casting...The dreaded "BunnyBall"!
3. Don't pack the head too much, this is not a diver, it need to sink slowly.
4. Chinu hooks are great! The eye is not as bent as an octopus hook and the offset point is great for positive hookups! The heavy wire of a Chinu helps the fly to keel on it's own too.
5. You can use bucktail for the head, but i find belly hair much more appropriate for this tie. 

The Tying sessionsEp: 37 The Rusty T

The Rusty T, an articulated fly for targeting those bream hungry pikes! It's soon the month of may and usually this means spawning time for the breams. They will start to move in the shallow reed fringed bays to do their business and pikes never miss that opportunity.
I tied a few different models before arriving to this result .Some were great in the water but you wouldn't cast them for more than an hour...So i reduced the size and tweaked a few things to get to this final result.
Pikes don't chase those huge "dustbin lids" like we call them here, but rather the handy snack size ones. Remember the roach too will mix with the breams, they all spawn around the same time.This is why we have a big population of hybrids in our waters, roach/bream.
You want you fly to stand out in the middle of all of this, slow moving with loads of presence and a nice rusty colour. Rust,sand,tan,bronze,copper and all colours that i have been using for a long time due to the regular success over the years.

Three sections make up this fly:

•  The tail : tied on a 30mm shank, this will give those slender moves, bugger hackles are light so i don't hesitate on putting a few....Four at the bottom of the shank, then four more at the top.That's 8 in total, and if one or two gets cut of you still have a good working fly.
• The body: tied on a Sakuma manta extra 545 6/0. I connect the tail to the hook via a long lightweight shank.I place the back of the shank where the tail connects a little further at the back so the tail won't foul hook on casting.The you have two choices when wraping the chenille. A: wrap the chenille starting on the connecting shank, like i did in the video.This will just give a little extra protection for the pikes teeth not to damage the connection too much. Or option B: tie the chenille on the hook and leave the connection bare, but i would secure it with some uv resin in that case. First body tubing will go close to the eye of the hook, but leave space to tie the kanekalon , congo hair and flash. Make sure that the body tubing isn't too close to the hook point , not to obstruct it when you get a take.
• The head: tied on one last shank 25mm is plenty, all it needs is to tie one more body tubing and cover it with congo hair.

    Tips for this tie:

1. don't overload with the fibres! 
2. tie the fibers really close to the body tubing for maximum volume .
3. if you want something that will hang more ad some foam on the hook shank then wrap it with the chenille and use smaller eyes of flat eyes.

 

Boredom busters and a glimpse into the future.

I used to post videos on this blog on Sundays years ago, i think i will start again to post some of the videos again now that we all have time to sit down, close the curtains, pour yourself a drink and relax, dream about  the good days whenever they will come back...And they will come back!
This forced rest is good for me , it makes you think of what needs to be done or improved as a guide.

For the next seasons, i will offer more and more guiding as i am asked more and more by clients to take them out and to improve their skills. This will be very similar to the week i offer with the raft in the summer months but this option will be for all year round and will include full board, guiding, fly tying and fishing of course!
The fishing will be done in various ways depending on the time of the year, the client(s) needs and the mood of the pikes. So you will have at your disposition multiple choices, river rafting, boats on bigger loughs, float tubes and wading.... Stay tuned!
For the moment as promised a couple of nice videos for today, first a freshly released trailer for Geobass! If you don't know this awesome series, get on it and order yourself the DVD HERE



Second video is from a guide  i really like: Alvin Dedaux . He's from Texas and his attitude to life and guiding is sublime! Check his Youtube Channel HERE and give him a sub!

Here's one of his video he released on his way back from the Seychelles:

The tying sessions Ep:36 The Belly Changer

Just because there is nothing more exiting than to have a pike chasing top water bugs!
This one , if tied right will have just the front of the head floating. Depending on the strips it can dive a little, jerk or try it on a slow rolly polly for that snake motion!
Fish it on a full floating line for more fun, but it can also be fished on an intermediate or even a sink tip.
My favorite is certainly full floating on rivers and let it play with the flow.
Can also  be just deadly when fishing over big summer cabbage patch on bigger loughs! Its creates so much movements that pikes can't ignore when a belly changer passes over their head.

Top tips for this tie:

• Start with tying short lengths of hair and increase the length at every shanks so you will end up with a nice, natural profile.
• Respect a good ratio of hair between the top and the bottom of the fly. It just need to have less hairs on the bottom so it will sit well on the surface and won't roll.
• Do not overload the head, no need to pack it, it's not a full surface fly, you want it to stay on the surface, but also soak up a bit of water so it can be just subsurface. 
• Use a heavy hook so it will keel  properly.  
• Try to tie it with small dumbbell eyes if you want a slow sinking version

Cant wait for the summer months to take the raft down rivers and tease a few crocs with the Belly changer !

The tying sessions Ep:35 The Gunsmoke roach

Fly tying is like cooking, put the right ingredients together in the right amount and it will be tasty!
This is a fly that will last a good few meals! Plenty of volume with the "X" style tying in the middle and super visual with the holographic flash and that punchy colour combo neon yellow and orange on the belly and throat .
But it also can be shy with the whole body structure in a stealthy gunsmoke colour.
This is a fly that i love using as it can produce in any conditions! No need for dark flies on dull days and bright flies on sunny days....This one will cover anything, clear waters, dirty waters, sunny, cloudy days...Doesn't matter to the gunsmoke....His barrel never gets cold!