Martyn,
Whether or not this is a Chili Pepper can be up for debate, but as this old article indicates, there are already several flies, which have that name.
One more might muddle the picture a bit, but not make the confusion significantly worse. That's the story of flies: so many have been tied identical and given different names, and so many bear the same name, but are yet very different.
Martin
This isn't a chili pepper, Moana's fly is essentially a gotcha tied with green thread, a gold body and orange wing. This fly is more like an apricot charlie variant or a ring burner variant.
And grizzle refers to someone with a mixture of dark and white hair. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful article.
Shane,
You can use a variety of foam types, as long as they are closed cell and will float. I have used inexpensive craft foam, which is widely available and inexpensive.
Rainy's Flies has a ton of different special foam products for fly tyers, also sheets:
http://www.rainysflies.com/foam-products/cross-link-sheet-foam
They also have a ton of pre-shaped foam products, which might be useful:
http://www.rainysflies.com/foam-products
You can glue the foam with good, old fashioned contact cement - also cheap and easy to find. Thin layers on both surfaces, let dry, press together is the method. Super glue can also be used.
For the wasp bodies you make a stack of yellow and black from about 1-2 mm foam, let it dry and then punch out cylinders with a small metal tube, maybe filed to have a sharp cutting edge in one end. Simply punch the tube through the foam with a hammer over a wooden board.
You can also opt for finished bodies like these:
https://www.lurecraft.com/Bee_Wasp-Foam-Bodies-1_4/productinfo/13X1203/
Martin
I love this type of flies, specifically this pattern I did not know, so it will surely be part of my fishing box next season. Thank you very much for sharing. A hug from Patagonia Argentina
Me encantan este tipo de moscas, específicamente este patrón no lo conocía, así que seguramente será parte de mí caja de pesca en la próxima temporada. Muchas gracias por compartir. Un abrazo desde la Patagonia Argentina
Hi Martin
Sorry to hear about you having Covid19 but I'm glad that you are on the road to recovery. My daily fix of GGF is always such a mix of recent and archived articles that I don't think I really noticed a reduction in new articles lately. Anyways, thanks as always for your wonderful work and all the best for a full and speedy recovery.
Good to hear that you're back at it Martin. GFF is such a big part of my online reading and you've done an absolute great job at it over the years. Here's to your good health!
Jeff,
That's a nice looking little baitfish. That would be able to catch a lot of different species.
Martin
This is a very effective pattern for landlocked salmon. It’s origin is from the Moosehead Lake Region here in Maine I believe. I’ve used it with great success in many areas of Maine. Beautiful tie.
Patty,
You are welcome to use the images as inspiration for your paintings. I see no problems in that as long as you don't blatantly copy the photos onto paintings and start selling them. Most of the flies are tied from generally available pattern descriptions anyway.
If you would share some on the finished pictures, it would be great!
Martin
The flies are amazingly beautiful and I would love to paint some of them if I can get permission to do so. It would be greatly appreciated.
I was looking at these pieces and being the owner of some fairly large hole saws I thought that a easy to make the pieces would be to simply use what is normally the waste from when you cut a hole and use them for the round pieces for this project. They will have the same size hole and will be perfectly round. You can then use a bolt the same size as the hole for the axle. If you use a backer board when you cut the circles you should get fairly smooth edges.
Great article! Thank you!
When developing leaders for my custom leader company, I’ve found that Maxima Chameleon offers the stiffest nylon. This I generally use for the first two butt sections. We switch to Maxima clear for the middle taper sections. For the final taper and tipett, we’ll use a supple material.
The above allows for great casting and line layout, depending upon the application. The diameter of the the line used can be changed as needed, also depending upon the user’s requirements for casting delicacy.
I am a fan of Maxima and have used it to make leaders for many years but would like to add a word of caution. I use a micrometer to check diameter of every spool of material I buy and over many years, Maxima's diameters has been very inconsistent (diameter understated between .002 and .003 in heavier lb. test). Might not sound like a lot but unless you check, you're leader will be far heavier than you thought.
Leonard,
It's quite true that the synthetics we use as fly tyers and fishermen will most likely add to the vast amount of plastic and other synthetics that litter the world - including micro plastics. I'm not quite on the wagon with tying using natural materials only, but I certainly do think about the nasty footprints we set on this planet - and anglers and as consumers.
In fishing as well as in all other matters I try to recycle, make sure I treat waste properly and limit my use of plastics, but it's still very tempting to add some color and flash to a fly using some of the many materials shown here.
Martin
Great article and there’s certainly a wide choice of inexpensive materials available today however are these same materials adding to the micro plastics problem that does pose a very real threat to fisheries and the environment?
Ive used different size nail heads to do this job. I set the nails into a wooden handle and ended up with a set of four in sizes I use the most.
But I will try the dowel trick to see if I prefer it.
thanks Bob
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