Recent Ties

[garethl]

Hi guys, just wanted to get your thoughts on a few recent flies tied up.

First off, the big boys, and for when I need to get a team of nymphs down fast in high coloured water:

Cased Caddis



Hook: Kamasan B800 (long shank), #6
Thread: Roman Moser Power Silk 10/0, olive
Weight: Non-toxic split shot, SSG
Underbody: Siman square lead wire, two layers
Head: Glo-Brite Floss, #12
Legs: Brown partridge
Body: Hare’s ear, heavily picked out and trimmed to a taper

The Incredible Hulk



Hook: Skalka Grub, #8
Thread: Bennechi 6/0, white
Weight: x3 4mm tungsten beads, x2 3mm tungsten beads (with three coats of Hard As Nails)
Body: Tapered thread, top half coloured with a Pantone pen

Now for the small stuff that I've been concentrating on predominantly over the last season. Some patterns I need to tidy up a little (like the body profiles on the #32 spinner and BWO paradun, for example), but they've been working fairly well over the last season/year for both trout and grayling.

Sparkle Chironomid



Hook: Varivas 2200BL-B, #24
Thread: Roman Moser Power Silk 10/0, grey
Body: Pearl
Thorax: Squirrel
Wing: CDC, natural

Blue Winged Olive Biot Paradun





Hook: Grip 11911BL, #24
Thread: Danville’s Spiderweb, 17/0
Post: Tiemco Aero Dry, fluorescent pink
Hackle: Rooster, light blue dun
Tail: Microfibbetts, light blue dun
Body: Goose biot, blue winged olive
Thorax: Superfine, blue wing olive

Blue Winged Olive Paradun



Hook: Grip 11911BL, #24
Thread: Danville’s Spiderweb, 17/0
Post: Tiemco Aero Dry, fluorescent pink
Hackle: Rooster, light blue dun
Tail: Microfibbetts, light blue dun
Body: Superfine, blue wing olive

Griffith's Gnat



Hook: Varivas Ultra Midge 2300, #26
Thread: Danville’s Spiderweb, 17/0 (coloured with a black permanent marker)
Body: Peacock herl
Hackle: Rooster, grizzle

CDC Emerger/Chironomid (Shuttlecock Buzzer)



Hook: Varivas 2200BL, #24
Thread: Sheer 14/0, black
Body: Thread
Thorax: Squirrel
Wing: Three CDC feathers, natural

Sparkle Midge



Hook: Varivas Ultra Midge 2300, #26
Thread: Sheer 14/0
Body: Thread, colour to match natural
Wing: Rooster, blue dun or grizzle
Tail: Midge Krystal Flash

Micro Emergers



Hook: Varivas 2200BL, #24
Thread: Danville’s Spiderweb, 17/0
Post: Tiemco Aero Dry
Wing: Rooster, blue dun or grizzle
Body: Superfine, colour to match natural

Micro Copper John



Hook: TMC 900BL, size #20
Bead: 2.0mm tungsten bead
Thread: Roman Moser Powersilk 10/0, olive
Tail: Pheasant tail
Body: Wire, copper
Thorax: Peacock herl
Thorax Cover: Pearl/Flash

Andy Baird's #32 Spent Spinner





Hook: TMC 518, #32
Thread: Danville’s Spiderweb, 17/0
Tail: Microfibbetts, light blue dun
Body: Thread, coloured with a permanent marker to match natural
Wing: Niche Midge Wing, grey

[stockiebasherno1]

Very nice!
THat copper jon looks the damage !

[dabhoy]

Cracking ties Gareth
I tried a #32 recently for the novelty and it is not easy with the naked eye to get it neat.

[squeeks]

Hi Gareth, thanks for sharing
very nice tying and some interesting patterns.
Excellent photos too, especially of the very small ones that go down to a size 32 hooks!!!
cheers!

[hobble]

Great tyings!!!!!

Size 32 what are you fly fishing for in wales?? Sticklebacks ,

didnt even think they made them that small, lolol

[jonnied17-2008]

very nice gareth they should get a few fish!

Just one thing to critisize from me, your cased caddis is quite skinny, and the naturals are quite the opposite, I would suggest beefing the dubbing up, perhaps using a dubbing rope. Using copper wire instead of thread tends to work well.

The rest are very good, I especially like the wee olive parachute emerger with the orange post, very tasty

[pedros]

Very very nice. Some plagiarism about to occure methinks(especially from me)

One question on the #24 Sparkle Chironomid. Do these manage to sit in the surface Ok or tend to lie flat on the top. Been experimenting with some similar ones but not happy with the fact they tend to sit flat on the top when tied in #20's. Mine have tempted a few small fish, but felt they could work better if they penetrated the film more.

Any advice appreciated

[Watersplatter]

I really like the small stuff, a man after my own heart

[garethl]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I really appreciate it

Jonnie, I must apologise, for some reason the caddis pattern in photo only has one layer of lead as the underbody, and I'm not quite sure how this happened (my regular cased patterns have two layers, so I can see why it looks a little skinny). The others, as you say, are right old monsters! I like the idea of the dubbing rope mind, and I'm quite interested in trying the deer hair type rope.

Pedros, I've not noticed a real problem with this, but then I've never really given it much thought until you mentioned it. I'm quite interested to see how they lie in the surface now, so will be doing a few experiments this evening I think. Thanks for bring this up

Again, guys, thanks for the thumbs up and the feedback/recommendations, it all helps.

G

[Mostyn]

Gareth,

As always fantastic presentation of just a few of your excellent fly imitations!

What many will not realise is that; not only are these imitations tied to look fantastic! But they last a long time; they are well made; and I should know!

I use quite a number of Gareth's tied patterns, Thanks GL, keep em coming!