A few years ago I had been tying a bunch of marabou & other fall flies in the usual yellow, orange & red "fall" colours. These flies were on the larger end of the scale which was resulting in a nice little pile of useable table scraps. Coming up with patterns of my own that catch fish is one of the more rewarding aspects of fly tying and this growing pile of table scraps was giving me a few ideas... my first thought was to scale down the animated qualities of marabou to a smaller range of sizes that might work well in lower water. My second thought was to keep the fly simple by omitting any unnecessary aspects that didn't contribute to the overall concept of the fly - movement in slow water and simplicity.
This fly is quick and easy to tie and made of inexpensive ingredients. I tie this fly with either black, red or fire orange 8/0 Uni thread and the "body" can be either braid or pearl chenille. The rest of the ingredients are pictured below in their non table scrap form:
And here's how it all goes together:
Tie a piece of tippet WAAAAY forward on the hook - about 2/3's toward the eye. This fly has no tag or tail and just enough of a body to cover the tippet. The tippet should end at the bend.
Tie on a piece of braid or other flash for an 'underwing' - cut at the bend of the hook, we don't want any short takes in that slower water. Separate the braid with a bodkin or needle.
Cover your work with the same braid or pearl chenille:
Time for the marabou wing - yellow, then orange and finally red on top:
The last step is a yellow collar:
Note to self: Never do another step by step on a size 10 hook!
Next up in the 'simple pattern/fish catcher series' is "Jeff's fly". Stay tuned!
This fly is quick and easy to tie and made of inexpensive ingredients. I tie this fly with either black, red or fire orange 8/0 Uni thread and the "body" can be either braid or pearl chenille. The rest of the ingredients are pictured below in their non table scrap form:
And here's how it all goes together:
Tie a piece of tippet WAAAAY forward on the hook - about 2/3's toward the eye. This fly has no tag or tail and just enough of a body to cover the tippet. The tippet should end at the bend.
Tie on a piece of braid or other flash for an 'underwing' - cut at the bend of the hook, we don't want any short takes in that slower water. Separate the braid with a bodkin or needle.
Cover your work with the same braid or pearl chenille:
Time for the marabou wing - yellow, then orange and finally red on top:
The last step is a yellow collar:
Note to self: Never do another step by step on a size 10 hook!
What about the name? "Triple C G"? Well, this one's a bit quicker to explain - one fall day I was fishing on the Northwest at "chimney" a.k.a. "miners camp" pool and the water was on the low side for fall. Down towards the bottom of the pool are a number of large rocks and not much of a swing as this is where the pool deepens and slows down (good "Sneaky" water, Gary would call it). I was casting to the furthest rock and every time my fly slowly swung around that rock a large chub would grab the fly. After landing the 3rd chub I threw the fly back to the same spot and came tight on a better fish which turned out to be a grilse. So 3 chub and 1 grilse became the "Triple C G" - imaginative, huh?
Last summer, which was my best ever for hooked/landed fish, this fly also performed better than any other in my box so don't be shy of tying one on for bright fish in faster water, no matter what the pattern was originally designed & intended for. It just goes to show that it all comes down to whatever the fish decide to do in spite of what my plans happened to be. Anyhow, she might not be pretty but the fish dig her!
A few more tied with black thread:
A little better #10:
A few from another tying session:
Next up in the 'simple pattern/fish catcher series' is "Jeff's fly". Stay tuned!
