Since I can't fish, I've been doing a lot of tying. I actually got a new vise delivered to me from Bass Pro Shops yesterday. I went with the Anvil Apex because it came with a C-clamp, pedestal, material clip, and it looked like it handled a WIDE range of hooks.
I hate to say it, but I don't like it at all so far. It's supposed to be rotary, but you have to loosen a wing nut to rotate it and when you do that, the whole barrel becomes loose. I'm most likely going to return it and hopefully pick up a new one at the Somerset show next weekend.
One thing I don't like about my old vise is that it has a tough time handling a hook any larger than a size 8. I decided to put the new vise to the test on a few size 6 long streamer hooks.
It seems like I can't read a website, pick up a fly fishing magazine, or listen to a podcast without Kelly Galloup's name coming up. This guy is supposed to be the master of big streamers for big trout. After seeing his Sex Dungeon tandem hook streamer, I had to try to tie one, if only for the fact that I can say I tied a Sex Dungeon. I studied pics of the pattern and checked out a YouTube video on how it's done, and then tried it out.
Before I post the pic, here is some advice if you attempt to tie this fly.
1.GO LONG on your streamer hooks. my 3XL size 6 hooks did not seem long enough..or maybe it was that my lead eyes were too big.
2.Learn to spin deer hair. I suck at it so bad, and you can tell on this fly. This is only the 3rd time I've ever tried to spin deer hair and I still need a ton of work.
3.Go smaller with the beads. The only plastic beads I had were ones we use for monster channel cat fishing with spin tackle. They are way too big on this fly.
After 45 minutes on the vise, this is what I came up with.
Yeah, I know. I suck at tying flies. It's embarrassing how bad it turned out. The head looks awful. I don't have the patience to sit there with scissors and clip deer hair. Plus, it makes a mess. But I spent all the time tying the thing and I'm now determined to catch at least one stupid fish on it. Expect a ton of "tried out the Sex Dungeon but got skunked" posts this year until I find a fish dumb enough to hit it. My thoughts are that it will be a 8 inch largemouth that finally hits it and that it will happen around August. I will try it once the ice is off my favorite pickerel lake at the end of February though.
Now that I embarrassed myself, let's move on. My last post was a crappy i-phone pic of my steelhead box. I decided that I should give you some better images, and some more insight in to my favorite patterns. Here's a few recipes on some patterns you might not have thought of trying. Keep in mind that I like to keep these flies simple, because you lose so many. They are really quick to tie so you can knock out a dozen at a time.
This pattern was shown to me by the guys we stay with when we chase chrome. I've heard it called a steelhead nymph, or a steelhead caddis. It's a bit different than a standard estaz egg. It has a glass bead, and the estaz is only sparse at the top. THe body is wrapped thin with bright colored thread or preferably, Lagartun french mini flat-braid.
Size 12 Scud hook
Lagartun French mini flat-braid wrapped thin up the body
Killer Caddis glass bead (color to match pattern)
Petite Estaz (or regular Estaz for a puffier thorax..see pic 2)
This next one is something we just kind of came up with while fishing up there. We started having luck on small black scuds, so we started tying them with a brighter colored head as an attractor. I eventually decided to flip it up, making the scud brighter and adding a black head for contrast. One thing I noticed with regular scuds was that steelies shredded the fly really quick and the scud backing would rip off fast. So, instead of bringing the scud back all the way to the head, I cut it off 3/4 up and just did a thick black head coated with cement. I also added some extra coloring in to the scud back.
Size 14 Scud hook
1/4" scud back
UTC Ultra-wire - brassie (copper)
Uni-Thread 6/0 - black
Harelin Steelhead ice dubbing
Berol Prismacolor in darker shade than dubbing - colored on scud back
Here's an egg pattern that I haven't tried yet but I've read about it. It's called Bear's Crystal egg. I knocked out half a dozen of them.
Size 12 Scud Hook
Crystal Flash tail
White 6/0 Uni-Thread
Otter's Rubber Egg
Glow Bug yarn - white
Here's another really quick tie. This is a really basic attractor stonefly.
Size 14 Scud hook
Uni-thread 6/0 - black
Black goose biots
Uni-Floss (body color) of your choice
V-ribbing - clear, small (wrap over colored floss)
Harelin steelhead ice dubbing
Swiss straw (wingcase)
And last but not least, here's a red and black version of the Tungsten Stone I posted last week. I love this fly. It's a freaking paperweight.
A few more patterns, and I can put this box to sleep until I hit the water in a few weeks.
And before I go, I want to give a shout out to Maxim magazine. I hate this awful publication. Someone got me a subscription to it years ago, and for some reason it never stopped showing up each month. I barely ever open it anymore, but that changes when Olivia Munn is on the cover. A girl who loves video games? Yes. Now if they could only get a shot of her in waders....
