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Warmwater Fly Swap: almost done

4K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  Quentin 
#1 ·
Mark, and other warmwater swap participants:

I'm going to be a day or two late with my swap entries because I changed flies mid-stream, so to speak. I wasn't satisfied with the quality of my deer hair poppers so I decided to tie something else instead. This fly also uses spun deer hair, but not for the entire fly and the hair doesn't need to be packed quite so tightly because the fly isn't supposed to float. I also think it's a much "prettier" fly than the solid white popper :D !

I'm not quite sure what to call it -- it's some sort of a Matuka/sculpin/muddler pattern in yellow perch colors. I "reverse-engineered" a fly that I found, which turned out to be a killer for panfish, bass and pickerel. I actually stopped using the original because it was getting so torn up that I was afraid I'd have nothing left to copy! I don't have all of the correct materials so I've had to improvise a little, but I think the result will produce as well as the original. Photos and recipe to follow!

Q

BTW, if any swappers would rather have a crudely tied white deer hair popper just let me know and I'll be happy to send one of those instead.
 
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#3 ·
Here's a photo of the original and one of my copies. The body on the original used to look yellow but the outer layer of dubbing came off. The original used small, wide, curved feathers for the "fins" but I didn't have anything like that so I used the small fluffy feathers from the base of the hackle feathers and trimmed the tips a little. The original also looks like it has natural deer hair for the head, but I used olive. I also added the orange throat, which was not on the original. I'll post the complete recipe in a separate thread.

Q
 

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#5 ·
I agree with Dave that those look great. One trick I've used at times with flys that have deer hair heads like your perch imitation & un weighted muddlers is to place a split shot on the leader ~ 18"above the fly. It sinks the fly which floats above the sinker giving you an unusual presentation.
 
#7 ·
DFix said:
That's an interesting design, Q - looks trollable, too.
I can't take credit for the original design, and I'm not sure if it was custom tied or mass produced. I haven't been able to find the same pattern in any books so far, so if anyone can identify it as an established pattern I'd be interested to know what it's called.

Dave, when I found the original it was attached to a small gold in-line spinner, so it may very well have been used for trolling.

Q
 
#8 · (Edited)
If I wuz gonna do somethin' different to that, I'd take those barred tailings and move them forward, behind the shoulder, and let them trail so they finished about 1/2-3/4" behind the bend, add a few peacock herl as a topping the length, lose a little of the beard and blend some more orange floss in with the red or find some orange hair or marabou into the belly.

You copied the top version - what's the wing?
 
#9 · (Edited)
Fellas,

From what I can tell this is just a color variation on a Matuka Sculpin. The main differences from what I can see here are:

Traditional sculpin patterns have a spun wool head to keep it on the bottom rather than deer hair (sculpins are bottom-dwellers)

The traditional matuka calls for a singe broad, webby, rounded hen hackle or schlappen rather than a saddle, lashed to the hook zonker-style (as you have here with the saddle). The idea is to provide a broad profile to suggest larger prey.

Not saying one is better than the other, just pointing out the differences between the 2. I personally tie a variation of this fly with a palmered hackle body and marabou tail to imitate egg-sucking sculpins. It's the best steelhead streamer I've ever used.

My .02

Just to illustrate what I'm talking about wth the hen hackle:

http://www.danica.com/flytier/djeffries/matuka_sculpin.htm
 
#10 ·
DFix said:
If I wuz gonna do somethin' different to that, I'd take those barred tailings and move them forward, behind the shoulder, and let them trail so they finished about 1/2-3/4" behind the bend, add a few peacock herl as a topping the length, lose a little of the beard and blend some more orange floss in with the red or find some orange hair or marabou into the belly.

You copied the top version - what's the wing?
I think I will trim the beard. On the original, the deer hair collar is only on the upper half of the fly and the head is trimmed very short on the bottom. By "wing", are you referring to the short curved feathers that are about half the length of the fly or the feathers that run the length of the fly? The short feathers are actually tied onto the sides and shoulder of the fly, just behind the head (2 feathers on each side, one slightly higher than the other). I'm not sure what kind of feathers they are, but they are wider, stiffer and have a rounder tip than the ones I used. I also used only one feather on each side instead of two. The wing/tail is a pair of olive grizzly hackles tied Matuka style. The original is so mangled that it's difficult to see that the wing and tail are both made from the same pair of feathers. The hackles on the original are wider and rounder than the hackles I used, and I considered trimming the tips of my hackles but I don't think that would look right. I didn't think about adding a peacock herl topping because the original didn't have it. Good idea though. Maybe I'll tie one like that and see how it comes out.

Q
 
#11 ·
BigDave, Thanks for the info and link. That's a nice looking fly! I thought about adding google eyes to my flies - maybe I'll try doing one like that and see how it comes out.

Q
 
#12 ·
Yeah, I meant the 'wing' as the two smaller, over the shoulder jobs. Sculpin style calls for the less pronounced belly profile.
My ideas weren't to criticise; I just pictured the "perch" profiling without 'looking' at the matuka styling.

On the other note- about you shipping a "crudely tied white deer hair popper" - I'll take one if you feel so inclined. Frankly, I think you're selling yourself short, because the second one in the picture looked very nicely done.
 
#13 ·
Guys

I too changed tactics mid-stream. I was working on a flaoting pattern which could do double duty for smallies or stripers duriing the early summer crab hatches. Early prototypes look like they hold promise but not yet ready for "market". I will bring some to the Sunday tying clave (plan "B" if it happens). I'm also posting challenged currently since I need to either get my old digital cam fixed or buy a new one. Plus, the multi-function scanner/printer I recently puchased knackers my machines memory when I use the scan function - (W98 - WXP Upgrade imminent!). :eyecrazy:

Bottom line, for this swap I will be tying a variation on the "Booby" - another surface pattern which should drive the smallies crazy. I should have them ready for Sunday
 
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