Slow & Steady

Old School-that's the two words I can think of the describe this Spring here in the Upper Peninsula.  I remember that the month of March used to be classified as another month of the Winter here instead of the beginning of Spring. I myself am guilty as well as many others are of getting used to these early Springs we have had over the course of the past few years.  Many inland lakes across the Upper Peninsula have a solid 2 feet of ice still on them, you can drive a full size pickup truck on that very safely!  Yesterday as I peered out across Lk Superior all i could see was ice as far as the eye could see, granted this ice blows in & out with the wind.  But there sure is quite a bit still out there & that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  As it is right now though, we are in a major drought.  Since February there has been very little precip (snow or rain), this doesn't fair well for fire danger or river/lake levels.  I'm hoping that April brings some nice rains, heck even a snowstorm would be fine by me.

Recently I purchased a new camera , so these shots are local images from the Marquette area.  Learning how to operate the camera is in adventure in itself, but I see how one can become very involved with the art of photography.  So much is require to get a great photo, I'm looking forward to providing some images of the essence of this beautiful place I call home-Michigan's U.P..

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Da Flashdancer!

I thought a tutorial of a newer streamer pattern I have found to be effective would be kinda cool to share.  This pattern is primarily used for migratory species, but if it is tied in smaller sizes with different colors variation/use of flash it is effective on resident Trout as well.  It can be fished in a variety of different ways, my best results have been while swing/actively slow stripping this pattern.  It is designed to target aggressive fish in water temps in the 40-55 degree range.  The liberal use of flash on this pattern grabs attention from fish that are a long distance away- I have found this pattern to work well in varying water clarity conditions, although clear water has been the most productive.  This pattern was inspired by the patterns of friend & fellow river guide Kevin Feenstra.  This is a extremely easy fly to tie, a nice choice for beginner fly tiers!  Due to the heavy use of bright/flash materials in this fly, I chose the appropriate name "The Flashdancer" for this streamer.

Materials needed to tie this pattern-
Hook-Size 2 TMC 9395 or suitable high quality 2x heavy streamer hook
Size Medium Lead Eyes
Chartreuse Large Cactus Chenille
Flour. Pink Ice Dub
Silver Holographic Polar Chenille
Silver Flashabou
Pink Flashabou
Gun Metal Flashabou
Uni-thread black Big Fly thread

First step-Secure lead eyes to bottom side of hook just back from the eye of hook. Then bring thread to rear of the hook shank.

Secondly, add a generous amount of gun metal or silver flashabou to the rear of the hook.

Next, tie in your silver polar chenille at the rear of hook. Palmer the chenille all the way up to to right in back of the lead eyes.

This is what it should look like once the polar chenille is all the way up to the lead eyes.

Next, add your pink Flashabou. I also add another material at this point that is more of a rubbery  feel to it. It looks like Flashabou & has some holographic properties. I just can't remember the name of this product.  Krystal Flash can also be used in this step to gain more iridescence to the pattern.

Now tie in your cactus chenille behind your lead eyes & then after a wrap or so behind the eyes figure 8 the chenille around the eyes to thoroughly cover them.

Here is what it should look like once the eyes are covered with the cactus chenille.

Take a pinch of the pink ice dub & push this through the eye of the hook. Wrap 2 or 3 times over the top of the ice dub. Then push ice dub back & secure the front of the ice dub to hook by the thread grabbing a few fibers.  Now finish the fly with some half hitches then done!

There ya go, all done. The finished product, an easy tie that is a big meal for a willing participant!

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