So many ways to tie a fly

I pulled my old, reddish brown suitcase out of storage this past weekend.

It’s that time, once again, to tie trout fishing flies.

Popping open the spring latches on the suitcase, I marveled at what was inside. It was a veritable zoo of animal parts. There was an assortment of deer hair, muskrat fur, moose mane, calf tail and even fire-orange dyed polar bear. I have feathers from turkeys, pheasant, ducks, guinea hens, roosters and partridge.

My first thought was that this was a lot of stuff, but not nearly enough.

This year, the fly I want most to tie is the Gary Borger mayfly dun. The fly features an extended body (beyond the curve of the hook) made of spongy fur. Deer hair will work, but Borger suggests using antelope, elk and caribou.

I have none of that stuff.

This meant that my first step in fly tying this year was shopping for these exotic hair types. It took a little searching. The fly materials industry has been hit with supply chain issues. Lots of materials have been sold out. I was able to score my exotics, however, from a couple different suppliers.

I also ordered a part I will use to create the curved extended bodies of mayflies. It is a curved needle used in stitching leather. To make the extended body, you tie a bunch of deer hair to the curved needle that has been waxed. You crisscross thread to imitate the markings of a large mayfly, such as a hexagenia. The curved body is cast in place with head cement. Once dry, you slide the extended body off the curved needle. The body is lashed to a scud hook. Toss on a small bunch of flared deer hair for a wing and you have a pretty radical looking fly.

I have great motivation to tie up a couple dozen of these guys in various sizes and colors.

I was on the Bois Brule River in Douglas County last summer. I tossed my last extended body mayfly on the river surface. A huge trout slammed into the fly and broke off my line all in a nanosecond.

I was stunned by the raw power of the fish. I wanted more.

My idea is to return to that same spot on the river armed with plenty of big, extended body mayflies and see if I can recreate that experience. This next time, I will use something stouter than a mere 5X tippet so the fish won’t be able to break free.

Maybe the fishing gods will deliver a major trout into my hands. Or maybe not.

This is the great thing about trout fishing. It’s one great learning curve. It’s learning to tie flies that you never dreamt you’d be able to tie in order to catch fish you never dreamt you would be able to catch.

E VERYWHERE I GO I FIND A PAL

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