The Royal Flush

Skip Morris

Edited by CARL WUEBBEN

 The royal coachman dry fly stands as the flagship for all “attractor” fly patterns, flies designed not so much to imitate fish food as to satisfy flights of the imagination and the Royal Coachman is well known to any serious fly fisher and it has a record of over a hundred years of catching trout. So it was a great model for the Royal Flush nymph. Fanciful as it clearly is, the Royal Flush is arguably not entirely unnatural. The mayfly ameletus’s three nymphal tails are tipped with contrasting color along the lines of the Royal Flush’s golden pheasant tippets and the white wing case could remind trout of a whitish nymph having just shed an exoskeleton, as mayflies do numerous times throughout their underwater lives. The dark and shining herl body is a long proven approach to artificial nymph design, as is the brown hackle half-collar. Still, nothing is going to explain away that golden bead. Perhaps attractor flies work precisely because they look unlike anything a fish ever ate. No one knows for sure. But attractors do work, sometimes far better than solid imitations.

PATTERN
HOOK – Heavy wire, 1x long (standard nymph hook), humped shank is optional, sizes #16-#10
BEAD – Gold metal, 3/32 – inch for size 16 hooks 7/64 – inch for size 14, and 1/8 – inch for size 12 and 10
WEIGHT – Lead or lead – substitute wire, 0.015-inch (could go larger on bigger hooks)
THREAD  – Black or red 6/0 (140 denier) or 8/0 (70 denier). Try the red sometime it kicks up the brightness factor a solid notch.
TAIL – Golden pheasant tippets.
RIB – Fine red copper wire over red flashabou.
ABDOMEN  – Two or three peacock herls
WING CASE – Clear stretch flex, scud back, or medallion sheeting, 1/8 –inch wide (this clear strip is optional), over white duck primary, goose shoulder, or any white feather section.
THORAX  – Same peacock herl used for the abdomen.
HACKLE  – Brown hen neck, as a half-collar

HOW TO TIE

1. Debarb hook – put the bead on the hook (small hole first) - mount in the vise then wrap your lead or none lead wire on up the full length of the shank. Make the ends tidy by pushing the ends up against the shank. Push the lead firmly into the rear of the bead. The lead and bead will now cover about two thirds to three quarters of the shank.
2. Start your thread in just before the bend of the hook and behind the lead wraps. Tie in a small bunch of pheasant tail tippets on top of the shank (tips hanging rearward), at the hooks bend where your thread is now, this will be your tail and it should be half to two thirds the length of the shank. Wrap the thread up the fibers and shank to the rear of the lead. Trim off the butts of the fibers closely, so they lie right up against the lead.
3. Tie in some fine red copper wire at the rear of the lead wraps to the bend of the hook. Hang the larger end toward the rear of the hook and put it in your material clip to get it out of the way for now. Keep all your materials right up against the lead wire for a smooth underbody.
4. Double a full length of red flashabou over the thread then bind the doubled end against the rear of the lead (on top of the shank) and then down to the tail.
5. Grab three peacock herls (two for smaller hooks) and align the tips, then clip off about a half inch of them (tips). Tie the herl in by their cut tips right behind the lead wrappings and wrap back to the tail again for that smooth underbody. Spiral wrap the thread forward to about a little past the halfway mark. Wind the three herls together halfway up the shank- toward you over the top and away from you beneath the hook, (counter clockwise) the opposite of the usual direction- and then bind them there, but don’t cut them.
6. Put a couple more wraps on the herl then pull them back and put a few thread wraps on to hold them back. Now where your thread is now (mid shank – right in front of the peacock) tie in a strip of clear stretch flex or the like. On top of the clear strip tie in a section of white duck primary or any white feather will do. Make it slightly smaller than the hook gape wide and tie them in good and trim off any tag ends but remember to keep that smooth underbody.
7. Spiral wrap the thread to the rear of the bead. Now wind the remaining herl to the rear of the bead also but remember to wrap in the reverse direction like before (start it close to the other herl).Tie off the herl behind the bead then clip the herl tag ends as close as you can.
8. Pull the wing-case materials up and forward; then with a couple loose thread wraps bind them down (temporarily) behind the bead head. Now with one strand of the flashabou that’s at the rear of the hook (the second one is a backup strand) spiral wrap forward in three to five turns to the rear of the wing case (clear strip and feather) and going in a normal direction (clockwise) when you’re at the wing case back off your thread holding the wing case and lift the wing case up so you can continue wrapping the flashabou to the bead in two or three turns. Tie it down and trim off any tag ends. If all went well, trim off the second, back up, strand at the bend or if the first broke you get to use the second one.
9. Pull the wing case materials forward again to temporarily hold the in place with a couple loose wraps. Now with the wire at the tail wrap over the flashabou, tightly, right in its tracks, to the wing case. Now back off the thread wraps holding the wing case and continue wrapping the wire over the flashabou all the way to the bead, then tie off and clip off the tag ends (wire or flashabou).
10. Select a hen hackle appropriate to the size of your hook using a hackle gauge or just hold up to the hook shank and fold it over to see if it’s about a gape and a half size. Strip the fibers off the hackle base (butt side), and tie the hackle in by its bare stem up against the bead (butt side facing to the bend) and the main part of the feather facing forward over the bead and eyelet. Wrap the thread backward about three close turns and trim off the butt tag ends.
11. Wind the hackle back in three close turns, then wind the thread forward, through the fibers to the bead (rock the thread back and forth as you wrap so you don’t lay down any feather fibers). This makes a very strong hackle collar – its stem is crossed and reinforced by thread three times.
12. Pinch down the hackle fibers firmly, so they sweep back. Part the hackle fibers on top so they go to each side and then pull the white feather section forward and down – tie off behind the bead. Now do the same with the stretch strip and tie off on top of the white feather and behind the bead head. Trim off the tag ends of stretch strip and feather – whip finish – clip your thread – add head cement to the whip finish and your done.
    
    TIE UP A DOZEN OR TWO – AND GO FISHING*** But remember to practice C.P.R. (CATCH – PICTURE – RELEASE) 

Carrot Nymph

   
Rube Cross
Translated by CARL WUEBBEN

Rube Cross remains a legendary fly tier among catskill anglers. Living from 1896 to 1958, his flies and tying methods are still discussed and emulated. Although he was better known for his sparsely tied dry flies, like all master anglers, cross also tied and fished nymphs. The original name for the fly was the Carrot Ant Black Nymph, which was more commonly called the Carrot Nymph. Orange bodied wet flies have always been favorite patterns and the Carrot Nymph is an easy-to-tie pattern that is a good choice if you want to experiment with an orange nymph or wet fly. Leave the full hackle collar if you’d like to tie it a dry fly, or trim the hackle on the top and bottom to create a pattern with the profile of a nymph.

PATTERN

HOOK – Mustad 9671 or equivalent, size #14 to #12
THREAD – Black 6/0
TAIL – Brown hackle fibers
ABDOMEN– Carrot floss (orange) or dubbing
THORAX – Black chenille (Standard)
HACKLE – Dun hen soft hackle, clipped on the top and bottom

HOW TO TIE

1. Debarb hook – mount in the vise – Start the thread at about half way down the shank and make a thread base to the bend of the hook, now tie in your tail (one hook shank long) using about four or five brown hackle fibers and wrap the butt ends down on the shank with close wraps so your abdomen will be very smooth then bring your thread back to the rear of the hook shank. Clip off your tag ends of the hackle fibers .
2. Tie in your floss then with close wraps bring your thread forward to a little past mid shank . Tie off and clip off the tag end of the floss. TIP= Twist the floss a bit to keep it together and you won’t have any gaps when you wrap it forward
3. Now tie in some black chenille and wrap forward to about one and a half an eyelets space from the eye of the hook. Tie off and clip off the tag end of chenille.
4. Select a hen feather with fibers one and a half the gape size and tie it in front of the chenille, then wrap it forward about two or three times and tie off and clip your tag end off ( leave enough space behind the hook eye to make a small head).
5. Make a small head – whip finish and clip your thread. Add a little head cement to the thread head – then trim the hackle on the top and bottom leaving the fibers hanging to the side.

Try it in different color bodies also

TIE UP A DOZEN OR TWO – AND GO FISHING*** But remember to practice C.P.R. (CATCH – PICTURE – RELEASE).

Royal Coachman Bucktail

Dave Hughes
Edited by Carl Wuebben

The golden age of streamers lasted two or three decades, ending in the 1960s. But these beautiful flies represent things that trout still eat, and they still catch trout. If you’d like to be armed to fish the full array of trout tactics, in order to take fish in all sorts of conditions, a few of these traditional dressings should be kept ready in your basic fly boxes. When you find big trout pursuing baitfish, you can coax them to these minnow like imitations and to little else. Traditional streamers also make excellent searching patterns. In early spring when the water is still high, unclear and cold, then again in fall, when the water is low and clear but cooling, trout are interested in feeding but don’t find much available in the way of natural insects. A streamer fished slow and near the bottom will entice them into a take if you place it where they can see it. Streamers are usually thought of as big flies, sizes 4 and 6; but I recommend that you tie them in sizes 8 and 10. You might be surprised at the results these smaller streamers bring.

PATTERN

HOOK – 6X long, TMC 300 sizes 6-8-10-12
THREAD – Black 3/0 (210 denier) or 6/0 (140 denier)
TAIL – Golden pheasant tippets
BODY – Peacock herl, red floss, peacock herl
HACKLE – Brown
WING – White bucktail

HOW TO TIE

1. Debarb hook – mount in the vise – grab about eight fibers from a golden pheasant tippet then start your thread just in front of bend of the hook and then tie in the pheasant tippet (about ½ the size of the hook shank).
2. Tie in about 2 or 3 strands of peacock herl at the back of the shank just before the bend of the hook. To reinforce the peacock herl, make a rope with it on the thread; twist the peacock clockwise around the thread, just about 3 or 4 turns should do. You can put more of if needed. Now wrap the rope forward about 3 or 4 turns or ¼ of the hook shank length; now tie down and clip of the tag end.
3. Tie in some red floss up against the peacock and wrap it forward with close wraps to just a little past the half way mark on the hook shank, then tie off and clip the tie end off.
4. Tie in some more peacock herl using the herl rope again (3 or 4 strands). Wrap forward again but stop about 4 or 5 eyelet space from the eye and tie off and cut the tag ends off.
5. Find a hackle feather with the fibers about a gap and a half to two gaps long. Then you can do one of two different ways to tie on:
   
   1. Strip off a bunch of fibers from the stem of the feather and using the pinch knot/ soft loop (loop pinched between your thumb and index finger) tie it on the bottom of the shank right in front of the peacock herl but on the bottom of the hook shank, keeping some fibers out to the side also. Tie down or clip tag ends off.
   2. Using the whole feather, strip out the fuzz and tie it on by the butt and on the shank up against the front peacock with the concave side toward the shank, so the fibers will sweep back. Wrap forward 3-4 wraps then tie off and clip tag ends off. With a pair of sharp pointed scissors, clip off the sides and top hackle fibers as close to the stem as possible.
6. Now grab a small bunch of white bucktail and comb out the under fur and tie it in just in front of the peacock that’s in the front hook area extending it over the top of the fly to just about even or just past the end of the tail.
7. Make a nice bullet head (tapered thread, small in front, larger to the rear). Whip finish and apply some head cement.
   
   TIE UP A DOZEN OR TWO – AND GO FISHING*** But remember to practice C.P.R. (CATCH – PICTURE – RELEASE).

Flashback Pheasant Tail Nymph

     
Frank Sawyer, MBE
Translated by Carl Wuebben

This is a version of the original conceived and tied by FRANK SAWYER, MBE, an English river keeper. The pheasant tail nymph is one of the oldest of modern nymphs. Frank devised the pattern for use on the chalk streams of southern England. He designed this nymph to imitate several species of the BAETIS family, generally referred to as the “olives”; it quickly became world famous. Franks pheasant tail suggests many of the skinny nymphs that flourish in various habitats, exciting riffles to alluring deep holes in rivers bed of chalk streams or spring creeks; and in Stillwater’s of all sizes

HOOK – Standard nymph, sizes #14 - #16 - #18 - #20 -#22. Try a scud hook also
THREAD – Brown- 6/0 or 8/0.
TAILS – Ring neck pheasant tail fibers.
ABDOMEN – Butts of ring neck pheasant tail fibers.
RIB – Fine copper wire.
SHELLBACK – Pearl flashabou.
LEGS – Pheasant tail fibers.
THORAX – Peacock herl.

HOW TO TIE

1. Debarb the hook- mount in vise – start your thread behind the eye and lay a thread base all the way to just before the bend of the hook (this gives the material something to hang on to). Now select three or four longer fibers from the center of a ring necked pheasant tail feather. Measure the tips the length of the hook shank, and tie them in at the rear of the shank (This is your tail) secure the butts down on the shank. We will wrap this like herl later to make the body (Abdomen).
2. Clip 2 or 3 inches of fine copper wire for the rib. Tie in at the base of the tail with tight wraps and the longer part hanging toward the rear of the hook. Now take the pheasant tail butts you should have at the rear of the hook and wrap them forward half way to two thirds up the shank of the hook, then tie off and clip off the tag end – If you end up not having enough herl just tie in another couple fibers and keep going. 
3. Tie in your flashabou right up against the abdomen (wrapped pheasant tail fibers) two or three inches should do (two strands) and keep it on top of the shank. Advance your thread to about two or three eyelets from the eye, then even up the tips of the fibers of some more pheasant tail fibers (x6) and measure the tips about the length of the hook shank and tie in where your thread is now and the tips hanging over the eye of the hook and on the top of the shank (These will be reversed later for your legs of the fly). Wrap the thread rearward over the butts of the fibers and end tight to the front of the abdomen. Clip tag ends off.
4. Tie in two or three peacock herl fibers by the tips and at the base of the shell back (flashabou). Make a herl rope by lightly twisting the herl around the thread in a clockwise direction then wrap the peacock herl rope forward and stop one eyelet space from the eye and tie off and clip off the tag end of the herl (You will need this slight gap between the eye and the end of the thorax to tie off the shell back). Counter wind the copper wire at the rear of the fly forward thru the pheasant tail abdomen and the peacock herl thorax and end it and tie off just behind the eyelet, the wire can be clipped off with some dull scissors or just put a little pressure with your finger on one hand at the point you want it to break off and with the other hand just bend the wire back and forth with a little pressure and it will give.
5. Draw the shell back flashabou over the top of the peacock herl thorax, and tie them off tightly in the gap between the thorax and the hook eye then clip off the tag end of the flashabou (Make sure you leave enough room for the head of the fly).
6. Separate three leg fibers (hanging over the eyelet) to each side. If you don’t have that precise number, don’t worry – trout can’t count. Pull the fibers back along the side of the fly. Take one turn of thread over them to lock them in place. Pull the fibers back and down along the side of the fly; take another turn of thread to lock them in place. They should slant back and slightly down. Form a need head behind the eyelet, whip finish and cement the head.

TIE UP A DOZEN OR TWO – AND GO FISHING ***but remember to practice C.P.R. (CATCH-PICTURE-RELEASE).