Pat's rubber legs

Here we have a very simple fly that is as easy to tie as it is gets.

Use a slightly thick gauge of lead or lead substitute and tie the legs in to three spots using the lead wraps to do the spacing for me. 

Pat's rubber legs is a winner for sure. It produces in the Rangeley area as well as it does in the west! 

I cut the legs a bit shorter than most people and I do this for purely aesthetic reasons. 

I'm using a 3x long hook

The thick non-lead weight

Spandex legs

Variegated chenille 

Black 8/0 thread

Rockworm soft hackle

  I fish soft hackles pretty often, usually just put a hackle on one of the standard nymphs I use. 

In this case I'm putting a hackle on a very basic Green Rockworm pattern.

Materials are......

Hook, Allen 102BL or any similar hook, I really like wide gape barbless hooks and so that's what I use. Your standard nymph hooks will do a fine job as well.

Underbody of opal or pearl tinsel.

Body is vinyl D-rib green but use any color you like! 

Hackle, genetic hen. I typically use a sort of speckled dark dun or grizzly. Black would be fine too! I like a oversize hackle as you can see. 

Dubbing, black, either SLF or Life Cycle.

Thread is, as usual, Veevus 14/0.

I like start the body a little bit down the bend for this fly when using this type of hook, gives a nice effect. 

Green Rockworm with a Czech Nymph Twist

  The Green Rockworm is one of the most common and one of the more effective nymphs you'll see people using here in western Maine as well as just about anywhere there's cold water and rocky streams. 

I use a ton of variants from the simple stuff like a brassie with green wire to the more involved stuff. They all work! 

What I'm gonna show you today is more involved but by no means hard to tie. Basically a czech nymph in smaller sizes (16,18, 20 and 22)

No need to get picky about hooks here most scud hooks will work great but I really like the European competition hooks. 

Materials are the following......

 One layer of flat lead.

Very fine silver wire for rib. 

Green net print on clear scud back or thin skin, plain clear would be fine too. 

Green slf dubbing.

Black slf dubbing.

Thread, veevus black 12/0 

Finish by hitting the thin skin over the black dubbing with a black sharpie.

The Brown Owl

 First I must say sorry for the crap picture! 

 A staple in western Maine. this fly is in general considered to be a streamer but a couple sources indicate that it was intended to be a stonefly imitation and not so much a baitfish imitation. I can see it now that it's been pointed out to me! The Kennebago Muddler has a similar story, and, they both just plain work.

The Brown Owl is a oddball of a fly. Drab colors and fairly standard materials combined in a rather unique way. I can't help but see it as almost like a weird marriage of classic Rangeley Streamers and classic Dee flies.   

 

Mine is of course tied on a Demmon competition streamer hook (ST800BL) which lends to a different look but I'm a huge fan of those hooks and go barbless as much as I can.

If you want some without having to tie them the www.rangeleysportshop.com has you covered.

For more info go to http://www.maineflyfish.com/forums/?showtopic=21335

The Redington Butter Stick

Boy, I have a good wife. She gave me a fiberglass rod for Christmas. I love bamboo rods except for the weight and the issues associated with having to maintain them, price is also a issue. This is where the modern fiberglass rods can really shine.

This is where I must say I also adore some of the fast graphite rods out there,  I have a Winston that is amazing and I have cast some incredible rods from Sage and others but the rods I enjoy most when conditions allow are typically rods that flex right down into the handle.

Are bamboo or fiberglass rods for everyone? 

No, but if you fish a lot of dries at medium to close range you should give them a long hard look. 

What do they do better than graphite rods?
Nothing other than protect your tippet a little and even that could be argued.

Why do you like them if they are not better?
because they offer a more relaxed feel, the rods tend be more of a full flex than the current trend of high end rocket launchers. The best comparison I can come up with is comparing a something like a Mercedes 190sl to a Subaru STI. Everything about the Subaru would be better but that Mercedes would just still be a pleasure to drive and to some just more enjoyable because of what it lacks.

over at the fiberglass manifesto there's a review check it out!

The AuSable Wulff and a bit about its creator.

Fran Betters was a guy who knew what worked and seemed not to conform to convention if convention did not agree with him.

He came up with many patterns, the haystack for example was ahead of its time. Would we have a comparadun if Fran didn't come up with the Haystack first? 

He's probably best known for the AuSable Wulff, a fly that is pretty standard except for the color. Orange thread and dyed rusty orange opossum dubbing. That said Fran's flies did have odd proportions as well.  The way he tied it the wings were placed further back and he also put a longer hackle section on his flies. I do not do either things and mostly for aesthetics. 

Anyway, here's mine, I conform to the standard proportions more than he did. Bet his fly would float better though! 

Red Ghost Tandem, A New England Favorite.

Messing with tandems, I don't troll but I'll tie them and I suspect they'd work well in the salt and tied with a synthetic wing would be great for pike.

The Red Ghost is a classic Maine pattern but without the widespread fame that the Black Ghost and the Grey Ghost have.