Copper Johns
Am stocking an inventory of these even though I have never fished one for trout. What is everyone's experience with these and what colors do you like best, what sizes, best applications, etc. Are these overrated? A passing fad, more of a western pattern, etc. Thanks.
Great fly to use by itself or dropped off the back of a hopper. Lots of colors work - green, red, copper, black, brown, chartreuse. I like to tie them using 2 pieces of Ultra Wire in different color and size - for example, I'll use brown wire in Brassie and copper in Small - gives a bit of a ribbed effect that I think looks cool (fish probably don't care, but they do eat them). I usually tie up 6 before I mix the epoxy for the wing case then just apply to them all at once. If you're looking for some good tutorials, check out Charlie Craven's:
http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/fly...fm?parentID=17
or Harry Mason's:
http://www.troutflies.com/tutorials/cjohn/01.shtml
Charlie also has a 2 minute (2 minutes!!!) video on tying one, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqXwn...rom=PL&index=8
Regards,
Scott
Dave - Scott gave you some good advice. Of course, a lot of it is wasted because you don't tie. If you spent half of what you spent on buying all those flies on some tying tools and a vise, you'd be in a position to tie exactly what you NEED. And then some.
Still waiting patiently for that phone call.....
You're missing out on one of the best aspects of fly fishing. You're gonna kick yourself for waiting!
All in good time Ed! I was just looking thru Charlie Craven's book, and I saw his fly box of row after row of all those pretty little CJ's lined up in there. Kinda like a rainbow! Problem is Ed there is no one really close by to tutor me and no shop close by either. I'm one of those guys who is gonna have a billion and two questions. On the other hand twenty bucks here and 40 bucks there and I got enough flies to supply two or three Fish Ins! That's my plan this year to make a pile of money sellin' flies!
I like fishing CJs in 14 & 16, standard color, in small streams. They get down fast, have a lot of flash, incorporate peacock herl (which is like trout crack), and are nearly indestructible. Perfect for a stream full of hungry brookies in a setting that will doubtlessly include tight brush where a bit of lead on the line is undesirable.
For my flies, I dont epoxy the back. I will, occasionally, however, coat the thorax with a thin layer of CA glue, which I wrap my herl on top of. I think it keeps that portion together longer, which is usually the first part to come undone on any fly with herl.
Red and gold can be a killer - also blue and silver.
I'm not sure if it is the shape and multiple elements of this fly that make it effective or the simple fact that it really gets deep fast to where the fish are eating. I suspect it is the latter, with more of your drift being in the column's hot spot.
Either way it does work well. Size effectiveness seems to depend on the size of the naturals. Color hasn't seemed to make much of a difference for me, but I tend to use them mostly in red and blue.
I use this fly instead of lead in a two fly rig. Red always seems to work and have had some excellent days in the fall on wine...color that is.
With the internet and sites like this you can get by without a tutor. Pretty much any question you would have has probably been answered at one time or another. There are also plenty of free tutorial videos that can be downloaded from You Tube and a couple of other fly fishing sites. Starting to tie flies in 2010 is a lot different that starting in 1960Originally Posted by wizard
Joe
uhh...nevermind
How many of the rest of you do not epoxy these flies? I sometimes do, and sometimes don't...haven't noticed any real difference
"Trust, but verify" - Russian Proverb, as used by Ronald Reagan
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