North Fork Special SBS

[ScottP]

Tim Wade of North Fork Anglers in Cody, WY, developed this nymph for the (what else) North Fork Shoshone River. A great dry fly stream but when the cutts and cuttbows aren't looking up, this is a real good bug; don't know if it's a stonefly nymph or general attractor, but it generally attracts fish in a river with stoneflies so maybe it's both (or neither). Love the crazy wing case stubs. Not to be confused with Kelly Glissmeyer's great South Fork Special http://www.flyanglersonline.com/fotw...tw20100208.php





hook - Dai Riki 135 #10
underbody/weight - lead free wire .025
thread - UTC 140 black
tail - goose biots natural grey
body - rabbit dubbing black
rib - Ultrawire med red
wing cases - biots black
wings(?)/legs(?) - goose biots natural grey
bead - silver 5/32



Part 1



mash barb, slide bead on shank





wrap lead-free on shank and jam inside bead (locks bead in place, adds a bit more weight and builds up thorax)





attach thread, smooth over lead-free, tie down wire, wrap back to hook bend; add a few more wraps at the back to create a little thread bump (helps splay tail)





pull 2 biots and even tips





tie in biots, abdomen length (actually looking back these may be a touch long) with wraps against thread bump and they should spread out





trim biots and smooth underbody with thread





apply some dubbing to thread





apply some dubbing to body; try to make it a little thicker further along





wrap wire forward, tie off, helicopter end and smooth over

[ScottP]

Part 2



tie in turkey biot for 1st wing case at 60% mark





add a bit more dubbing





2nd biot





more dubbing





3rd biot





add biot for near wing/leg/whatever (let it extend to base of tail)





far wing/leg/whatever





a bit more dubbing, tie off and SHHAN





trim the biots and you're done










Regards,
Scott

[Bugsy]

Scott, by the patterns you select for your SBSs, I think you might give a grin of approval if you saw my boxes. Two of my first tying books were Jack Dennis' Western Trout Fly Tying Manuals v1 & 2, and many of my favorite patterns have roots in the West. More than a few of the patterns (or their variants) you've chosen have been staples for me. I have also tied the North Fork Special in a lighter version but haven't given it a good try. Another fly that works and that bridges the gap between the NFS and the Prince is the Dark Lord.

[whatfly]

Can't quite tell the color of the bead, Scott. Is that gold or black nickel?

As an aside, are you shooting these freehand (appears so in the reflection)? If so, very impressive.

[ScottP]

Bugsy,

Forgot to mention the lighter version (tan body & biots, gold bead); thanks for the reminder. Also, there's a great video at Dakota Anglers tied by Ryan Grabert http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgU1e94RS38 with a little different treatment of the legs/wingcases. Both of Jack Dennis' books and Randall Kaufmann's have been poked through quite a bit recently.



whatfly,

5/32" Silver bead (fixed that in the recipe). All photos freehand (usually give the coffee time to clear the system); need to look for one of those little tripods.


Regards,
Scott

[AlanB]

Great looking fly.

As for the tripod take a look for a G Clamp camera mount. Clamping to the table is much steadier than a table top tripod. Unfortunately my set up is way to heavy for one of those. Still the weight makes it easy to hand hold.

Cheers,
A.