+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 12

Thread: Bird's Stonefly SBS

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Ashburn, Virginia
    Posts
    7,867

    Default Bird's Stonefly SBS




    Made a few changes to the dry version of Cal Bird's stonefly (here in salmonfly colors). Replaced the floss body with foam and the squirrel tail wing with elk hair, to improve floatation, and the fragile moose hair tails with paint brush bristles; supposed to have antennae out the front, which I forgot (and don't miss). The palmered body hackle is a variation on the original (tied in 2 sections along the midshank); just liked the way it looked.


    hook - Tiemco 5212 #6
    thread - UTC 140 orange
    tails - paint brush bristles
    body - 1mm foam orange
    rib - tying thread tag end
    body hackle - hackle brown (trimmed short)
    wing - elk hair
    hackle - brown




    Part 1


    mash barb, attach thread at 75% mark and wrap back to point above barb (leave the tag end long)







    tie in foam strip, apply a little Super Glue to the shank and bind down foam









    take one wrap of foam and tie down; tie in tails










    wrap foam forward, tie down and trim







    trim hackle and tie in










    palmer hackle in close turns to the hook bend; trap with thread tag end, wrap forward as rib, tie off and trim hackle end






  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Ashburn, Virginia
    Posts
    7,867

    Default

    Part 2

    clean and stack a clump of elk hair; measure for length (extend hook gap distance past bend)





    tie in elk, trim butts and cover with thread







    tie in front hackle and wrap forward; half hitch x2 and SHHAN







    trim hackle flat on bottom, trim tails







    Even with the foam body and elk wing, this one's going to be float challenged


    Maybe a tube version?





    Regards,
    Scott

  3. #3

    Default

    Excellent SBS! The Bird's Stone is one of my alltime favorites and was the main inspiration for my Satsop Stone.

  4. #4

    Default

    Great instruction and photos! Two questions from a near rookie: 1. what does SHHAN stand for? Tried looking it up here and couldn't find it. 2. what color combos would look good (if any) as a trout fly?

    Thanks!

  5. #5

    Default

    I believe its short for "Sally Hansons Hard as Nails" Polish

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Ashburn, Virginia
    Posts
    7,867

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by teachmarkey View Post
    Two questions from a near rookie: 1. what does SHHAN stand for?
    Quote Originally Posted by LEBENGEEK View Post
    I believe its short for "Sally Hansons Hard as Nails" Polish
    - yup


    Quote Originally Posted by teachmarkey View Post
    2. what color combos would look good (if any) as a trout fly?

    When I mentioned salmonfly in the intro, I meant that as the name of the bug, the big, orangeish stonefly that's found out west







    not a fly to fish for salmon. The 3 big stones I've fished for trout out there are these, golden and skwalas (kind of a dirty olive/yellow); haven't cracked the nocturnal stonefly yet so no info. For the golden stone, I'd use goldenrod foam (tan in a pinch) and either grizzly dyed tan or ginger/grizzly mix hackle. For the skwala, I had good luck with olive foam (even though it didn't really match the body of the fly) in this pattern






    I'd guess for the Bird you could use dun hackle for the body and dun/grizz for the head (olive dyed grizzly would work, too).

    Regards,
    Scott
    Last edited by ScottP; 10-31-2013 at 07:40 PM.

  7. #7

    Default

    Dang! Answers illustrated with more great photos! Thanks a lot!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Manhattan, New York City
    Posts
    61

    Default

    Looks great - how would you compare this to the stimulator? Sits lower and as you say more float challenged because of the clipped hackle? Looks a bit more impressionistic than the stim.
    JW

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Ashburn, Virginia
    Posts
    7,867

    Default

    Compared to a Stimi, even with the foam body, it's not going to stay on top for long (even when fished in the relatively softer water along the bank); compared to the real thing, it seems a bit skinny. I tied the Bird for fun and will play around with it when I get the chance but, for "serious" fishing (kind of an oxymoron) during a hatch, I want something that's going to catch fish and stand up to some abuse; nothing worse than having to change flies when the fish are up and willing because your fly won't stay up or is reduced to thread and a bit of hair. I thought the Rogue's I tied would fit that bill but they proved to be a bit fragile






    this one proved to be a lot more durable, floated like a cork (but stayed low on the water) and caught fish






    Carnage version






    My Stimulators, not the pattern but the ones I tie, wouldn't make the cut either; for whatever reason, mine are never the high floaters that everyone else seems to come up with, and I've wrapped half a rooster on the hook to keep them on top of the water. In salmonfly sizes especially, I find it a lot easier to keep that big piece of iron up where I can see it with foam rather than hackle and floatant.


    Regards,
    Scott

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    shenandoah valley, va
    Posts
    638

    Default

    Thanks for this. I like a local fly, the ck nymph. One problem I have, both with my tie and the ones I buy in the fly shop, is the palmered feather will come loose after a few fish. Your use of the tag end as a rib may take care of this.
    http://www.ngatu692.com/Flies/CKNymph.jpg
    "Fishermen are born honest, but they get over it"
    Ed Zern

+ Reply to Thread

Similar Threads

  1. Bird's Stonefly - Dry
    By nfrechette in forum Fly Tying
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 07-19-2021, 06:53 PM
  2. Sam's Stonefly SBS
    By ScottP in forum Fly Tying
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 03-05-2016, 05:32 PM
  3. Cole's Stonefly SBS
    By ScottP in forum Fly Tying
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 11-10-2014, 10:51 PM
  4. Stonefly
    By Carpcrazy in forum Fly Tying
    Replies: 14
    Last Post: 04-23-2007, 02:02 PM
  5. Stonefly Patterns
    By hazmat in forum Fly Tying
    Replies: 22
    Last Post: 03-28-2007, 01:23 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts