I was just in West Yellowstone but was only able to fish in the Park for a couple of hours Sunday morning. I was on the Madison just inside the west entrance and not catching anything. An older gentleman and his grown daughter came down and parked and were catching fish after fish within minutes. He was kind enough to show me how he was rigged and the fly he was using. It basically consisted of gold glass beads and a wing of what looked like antron. He gave me one and I re rigged and caught 2 whitefish and a rainbow before I had to leave about 30 minutes later. He said he was a local and that fly and a big ugly hopper chernobyl ant were the only two flies he used all summer long. My real question is about the antron. When it got wet or was in the water it seemed to turn blue and had a little iridescence. The antron I have doesn’t do this as far as I know, so what do I need to get to replicate this fly, which he told me was fine as long as I didn’t give it to any guides.
If he was a local, chances are it was z-lon, not antron. (They have different cross sections.) Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone are the chief suppliers.
Gong there soon and was wondering what the first fly was called. Thanks kindly. Michael J.
The wing is not made of Zlon because it isn’t crinckled or wavey, it is straight and white but with a blue cast when in the water. I was in the Blue Ribbon Fly Shop and those guys were very helpful, but at $2.25 a fly it doesn’t take long to spend $50. on some flies, some deer hair and a few other things. It just tore my heart out knowing that I could have tied those same flies for almost nothing.
The gentlman said he made the fly for himself and to give away to poor unknowing tourists like me, but that I couldn’t find it any where else. It was on a #16 hook and was only gold glass beads with this small antron wing. Put it on a 10 or 12 foot leader length to a yarn indicator with enough splitshot to get it down fast. Tie it on with a big loop knot so that it can move. Where we were there was faster and deeper water, about 5 or 6 feet deep, along the far bank with a very deffinate bubble line. He would cast just a little up stream to let it sink, then take up the slack and give it a couple of little twiches or jigs, and say “fish on”. I am really hoping some one here can help with the wing material, but i can also experiment a little bit also.
One of the types of EP fibers, maybe?
Joe
Sparkle organza?
Maybe Fluoro Fiber - fairly straight material and the stuff I’ve seen in white has that blue cast.
Regards,
Scott
Sounds like polypropylene yarn it has kind of a UV look to it! you can get it at craft and bead stores as macrame yarn, or pm me your address and i will send you a
chunk, I purchase the large skeins and have more than a couple of lifetimes worth, a
A picture of the fly could possibly be of great help…
There are so many synthetics out there that probably most tyers on this site could name a different one. With the information you offered, I’ll second what ‘jayatwork’ suggested - organza.
My guess is that the tint to the white antron wing has virtually nothing to do with the effectiveness of the fly.
It probably works mostly because the guy knows the best way to present it, and secondarily because of what the glass bead body represents to the fishies.
Tie it with what you have, get in a place with a lot of colorblind, nearsighted, dumb and hungry fish, present it properly ( whatever that means for this particular fly ) and you’ll be saying “fish on” soon and often.
John
John,
He did mention that he did catch some fish himself after receiving the fly…none before.
Does the wing look like it is only one material or maybe two? There is product called “Angel Hair” which is fine, straight, and in Polar Blue gives off a sheen you describe. It is often added to a wing of zlon or antron to give it a little shine. There are a number of similiar products out there that have a similiar effect.
Tend to agree with some of the previous posters who argued that materials are not the sole determinant of the effectiveness of a fly…but then again, every so often, some patterns seem to work much better than others, so good luck with your quest.
Regarding presentation. Presentation is about 75% of effective fishing. However, at any given time, one’s presentation is a given. It is what it is, for the present. It can improve, but at any given time it is what it is. Then, other factors take over: the pattern the fish are feeding on, etc.
Given that the gentleman said he was fishing and not catching, and, with a different pattern that was working, became successful, leads me to think the fly pattern may have made the difference that particular time and location. No guarantee about future performance though.
Of course the fly itself affects presentation. As an extreme and rather silly example, a fly with a tungsten beadhead is very difficult to present as a dry, regradless of how much floatant you add. In this case, the glass bead body may have sunk it to exactly the depth at which the trout were looking for food, whereas his previous fly went over or under them. The antron (or whatever) may have been denser or lighter, etc.
I know I tie some soft hackle patterns differently depending on whether I intend to fish them upstream or down and across. Others hackle a dry fly differently according to whether it’s going to fished in a fast riffle or a slow pool. Selecting the fly that will do what you want it to in a particular situation is part of presentation.
What he said.
Chuck
It would be hard to tell what the wing material might consist of without a photo (hint)…but my guess would be clear Antron. I am fairly certain that I have seen that pattern in Dan Delekta’s Shop, above the Madison,just South of Cameron, MT. He had a ton of glass bead body flies stashed in some back bins, in a bunch of colors, tied with Antron wings:
https://www.beartoothflyfishing.com/
This guy posts photos and recipes, from time to time, of patterns developed and used by locals in the Yellowstone area:
http://flyfishyellowstone.blogspot.com/
PT/TB
This is what I think it is because I use it for many of my flies and it gives off the blueish halo when in the water. I use a material called SAAP Hi-Vis in white. They make other colors. I purchased mine at Jimmy’s All Season Angler in Idaho Falls, ID.
Here is one of the flies I use it on:
Improved Shop Vac (Original Shop Vac fly was developed by Craig Matthews at Blue Ribbon Flies in West yellowstone. The ‘improved’ part of my fly is to add a peacock collar, use a copper bead and rib with chartreuse wire):
[
](http://s682.photobucket.com/user/kglissmeyer/media/2013 Fly Fishing Album/DSCF63701_zps54c4192d.jpg.html)
Might be K.G. I use a lot of this stuff and never gave a real look at the white after it was wet…
PT/TB
Thanks everyone for your replies and help with this. I believe that it might be that Hi-Vis material and will look for it somewhere. I figured that someone would get me close.