One on a size 16 1X short nymph hook and one on a size 20 2X short emerger hook. Nothing added.
The CDL is for Coq-de-leon. I used feathers from a Whiting Medium Pardo CDL tailing pack. Stripped about eight fibers and tied them in for a tail, then twisted them to strengthen the bundle and wrapped them forward the same you would for a pheasant tail nymph, and tied them off. Nothing else.
The fibers on the Coq-de-leon feathers vary quite a bit on a given feather. Some of them are very slim at the outer end, but closer to the stem they are somewhat thicker. The effect was pretty neat - very slim abdomen, which turned out just about right proportionally lengthwise, and then a thicker thorax - when I got the right fibers. Also, the markings on the CDL feathers tends to create a segmented look when twisted and wrapped.
The size 16 ( more like an 18 ) did pretty well today - took seven bows before it needed to be replaced.
The size 20 was a bit too small ( it is actually about a #24 ) for the water I was fishing. Caught a couple bows, but considering where I was fishing it, I would expect to catch more than that.
The size 20 might do well for a midge in the right place at the right time ??
These were experimental, tied as simply as possible. I wanted to see how the CDL would do tying really small nymphs. I guess the next step would be to dress them more completely. The larger one will probably do well with a soft hackle, including maybe one wrap of peacock herl ?? And the smaller one, with a small CDC wing might make a neat little midge emerger ??
Those look great small (lol ) but great. The smallest hooks I have worked with have been sz.16s I don’t know how you guys tie with anything smaller. I guess the only way to find out is to give it a try.
Since the Coq-de-leon nymphs worked reasonably well, I thought I would tie up some other patterns using the same basic technique and give them a go.
This technique is limited, by virture of the length of the CDL fibers, to small flies. But from a tying point of view, it has a lot of merit.
From the upper left -
Size 18 parachute with a CDL tail and body, mallard flank fibers for the wing, superfine dubbing thorax, and standard grizzly hackle.
Size 16 1X short CDL and starling wet fly.
Size 16 1X short CDL, peacock herl, and hen wet fly.
Size 20 2X short CDL and loop wing CDC emerger.
Since the same bundle of CDL fibers is used for both the tail and abdomen, these flies are very easy to tie. Choosing the right fibers on the feather and reducing the number of fibers permits tying a very slim abdomen.
From the first outing, it seems the CDL body may not be as durable as some other materials, e.g. biots or dubbing. Or it may be that I just did not tie that fly as well as I could have ?? On the other hand, the simplicity of the tying process makes this an attractive alternative when tying small flies.
Tested the CDL Parachute today on one of our spring creeks. Caught a small rainbow on the very first cast. Unfortunately, the pic was out of focus. Caught this one a few minutes later.
In about two hours of fishing this pattern, I landed about twenty bows. Think I got eleven on the first fly and the rest on the second one.
The flies held up well - but kind of gave up on floating. Probably should add another couple turns of hackle for the faster water.
Hi john, I couldn’t figure out how to post a photo on a PM so I will show it here. I followed your well written recipe for your Pine Squirrel Cheater. It came out like this. Does this look anything like what it’s supposed to? I used mouse colored rabbit. Also used a LOONNGG shanked 6 hook. If its right I will go online and try to find some squirrel. What color do I want? Thanks for your help. Jim
Great looking flies. I guess it goes without saying the fish have also affirmed this. Sound like your having great fun. Have you tried counter wrapping the CDL with thread to improve the durability?
In any case, keep up the good work. I’m always delighted by your creativity!
You can include a photo in a PM just like you do on a Bulletin Board post.
Looks pretty good. Honestly, I’m surprised you did that well with rabbit. My attempts with rabbit were really pathetic, which is why I ended up with the pine squirrel. Pine squirrel ( and use pine squirrel, not just any squirrel, for best effect ) has really thin hide which makes for much easier wrapping than rabbit, and great movement in the water.
My favorite ( most productive ) color is sculpin olive, although I have used black with some decent results. I think natural might be a good one, but just haven’t gotten around to trying it yet.
Go on line and send me your address by PM - I’ll send along a few strips of both sculpin olive and black and you can try them before you buy them.
Haven’t seen you around much lately. Was wondering a couple days ago how you were doing ??
I hadn’t thought of counterwrapping the CDL, or ribbing it. My natural tendency is to keep them as simple as I can. I think the nymph just wasn’t tied off properly. The parachutes seemed to hold up pretty well. When I get around to doing autopsies on the flies I’ve used, I may have to rethink that aspect of it.
Good afternoon John
This really grabs me as a Trout tricker, more so as I mainly fish wets,
“Size 16 1X short CDL and starling wet fly.”
I tie a number of small starling feathered flies, in wet of course.
My problem is I can never get a beauitful flowing series of feathers in the collar/hackle as you have.
In the picture are they already wet?
Or,
can you shed some light on your method to please me please ?
Haven’t fished the CDL and starling yet, so I can’t vouch for it. But I do have confidence that it will work when I get it in the water. ( Another friend from Down Under, Jeff Hamm from NZ, got me into starling, and I’ve had good results with other flies I’ve tied with it. ) Maybe tomorrow ??
The fly in the pic is not already wet.
I used a feather with a bit longer hackle than I thought was appropriate for the size of the fly. And I tend to “overdress” compared to what others seem to do.
I can’t think of anything unusual about how I wrapped the starling. Tied it in about a third up from the tip and probably took five or six turns on that fly, stroking the fibers back on each turn.
One thing does occur to me - I didn’t use anything for a thorax so there is no bulk behind the starling to make it stand out, it can just lay back the way it was stroked. I guess another habit I have may also account for that - I tend to wrap back over the last couple turns of a wet hackle while making a small head and before tying it off. Other than those two things ???
Let us know if you tie some up and trick some trout.
Good afternoon John.
Mate, honestly to me, that would be, will be one of the best trout trickers in the trout tricking business, without a doubt.
And like with all good trout tricking flies, it?s basically simple.
Looking and thinking about the image, no thorax is the reason why there is a flow of fibres over the fly… another good trick, many thanks
I tend to add a wing case and start the head first, no with your idea, maybe goodbye to the wing case and leave the head where it should be, in front.
Starling, to me its almost magical the sheen on the feathers, with the number of possible uses for this pest bird, just about endless, and the best part, I can and do recycle them from their tree tops with my trusty 22, double the fun.
The simplicity and reasoning of this nymph is going to ensure a place in my river box this season. One with a micro black tungsten bead would work well in the faster flows across here as the CJ does well in small sizes.
If you got to put a name on it - try f.c.t.k. for “fifteen cent trout killer.”
Albannach -
High praise, indeed. Thank you. I would love to see some pics of fish you catch with this fly posted to this thread at some point.
John
P.S. I really enjoy watching others tie beautiful flies, and seeing the classics that some of my friends tie, and those that are posted here. But when it comes to tying and fishing, I’m all into simplicity.
Haven’t seen you around much lately. Was wondering a couple days ago how you were doing ??
John,
Thanks for asking! I’ve been around, mostly lurking on the board the last few months. November and December are “Hunting Season” for me. I spend a pretty good portion of that time trying to fill the freezer with deer meat. Factor in Thanksgiving and Christmas and the time goes by pretty fast. I just finished up the last major event of the winter, a caving trip with my son’s scout troop, and I’m looking forward to a bit more participation on the board.
The seasons will be swinging around to fishing pretty soon. Keep up the good work and I like the name “FCTK”.
John’s excellent posting had me at the vice with these copies.
Coq De Leon or CdL has intrigued me since Hans made that excellent posting on the [b]harvesting[/b] of the feathers from the bird.
Across in [b]FAOL[/b] there is an excellent post regarding CdL nymphs by John Scott (no relation!) where he created a few different variants based on a CdL abdomen.
The majority of usage I have seen before has CdL as a tailing or antenna material but these little nymphs look great from the outset with the thought process behind them detailed and proven on the river.
Size 16/18, black tungsten bead, CdL fibres and some thread? Could this be a rival for early season on the Liffey for Norm’s CJ!
Here is a straight copy on a Kamasan B405 size 18 using Flor de Escoba CdL fibres and 12/0 Benecchi. Taking another look the hook needs to be lighter and the bump from the lower abdomen has to go but the automatic taper when winding on the fibres works well.
(I really need to learn how to use Paintshop and get rid of those stray fibres!)
A close up of another showing the variation in ‘ribbing’ from the mottling of the feather fibres, this was done by twisting the CdL fibres as I wound them on to the hook shank.
looks like it has has a serious run in with my local barber!
It was just the one at the lower end of the abdomen and under the thorax that were bugging me, but any haircut that short is worth the money!
