Notional tying sequence, came out something like the original with a few changes; swapped out the calftail overwing for synthetic because that stuff is a pain to fold properly and I hate having to judge the length to get it to match the wing properly. Tied in these colors for stupid cutts; change to suit your needs.
hook - Dai Riki 300 #8
thread - UTC 140 Fluoro Orange
tail - deer hair bleached
rib - x-small wire copper
body - 1mm foam orange
body hackle - grizzly dyed orange (1 Tbs Rit Sunshine Orange/1 cup water; undersize by 2)
wing - deer hair bleached
legs - medium rubber brown
head - 1mm foam orange
overwing - Congo Hair white
Part 1
mash barb, start thread at 2/3 mark; wrap to bend
clean, stack, measure (gap width) a clump of deer hair, tie in/trim/cover with thread wraps; tie in rib
tie in foam strip
move thread forward to eye; tie in CG facing forward over eye
wrap foam forward to 2/3 mark; tie off/trim
tie in hackle at 2/3 mark; palmer rearward to tail
capture tip of hackle with wire; continue rib thru hackle, helicopter end/cover with thread, trim hackle tip
Very nice pattern, especially for a hopper/dropper rig. Thanks for sharing, Scott. Fished a very similiar pattern with a bullet head/wing of black elk (maybe moose?) called the “Fluttering Stone” this year that you might also want to try: https://www.ashlandflyshop.com/products/fluttering-stone. Good pattern but that dark wing can be hard to see so adding something like an overwing of poly or a foam post would help in my mind, but that’s for experimentation for next year’s hatch.
That’s a nice fly; pulled the pic from their site (looks like dyed deer or elk for the head/wing)
Very similar to Mike Lawson’s Henry’s Fork Salmonfly (I tied it with a dubbed and foam body)
as well as Bob Jacklin’s Giant Salmon Fly
As big as all these flies are, a foam indicator tied in on the head would be a definite plus (guess my eyesight was better when I tied the Lawson and Jacklin flies). Looks like I’m going to miss out on the big bugs this year, so I’ll have plenty of time to play around with ideas for 2020.
Did not realize Lawson originated that style. A nice demonstration of how there is nothing new under the sun. Those dubbed bodies are just a bit too high maintenance for me, though. River I fish for this hatch typically takes a long cast and you are often dragging the fly under to extend the drift and the traditional ties are just not buoyant enough. Even a simple Chernobyl Ant, which turned out to be a surprisingly effective pattern for me this year, is often a better choice in the section I fish than any of the traditional patterns I tried.
Of course what I really need is a pattern that flutters in the film as it goes down stream…
Not sure if it was Lawson, Jacklin (it’s only 35 miles from West Yellowstone to Last Chance; ideas flow freely over Targhee Pass) or someone else.
For flies that big, I’m partial to foam. I did well with big orange Rogues but the bulletheads shredded after a few fish. This one has possibilities; would be easy enough to scale it up as a Salmonfly.
плут оса Oktober Caddis (variation)
hook - Dai Riki 135 #8
thread/rib - UTC 140 burnt orange
core - 20lb mono
abdomen - 2mm foam rust
wing case/head - 1mm foam brown
wing - Congo Hair orange
legs - deer hair dyed dark dun
Yeah, have same problem with the Rogue Stones. One solution which a friend of mine used by I have not tried yet is to just coat the heck out of the head with Fleximent. Should have minimal effect on bouyancy while enhancing the durability. Simillarly, I suspect a simple foam head would work too.
Of course this is an awful lot of effort for a fly I only use one short season a year…
