First try at extended bodies and coffin flies

Trying to tie up some coffin flies for the PA Fish In. These are 2 of the first five that I have tied using extended foam bodies. I dont think my wing colors are right, but i only have grey and green, need to hit a shop this weekend to find a better material.

How are the proportions?

Next up, the duns.

Look very nice to me!!!


tied this for the drakes here on pine…

Nice job you two. Crotalus it looks like you have been doing it a while. Do you save your first attempts of flies?

Nice fly Bob, those fancy flat wings are something I need to learn as well, but one step at a time.

What colors would you recommend for wings/bodies on the green drake adult?

Thanks for the compliments, I had read several tutorials about the extended body flies but was never able to translate them into my hands. I stumbled across a video on globalflyfisher.com with Ben Furmisky tying an extended foam body and then everything clicked between my brain and hands. They are far from perfect but a vast improvement over past attemps.

LEHB, I usually save my first attempt or two since they are usually not worth fishing :slight_smile: You will notice that i posted the 4th and 5th flies that i tied not the 1st and 2nd :wink:

Hi Joe - Fly Rite #41 is a perfect match for the GD duns. White poly yarn mixed with a bit of black works for the spinner wings, but I prefer to tie coffin flies with hackle (grizzly), and just trim the bottom. When the coffin flies hit the water on Pine, its usually an excercise in futility, as there’s a zillion of 'em, and the odds of a fish taking your immitation (or you picking it out of the horde) are slim.

I’d rather concentrate on the nymphs and duns. The fishies whack the snot out of a GD wiggle nymph!

Let’s hope we catch the timing right this year…