SaltyDawg's Skinnee Minnee
I concocted this fly during a cold, wintery day, while trying to combat cabin fever. The red metallic needlepoint yarn wrapped around the hook shank shines through the translucent body, helping give the fly the appearance of having "guts"... it looks great in the water! This recipe is more of a guide rather than a pattern to be followed exactly. It screams for experimentation with colors, materials and creative expression.
INGREDIENTS:
  • Hook: Tiemco 811S - Sizes 2, 1/0 or equivalent
  • Thread: Olive - match the wing color for the head, white or mono for tying off the tail
  • Tail: Olive or white color craft fur or rabbit fur
  • Body: A section of pearl color Corsair braided tubing, 1/2 " dia. over #7 red metallic needlepoint yarn wrapped around the hook shank
  • Wing: Bucktail - olive color and pearl Krystal Flash
  • Collar: Red bucktail or red Krystal Flash
  • Head: Devcon 5 minute epoxy mixed with fine pearlescent glitter
  • Eyes: 4mm stick-on prismatic
NOTE:  For early season, sometimes smaller is better. These flies can be tied on a #4 hook, while using the shorter length of Corsair tubing for the body and proportionally reducing materials.
RECIPE:
  1. Place the hook in the vise, attach the thread at the eye and wrap to the bend of the hook.
  2. Tie in a length of the red metallic needlepoint yarn, wrap it to the eye, trim it, tie it off and apply a drop or two of head cement or clear nail polish. Do not cut the thread.
  3. Cut a section of the Corsair, about 1 1/2 or 2 times the shank length, stretch it and remove the two cotton threads that run through it. By removing the threads, the fly will have better action.
  4. Apply a couple liberal drops of your favorite cement or clear nail polish to the inside of one end of the Corsair tubing. Cut a small clump of craft fur and insert it into the glued end of the tubing about 1/8 to 3/16 inch. Wrap and tie it off with white or mono thread, then apply cement or nail polish. For safety, I dipped the handle of my whip finishing tool into the cement and inserted it in the open end of the tubing all the way down to the tied end, applying liberal amounts of cement to the hair ends at the tie. Trim the tail hair to your favorite tail profile. Wipe off your whip finishing tool handle!
  5. Snake the open end of the tubing over the hook point and poke the point through the tubing wall at a point where you can tie the tubing off just behind the hook eye, achieving a nice body taper. Cement.
  6. Tie in a small clump of olive bucktail (just long enough to reach the beginning of the tail) to the top of the hook just behind the hook eye. Add a few strands of pearl Krystal Flash, tie off and cement.
  7. Turn the fly over and tie in a very small, short clump of red bucktail (or red Krystal Flash) on the bottom of the hook. Whip finish and cement.
  8. Mix a small dab of epoxy and glitter, apply and form into a nice tapered head and let dry until just slightly tacky. Install the eyes and apply another thin coat of epoxy over the entire head.