Trout Line Catgut Biothread/Flymen Fishing Company Nymph Head Evolution Beadheads- Step By Step for Catgut Larvae

Flymen Nymph Head Evolution Beadheads

Size 12 Daiichi 1120 Scud Hook and Nymph Head Bead

Secure 2 bobbins; one around the bend of the hook and 1 behind the bead

Secure a strand of Trout Line Catgut the length of the hook

Catgut secure

Wind the Catgut forward and secure behind the Nymph Head

Pick your dubbing of choice (I like SLF for this application)

Create a fine dubbing cord and palmer it through the spaces in the segmentation

Advance the dubbing cord to just behind the bead

Choose your Hare'e Wiggle Dub (I like the golden brown)

Pull out 3 strands of the fine rubber from the Hare'e Wiggle Dub

Double the rubber around the thread and secure in place on the underside

Create another dubbing cord with the Hare'e Dub and fill the space behind the bead

Whip finish

Complete! Just add water

The 5 Biggest Trout and the 5 Top Fly Patterns That May Have Tricked Them.

2015 has been a great year of trout fishing in southwestern Virginia thus far. The waters I frequent with my anglers have produced a few good fish through the years but this year has been abnormally off the chain. Is it the lack of angling pressure, superb management, wetter than usual winter or a combination of all of these factors? Who cares. We are consistently netting fish that are arguably some of  the largest trout being caught in the southeast/mid-Atlantic United States. Goliath hold-over fish that are flourishing in a massive spring creek with an absurd bio-mass. They are obviously at the top of the food chain. Jurassic Spring is alive and well! Book your day for a chance of a gator of a lifetime. Orvis Endorsed Guide, Dave Hise.

Dr. Joe w/ a gator. Look at that head.

Bryan w/ a hog.

Bryan w/ another.

Yours truly w/ an arse whooper.

Matt w/ a beaut.

I know, I said 5 but couldn't pick so here's a 6th. Glenn looking stoic.

Enough with the fish. Below are the flies that have produced the most fish; day in and day out, year in and year out. Why change it if its not broken? Tying is a great past time and I love to create at the bench but when it comes to the stream, simplicity is often best.

Squirmito- the Original Squirmy Wormie

Mopchu Picchu

Gettin' Jiggy Wit' It. The number 1 big fish producer in any condition.

Circa 1991. The Hetero-genius Nymph.

Epeorus Stoneclinger Nympf.

Squirmito Cluster.

Mopchu doing work.

Step By Step Wiggler Variant Fly Pattern

This is a simple Step By Step of the Wiggler Variant. The Wiggler Variant is a tried and true burrowing mayfly/small minnow imitation that is excellent for trout, steelhead, carp and/or bass, It is simple and quick so give it a try.

A perfect hook for the biggest, strongest fish- Daiichi 1530

Create a thread base and end up at the bend of the hook

Select 2 or 3 Grizzly Marabou feathers for the tail and back

Secure the Grizzly Marabou Feathers in place at the bend with tight pinch wraps

Secured in place and make a funny face

Ice Dub (UV lt. yellow is a favorite) rules for certain applications and nymphs are one of these

Create an Ice Dub thread cord 

OOPS! Forgot to tie in Bead Chain Eyes

Advance your dubbing cord to behind the eyes

Lay down the butt ends of the Grizzly Marabou to behind the Bead Chain Eyes

Mix a clump of Hare'e Ice Dub (golden brown) and Krystal Dub (hare's ear)

Create dubbing cord and wrap behind, criss-cross between and in front of the eyes

Whip finish 

Brush out head and underbody with a dubing brush or pick

Clean around the eye with one of the coolest fly tying tools around, the Cautery

Coat the head with Deer Creek UV Resin (its actually tack free)

Cure the Deer Creek UV Resin with the Deer Creek Pro Torch

Complete!

Best Trout Flies for Late Winter in the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast US

There is a plethora of patterns that can be used for trout during the late winter/early spring in the mid-Atlantic/southeast US. It is the time of the year that many different aquatic insects are scurrying about along our freestone river/spring creek bottoms while few are fluttering about. BWO's, midges and little winter black stones are the primary insects we see on a day to day basis but we're about to transition into a period of a multitude of insects, like early black stones, larger BWO's, March browns, crane flies and grey caddis, to name a few. Water temps are still on the marginal side so most of our productive flies will be subsurface. With the exception of tailwaters, the hatches on most of our freestone streams are sporadic at best; therefore, surface action is usually minimal. I said usually for those skeptics.  

That being said, we only need to have less than a dozen patterns of varying sizes in our boxes at any given time. Below are a few productive patterns that will help bring more fish in the net.

Hise's Hetero-genius Nymph has proven to be productive since 1991 and it covers the attractor/imitator realm (sz. 14-18) 

Edward's Little Winter Black Stonefly covers the smaller late winter/early spring stonefly nymphs realm (sz. 12-18)

BH Hare's Ear is a great imitation of the lighter bodied spring insects that are soon to come; hendrickson's, March browns, caddis and crane flies (sz. 8-16)

Squirmito- the Original Squirmy Wormie is a great imitation of the Tubifex tubifex worms that are found in the silty waterways of the southeast

Quasimoto Pheasant Tail covers the multitude of baetis and darker bodied mayflies that are so prevalent in the spring (sz. 12-18)

Tunghead Zebra Midge works all year but is particularly productive in the winter and spring when the midge s are so prevalent (sz. 20-24)

Y2K Egg Fly is productive throughout the year because plain and simple we like eggs and trout like eggs (sz. 12-14) 

Camden's Baetis is a great little pattern that covers the realm of tiny baetis, midge larva and even little winter stones (sz. 18-20)

Hise's Ooey Gooey Grub is a great pattern for imitating caddis larva, bee larva, wasp larva and cranefly larva (sz. 8-14)

Gettin' Jiggy Wit' It catches a lot of big fish in any water condition