Angler's Entomology Podcast

A podcast about re-discovering fly fishing entomology. We will review the major groups of aquatic insects - both relevant facts for fly fishing, but also interesting twists that make these critters fascinating.

Episode 50: Bibios 09/08/2022

Episode 50: Pics and Patterns for Bibios 08/30/2022

Episode 49? Quill Gordon 07/24/2022

Episode 49? Pics and Patterns for Quill Gordons 07/24/2022

Episode 47: Butterflies and Moths 05/15/2022

Ep. 47: Pics and Patterns of Moths 02/13/2022

Ep. 47: Pics and Patterns of Moths Hi Folks, Here are some pics of moths (both adults and larvae) as well as some patterns I like to fish. So, while that is said, remember that the good old Elk Hair Caddis makes quite a nice imitation of a moth fluttering around on the surface - as do many other patterns - so if you are in a situation where you think a moth pattern might be useful, and you haven't anything in your box specifically tied to imitate a moth - think outside your box and see what else will work. So - first, I want to give you a little sense of the diversity of moths. It is huge and crazy - there are giant ones, ones that look like humingbirds, and ones that are teeny tiny. But even your plain grey moths have a huge amount of diversity (which doesn't need to be imitated in your tying). Take a look at this random drawer from my collection - and while they are all generic grey moths - you can see a lot of variation from species to species (and it isn't like my collection is huge!). So while they all look like various shades of grey moths from far away - they are gorgeous when you look up close - check out this one - which is in genus Zale: Or this one - which is a common agricultural pest - super common - called a clover looper: Obviously, you don't need to imitate all that detail, but they are beautiful. So, how do you imitate them? As I mentioned, an elk hair caddis is a great imitation - both the small ones you have in your box (size 16 and up) or you can tie big ones like this: Similarly a Stimulator tied large and either light or dark works great: One of the more interesting patterns I've been playing with is from Dave Whitlock. It is nice and simple - tied only with deer hair - and the pattern is just all about trimming: OK, let's switch to the larvae - or caterpillars. There is a ton of diversity in caterpillars. Here are a few examples. This one is a Geometrid larva - an inch worm - which are often seen hanging down by a thread of silk (when not imitating a twig). They also come in brown versions - which are a little less effective from a camouflage perspective when they are on a green leaf... Here are a few others... Anyway - with all this diversity you can tie lots of diverse flies as well. Here are a few: I like this one because it is nice and simple - just a cylinder of foam tied down like a san juan worm. You can do a similar thing with squirmy worm material of the appropriate color. Where, that can be, as you see, anything from green, yellow, white, or brown. Another one I like (I appeared to have been in a chartreuse mood this day) is one tied like a leech (just smaller, and green). In this case it was tied with lambs wool - which floats for awhile and then sinks - and honestly, I fish it both ways: You can also opt for a hairy version - in this case, again, just foam wrapped around a hook with a palmered feather. Which, of course, leads to a wooly worm - which certainly can be used as a caterpillar imitation. Anyway - these are some ideas. Talk to you next time. /episode/index/show/anglersentomology/id/22115582

Episode 46: Blue Winged Olives 06/19/2021

Episode 45: Garden Hackle and San Juan Worms 03/10/2021

Pics and Patterns for Episode 45: Worms 03/10/2021

Pics and Patterns for Episode 45: Worms Hi folks, I debated about even bothering to have a blog post on this subject, since pretty much everyone knows what a worm looks like and the patterns are pretty mundane. But then I thought, what the heck - and so here you go. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of san juan worms in their natural habitat - things are little frozen up here right now and there isn't much worm activity going on. But if you google "tubifex" you'll see what these critters are. As for earth worms - get a load of this: Yes, Selene and I use worms for composting kitchen garbage. Works great. I was hoping to catch some actually mating, so you could see that, but no luck, we think it is too cold in the house. Ok, as for San Juan Worms (or any worm imitation, honestly, all you need is a hunk of chenille or vernille lashed onto a hook. Singe the end to taper it and you are good. The tan one here is described as "earthworm tan" which sounded good to me... If you would like to expand your fly selection you can always go the route of a squirmy worm: Which is literally just squirmy worm material lashed onto a hook with a tail. I get my squirmy worm material from kids toys, but you can also get it from a fly shop. I like the clear one as there are lots of worms that don't have a lot of color. That said, they tend to be smaller. Hence the following patterns. I think you've all seen versions of this before - I like this fly because it sinks well and - in this case is clear, altho, of course, you can use whatever color you want. It is also simple - not that worm flies are complex. But I saw a cool post by a guy on one of the fly tying facebook pages - a guy named Nick Thomas. He was using this to tie extended bodies on his mayflies, but it also struck me as a great way to tie a small clear worm imitation. It is just tippet material, wrapped around a needle, boiled for five minutes and tied onto a hook. We'll see how well it works. /episode/index/show/anglersentomology/id/18268256

Episode 44: Cicadas and Leafhoppers: Plus bonus interview 09/08/2020

Pics and Patterns for Episode 44: Cicadas and Leafhoppers 08/31/2020

Pics and Patterns for Episode 44: Cicadas and Leafhoppers So here are some pictures, both of flies and naturals and links for Episode 43. First, let me give you the link to Charles Card's contact info if you would like to book a trip with him on the Green River: You can book him through OK, let's look at some bugs and flies. Here are what eastern dog day cicadas look like. These are the guys we see on a yearly basis up in Maine (although they are not nearly as common as further south): Here are some closer views, both of a larger one and a smaller one (two different eastern species): In contrast here is what some of Charlie's Green River Cicadas look like: And here are some of Charlie's Cicada imitations he ties: And for the literate trout (or sports): And here is a link on how to tie them: OK, let's talk leafhoppers and spittlebugs now: Here is a gorgeous leafhopper nymph I photographed just a few weekends ago. I like it, not only because of the coloration, but also because you can see the short wings along the side - showing how those insects with an incomplete metamorphosis (depending on the species) look just like the adults but with gradually growing wings: This is a more typical color that you see: And one of my favorites - the Red Banded Leafhopper. I like these guys because they are also called sharpshooters. and lastly a specimen from my collection: Moving onto Spittlebugs - this is what you will typically see: and these are what they guys actually look like: OK, let's move onto imitations: For both spittlebugs and leafhoppers (and planthoppers and treehoppers) you can use Vince Marinaro's Jassid: Body: Ginger Hackle trimmed on top and bottom Wing: Jungle Cock Nail Here is a picture of one next to one I tied using a starling feather as a substitute for the jungle cock (given how hard to find and expensive legally raised jungle cock is). You can, of course, substitute any feather you want - which may have a better pattern to imitate a spittlebug, for example): As I mentioned I'm a big fan of Rod Yerger's Leafhopper: Body: Chartreuse Dubbing Wings: Chartreuse duck quill Hackle: Ginger Or you can tie them in brown (or any color) to imitate a spittlebug or brown leafhopper: Lastly, as I mentioned in the podcast, a small elk hair caddis would do fine. Here's my imitation using red and chartreuse deer hair to imitate those red banded leafhoppers: Body: Chartreuse Dubbing Hackle/Rib: Grizzly Hackle Wing: mixed and stacked red and chartreuse deer hair /episode/index/show/anglersentomology/id/15818252

Episode 43: Zebra Caddis 06/24/2020

Episode 43: Pics and Patterns for Zebra Caddis 06/24/2020

Episode 43: Pics and Patterns for Zebra Caddis Hi Folks, Here are some pics and patterns for this episode on the Zebra Caddis. Let's start with some of those figures I was talking about in the episode. This is a picture of the typically dish shaped head of the zebra caddis larva. This is from Wiggins, Larvae of the North American Caddisfly Genera (Trichoptera). Note it lists the old name for the genus - Macronema. Next, from the same source is a cutaway picture of the case - showing the two chambers and the net used to trap food. Lastly, here is a figure from an article (McArthur 2000) showing the variations in how the case is built for Macrostenum carolina. OK, let's then talk about the adults. Here is a nice picture of a zebra caddis adult: And another - this one was actually taken on a wall on the St. Croix River next to the lights near a dam: In contrast - this is what an alderfly looks like - Zebra Caddis - especially in New England are often called Alder Flies - this this alderfly is in order Megaloptera - related to the fishflies and the dobsonflies: OK, so how are you going to imitate these guys? For the larvae - I would look at the green rockworm blog - any of those flies would work fine for these. For the pupa - here is Thomas Ames Jr.'s Sens Pupa from his fantastic book, Caddisflies. I made some modifications, so here is my version of it: Body: Olive antron dubbing Wing: Mallard Quill Hackle - soft rooster - I've tied it beard style Head - black dubbing and a bead One of my favorite overall caddisfly adult imitations is the Goddard Caddis - I love it, in part because it floats like a cork. Originally it was simply natural deer hair with a brown rooster hackle and stripped quill antennae. I simply changed the deer hair to give it the striped pattern and lost the antennae. Here is an E-12 or Europea 12 where I substituted the mallard breast wings with woodcock: Body: Brown dubbing Rib: Yellow Thread Wing: Woodcock Head/Thread: Yellow And here is Chappy's Zebra Caddis: Body: Peacock Herl Wing: Snowshoe Hair, banded with brown marker (natural or orange) Hackle: Grizzly or Brown Lastly, for imitating the female zebra caddis after she has laid her eggs, here is the alder fly: Which is a simple enough fly: Tag: Gold Tinsel Body: Peacock Herl Wings: Mottled Turkey Beard: Black Hen There you go, I hope you enjoyed the episode. /episode/index/show/anglersentomology/id/14949362

Episode 42: Breathing Underwater 04/12/2020

Episode 40: Crayfish 03/09/2020

Episode 40 Notes: Crayfish Patterns 03/09/2020

Episode 40 Notes: Crayfish Patterns Hey Folks, Here are some the crayfish patterns I mentioned on the podcast. First we'll talk about Rick Hafele's pattern. I'm pretty sure he calls it the creeper crayfish, but I'm not 100% sure. The original pattern is pretty simple: Claws - Red Squirrel bunches tied either side of hook and divided Thorax - dubbing to match color Legs - soft hackle to match color Carapace - Red Squirrel butts from claws tied over dubbing. (I find it helps to fold the squirrel forward, tie it down and then fold it back over the dubbing to form the carapace). Rib - gold wire Abdomen - continue with dubbing Overbody on tail - continue with red squirrel butts Telson - tail - leave the butts long but trimmed even Modifications I add include mono eyes and a bead at the tail. The bead is nice in that it adds weight, but also forces the telson up so it doesn't get in the way of your eye. The thing I really like about this fly is that you can tie smaller sizes and easily modify the color based on what you have locally. Check out this picture: Where from left to right, the claw/overbody material is: Either fox squirrel or grey dyed red squirrel Reedbuck (for my South African readers - and because the color is a good match for my local crayfish Red Squirrel (the teeny Eastern US species) and Grey Squirrel Another of my favorite patterns is Kelly Galloup's "Galloup's Craw. Super simple and very suggestive: Side view: Top View: which is super simple. Head/Antennae - spun deer hair - small bunch with a few fibers left long for antennae Claws - Zonker rabbit strips Body - cross cut rabbit strips to match claws. Palmered Telson - a trimmed bit of the cross cut rabbit strip I love this because it is super simple and it is easy to modify. I love using squirrel strips in place of rabbit. And because there is no top or bottom, you can tie lead eyes on and it will ride hook point up (and be weighted). Lastly Selene's Orange Sure Bet: This fly is a killer- Head - brass cone Body - trimmed deer hair - orange, tied muddler style Tail - Orange and Chartreuse Zonker Strip (and good luck finding this!). So, with that I'll sign off til next episode! /episode/index/show/anglersentomology/id/13466657

Episode 39: Golden Stones 12/28/2019

Episode 39: Pics and Patterns for Golden Stones 12/28/2019

Episode 39: Pics and Patterns for Golden Stones As I mentioned on the podcast, if you are in the Southern Maine area, on Thursday January 9, we'll be having a fly tying demo at Joshua's Restaraunt in Brunswick, ME from 6 to about 8. Bring your fly tying material if you want (and a lamp) or just come and learn about these insects in person and their imitations. So, as I mention in the podcast, I'm referring to two families of stoneflies when I talk about "golden" stones - both Perlidae and Perlodidae. What draws them together is the fact that they have these tiger striped nymphs. Like this - where this one happens to be a Perlid: One of the things that is distinctive about them is that you can often find their exuvia (discarded exoskeleton) on the rocks around a stream. This is a fun picture where not only do you see the exuvia of the Perlid stonefly, but exuvia of four other aquatic insects (including one on the Perlid) that hatched. OK, so there are a ton of fun patterns that you can use to imitate these guys. Where it is worthwhile knowing that in both these families, not all members have this tiger striped pattern. Some are just plain brown or tan, and all these imitations can be adapted colorwise to match those stoneflies. Similarly, you can use all of these to imitate the generally smaller Perlodidae, where I would use a size 12-10 sized hook, or the larger Perlidae - 8-4 sized hook. So let's start with Charlie Brook's Montana Stone: Hook: has to be pretty long - 2x or 3x. Tail: Biots Body: Brown yarn Rib1: Yellow yarn tied in at head, wound back and then forward in a crisscross pattern Rib 2: Gold wire - tied over yellow yarn Thorax Brown yarn Legs: Grizzly and brown hackle along with dun or white ostrich herl. Here is Polly Rosborough's Golden Stone imitation: Tail: Yellow dyed mallard, or teal, or wood duck Abdomen: gold yarn or floss Shellback: Yellow dyed mallard, teal or wood duck Rib: Thick yellow thread, such as rod building thread Wingcase: Teal neck feather Legs Yellow dyed mallard, teal or wood duck Ok, then you get to my flies. Here is one I call Eric's Acroneuria, I like it because it is simple materials wise. Tail: stacked yellow and brown (or black) deer hair or buck tail Body: wrapped butts of tail tied up to thorax Rib: Optional gold wire Wing case: butts of tail folded back and forward Legs: Butts of tail folded down and trimmed to length and density Head; Bead Or Eric's Rubber Stone: Tail: Brown rubber legs Body: Yellow and brown rubber legs wound up to thorax Legs: Brown rubber legs Thorax: Brown dubbing Wing case: Burnt pheasant church window feathers Head: Bead Lastly, here is a simple fly that sinks well, Eric's Bead Stone: Head: Copper Bead Body: Alternating yellow and brown glass beads Tail: Rubber legs Body: Rubber legs Wing case: goose quill doubled over twice You'll notice on some of these I have a single wing case and some a double wing case. Stoneflies, as you know, have two wing cases. When I tie one it is because I know the fish can't count. OK, for the adults, remember that all these stoneflies can hatch into adults with all sorts of color patterns. Some of the Perlodidae hatch into light colored adults - best imitated by a yellow sally type fly. While a lot of the other stones hatch into something more brown or tan in coloration. (Where sometimes the "tan" of the body can be rather yellow). To me there are two styles of stonefly adults that are worth tying - the active fluttering adult and the spent or drowned adult. I'll give examples of the fluttering adults first: So, let's start with a classic fly, the Sofa Pillow: Tail; Elk (or deer) hair Body: yellow yarn or dubbing Rib: Brown hackle Wing: Elk (or deer) hair Hackle: Brown - tied full A similar great fly is the Stimulator: Tail: Elk or deer hair Body: Yellow dubbing Rib: Grizzly or badger Wing: Elk or deer hair Thorax: Amber or orange dubbing Hackle: Grizzly or badger In terms of flies that sit more flush with the surface, here is a fly, that I typically tie in yellow sally type colors that works well for me. Not sure where it came from or what it is called: Tail: Deer hair Body: Dubbing to match natural Rib; Cream or grizzly hackle; trimmed on top Wing Case: Quill to match natural Hackle: Grizzly or Cream here is a cool pattern called a Silhouette Stone Tail: Deer hair Body: Gold or yellow dubbing over which is brown or tan raffia Rib: Brown or ginger hackle trimmed on top Underwing; Elk or light deer hair Hackle: Brown or Ginger trimmed on top Wing: Raffia also tied over thorax This is a variation of John Blunt's Downwing Hornberg as described in Thomas Ames Jr.'s book Hatch Guide for New England Streams. Thread: Black Body: Flat Silver Tinsel Underwing: Yellow Saddle Hackle Fibers (I used yellow calf tail for more body) Wing: Woodduck Flank Feather, tied downwing Cheeks: Jungle cock eyes (I omitted) Hackle: Grizzly And lastly, here is Matt Vinciguerra's Delaware Yellow Stonefly Wet Thread: Black Tails: Partridge hackle Body: Yellow floss Ribbing: Black thread Wing: Bronze mallard or widgeon Beard: Partridge Hackle Thanks and talk to you next time. /episode/index/show/anglersentomology/id/12547823

Episode 38: Green Rock Worms 11/22/2019

Episode 38: Pics and Patterns for Green Rock Worms 11/21/2019

Episode 38: Pics and Patterns for Green Rock Worms First of all, here are the details on the fly tying night at Joshua’s Restaurant ( in Brunswick Maine, hosted by the Merrymeeting Bay Trout Unlimited. It will be December 5th from 6 to 8. I will bring some examples of these insects and we’ll talk a bit about their lifestyle and habits. Selene of Maine will demonstrate tying Gary LaFontaine’s Deep Sparkle Pupa. Justin Crouse of Guide’s Choice Flies will demonstrate how to tie an Elk Hair Caddis. And Ray Minchak will demonstrate tying a Green Caddis Larvae. In terms of materials bring: Deep Sparkle Pupa: Body - 1/2 olive green sparkle yarn and 1/2 olive fur Underwing - dark gray partridge fibers Overwing - combed antron yarn tan or white Legs: Grouse or Partridge Head: Brown fur Elk Hair Caddis Olive Dubbing Elk Hair Grizzly Hackle for a size 14 hook (or your choice hook) Green Caddis Larvae Dark Brown 70 Denier thread Curved scud style hooks Lead wire Super glue Chartreuse Ultra Wire Light olive australian possum Dark Brown Australian possum Dubbing Brush OR, bring your own favorite green rock worm pattern to share. And there will also be a table set up for those who just want to hang out and tie. OK, for the blog post. First we’ll start with a few pics of these critters. These two pics show the characteristics of the larvae. As you know they are free living - so they do not have a case. They will be crawling around on the surface of rocks (or drifting, much to our and the trout’s delight). Note the bright green color and the bulbous abdominal segments. Obviously when you imitate the larvae you’ll want to design a fly with those bulbous abdominal segments and the bright green color. Again, check your local critters - some species have darker bands with each abdominal segment or a dark band running down the back of all the segments. Match what you have locally. Anyway - my simplest imitation, which I like most, is simply a tungsten bead followed by a series of glass beads. Like this: As I mentioned in the podcast, Thomas Ames Jr. adds a bit of dubbing behind the tungsten bead and the first glass bead and at the end of the beads. I’ll admit, this makes the fly look more professional and intentional! What then follows are a whole series of larval imitations that are super simple and basically variations on a theme. Some sort of bulky material (depending on the size of the larva you want to imitate) and wrapped around the hook. You can make the head a bead or a blob of dark dubbing. Your call if you want to add legs of partridge or other fibers. This is the latex caddis - made by wrapping green latex around the hook. The material I used here were old dish washing gloves. You can also buy green colored condoms (believe it or not) that work as well. Another version is using synthetic hair - such as craft fur or fishhair that is twisted into a rope and wrapped around the hook shank. Or green wire. Or twisted antron - either wrapped around the hook or twisted into a furl and tied down. You get the idea. There are a million options. This is Oscar Feliu’s Rhyacophila Larva - which I really like. The pattern is: Thread: Black Underbody dubbed light grey or white hare’s ear or rabbit fur or similar Abdomen: Chartreuse (or olive) larva lace or similar product Legs - Dark deer hair tips or partridge fibers Head: Black rabbit fur Here is a link to him tying this fly: OK, let’s move onto the next stage that you may want to imitate - which is the pharate adult or what anglers call the pupa. This is the stage of the insect that hatches from the cased pupa on the substrate of the stream which swims quickly to the surface to hatch. Of course the classic fly to imitate this stage is Gary LaFontaine’s Deep Sparkle Pupa - which Selene will demonstrate how to tie at the Merrymeeting Bay Trout Unlimited Fly Tying night on December 5, 6-8 PM at Joshua’s Restaurant in Brunswick, ME. This particular fly is an emergent sparkle pupa and was tied by Justin Crouse of Guide’s Choice Flies. It can also be used for this stage. The deep sparkle pupa is essentially the same without the strand of antron off the tail and without the deer hair wing. I have this picture mostly because I tie horrible deep sparkle pupae - which is why Selene is doing the demo! The pattern is: Body - 1/2 olive green sparkle yarn and 1/2 olive fur Underwing - dark gray partridge fibers Overwing - combed antron yarn tan or white Legs: Grouse Partridge or Wood duck Head: Brown fur Another cool fly is the Fox Poopah, originated by Tim Fox out in California in the 1990s. Body: Olive or Tan Vernille (or micro-chenille). Under-Body: Silver Tinsel Ribbing: Gold Wire Legs: Partridge Antennae: Wood duck or mallard flank fibers Thorax: Black Ostrich herl. Or you can use the TieDown Caddis as recommended by Rick Hafele as a good imitation of this stage. This one is tied by Selene: Tail: Tied down deer body hair Body: Olive dubbing Hackle: Brown Shellback: Brown deer body hair My only advice here is to tie down the tail and trim, then use a separate clump of deer body hair to make the shell back. Lastly, a wonderfully simple and effective fly is a simple soft hackle. A green thread body and a woodcock or grouse hackle is all you need. OK, once the pharate adult/pupa makes it to the surface, it will molt again (quickly) and fly off. There is an opportunity to fish this stage as there will be cripples and depending on the weather conditions, the adult may sit on the surface of the water for longer or shorter times. Some nice patterns to imitate this stage include: The Henryville Caddis: Thread: Olive or black Body: Olive dubbing Rib: Grizzly hackle with the barbs slightly shorter than the hook gape Wing: Woodduck flank used as an under wing, over which are matched sections of natural dark goose wing quill tied tent style Hackle: Dark ginger The Chuck Caddis (tied by Selene): Body: Olive or tan dubbing Wing: Woodchuck guard hair Hackle: Mixed brown and grizzly The next important stage to be able to imitate, however, is the egg laying female. At this stage, the female swims or crawls to the bottom of the stream and lays eggs. Once finished, however, she releases herself to drift slowly back to the surface. This is a great stage to imitate as she seems resigned to her fate as trout food and the trout happily cooperate. Some flies to imitate this stage include: The Prince Nymph: Tail: Brown goose biots Body: Peacock Herl Rib: Gold Wire Legs: Brown Hackle wound Wing: Two white goose biots. The Leadwing Coachman Tag: flat gold tinsel (optional) Body: Peacock Herl Rib: Fine gold wire Hackle: Dark Brown Wing: Goose or Duck wing quill The March Brown Wet Tail: Woodduck Flank Body: Hares mask Rib: Gold wire Hackle: Partridge, grouse, or woodduck Wing: Speckled turkey or ringneck pheasant quill sections Dark Cahill Wet Tail: Dark Ginger hackle barbs or woodduck flank fibers Body: Dark grey muskrat or similar Hackle: Dark Ginger Wing: Woodduck flank Or you could use one of the dry flies we’ve already discussed, like a Chuck Caddis or a Henryville Special weighted and fished wet. /episode/index/show/anglersentomology/id/12122171

Episode 37: Teeny Tiny Things 10/28/2019

Bonus Blog Post: Flies 09/10/2019

Episode 36: True Bugs 09/09/2019

Episode 36: Pics and Patterns for Bugs 09/09/2019

Episode 36: Pics and Patterns for Bugs Hi Folks, sorry for the delay in getting this out - good summer fishing and busy school season getting my daughter off to college. But here you go - some pics of what we were talking about and some patterns to imitate them. Let's start with Water Boatmen, Family Corixidae: So, this is a nice view from the top - note the hair on the ends of the oar like legs. Additionally, note the wings along the back - you can make out the covered first half withe membranous portion visible as the diamond shaped part right at the back. Here is a side view of the same critter: And here is a picture of a live one. Where you can see the shiny air bubble at the base of the abdomen. Moving on, here are some backswimmers: Notonectidae: Again, note the oar like legs coming out the back, and, in contrast to the water boatman, how the back is more contoured and lighter colored. Remember, these guys swim on their back so their back is facing the light sky, and hence, is light colored. Here is a top down view: And lastly, this is a just collected, live specimen. Note the bright red eyes. Some tiers use a head of red thread to mimic that color. In terms of imitations - there are a ton of imitations of these guys out there. And most of them are very straightforward and easy to modify with the materials on hand. They all have legs (rubber, peacock herl, ostrich herl, etc), a body that can mimic a shiny air bubble (peacock herl, floss, tinsel), and a darker back covering (hair, pheasant, quill) and that is pretty much it. So here is my version: Body: Lead wire covered with White Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails Wing Case: Goose Quill Legs: Peacock Herl This one I thought interesting because it added a silver bead at the base of the fly to imitate the air bubble: Air bubble: Silver bead superglued to base of hook Body: Peacock Herl Wing case: Raffia Legs: Rubber Being a fan of traditional flies, I do think the Prince Nymph is a very good imitation of a water boatman: Tail: Brown Goose Biots Body: Peacock Herl Rib: Tinsel Wing Case: White Goose Biots But lastly, a fly I really like is Gary LaFontaine's Sparkle Boatman. Where he pointed out that these insects have a lot of movement in the water. He imitates that with what is basically a soft hackle with an antron body that is tied fuzzy. Here is my version: Bead: I added a gold one, Gary did not include one. Body: Muskrat; followed with a dubbing noodle of ... I think I used tan Z-lon Collar: Soft hackle ... I think mine was grouse ... honestly I pulled it out of my waste basket... OK, let's move onto giant water bugs - family Belostomatidae: Can't get much more giant than that, can you? Well, actually, you can, in the tropics, but you can't get much bigger than that up in Maine! This guy is dead ... frozen, I know he is dead, otherwise I wouldn't be holding him like that. Here is another species that is a little smaller from the top: And the side - where I like this picture because you get a nice view of the rostrum - the piercing and sucking mouthparts: So, as I mentioned, there are various sizes of these guys and there are other families that look and act (for our purposes) like small giant water bugs (for those interested I'm talking about family Naucoridae). Anyway, here is a picture of three of those specimens side by side giving you a sense of scale. I point this out because I want to emphasize that you don't need 2 1/2 in flies in your fly box. You can get away with something smaller and more manageable. Additionally, I think it is the movement that really keys the trout in - namely that pumping of the legs and diving. To imitate these guys I just do a simple spun deer hair body with some dumbell eyes and rubber legs. Simple and easy: And side view showing how it is trimmed flat: Lastly, here are a top and side view of water striders - Family Gerridae: And with that, I'll leave it. Talk to you next time. /episode/index/show/anglersentomology/id/11175953

Episode 35: Pics and Patterns for Crane Flies 07/14/2019

Episode 35: Pics and Patterns for Crane Flies Hi folks, Part of the delay in getting this episode out was fishing (I knew you'd understand). On the positive side, that fishing gave me the opportunity to get some good pictures of crane flies while I was out there. This is one of my favorites - mostly because it shows what night collecting with a UV light can be like. This was on a little brook trout stream up by the Canadian border where we camped a few weeks ago. The crane fly in the pic was pretty darn big - maybe 2" long. Note all the critters around the crane fly, tho. Those are all mayflies and caddisflies that had come to the light. And yes, the fishing was good. Here is another crane fly - taken on another trip this spring. What I like about this guy is that he is only about 1/2" long - so you can see (well, you can't without scale, but believe me) the variation in size of these critters. Tie up some smaller guys - they don't all have to be giants. I also like this picture because you can easily see the halteres - the reduced second pair of wings that are distinctive of order Diptera - the flies: In the podcast I mentioned how some crane flies have cool patterns on the legs - which make them very distinctive when they fly. Obligingly, this guy appeared on another recent fishing trip: OK, how about some flies. Here is what I use for the adults. This is a bit of a fancy version in that I added a parachute hackle to the thorax - often I don't bother. It is simply a foam body, knotted monofilament legs, and hackle tip wings. Really not much to it: The larvae are also pretty simple to tie. To imitate that swimming motion adding a tail is worthwhile. This fellow is simply a leather strip tied down with a tail and wrapped to the head. The strip is the fringe from a cheesy 1960s style vest my ex-wife gave my daughter when she was little. She didn't dig it, so it ended up in my fly tying pile. Lastly, probably my favorite and most useful crane fly imitation is simply a hare's ear body dubbed on a large scud hook. I mean really - what's not to like about this fly? Simple, buggy, effective. Can't beat it: That's it - now get out there and fish! /episode/index/show/anglersentomology/id/10511438

Episode 35: Crane Flies 07/14/2019

Episode 34: Spiders 06/01/2019

Ep. 34: Pics of spiders 06/01/2019

Ep. 33 - Pics and patterns for March Browns 05/12/2019

Ep. 33 - Pics and patterns for March Browns I had grand plans to tie lots of flies and take lots of pictures for you. I even purchased some extension tubes for my camera so I could take some really nice close ups. Well, two things happened – like a lot of you I’m sure, life’s other responsibilities have managed to get in the way so I’ve been having a hard time finding time at the vice, and secondly, the close up tubes just demonstrated how appallingly horrible a fly tier I am! Nothing like magnification to highlight all your misplaced materials. So – we’ll see what I’m able to put together today – I do hope to tie some – but I suspect you are mostly going to get links to patterns. So – let’s start with the European March Brown – where there are a few flies of interest. First is Dame Juliana Berner’s “Dun Fly” – This is a nice page (and website) that gives some history of these early flies (as well as patterns). The pattern we are interested in here is the “Dun Fly” for the month of March. From there let’s move onto the March Brown Wet Fly. Here is a nice step by step on tying the March Brown Wet Fly: I can’t find a link which has a good description and picture of GEM Skue’s march brown nymph. Granted it is basically a Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear – but here is the pattern and I’ll try to tie a decent one up today and post a picture. Hook: Nymph Hook – 12-16 I used a Mustad 3906b Thread: Red; although honestly I think black or brown is better Tail: brown or furnace hen hackles Body: Dubbed hairs mask Rib: Gold Tinsel Hackle: Brown or furnace hen hackles Wing Case: Pheasant tail fibers And then here are some pictures of a few flies that Selene and I experimented with last night using the new clinger mayfly heads: Selene’s is on the far left – the grey one. She tied that with a dubbing brush – which I like and a tail of pheasant tail (all of these have tails of pheasant tail). The next two are mine made out of a dubbing loop. All of them were brushed out and then trimmed into the triangular shape. It is an interesting and fun idea, but I think still could use some further experimentation and revision. Of course I love Don Bastian’s flies. Here is a link to his March Brown Flymph – especially good as for a Western March Brown although would do well for Eastern March Browns as well – and more importantly, his comparadun. A great fly for any of the March Brown duns. Here is a picture of Solomon’s March Brown Floating Nymph – taken from Thomas Ames Jr.’s book Hatch Guide for New England Streams. The version tied in the book was tied by Mary Dette Clark. Mine does not exactly look like hers! Hook: Mustad 9671 Thread: White or Brown Wing Bulge – dyed brown hair extending to the center of the shank Tail: Ring-necked pheasant tail fibers Body – beige brown fox dubbing Legs: Brown partridge Head: brown thread or white with brown lacquer Here’s a great picture and pattern of Preston Jenning’s March Brown Dun In contrast, here is Art Flick’s March Brown: where the difference between the two flies is very subtle. Preston used mallard flank for the wings while Flick used wood duck (among a few other minor differences). I dunno – from a practical perspective I just can’t get too worked up about those kinds of differences. Here is a link to the Grey Fox Art Flick’s and Preston Jenning’s Grey Fox are the same. /episode/index/show/anglersentomology/id/9745850

33 March Browns 05/12/2019

Angler's Entomology Podcast

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