The Caddis Fly: Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Our Squidro Fly feature continues the video series with demonstrations and discussion about what to tie the Sqidro on, specifically, Shank Options — and just as important, how to secure the fly shank of choice in a vise.

Scott Howell apparently uses a really cool drill-chuck gizmo to secure his shanks to tie Intruders and Squidro flies, but we had to come up with an alternative approach because we do not have one of those things and figure that most of our viewers don’t have access to this tool either.

Three alternative means of securing a Squidro Shank are as follows. First, simply use a Fish Skull Articulated Shanks. This is the simplest approach. The downside is that these shanks are constructed of fairly light wire and are therefore very springy. This requires one to support the shank while tying, using whatever spare hand is available. The fine diameter of the wire also made the process of lashing in the rubber legs a little more challenging. Continue reading →

Dubbed bodies and heads are standard fare for our flies. We still tie with chenille and floss and yarn, but dubbing has been and will forever be an essential ingredient in our tasty stew of fly tying materials.

This video offers an action packed look at how easy it can be to make dubbing brushes with the Jade River Turbo Dubbing Block. This is a new product offered by our friends at Hareline Dubbin for the 2011-2012 season.

What is a Dubbing Brush? Think about a piece of chenille about 6 or 7 inches long. Lay it out on your fly tying bench. A dubbing brush is an analog to your piece of chenille, only it is composed of your dubbing material of choice (Ice Dub, STS, Rabbit Fur, Arctic Fox Tail and so on). You can add short sections of Krystal Flash, Flashabou, Rubber legs, Marabou Fibers, Pheasant tail fibers, and any special additive to make the Dubbing Brush of your choice. Instead of thread, our Dubbing Brushes typically employ a core of wire, usually copper but sometimes stainless steel. The wire core keeps the Dubbing Brush intact and allows it to lay straight and neat in a pile or in a baggie – ready for use at your convenience. Imagine now, twenty or so nice straight dubbing brushes laid out on your bench. Imagine your dubbing brushes in any single color or color combination, and you have a very nice supply of body materials, a stash that will make your fly tying more efficient.

Our experience with the Jade River Turbo dubbing Block is that it can take a little practice spreading an appropriate amount of dubbing material on the base wire. Too much makes the brush lumpy – too little allows the wire core to show through (not necessarily a bad thing).

Hareline Hareline Ice Dub is super easy to use with the Jade River Turbo Dubbing block, and and Hareline STS Trilobal Dub is also a favorite, although it requires a little more finesse than the Ice Dub. Creating a nice pile of fuzzy dubbing brushes has proven to be a great time saver when tying flies like Scott Howell’s Squidro, and it has also served us well tying other patterns of late, like Jeff Hickman’s Flash Taco.

Lake Nymph fly tyers should note the possibility of creating dubbing bushes with relatively sparse, long, whispy materials and allowing the wire core to show through liberally. Using red copper wire with brushes like these has great potential for tying scuds and lake leeches.

Sparse summer steelhead flies, too, should benefit from the wire show-through technique to make buggy, slim, bodies with just a hint of gold, copper, red, green, or purple wire showing through. Exciting possibilities.

Look out, you slightly crazy fly tyers out there. It is so much fun making these brushes that you might be tempted to spin up a hundred at a time. Just sayin.’

Jay Nicholas
January, 2012

Scott Howell is an innovative guy. When it comes to fly fishing for steelhead, and we mean swinging flies for chrome, Scott is a solid mass of creativity and persistence. His imaginative exploration of the world of steelhead fly fishing includes development of cutting edge fly patterns as well as fishing and casting techniques.

The Squidro Fly is but one example of the signature Scott Howell Steelhead Mojo we have come to admire. This is a fly that pushes the boundaries between the feathered world of the traditional steelhead fly and the arcane rubberized world of the Bass Danglers. (Anglers who dangle are Danglers, duh).

In this tutorial, Jay Nicholas shares his observations on the composition of a Squidro fly. Keep in mind, that he had never seen one of these flies until I asked him to work on these videos. Weeks later, Jay emerged from his den, eyes all blinkey-eyed, and said he was ready to begin shooting videos. This is the first in our Squidro video series. Jay and I hope you find something interesting and a few helpful tips to ease your journey down the path of rubber legged flies.

Expect two more posts on the Caddis Fly Blog with hands-on details of our Squidro adventures, from shanks, attaching stinger hooks, dubbing materials, how to secure shanks while tying the Squidro, types and colors of rubber legs, and start-to-finish videos showing three different Squidro Flies.

CD

The Klinkhammer style Mayfly emerger has proven to be deadly with many of our important Western Mayfly emergences. In this video Barrett demonstrates how to tie a “Pink Lady” Klinkhammer Style. These “knock down” “drop down” parachute style paterns really fish folks, give them a try in many color combos including March Brownn, Pale Morning Dun, Adams Grey, and Blue Winged Olive.

Pink Lady Klinkhammer

Hook: Daiichi 1160 or 1167 (these are sweet hooks)
Thread: Rusty Dun 8/0 Uni
Tail: Coq De Leon
Body: Sulphur biot with Coral Hareline Dub
Post: Gray Sparkle Emerger Yarn
Thorax: Gray Dry Fly Dub
Hackle: Hebert Pro Grade Cape Dun

The Blue Winged Olive is a critical Mayfly to have in your fly arsenal. Often the most prolific hatch in nasty weather, trout key on them both surface and subsurface. The CDC Oiler puff BWO is an emerger imitation that will take the pickiest of fish in the flattest of waters. Have a few in the box if you are out on the water during the cold months ahead.

CDC Oiler Puff BWO

Hook: TMC 3761 #18-20 or Daiichi 1560
Thread: 8/0 Rusty Dun Uni
Rib: Small Olive Ultra Wire
Tail: Coq De Leon Tailing fibers
Body: Cream Uni Floss with ChartPak Pale Olive Dorsal surface
Hackle/Legs/Wing Buds: CDC Oiler Puff Natural