Clouser Swimming Nymph Fly Tying Video

Posted on March 4th, 2021

This variation of the Clouser Swimming Nymph includes bead chain eyes to make it ride upside-down. This is an excellent stillwater pattern in both cold water (trout) and warmwater (bass, crappie, and panfish) settings. It is especially evocative of damselfly nymphs, though it possesses crossover appeal as a leech, small crayfish, or large mayfly.  You can fish it deep on a sink-tip or twitched shallow over the weed-tops on a floating line.

Clouser Swimming Nymph Recipe

Hook: Dai-Riki #285 or other curved-shank 3xl nymph hook, #8-14, particularly #12.

Weight: A few turns of .010 to .25 lead or lead-free wire at the center of the hook shank.

Thread: 8/0 to match the fly body color. Here, olive-dun. Other good color variants are black, rust, and tan.

Eyes: Black or gold bead-chain. Adjust eye size to change the sink rate.

Tail: Olive-dyed grizzly chickabou or standard marabou.

Rib: Copper wire, color to match or contrast body. Here, brassie copper Ultra-Wire is used.

Abdomen: Olive Hare’s Ear Dubbing, thin.

Wing Case: Several strands of peacock herl.

Thorax: Same as abdomen, full.

Legs: Olive-dyed or natural brown India Hen back or similar buggy, webby feather, tied in vee-style.

Murdich Minnow Fly Tying Video

Posted on March 4th, 2021

The Murdich Minnow is one of the most popular smallmouth bass flies these days. The variation I tie using a synthetic hair/flash blend for the tail and one of several “body wrap” materials in place of the original flash chenille body is my favorite swimming baitfish imitation for all moderate-sized warmwater predator fish: smallmouth & largemouth bass, small pike, large crappie, white bass, hybrid stripers, etc.

Other good color combos for the Murdich Minnow run the gamut of popular warmwater fly and lure colors: chartreuse/white, “fire tiger,” brown over gold, or really any of the color combos that you’ll find Rapalas and similar long, slender plugs made in.

Tie on the fly using a non-slip mono loop to allow it to swim, using either a floating line or a sink-tip depending on the depth you want to reach. As tied, the fly has a very neutral buoyancy and will sink quite slowly, giving it a “near topwater” action when fished without added weight.

Hook: #2/- to #4 long-shank ring eye such as MFC 7050, Gamakatsu SP11-3l3H, etc.

Thread: 3/0 or heavier to match desired body color.

Tail: SF Flash Blend in white, yellow, chartreuse, or other baitfish color.

Cheeks: Ice Fur to match tail.

Body: Lion Go For Faux or similar “faux bunny” yarn twisted together with UV Polar Chenille, wrapped forward, and trimmed to shape.

Markings: Use Prismacolor or Pantone or Sharpie Markers to color the fly as desired. All colors should have a red hotspot.

Eyes: 1/4″ to 5/16″ stick-on eyes secured with gel super glue and UV resins.

Glass Caddis Pupa Fly Tying Video

Posted on March 4th, 2021

Here’s a green Glass Caddis Pupa in honor of the Mother’s Day Caddis hatch. Feel free to alter the basic color scheme to match whatever caddis you need to imitate. The glass beads on the Glass Caddis pattern provide a three-dimensional, segmented appearance with lots of sparkle.

Hook: 1x short, 1x strong scud, #14. Here, Dai-Riki #135.

Beads: Four chartreuse 11/0 glass seed beads slid onto the hook, then bound down slightly separated from one another up the hook shank.

Thread: 8/0 olive-dun.

Abdomen: Beads and olive squirrel dubbing.

Head: Two strands natural ostrich herl.