Stories

Used "Umpqua" "Dave Whitlock's Dubbing Blend Hellgrammite" and mixed it with "Orvis" "Angora Goat Hair" for dubbing and "Create - A -Craft" "Rocailles" brown glass beads from the Wal-Mart sewing and yarn section. Do scissor the goat hair as it's quite long and I wanted shorter fibers. Use 6/0 black thread and usually a size #10 hook. Start by threading four beads on each hook. I usually pour them into a shallow bowl and just drag the hook through them. Beats snagging your fingers or palm. Prefer to space out the beads so I start wrapping the thread from the hook eye back to the gap and make small thread "dams" so the beads stay in place. Start the dubbing mix behind the last bead and come forward to the hook eye. I usually whip finish a thread head; but, sometimes use a little drop of adhesive on it too. Can pick out or trim the fibers for a more or less "hairy" bug. I don't weight mine and fish them with some "Loon Soft Weight", rolled on the tippet in a torpedo shape, about 12" to 18" above the fly and just bounce it along the bottom. Adding or subtracting weight, due to the flow and/or depth, is easy with the soft weight. Can fish it with an indicator; but, I mostly do it by "feel", while holding line in left hand, and/or watching the line/leader action too. The torpedo shape weight seems to slide along better than a ball shaped weight with less bottom hook ups.

Dick Taylor