Flies And Finesse

The simi seal leech is a great pattern for warmwater or stillwater fishing. For this tutorial I added legs to the simi seal leech to give it more action than usual. Leech patterns always work exceptionally well when fished around dense cover or brush. Materials: 1. Simi seal dub 2. Streamer hook in your choice size 3. Rubber legs 4. A bead that fist with your hook 5. Thread Step 1. Put your bead on your hook and bring the thread back to the point where the bend of the hook begins. Step 2. V tie simi seal dub to create a tail and tie in 3 legs on either side of the hook. Step 3. Create a dubbing loop with simi seal dub to form the body of this fly. Step 4. Tie in 3 more legs on either side of the hook up front and whip finish. Your fly is now complete and ready to be fished. I recommend fishing this fly aggressively in still water to create motion with the legs. When fishing moving water you can fish this pattern a bit more slo...

 The zoo couger is a classic fly pattern for trout and bass that was developed by Kelly Galloup. It’s deer hair head sheds water and dives when used with a sinking line. The fly is best fished with a hard strip then a pause. Materials needed: Thread of choice(preferably GSP for the deer hair) Marabou Deer hair Mallard flank Dubbing Tinsel Step 1: start your thread a little ways behind the hook eye to mark where you will start your deer hair head. End your thread between the barb and the hook point and make a small thread bulb to support the marabou Step 2: tie in your tinsel right in front of the marabou. After this wrap dubbing up to just shy of where you started the thread to leave room for a mallard flank feather Step 3: wrap your tinsel through the dubbing to further secure it to the hook shank and add a little bit of flash to the body Step 4: tie in your mallard flank feather with the concave side facing down. You can also add a little bit of calf tail or deer hair to help sup...

Leeches are great streamers to have in your box. When fished on bass beds or near shelter they can get a ton of strikes and have incredible action. Leeches are highly effective for bass and crappie on beds or around brush but can also catch plenty of trout and even pike. This fly is about as simple as it gets when it comes to leeches. It is loosely based on the creek leech but is a pretty generic leech pattern. Materials needed: Olive zonker strip Rubber legs Tan dubbing Streamer hook Dumbell eyes Olive thread Step 1. Bring the thread a short distance back from the hook eye. You will need enough space to tie in a pair of dumbell eyes with some room to spare for the zonker strip later on. Step 2. Tie in your dumbell eyes using x-wraps. The dumbell eyes on this pattern help it sink down in the water column more quickly and also provide a bit of jigging action on the water. Once you have a fair amount of thread on the eyes you can apply a small drop of adhesive and...

 The reverse bulkhead is a pattern that was developed by Bob Popovic and he is well known around the fly tying world for his skill with bucktail. This fly is super fun to fish for bass, pike, and just about any predatory fish both freshwater and saltwater. I’ve found these flies to be most effective with a long steady strip followed by a quick tug, and then a pause.  Materials needed: Small hook or shank Pr378 swimbait hook Thread color of choice Bucktail Flash of choice 50-60lb monofilament  Adhesive of choice(optional) Step 1: secure your thread to the shank and tie a piece of 50-60lb monofilament pointing straight off the hook Step 2: tie in a sparse stack of bucktail and move it around the hook 360 degrees with you thumb. The goal with this is to surround the hook shank Step 3: tie in one strand of large flashabou or multiple strands of crystal flash on both sides of the hook. The idea with this stack is to keep it sparse Step 4: move your thread up the hook shank and...

The topwater Bugger is about as unconventional as it gets when it comes to fly fishing. That aside it is a great pattern to have in your box if you target bass. It uses a piece of sheet foam to create something close to a popper or gurgler head and work as a topwater lure to draw bass out of cover or off of beds. This fly is essential tied like a normal bugger with some foam at the front. This is a great video on tying a standard bugger:  Video on standard wooly bugger Materials needed:  •Streamer hook of your choice.  •Thread of your color choice.  •Marabou.  •Dubbing of your choice(preferably a synthetic dub such as ice dub)  •Cape or saddle hackle.  •2 or 3 mm sheet foam.  •Ultra thin wire. Step 1: Tie in your marabou towards the back of your hook shank. Step 2: Tie in ultra thin wire. Step 3: Apply dubbing on most of the hook and tie in your hackle feather leaving plenty of room for the foam. Ste...

The foxy clouser is a streamer pattern that can be used for a wide variety of species. This fly can be used for anything from bass to even saltwater fishing. The original pattern calls for fox fur however I don't currently have any that is the length needed for this fly so I will be using tan craft fur. This fly is tied in a similar way as the standard clouser minnow. If you have never tied the original clouser I recommend you start there. Clouser minnow video tutorial Materials needed:    •Streamer hook of any appropriate size for your target species    •Dumbell eyes    •Flashabou in copper and pearl    •Tan craft fur     •Bright orange or red thread Step 1: Bring the thread around 1/3 of the way down the hook shank. Step 2: Tie in the dumbell eyes and apply a drop of head cement to the eyes. Step 3: Tie in 3 strands of copper flash and 3 strands of pearl flash by v-tying. Step 4: Tie...