St. Vrain Angler
Presents
Helpful Fly Tying
Tips
Copper
John
The Copper
John is a newer pattern developed by a local fly tier, Dr. John Barr, of
Boulder, Colorado. The pattern is really a combination of a Prince Nymph (tail),
Brassie (body) Pheasant Tail (thorax) and has a bead head to boot. Give this fly
a try and fill your boxes with patterns from as big as you want to as small as
you can tie them: they work!
Materials
Hook: TMC 3961 is what
John uses; any standard nymph hook will work fine.
Tail:
brown biots, or use your imagination to make what you will.
Body:
copper wire the correct diameter for the fly size, or a colored copper wire in
red, green, black, etc.
Wing case:
mylar flash, flashabou, or thin skin. John uses epoxy.
Thorax:
peacock, ostrich, dyed peacock, or dubbing.
Legs:
soft hackle from hen back or partridge, etc; can also use a collar or throat.
Bead: brass bead – use
colors if you like.
Order of
application
Smash
down the barb; put on
the bead; mount the hook; start thread at ½ point of shank and wrap back to bend
so thread hangs over barb of hook.
Select
two biots; put the
shiny sides together (the tops of the feathers). Measure biots so they equal the
length of the shank from the point of the hook to back of the eye.
Tie
in over the barb, make several wraps forward. The biots should be on either side
of the hook shank.
Move
thread forward over
the excess biot material to the middle of hook shank; trim excess biot in front
of tie-off point.
Measure tails and mount from below the hook shank.
Cut a length of copper
wire and tie tip in at middle of shank.
Wrap
thread back, keeping
wire on the side or top of the hook shank. Use thread tension and finger holding
tension as an ally here, pulling the wire towards you as you wrap the thread all
the way to the tie-in point for the tail. Beware: don’t move the tail by tying
in too far to the back of the hook.
Move
thread forward to
mid-shank, and then wrap wire forward with tight, adjacent wraps. There
shouldn’t be any thread or biot showing through the wire, so keep it tight with
each wrap! Wrap wire to thread, then make two or three additional wraps forward,
tie off and trim excess wire.
Select
wing case material of
choice; tie in at the middle of the shank – you will be moving your thread back
over a bit of the copper wire. Tie in peacock by the trimmed tips where wing
case is tied in.
Wrap
peacock forward to
just behind the bead; tie off and trim.
Wire's
wrapped; mylar flash and peacock tied in, ready to wrap. Select
soft hackle or partridge material, prepare soft hackle by making a
V
in the material (see example
at right). Hold tips of leg material in left hand and tie off behind the bead.
If the legs are too long, gently pull them through with your right hand until
the length suits your needs. Trim excess material.
Note
position and proportion for legs, ready to tie in.
Pull
wing case over peacock
and legs, tie off, whip finish two times.
Note:
when tying with beads, you have to be careful that the head begins on the shank
of the hook. This is the spot where a fly will fall apart if it is not done
properly. Beware, and keep practicing! Try covering the thread behind the bead
with peacock or dubbing, then whip finish.
To tie the smaller flies,
don’t use a bead. Tie in a tail of pheasant tail, partridge, wood duck or
mallard flank, which will also create the wing case and legs. The
amount of
material should equal the thickness of the hook wire and be 1/2 shank length
long. Use
one or two wraps of thread to
hold the tail in place; keep it on top of the hook. Tie in a piece of wire
immediately in front of tail and wrap thread and wire forward to slightly in
front of the middle of the shank.
Move thread back to mid-point
on shank. Pull the excess pheasant back over the fly
toward the tail and tie
down with thread at the middle; this will create the wing case and legs. Tie in
peacock or dubbing material, wrap forward to the back of the head. Pull pheasant
over the thorax and tie down in back of eye of hook. If you’d like to make legs,
pull half of the bulk of material to the far side of the
hook and tie down, then
pull the remainder to the front side of the hook and tie down; trim to desired
length, whip finish and go fish.
With either style of this
fly, try using a variety of wire colors, from very light to very dark. See our
samples in the shop or on the web at www.stvrainangler.com.
Fishing
Copper John
The best part of tying flies
is taking them fishing. The larger, bead head patterns will fish well on their
own in shallow water, as a dropper under a dry or with extra weight on the
tippet in deep water. It doesn’t imitate anything in particular, but it sure
imitates lots of stuff in general.
Larry
with a colorful fall rainbow caught with the small version of the Copper John -
no bead.
The smaller pattern will work
well in low water conditions as a small mayfly, caddis or stonefly pattern. Fish
it at the head of riffles or runs, or along seams when the fish are beginning to
feed on active nymphs before they emerge. It’s also a good idea to fish the
smaller, non-bead version as a dropper below a smaller dry. With the copper
wire, the fly will sink pretty well and drift naturally.
When fishing nymphs, remember
the difference between catching fish and casting practice is usually getting the
fly to the proper depth, which is often near or on the bottom of the streambed.
If the fly is not where the fish is feeding, it probably is not going to eat it!
If you have more questions
about tying or fishing this or other fly patterns, stop by, give us a call or
send us an email angler@peakpeak.com
We’re here to help you
enjoy the time you have to tie and fish flies.
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