Sunday, January 09, 2011

Tying flies, with help from JJ

About halfway through last season I came to the realization that my favorite carp fly was that simple green fly. I tied them in a few other colors and they all worked. Nothing complicated, just a basic soft hackle pattern. The carrot has that distinctive soft hackle look as well, and Mr. P busted out his Black Betty pattern to great effect during the 2010 season. This year, I plan to keep things simple. I will carry a bunch of colors all in the soft hackle style and just see what happens. I have a pretty good handle on the appropriate size (seems to be a 6-10) that gets the most consistent response so I should be able to work up an army of test subjects. Off to a good start today, with a little help from my son and his current superhero fascination.






Of course, the worm needs to be tied as well. Hands down, when it comes to tailing fish in a sand or mud flat no fly will out fish the worm. The hackle flies, carrots etc. seem to out fish the worm in other water types, but dropping that worm on a tailer in a cloud of mud is deadly.

Inspired by Mr P's Black Betty, but tied with my lazy attitude and no frills...






The body is black chenille (with orange sparkle flecks in it, pretty sweet coloration) and the hackle is black pheasant. The Green Lantern approves.

7 comments:

Ryan said...

What hook do you tie your hackled carp flies on? Is that a salmon/steelhead hook?

John Montana said...

I don't know the name actually. I bought a big unmarked pack at river city, but they are at least 1 x heavy, 1 x short and have a huge hook gap. They look like a gamagatsu bait hook. I will find out from don and let you know.

Ryan said...

Thanks that would be great. I like the new blog setup and pics.

Albert A Rasch said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Albert A Rasch said...

John,

Found you through Troutragous! Great stuff here considering Lake Uilen near my home has some monster carp that my son and I have been dying to catch. Looking forward to reading your archives!

Best Regards,
Albert “Afghanus” Rasch

Albert Rasch In Afghanistan™

Albert A Rasch said...

John,

Look for a spotlight on this Saturday's Blog Rodeo on The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles™!

Best regards,
Albert

John Montana said...

Thanks Albert. Good luck on your lake!