Whiskey Creek Fly Fishing » foam

Updated Modified Sofa Pillow – Step by Step

WhiskeyCreek — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:31:05 +0000

Last week, I was experimenting with a pattern that is patterned after the sofa pillow, by Pat Barnes of West Yellowstone. Here is a step-by-step sequence of the resulting pattern.

Hook: Tiemco 200R
Tail/Egg-sac: Black Poly Yarn
Body: A Girl’s Secret sporty foam wrap
Rib: Black thread (size A used here)
Wing: Deer or Elk
Hackle: Brown, undersized

Start with the hook firmly in the vise. I think I grabbed a Cabela’s curved nymph hook here instead of the Tiemco. What’s important is to get a curved shank hook, feel free to substitute. These flies are large, size 4-6.

Start the tailing material about the 75% mark on the hook. Starting at the wing position hides any bumps or transitions, allowing a smooth body.

Tie in the thread for ribbing (or simply leave a tag end for your tying thread), then tie in the body foam. Antron yarn and uni-stretch are decent substitutes if you’ve run out of the Sporty Girl Foam.

Wrap the Sporty Girl Foam forward, rib with the thread, and don’t forget to trim the tail.

Stack some deer hair and tie in for the wing. You may notice that I also switched to orange thread. You can tie the entire pattern with orange thread.A spot of glue here doesn’t hurt.

Finish the fly by hackling the forward portion. The hackle and wing will provide the flotation, with the body and egg sac in the water.

Updated Modified Sofa Pillow

WhiskeyCreek — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:41:30 +0000

Thanks for your feedback and suggestions. I’ve tried a couple variants and will be tying up enough for “field trials” in a few months.

This one is tied with sporty girl foam, a red squirrel tail, bushier hackle, and rubber legs.

Good additions, the darker wing makes this pattern look more realistic, and the rubber legs add a lot of action. The hackling job on wasn’t so hot, the rubber legs got in the way a bit, but after a few flies, I should have it down.

This one is back to deer hair for the wing, but from a darker deer. I’m thinking I’ll keep the deer hair, to provide more flotation.

Here is the fly floating in a tub of water. The wing is floating flush on the water’s surface. The curved body with black egg sac is meant to simulate an egg laying salmon fly. Not a bad look from this perspective. Definitely worth some field testing.

Handcuffs not included

WhiskeyCreek — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:31:22 +0000

I wanted a Bugger Barn, but Santa did not come through. Oh well, life is tough. At least I have my health.

Fortune had it, I stopped in a GameSpot store, and spotted a nice brushed aluminum case made for a hand held video game, and it was only $7.99. Inside, the case had molded foam to fit the game console, plus a USB 12v power adapter. Another $2 at the craft store for 2 sheets of 4mm foam, a strait-edge, razor blade, and some zap-a-gap.

Now, I have a bugger barn suitable for Elwood (minus the hand-cuff).

Now, I need to get tying some buggers.

A Girl’s Secret Revealed

WhiskeyCreek — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 20:43:34 +0000

Thanks to Jean-Paul at Roughfisher.com. He found a source for A Girl’s Secret, and its available at Amazon. A good fly tying find.

A Girl’s Secret

WhiskeyCreek — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 06:03:53 +0000

What a find!

Tonight, my wife and I were Christmas shopping for our daughters. This was the clothes and accessories phase of the gift search. My shoulders slumped as we walked into another girly store, Claire’s. My eyes wandered around the store, past the hair bands, past the ear-rings, paused briefly on the pink feather boas, then zeroed in on the fly tying find of the week: A Girl’s Secret, Sporty Girl Foam Wrap.

30 yard rolls of .5mm Polyurethane Foam, 2.5 inches wide. $4 per roll, second one is 50% off. Yellow and Orange (and green, blue, red, purple, and yes, pink).

Sporty Girl Foam

Sporty Girl Foam stimulator:

Hook: Tiemco 200R
Thread: Yellow 6/0
Tail: Deer Hair
Hackle: Medium Dun
Body: Orange Sporty Girl Foam
Wing: Deer Hair
Front Hackle: Grizzly
Front Body: Yellow Sporty Girl Foam

: Sporty Girl Foam Stimulator

Sporty Girl foam is available at Amazon.com

Tonight’s tie – Tiger beetle

WhiskeyCreek — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:23:14 +0000

Preparing for an upcoming trip by adding to the terrestrial box. Black foam beetles, with a peacock body, are go-to flies, but they are tough to see on the water. Some patterns add an orange strike indicator. The guys at Blue Ribbon Flies came up with a great idea, incorporate the indicator into the foam itself.

A trip to the craft store is in order. A sheet of orange and black foam, plus some foam glue. Make an orange foam sandwich, then cut into thin strips. Tie your favorite foam beetle.

A tiger foam beetle. Much easier to see. Great idea, great fly.