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.

This is an updated version of the classic Sofa Pillow. Differences are the poly-yarn egg sac (instead of red duck quill tail), antron ribbed with thread instead of floss, and the “stimulator” style front.  The curved hook shank is meant to get the egg sack into the film.

Hook: TMC 200R, size 6
Tail/Egg sac:  Black Poly-yarn
Body: Burnt Orange Antron yarn
Rib: Black thread 3/0
Wing: Elk/deer
Hackle:  Dun, sized for 12/14 hooks
Front: Orange Angora goat

Please comment on this pattern. I’m thinking of a few tweaks, and would like to get some input.

• Instead of thread ribbing, small black wire to add more durability (as soon as I can get to the fly shop)
• Thicker brown hackle (bring it closer to the original pattern to add more flotation and darken the pattern a bit.
• Use darker hair for the wing. Also, maybe tart up the wing a bit with some flash.

I can’t wait until June to give these a try.

Jungle cock nails are a classic material used to tie classic flies, but can be very intimidating to work with.  Here are a few different ways to incorporate jungle cock into your flies.

There’s nothing like the real thing
Unless you are getting some TARP funds, that $250 jungle cock cape may be just beyond your financial reach.  However, most of us are tying to fish, not for the shadow box. Consider getting a value grade cape from online sources. Here is one that I picked up for about $30 from eBay:

Some of the nails are split. This is real apparent for the larger nails near the top of the above picture.  These are easily repaired by putting a drop of head cement on the black band between the white and orange dots, then drawing your thumb over the surface of the nail. This should pull the fibers together, and the cement hold them in place.

The edges of the nails are are not as round and a bit rougher than you would see in the expensive versions, but these work fine for fishing flies.  Search for these on eBay.

You can also purchase a package of 6 to 10 individual nails at many fly shops or online retailers. This method has 2 advantages, its a relatively small outlay, about $1 per nail. Also, you purchase a package of the specific size that you need.  The link provided above goes to Leland Fly Shop, which has a very good price for these Jungle Cock packages.

Birds of a different feather
Another option is to modify a different feather to give an “eye” look. Starling feathers are one such option. The feathers from the back of the starling are black, have that iridescent shine, plus an orange tip.  Add a drop each of white and orange acrylic paint, and you have a reasonable facsimile. (at least close enough to fool a Steelhead that has been away at sea for a few years).

Here is a starling feather, plucked, and painted.  I used a drop of white acrylic fabric paint and a drop of orange on the tip. This one could have used a bit more orange, but you get the idea.

Guinea Fowl feathers already have the white dots and black backgrounds. Find one with a white spot centered on the stem, trim the feather around the spot to leave just the single spot, then color the spot orange with a sharpie. A drop of fleximent or varnish on the feather will polish it off.

The options continue in this article that shows how to create a jungle cock substitute  from partridge feathers.

Wicked, tricksy, false! Gollum, gollum

Please do ignore this section. Use real feathers.  Still here? OK, here is how you can imitate jungle cock without using any feathers. Use a photo realistic copy of a feather. Copy this picture to your PC, print it on Tyvek or similar waterproof paper, and trim the “paper nails” to shape, and tie in. Click on the photo for a full resolution copy.

I created this photo by scanning an actual jungle cock nail, and used PhotoShop to copy/paste.  If you need to resize the photo, you can use an imaged editing software, or just scale it while printing.