Clarkman, I continue to be impressed with your streamers. One of these days, I'm going to use your flies as inspiration to chase some bass or maybe even upgrade to pike fishing.

So, this is what I settled on for my simplification of Amy's Ant. I cut out everything I thought the fish couldn't see from below or made the fly faster to tie. I'm calling it the Mostly Samey's Ant.

I use River Road Creations' tapered Chernobyl Ant body cutter for both layers of foam. I already had this one, but the rounded version would be slightly truer to the original Amy's Ant. The bottom is all estaz/cactus chenille, or whatever it's called these days. No trimmed hackle feather or dubbing for the abdomen. The krystal flash is gone for the wings, and I settled on a tan poly wing to mimic the elk/deer hair on the original (it'll compress some once it's been squished in my box). You could probably leave out the back legs without any change in effectiveness, but I like having them for a bit more stability and movement. Who knows, I may cut them out at a later date.

It now ties pretty quickly, one of the fastest foam flies I keep stocked in my boxes. I think it takes about the same amount of time as a Chubby.

@GlacierRambler, I appreciate the kind words. Honestly, there's nothing I'm doing with them that's all that original, but little parts taken from some of the masters of more modern (and some historical) streamer fly designers. For most of my streamers, I'm shooting for a specific action, either side to side (kind of like a dying motion) or up and down. That's where it's fun to incorporate small differences to make them do these certain things (comes more into play with the side to side, walking the dog type action). Much of this comes to the fly design, but some also comes down to how one is stripping the fly. I also go through phases with materials, but I'm nearly coming full circle and utilizing fewer synthetics (although there are some that I love for tails) and getting back to the old basic recipe of fur/feathers/flash--yeah yeah, I know that flash is a synthetic.

A friend at work told me his son, who goes to college in CO, is learning to flyfish. I wanted to give him a 2-dozen fly starter selection and knew I had to include a few dry flies. Not what I normally tie, so way out of my comfort zone, but good for me to try.



Tight Lines- Ken

Especially the helgy looking bug

Here is a soft hackle, sparkle pupa alternative. This is from The Feather Bender's Flytying Techniques by Barry Ord Clark.

Antron Caddis Pupa
Hook: Partridge Caddis K2BY - size 12
Thread: Uni 8/0 - Olive
Abdomen: Antron - Caddis Green
Twisted then wrapped & covered with UV cure
Thorax: Ice Dub - Olive Brown
Combed back to represent the shuck
AZ Simi Seal - black Peacock
Hackle: Partridge dyed olive
Fibers removed from 1 side to make it sparse
Head: Thread colored black with Pantone marker
Head cement: Orvis - water based



You can view the tying demo here:

youtu.be/uxVCLf7vuy8

Tight Lines- Ken

clarkman23, you fish your Tigers with heavy mono/fluoro bite tippet? Great looking big flies!

Good anecdotal evidence you are making the right choice with fluoro. I only fished wire when I targeted toothies, maybe that explains my track record. This old guy can't chuck that stuff anymore. Thanks and Best Regards.

I sure as hell know that I'll never do an actual scientific experiment to that end....so, anecdotal it is!!! lol.

you've got something coming in the mail this next week!

Getting ready for bass season here in north Georgia. This is a small Flymen double barrel popper tied on a size 4 Gamakatsu B10S. I used estaz for the collar simply because I was out of black saddle hackle, but I actually like the extra flash of the estaz.

The small size double barrel popper body seems to be a good size to weed out tiny bluegills but still attract bass. These were tied specifically for redeye bass native to Georgia and Alabama that rarely exceed 12”.

I tied this for a swap on another Forum. I've had success with this pattern during the Grannom hatch on the White River in northcentral Arkansas.

Green-butt Caddis:



Hook: Partridge K2B - Size 12
Thread: Black or olive (Uni 8/0)
Tag & Ribbing: Ultra Wire (Small) - Chartreuse
Body: Peacock herl (2 strands wrapped together)
Hackle: Partridge (Brown) - 2 turns

Tight Lines- Ken

Nice ties grc1. I’m curious as to where your “local tea coloured streams” are. The spelling still leaves a few of continents as possibilities. But using the user control panel (upper right of the screen) you can add a general location to your profile that will show up on all your posts.

For what it’s worth, in tannin stained water I’ve luck with light colors, but those weren’t trout.

Here's what came off my vise during tonight's session....

A small soft hackle. TMC 100 size 24. Dubbed body and starling wing.