Sparkle Snail and Hair Leg Crystal Bugger
Marc Williamson and I are planning to fish Cold Water Lake later this month. Cold Water is an offspring of the Mt. St. Helens eruption on May 18, 1980. When fishing the lake, one looks right up into the massive crater left when the north face of the mountain slide away and the volcano then erupted. Mat Holmes, who fishes the lake often, will be with us, and he suggested terrestrials and smaller buggers.
My friends, Dan and Janice Smith at Estaz, sent me some samples, and two of the colors, Opal Black and Black (which shows significant purple, too) proved to be exactly what I was looking for. The Opal Black shows green, and is a great flash substitute for peacock herl. I used it to tie a half dozen Sparkle Snails. Trout in lakes know what snails are, and this design has worked very well for me in the past.
I also used the Opal Black and the Black to tie a half dozen Hair Leg Sparkle Buggers (3 in each color), with burnt orange tails. My friend, Denny Rickards, who has specialized in lakes most of his life, and written several books on the subject (Fly Fishing Stillwaters for Trophy Trout, and several others) has long recommended olive and black buggers with burnt orange tails.
Marc is dressing flies that he has found to be especially productive on the lakes of central Oregon.
Should be a good day. I’ll let you know.
Sparkle Snail. 3-4 turns of brown, dry fly hackle at the rear of the hook, and then wind the shank front to back with copper wire, do not clip tag end of wire.
Tie in Opal Black Estaz and wind to front of hook.
Spiral wire over body; make 3-4 turns with brown, dry fly hackle at front. That’s it. Simple and very effective.
Hair Leg Sparkle Bugger. Tie in a burnt orange tail of marabou or other soft fibers.
Wrap Estaz over rear 2/3 of shank.
Form a spinning loop and insert Eztaz and black mink guard hairs, or similar stiff fibers.
Spin the loop tight and wind over front 1/3 of shank. This style is based on my Hair Leg Woolly Worm, and is very potent in many situations.