Stage three of emergence of the three groups that hatch at the film—mayflies, cadis, and midges—occurs as the adult pulls itself free from the nymphal or pupal skin. The wings have started out (Stage 2) and now comes the head, and legs. The body of the insect is sticking straight up, or nearly so, the […]
Joe Kissane (Drag-Free Drift, 2001, Stackpole Books) sent along his favorite scud imitation, which like Theo Bakelaar’s scud is tied with ostrich herl. And, like Theo’s it is fast to tie. Joe weights the fly with a tungsten wire underbody, or if he wants an unweighted fly, he makes the underbody of monofilament. Thanks […]
Another great idea from Mr. Goldbead, Theo Bakelaar. This concept allows the fly to ride upside down with the bead scraping bottom, making both noise and kicking up mud. The placement of the bead above the top of the shank inverts the fly greatly decreasing hangups.
Our friend Theo Bakelaar is foaming at the vise. Here’s a neat idea for using a circle of foam to make a muddler head. My friend, Mark Rayman, from Colorado, uses a circle of foam to make a great diver pattern. Is foam the new deer hair?
This great idea came from Harrisson Steeves, a friend of Theo Bakelaar. It’s a fabulous idea, and I’m already seeing it as a possible Down and Dirty tactic for many imitations. Fold the foam and glue in place with Instant Glue—Gorilla Glue makes a good product for this.
Our friend Theo Bakelaar, from Holland, has been tying many imitations of recent days. He is kind enough to send along photo instructions of his very fine work. Some of his imitations call for an extended body, and he uses J:son detached body pins to build it. These are really slick. They are available from […]
Here are a couple of generic patterns from Theo Bakelaar in Holland. His Little Black One is simplicity to tie, but very effective. Body: black ostrich herl, bak, Swiss straw, tail: red yarn. It can be dressed with a peacock herl body or with coarse dubbing, or fine feather dubbing, etc.—color of your choice. The back […]
Theo’s in the Fly Tying Olympics—or at least it seems that way. Here are three more patterns that he finds especially useful in Holland and other European venues. He has also fished them in the U.S. with great success. I will say this, his Wood Louse imitation is one of the best uses I’ve ever […]
Theo’s been at it again. He’s in a tying mood and wanted to share some of his favorite patterns. The Goldbead Bomber is very similar to the old Brown Hackle imitation, or the Red Tag. For some reason, peacock herl, brown hackle, and red tag have always made a great searching imitation, both dry and […]
Out friend from Holland, Theo Bakelaar, continues to experiment with the Swedish products from J:son. This is a really fast, and refreshingly great looking caddis imitation using the performed legs/back: https://www.feather-craft.com/wecs.php?store=feacraft&action=display&target=JS109