A little production tying here at currentseams HQ — as much as I can be said to be a production tyer, which is very little. But stocks need replenishing for personal use, guide trips, and maybe a few to sell here and there. First up was the Squirrel and Ginger, my favorite caddis emerger from April through mid-summer.
You drink the wine. You save the cork. You stick a dozen wet flies into it. You win twice.
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People tend to use far too much fur to hackle the Squirrel and Ginger. Think sparse. Think less is more. Like this. Dust the thread with fur. Your next step is to form a dubbing loop, then wind the hackle, stroking the fibers toward the bend of the hook.
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The same fly, ready to whip finish. Note (again) the imperfect head. Guess what? Trout don’t care about neatness. In fact, I think they like messy wet flies. Yeah, I’ll clip away that schmutz under the eye, but this fly is basically good to go.
currentseams.com 
Love those flies Steve Are you going to the Somerset show? John Kovach
Hi John,
I was trying to make it work so I could tie there, but it never came together. I’m doing a tying class at UpCountry on Saturday.
Flies stuck in a wine cork? Doesn’t everybody do this? Preferably in a cork from a very nice Cote du Rhone?
>
I am an equal opportunity cork consumer. Cotes du Rhone, Cabernet, Zin, Super Tuscan, Rioja, Malbec…..
sweet!
Thanks. 🙂
Steve;
I am in your wet fly tying class on the 10th. Can we learn to tie this fly?
Michael
You mean the 8th (Feb)? Absolutely.
Steve: That is a pretty cool concoction. Do you have a history of/with this little gem?
You betcha. I’ve been tying/fishing it for 3-4 years now. It’s a staple on the team. If you use the search function on this site you can find many posts where I reference the Squirrel and Ginger, including a post with photo/recipe/tying notes.
What are the chances to buy some tied by an expert because i can’t tie them
? and how? I’ll bet my hit ratio would go up with them.
I guess you’d have to find an expert, David. Modesty aside, send me an email and we can talk. swculton at yahoo etc.
Do you use a dubbing loop for the guard hair collar?
Yes.
Steve, great pattern, is that squirrel body fur? Can’t locate squirrel fur or Ginger Angora goat, can you help for suppliers of these materials.
Hi Bill,
Yes, that is body fur. My local fly shop, UpCountry Sportfishing in New Hartford, CT, has both materials. If your local shop doesn’t, a Google search will yield multiple vendors. I also find these materials at shows, although the show season is mostly over. Hope that helps.
I like it
Im curious to ask your opinion on swinging these flies w a floating tip v 25% sink / 75% float
Hi Glenn. The Squirrel and Ginger is intended to be a caddis emerger, so I like to fish it close to the surface. That means a floating line and it’s almost always my top dropper on a team of three, because that fly will always be closest to the surface. I don’t use sink tips for wet fly fishing. If I want to achieve depth, I’ll either use a heavy bead on the point fly of my team of three, or I’ll add a shot to the leader. I do tie this fly with a black bead, treating it more like a nymph, but in that case I fish it on a traditional nymph rig. Hope that helps!
Thank you for the quick and concise response. I like this bug. Im optimistic that today will be productive. Certainly a much easier & safer wade day. Looking froward to fishing together later in May. gb
forward
This is one of my most productive wet flies. Go get ’em!