Tag Archives: fly tying

500 Followers Contest Winners

Drew landed as first seed. He passed on the North Country Spiders and will get a selection of early season Farmington River bugs.

Old pro Pete Simoni took the second slot and snapped up those NoCo Spiders like hot cakes. Smart man.

Greg Tarris, where are you? I sent an email to the address I have on file but have not heard back from you. You are the third lucky winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered. Thanks for your readership. And thanks for your loyalty. It’s much appreciated. And now, on to 600.

Second place swag. Picture any of them seated perfectly in the corner of a trout’s mouth.

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Contest closed. April is wide open.

Thanks to everyone who entered the 500 followers contest. The winners will be chosen at random in a few days. I hope the new group of followers who signed up will stick around — currentseams is more about content than contests.

To April. This weather system may suck for outdoor activities, but it’s a blessing for our poor drought-wracked state and fisheries. Water in the reservoirs and woods is a very, very good thing. As the water temps rise and more sunlight penetrates the depths, stripers will be on the move. It’s an embarrassment of riches for the Connecticut angler, and there never seems to be enough time to balance Hendricksons and herring runs. (Not to mention a shot up to the Ontario tribs for drop-back steelhead.)

I’m appearing at the Fairfield County Fish & Game Protective Association on Monday, but that’s a members only meeting. Next public event is “The Little Things,” Thursday, May 4, Housatonic Fly Fishermen’s Association, Wallingford, CT. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 65 North Main St, 7pm. For more information, visit the HFFA Facebook page.

See you on the river.

April showers, yada, yada, yada. Spring will come. Really.

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Five Hundred Faithful Followers. Let’s celebrate!

TGIF, fellow Currentseamsers. And thank you for being part of the Faithful Five Hundred! To celebrate, we’re doing our customary flies-tied-by-Steve giveaway. Here are the contest rules:

1) No purchase necessary.

2) You must be a follower of currentseams to enter. (If you’re not one already, you become a follower by clicking on the “Stay current with currentseams” button on the home page.)

3) To enter, leave a comment on this thread saying you wish to enter AND share with us the name of a favorite fly pattern. One entry per person. Deadline for entering is 11:59pm March 31, 2017 (no foolin’). Three winners will be chosen at random. The winners will be notified in the comments section of this thread or by email, and will be responsible for sending me their address so I can ship the flies out. Sorry, I can only ship to U.S. addresses.

4) All decisions by me are final.

Thanks again for reading and following currentseams.

A dozen classic North Country spiders — and they could be yours. One lucky winner will get to swim these in a river this spring. They’re tied on light wire hooks with Pearsall’s Gossamer silks. Left cork: Winter Brown, Black Magic. Right cork, clockwise from 3 o’clock: Orange Partridge, Snipe and Purple, Grey Partridge, Poult Bloa.

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Variations on a Dark Hendrickson theme

Some subsurface bugs for next month. The four with the wood duck wing are classic Dark Hendrickson wets. Clockwise, we have pairs of tungsten beadheads on a scud hook with the traditional tail, hackle, and body; black bead with Delaware River Club Spectrumized Hendrickson dubbing and a brown partridge hackle; and black bead with the traditional muskrat body and brown partridge hackle. I’ll fish the winged wets as the middle dropper and the beadheads on point. I can almost feel the frantic tugging right now.

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Tying video: Snipe and Purple North Country Spider

The Snipe and Purple (sometimes called the Dark Snipe) is a classic North Country spider. North Country spiders aren’t particularly hard to tie, but there are some techniques you can use to help create the classic umbrella shape of the hackle fibers and keep the body neat and trim. This Snipe and Purple is often referred to as a good match for the Iron Blue Dun. The Iron Blue is frequently mentioned in older texts, from numerous Yorkshire anglers to Pennsylvania’s  James Leisenring,  but you hardly ever hear about it today. I like the Snipe and Purple for small, dark stoneflies and especially midges. I also tie this fly on a 1x short, 2x stout hook, add a gold rib, and fish it for steelhead.

Flirting with 500 followers, spring appearances

We’re winding down the spring 2017 appearance schedule:

“The Little Things 2.0,” Thursday, March 16, Farmington Valley TU, Unionville, CT. Doors open at 6:30pm. Meeting is open to the public. For more information, visit the FVTU website.

“The Little Things,” Monday, April 3, FCFGPA. This is a members only gig.

“The Little Things,” Thursday, May 4, Housatonic Fly Fishermen’s Association, Wallingford, CT. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 65 North Main St, 7pm. Everyone welcome. For more information, visit the HFFA Facebook page.

Whew! Then we can all just go fishing.

On to the fantastic 500. One day we’re at 502 followers. The next, 499. So it goes in the razor-edge, cutthroat world of website subscribers won and lost. Once we stabilize over the 500 mark, we’ll have our usual currentseams follower appreciation giveaway. You, being a loyal reader, never let your subscription expire. Right?

Ooh. Ahh. Ohh. Striper swag from a previous giveaway.

Striper Soft-Hackles

Fly tying video: Steve Culton’s Drowned Ant Soft Hackle

By popular demand:

You can find my original currentseams write-up on the Drowned Ant here.

Works-in-progress: Hendrickson spiders

I don’t usually share patterns in the development stage, but the energy of these flies and the promise of spring has me feeling reckless. I’ve been prototyping some Hendrickson spiders, playing around with different colored threads and silks, hackles, and tailing materials. The one constant is the body fur, a moderate dusting of muskrat over the waxed thread or silk. These will get a test run this spring, and I’ll let you know what I — and the trout — think.

A nod to the tradition of North Country spiders and legacy American patterns like the Dark Hendrickson winged wet.

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Impressions from a tying demo

Here are a few things from yesterday’s tying demo at the Compleat Angler that are top of mind with me this snowy afternoon:

Wet flies tied in the North Country style are admired both for their simplicity and bugginess. (And trout like them, too.) By the way, group, I was wrong about the Snipe and Purple: the feather in the hackle is not an under covert, it’s from the top of the wing. Nonetheless, I’ll fish that fly with its horrible botched head and catch a trout.

It’s amazing how you can change the energy of a fly simply by altering the color of the hackle. Two Partridge and Light Cahills, the same but different.

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The more I use the rotodubber, the more I like it for fur hackles. Like the NoCo spiders, people gravitate toward the Squirrel and Ginger, and with good reason. It’s one of my most consistent producers.

No two Usuals I tie seem to come out the same.

Confidence catches fish.

I really enjoy the questions and discussions during a demo, both fishing and tying related. I’m humbled — and grateful — that people take the time to come out and connect with me. Thanks to everyone who showed up, and thanks to the Compleat Angler for being such swell hosts.

By the way, I was impressed by the shop’s selection of hackles — and fly tying materials in general. Lots of wonderful wet fly capes in stock, and I left with a lovely Light Ginger hen neck. Check them out at 541 Post Road in Darien, CT.

Marabou adds a little magic to any fly. All that’s missing on this Deep Threat is the Ice Dub collar. Thanks for the photo, Mina.

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Show and Tell

It’s no secret that I love the CFFA Show. Saturday reminded me why it’s the best little fly fishing show around.

The Baranowski boys, Tommy and Matt (two very talented tyers and anglers) were seated to my left on tyer’s row. After watching me painstakingly create a dubbing loop of squirrel fur, Matt asked if I’d ever used a rotodubber. No, so I borrowed his. Ka-ching! Never mind that crap about old dogs and new tricks. I now own one. So thanks, dude. I also left with some ringtail, a few beads, and Robert Smith’s book The North Country Fly. Many thanks to the CFFA for inviting me to tie (and thanks, Dick, for the flies and the feathers, and Alton for the cigar).

Most of all, thanks to everyone who took the time to stop by and chat and ask questions. I appreciate your loyalty and your readership.

Matty at the vise. That’s steelheader extraordinaire Stan Otlowski in the background.

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So much depends upon a gold and silver rotodubbing tool…

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Sunday was my tying class, “Farmington River Favorites,” at UpCountry Sportfishing in New Hartford. A very enthusiastic group came armed with good questions and nimble fingers. We covered a broad range of patterns and techniques, and I want to thank the class for making my job as an instructor easy.

The sign could say, “Men and Women Working.” Thanks to Torrey Collins for the photo.

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Coming up this week:

“The West Branch of the Farmington River,” Wednesday, February 8, at East Jersey TU, Rochelle Park, NJ. Have Farmington River enthusiasm, will travel. For more information, visit the EJTU website.

“Farmington River Favorites” Tying Demo, Saturday, February 11, 10am-2pm at The Compleat Angler, Darien, CT.  At this demo, I’ll be tying some of my favorite patterns for the Farmington River. There will be a little bit of everything: wets, dries, nymphs, and streamers, from traditional classics to new designs. These are all high-confidence, proven patterns, and I’ll also discuss how and when I like to fish them. For directions and stuff, visit the CA website.