Easy Pike Zonker Step By Step

One of my most fished patterns for pike. It’s easy to tie, very durable, you can tie it in the length you want and it wiggles nice through the water. You can also use arctic fox for the front collar instead of finn raccoon. Works well, too.

Materials: 

  • Hook: Gamakatsu F 314 # 1/0
  • Ribbing: Mono
  • Body: Ice Dub Holographic Silver and Ice Dub Pearl mixed together
  • Wing/Tail: Finn Raccoon
  • Flash: Gliss’n Glow Pearl, Krinkle Mirror Flash Pearl and Lateral Scale Pearl
  • Front Collar: Finn Raccoon or Arctic Fox
  • Hot Point: Fluo Thread
  • Eyes: Deer Creek
  • Head: Bug Bond

Tie in a piece of mono for the ribbing and mix ice dub pearl and ice dub holographic silver. Then split the thread and put the dubbing mix into the gap. Spin the bobbin to twist the dubbing. Wind the dubbing hank around the hook shank and give it a good brush with your velcro.

Tie in a piece of finn raccoon zonker 5mm next to the hook eye. Then ribb the raccoon zonker with the mono to secure it on the hook shank and catch the mono with your thread.

Tie in the krinkle mirror flash and the gliss’n glow. Then form a loop with your thread and wax the loop. Put a piece of finn raccoon in the loop and cut away the leather. Twist the loop with the raccoon slowly. When the fur is secured in the loop, wind the raccoon around the shank to the hook eye. Comb the twisted raccoon after every turn.

 

Tie in a strand of lateral scale pearl on each side and split the thread. Put again some dubbing in the gap und twist the bobbin Wind the twisted dubbing around and brush it with your velcro to give the head some extra sparcle.

 

If you like it, you can do a little hot point with some fluo thread. Glue some sexy eyes on the head and secure the head with Bug Bond.

Ready for pike!

tl Holger Lachmann

Articulated Pike Streamer Step By Step

Here’s an example for an articulated pike streamer, which is easy to cast, because we try to create volume without putting to much material into the fly. To much material makes the just inflexible (and expensive ;-) )

I used for this pattern the new articulated shanks from the Flymen Fishing Co. in 35mm to get the right movement and position of the hook.

 

Material:

  • Hook: Gamakatsu SL 12 S # 4/0  (be carefull, they are soooooo sharp!)
  • Articulated Shank: 35mm from Flymen Fishing Co.
  • Tail and Wing: Arctic Fox chartreuse and black
  • Feather: Green Grizzly Hackle
  • Body: Ice Dub Pearl
  • Flash: Krinkle Mirror Flash pearl and Flashabou Mirage Saltwater
  • Eyes: Hareline fluo yellow
  • UV-Resin: Bug Bond

 

Put the hook into the vise, do some turns with your thread and tie in the fox as tail and some strands Flashabou Mirage.

 

Split your tying thread or form a dubbing loop and put the ice dub between and twist it. Then brush it with your velcro and wind it around the hook shank.

 

Tie in some fox with the tips pointing to the hook eye, cut the waste, put again some dubbing between the thread, twist it and wind it to the front. Then go with the thread between the fox hair to the hook eye.

 

Push the fox hair with an empty pen towards the hook bend. Then tie in a green grizzly hackle on each side and some strands of krinkle mirror flash. Whip finish and secure with super glue.

 

Attach the hook with the articulated shank and put the shank into your vise. Then close the gap with a strong thread and super glue (the little pearls on the thread) to fix the hook. This will hold forever!

 

Create another dubbing hank and wind it around to create a little bump. Then tie in a bunch of artic fox on the hook shank and a bunch underneath. Comb the hair carefully. Another dubbing hank will follow.

 

Tie in two green grizzy hackles and some krinkle mirror flash. Then comb a bunch of black arctic fox and tie it in like shown on the picture. Trim away the waste and do some rounds with dubbing and do a quick whip finish secured with super glue.

Push the black fox backwards, attach the eyes and secure the whole head with Bug Bond.

That’s it! Ready to go. Have fun with the pikes!

Holger Lachmann

Fleye Foil Fox Candy – Step By Step

Here’s a Surf Candy style pattern tied with the new Fleye Foils by Bob Popovics. The tail made out of arctic fox wiggles nice in the water. Much better than most synthetics. It’s not just a battern for the saltwater fisherman, you can also fish it in freshwater. Small sizes for trout and char for example, bigger ones for asp. Just give it a try.

Materials:

  • Hook: Gamakatsu SS15/T # 4
  • Thread: Mono
  • Tail: Arctic Fox
  • Flash: Krinkle Mirror Flash Pearl
  • Body: Senyo’s Laser Dub, Bob Popovics‘ Fleye Foils „Silverside“ and uv-resin

 

 

Tie in the arctic fox as tail and 3 strands of krinkle mirror flash, one on each side and one on top.

 

3mm in front of the fox, tie in a bunch of white senyo’s laser dub on the top of the hook shank and one underneath.

 

Do the same with a bunch of laser dub holographic minnow belly 3 mm infront of the white dub.

Now, pick two colors of laser dub of your liking, here it’s light olive and shrimp pink, and tie it in like you see above.

Pull the laser dub backwards, that’s how you put a bit of volume to the head, otherwise it won’t fit to the shape of the foil.

Put a foil on each side. Just tie in the little „nose“ of the foil with a couple of turns and whip finish the fly.

Pull the laser dub and the foils backwards and start to apply the uv resin on the body. The resin should soak into the dubbing, that gives the fly later some translucency. Mostly it’s easier to applicate two layers of uv resin. You got much more control of everything.

If you don’t use a tackfree uv resin, put a thin coating of nail varnish on the uv resin to get a tackfree glossy finish.

That’s it! Ready for fishing!

tl

Holger Lachmann

Mini Sculpin Step By Step

 

I was invited to tie at the Dutch Fly Fair last weekend. A small Mini Sculpin pattern was lying on my desk in front of me while tying. It was less then 5 cm long. A lot of people liked it, especially Walter Bayer from Ireland (great flytyer) and Roger Enger Lie (great caster) from Norway and I had to promise to them, that I will do a step by step tutorial of this little guy.

So guys, this one is for you! ;-)

 

Material:

  • Hook: Gamakatsu SC 15 # 4
  • Weight: Tungsten Bead
  • Tail: Pine Squirrel Zonker
  • Pectoral Fins: Pine Squirrel Zonker
  • Head: Senyo’s Laser Dub
  • Eyes: 3-D Eyes

 

Put a tungsten bead on the hook.

 

Tie in a piece of pine squirrel zonker as a tail.

 

Put some pine squirrel hair in the clamp, then split the thread and put the hair in the gap.

 

Rotate the bobbin to twist the hair and the thread. Put a litlle bit of water on the hair, so it’s easier to wrap it around the hook shank.

 

Tie in bunches of Senyo’s Laser Dub. Remember, this is a up side down pattern, so tie in the bright color on top of the fly and the dark color underneath. You can create different shades by using different colors. Finish the tying with a whip finish behind the tungsten bead.

 

Now, start the cutting to create a sculpin head. The easiest way is to begin with the flat underside.

 

Before the cutting is finished, use some superglue to fix the 3-D eyes on top of the sculpin head and press the eyes into the Laser Dub to give the head strength. Now, you can do the final cutting.

That’s it! A small sculpin which swims down on the bottom of the river, because of the tungsten bead.

Note: Please press down the barb of the hook! Trouts will take the sculpin very aggressively!

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

Asp Streamer Step By Step

The asp is a fun fish for the fly rod. I got some friends, who are really go nuts, when the weather gets warmer and the asp starts to splash through the surface while hunting for baitfish.

The best fly colour for asp is white, so a white 3-D baitfish imitation works well for them. You need to put some weight into the fly, because often you fish in fast water for asp and you don’t want the baitfish pattern to flip over the surface instead of swinging some centimeters below it.

Arctic fox moves fantastic in the water, but you got often the problem, that the hair tangles around the hook while casting. You can avoid this by puting some uv resin on the fox near the hook to make it stiff. That’s an easy way to create a tangle-free fox fly.

 

Material:

  • Hook: Gamakatsu F 314 # 4
  • Weight: Lead Wire
  • Tail: Arctic Fox White
  • Flash: Electra Scale Pearl
  • Body: Hareline Ice Dub Minnow Belly
  • Head: Hareline Senyos Laser Dub
  • Eyes: Deer Creek
  • UV-Resin: Deer Creek Diamond Hard Tack Free

 

Wind some lead around the hook shank and secure it with super glue.

 

Tie in some arctic fox and some strands of electra scale on each side. Secure the fox with uv resin next to the hook and cure it with the uv torch.

 

Make a loop with your tying thread and put some ice dub in the gap. Twist the loop with your dubbing twister and brush the dubbing with your velcro brush to create a fluffy dubbing strand.

 

Wind the twisted dubbing around the hook shank and brush it again.

Tie in some laser dub on the top and on the bottom like shown on the picture.

 

Put some eyes on each side of the fly by using super glue and paint some gills on each side with a permanent marker.

On the first picture, you can see how nice all the materials look, when wet.

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

Zonker-Fish step by step

 

Zonker stripes are one of my favorite materials for tying streamers. The Zonker-Fish is a really simple pattern made out of a zonker stripe, which is very durable and, most important, it catches fish.

You can find a lot of color examples in my photo album Streamers.

Materials:

  • Hook: Gamakatsu F 314 # 4
  • Weight: Lead
  • Ribbing: Mono
  • Body: Flash Dubbing
  • Wing: Zonker Stripe
  • Flash: Krinkle Mirror Flash
  • Head: Flash Dubbing, Clear Cure Goo
  • Eyes: Clear Cure Eyes Solar Flare

 

Wind on some lead wire and secure it with super glue.

 

Tie in a piece of mono for ribbing.

 

Mix two colors of flash dubbing.

 

Split the thread and put the dubbing in the gap. Then spin the bobbin to twist the dubbing.

 

Wind the dubbing around the hook shank and brush it with your velcro brush.

 

Tie in a zonker stripe at the front and rib it with the mono from the back to the front.

 

Tie in a strand of krinkle mirror flash on each side and form a little head with flash dubbing.

 

Use some super glue for fixing the Clear Cure Eyes on each side and fill the space between the eyes on top and bottom with Clear Cure Goo to create a durable head.

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

Matuka Streamer

Here’s a step by step tutorial for a matuka streamer. This type of streamer is very old and you don’t see it to often in the fly boxes of the fishermen today, but the truth is, that the feathers move nicely, especially when you put some weight in the front of the fly, which causes a jigging effect.

Materials:

  • Hook: Gamakatsu F 314 # 4
  • Feathers: Keough Saltwater Grizzly Hackle, Keough Saltwater Hackle
  • Body: SLF Saltwater Dubbing white and ginger
  • Eyes: Deer Creek Gator Eyes
  • Flash: Krinkle Mirror Flash
  • UV-Resin: Deer Creek Diamond Hard Tack Free Resin
  • Weight: Lead Wire
  • Ribbing: Mono

 

Wind some lead wire around the shank and secure it with super glue.

 

Create a little dubbing ball at the end of the hook shank, tie in a saltwater hackle and wind it around. The dubbing ball pushes the fibres to the sides.

 

Tie in a piece of mono for ribbing. Split the tying thread and put the dubbing mix in the gap. Spin the bobbin to twist the dubbing. Wind the dubbing around the hook shank and brush it with your velcro .

 

Take two feathers and pull some fibres from one side as shown on the photo. Tie in the feather at the front and secure them by ribbing them with the mono. Catch the ribbing with your thread.

 

Tie in some strands of krinkle mirror on each side and do a whip finish with your thread. Take two gator eyes and put them on each side. You should use super glue to secure them. The fly is nearly finished. Just take some Diamond Hard Tack Free resin and let it run between the eyes, then cure it with your uv torch. Repeat this till the gap between the eyes is filled. This makes the fly very strong and durable.

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

Small Zonker-Baitfish

 

I like….no, I love streamers, which are easy to tie, but they always have to play nicely in the water. Zonker stripes are one of my favorite materials since a long time. It’s durable, easy to tie in and most important, it moves in the water like hell.

This little fellow is only about 5 cm long (less than 2 inches). The front part with dubbing and the eyes is coated with uv-resin, in this case I used Clear Cure Goo (CCG) which works really well. First I used CCG Hydro, which is fluid like water, to fix everything, than CCG Tack Free for the final coating.

It’s an all around baitfish pattern, which can be used for any type of predators. I tie it on a saltwater hook and nip down the barb, when using in freshwater. So I use often the same fly first in spring for seatrout and later in the year for brown trout.

 

Materials:

  • Hook: Gamakatsu SC 15 # 4
  • Weight: Lead Wire
  • Ribbing: Mono
  • Body: SLF Prism Dub in tan
  • Back and Tail: Zonker Stripe
  • Eyes and Head: 3 D Eyes, SLF Prism Dub and Clear Cure Goo

 

Wind the lead wire around the shank and secure it with super glue.

 

Tie in a piece of mono for ribbing.

 

Split the thread, put the SLF Prism Dub in the gap and spin the bobbin to twist the dubbing and the thread.

 

Wind the twisted dubbing around untill you reach the middle of the shank.

 

Tie an piece of zonker stripe.

 

Rib the Zonker with the mono and catch the mono with your thread.

 

Here you can see the nice profile of the zonker.

 

Dub the head in the same way like the body and brush it with your velcro brush.

 

Put some eyes on the head and and secure it with Clear Cure Goo Hydro. Then put a final coating of Clear Cure Goo Tack Free on the head.

 

No bubbles like with epoxy, just clear resin so you can see the hot twinkle of the Prism Dub.

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

Wiggle Fox step by step

Material:

  • Hooks: Gamakatsu F 314 # 6
  • Tail: Fox Tail Hair
  • Body: SLF Saltwater Dubbing, SLF Prism Dubbing and a Hackle
  • Ribbing: Mono
  • Weight: Tungsten Bead or Lead Wire
  • Optional: 3 D Eyes secured with UV-Resin

 

Put a hook in the vise and tie in some fox tail hair. Put a strand of krinkle mirror flash on each side and tie it in.

 

Mix the dubbing. I used SLF Saltwater Dub in pearl and ginger and a little bit of SLF Prism dub.

 

Tie in the mono for ribbing, split the thread, put the dubbing in the gap and spin the bobbin to twist the dubbing and the thread.

 

Wind around the dubbing, tie in a hackle next to the hook eye and wind it backwards, then wind the ribbing to the front to secure the hackle. Catch the ribbing and do a whip finish. Use a velcro brush to comb the fly.

 

Cut the hook bend.

 

Put another hook in the vise and wind some lead wire on the front of the hook.

 

Tie in a piece of mono for the connection between the two pieces.

 

Connect the two pieces like above. Use super glue to fix everything.

 

Tie in another piece of mono for ribbing, then split the thread and put the dubbing in the gap. Spin the bobbin to twist the dubbing and wind it around to the front.

 

Wind around a hackle and rib it with mono like you’ve done with the first section.

 

You can finish the fly or dub a little head, put some 3 D eyes on each side and secure them with uv-resin.

tl                                                                                                                                        Holger Lachmann