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

Poxy-Fox

When I first tied this pattern, I used epoxy for it. That’s why there’s „Poxy“ in the name of the fly. Today I use uv-resin for it, but I didn’t wanted to chance the name. ;-)

When you tie this pattern, it’s very important, that the resin soaks into the braid at the end of the fly to fix the marble fox, so it won’t tangle around the hook bend while casting. The materials used are:

  • Gamakatsu F314 # 2
  • Mono thread
  • 3D Eyes
  • Marble Fox olive
  • Krinkle Mirror Flash
  • Ice Dub golden olive
  • Felix Cord olive
  • Permanent Markers
  • UV-Resin

You can also tie in some lead wire if you want, to create a jigging effect for example.

The Poxy-Fox looks really massive on the picture, but in the water it got some translucency. That’s the reason, why you should dub a thin body before slipping the flexi cord around the hook shank.

tight lines

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

A closer look at: Bob Popovics‘ Fleye Foils

Lutz Schepers from www.theflypeople.com asked me some weeks ago, if I wanted to test the new Fleye Foils by Bob Popovics. I always liked the flies and ideas of Bob Popovics, so I surely wanted to test his newest idea. The foils imitate the eyes, the gills, the silver belly and flanks on one side of the fly with just one simple tying step.

I don’t know the reason why, but when I got the foils, I didn’t felt the inner drive to test them immediately. Maybe I didn’t wanted to do the normal Sury Candy with it.

This morning, I did the first tests with the smallest „Bay Anchovy“ foils. The fly you see below is the first try. It’s a really simple fly made out of a hook, mono thread, different colors of Senyo’s Laser Dub, Fleye Foils and uv resin. It doesn’t look to shabby for a first try, I think.

The Fleye Foils are easy to use. You just have to tie in the „nose“ next to the hook eye and push the sticky backsides of the foils against the flanks of the fly. One or two coatings of uv resin and you are done.

After tying some patterns with Fleye Foils, I have to say, that if you want to make Surf Candy-style flies as fast and easy as possible, the foils are an enrichment. The only thing I would suggest to improve is, to give more expression to the eyes.

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

PAPS – Pink Articulated Pike Streamer

 

Sometimes it is just fun to tie such kind of a monster fly. This pike streamer with a length of 27 cm is articulated to give the fly the maximum of flexibility.There is just one hook in the middle of the fly.

It’s a combination of natural hair and feathers together with synthetics, which creates a big shape and the effect of mass without being to heavy when wet. It’s still possible to cast it with a 8 weight + rod and a pike taper line or a shooting head.

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

Mayfly Flex Stretch Nymph – Step By Step

Here’s the step by step tutorial for a mayfly nymph pattern, to imitate the BWO for example. This pattern is durable and looks quite like the natural, when drifting through the river. Don’t use too much material when tying these kind of nymphs. You should always keep the slim original in your mind.

This pattern is another example, how usefull uv-resin could be, when tying even small flies for trout and graylig. For this fly I used Clear Cure Goo Hydro, which is highly fluid like water. It’s perfect for smaller patterns and is soacked up by dubbing and feathers, what makes the flies really durable.

 

Materials:

  • Hook: Daiichi D 1270 # 14
  • Weight: Flat Lead
  • Tail: Pheasant Tail Fibres
  • Abdomen: Flex Stretch Olive
  • Wing Case: Pheasant Tail Fibres & Clear Cure Goo Hydro
  • Thorax: Oliver Edwards Masterclass Dubbing & Clear Cure Goo Hydro
  • Legs: Partridge

 

Put the hook into the vise and wind the flat lead on the hook shank. Do a second layer of lead on the front part like shown on the foto.

 

Tie in three pheasant tail fibres to imitate the tail of the mayfly.

 

Tie in a small piece od stretch flex and wind it aroung the hook shank.

 

Cut a piece out of a pheasant tail feather and tie it in for the wing case.

 

Take a partridge feather and cut a little piece out of the tip. Then tie the partridge feather in with the tip first.

 

Dub the thorax, then fold the partridge to the front and catch it with your thread next to the hook eye.

 

Put a little drop of Clear Cure Goo Hydro on the stem of the partridge feather to join the dubbing with the feather. Cure the CCG Hydro with the uv torch. The hackle stem and the dubbing are joined together now. Nothing will ever slip and the legs will stay as shown on the photo.

 

Fold the pheasant to the front and catch it with your tying thread. Put a little drop of Clear Cure Goo Hydro on the wing case and cure it with the uv torch.

 

The wing case is now very durable after curing the CCG Hydro. If you want a shiny wing case, that’s what I prefer, put a second drop of CCG Hydro on the wing case and cure it. Now, the mayfly nymph is ready for fishing.

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

Quill Body CDC Emerger No. 2 – Step By Step

It’s the end of April and the trout and grayling season will start soon.

Here’s another very good emerger pattern, which imitates some different may fly species, depending on the colour and size. It’s tied on the new Daiichi 1167 Klinkhamer hook, designed by the famous dutch fly tyer Hans van Klinken.

The Daiichi 1167 got a stronger wire compared to the Tiemco 212Y for example, which makes sure, that the abdomen hangs deep in the surface. That’s really important and that’s the reason, why this pattern got no tail or a trailing shuck, to make sure, that the abdomen is hanging deep in the surface.

The quill body is covered with a thin coating UV Resin.

 

Materials:

  • Hook: Daiichi 1167 # 14
  • Abdomen: Polish Quills &Tack Free UV Resin
  • Thorax: Oliver Edwards Master Class Dubbing
  • Wing case: CDC
  • Wing: CDC
  • Legs: Partridge

 

Put the hook into the vise, do a layer of thread and tie in a stripped peacock quill. Wind the quill around the hook shank and catch it with the tying thread.

 

Put a little drop of Tack Free UV Resin on the stripped peacock quill and spread it on the abdomen. Cure it with your UV torch.

 

Tie in two CDC feathers for the wing case. Then tie in the tip of another white CDC feather as a crippled wing.

 

Dub the body and tie in some partridge fibres to imitate the legs. Fold each CDC feather to the hook eye and catch it with the tying thread. The CDC wing should be exactly in the middle of the feathers.

 

Cut the CDC feathers for the wing case and do some turns with your whip finisher to create a little head. Varnish the head, if you like. That’s it, ready for fishing. ;-)

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

Grey Magnus Step By Step

 

This pattern is so famous….no more words about it, let’s start tying! ;-)

 

Materials:

  • Hook: Gamakatsu SS15/T # 4
  • Tail: Grey Grizzly Marabou / Chrystal Flash Pearl
  • Ribbing: Mono
  • Body: Hare’e Ice Dub Hare’s Ear from Hareline / Grizzly Hackle
  • Front Hackle: Dun Grizzly Saltwater Hackle
  • Eyes: Bead Chain Eyes

 

Do a layer of thread on the hook shank and tie in the grizzly marabou as a tail.

 

Tie in two strands of pearl crystal flash on each side of the marabou and fix the mono for the ribbing.

 

Spin some dubbing around the thread and dub the body. Don’t dub the body to tight, because we want to brush it later.

 

Tie in a smaler grizzly hackle and wind the hackle from the front to the back around the dubbing body. Rib the dubbing body and the hackle turns with the mono from the back to the front and catch the mono with your tying thread. Give the body a nice brush with your velcro-brush.

 

Take a dun grizzly saltwater hackle and prepare it like shown on the picture. Tie it in and wind it around the hook to create the front hackle.

 

Take some bead chain eyes and tie them in. After some turns around the eyes, put a drop of super glue between the eyes to secure them, then keep winding the thread around the eyes. That’s how you create a strong bead chain head. If you fix the eyes with loose turns of thread, they will slip around the hook shank. That’s it, the Grey Magnus.

tight lines

Holger Lachmann

A closer look at: Fish Skull by Flymen Fishing Company

 

I tie and fish with Fish Skulls since fall 2011 now. When I first saw them, I wasn’t really sure if I like them or not. They looked very massiv and heavy. I thought they were to heavy for my kind of fishing. I was wrong.

 

 

The Fish Skulls are not made out of tungsten or brass like other metal heads on the market, they are made out of aluminum.The weight of the aluminum is big enough to give the fly a nice jigging effect and bring ít down to the fish, but light enough for easy casting.

You can buy them in different sizes. For my fishing, the small Fish Skulls work great with wide gap hooks like Gamakatsu F 314 # 6 or #4.

 

The biggest weight of the Fish Skulls is on the lower part, which works like a keel, so the fly always swims straight. That’s the reason, why it’s really easy to tie up side down patterns, just switch the head.

great upside down pattern for deep hunting perch

Every package contains 10 Fish Skulls and the eyes, which you just fix with a small spot of super glue on each side. I like to „pimp“ the Fish Skulls with other eyes, like fluo eyes.

It’s easy to tie with the Fish Skulls. Just tie your fly and leave a little space next to the hook eye. Apply a drop of super glue and slip the Fish Skull of the hook eye on the fly. You can create a little „thread dam“ between the Fish Skull and the hook eye, but I think you don’t have to, because the super glue will secure the Fish Skull really tight. Sometimes I like to give the fly a hot spot by using fluo thread for the „thread dam“.

As you already know, I’m a really big fan of zonker stripes, so the first try with Fish Skulls where the combination of zonker stripes and Fish Skulls and it works perfect! I fish them since then in this combination.

I haven’t used the Fish Skulls for seatrout fishing in the Baltic Sea yet, but I think they will work there as good as for my freshwater fishing.

In my opinion, the Fish Skulls are worth to give them a try.

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

Spring fair at ADH-Fishing

I’m very happy to be invited again to tie at the spring fair of adh-fishing in Peine on 3. + 4. march 2012.

As always it’ll be a great weekend with great casters and fly tyers like Christopher Rownes, Allan Bloch, Leif Stävmo, Mikael Frödin, Andy Weiß and more.

The best thing there is the atmosphere. You don’t feel like entering a shop, which is getting bigger and bigger btw, you feel like coming to friends!

I really LOVE the casting pool behind the shop, where you can test cast every rod, no matter single hand or spey rod, from Sage, Guideline, Orvis, Vision, Loop, Scierra and Scott.

Yeah, it’ll definitely be a fun weekend!

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE ! ! ! :-)

 

 

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