June 27, 2012

Rough and Tumble

el bandito
Just another hard-nosed carp from the backwaters of the Minnesota River.

June 24, 2012

the Chum Bucket

Another meaty morsel from the Roughfisher's meat locker, the Chum Bucket.

Chum Bucket
Featuring a heartyFun Fur yarn collar, this fly offers a stick to the ribs home cooked meal for any hungry carp. This fly is in the same size grouping as the Mustache Ride and Landing Strip, coming in at around 3 inches in length and a size 2 stainless hook. Should be served up with a side of Tums.

June 23, 2012

Creatures From the Brown Lagoon

You saw the trailer, now catch the rest of the video from uprising fly fishing:
Local residents in Atomic City, Idaho (near the world's first nuclear accident site) have become possessed by freakishly aggressive carp. These carp will pound flies in skinny water, then jump out of the water and cartwheel when hooked. Mortals can not resist their atomic tug power.
More carp action at uprisingflyfishing.com




Maybe this should be on the next F3T?

June 8, 2012

Improving the Swimming Nymph

The classic Swimming Nymph finds utility in just about any water and any situation you put it in to. Clouser hit one out of the park with his original design. My younger cockier self, manipulated the pattern years back to come up with something of my own, like the Men In Black nymph. Perhaps foolish at the time to think I could tweak a proven pattern and somehow make it mine but subbing a few ingredients and adding some flair. Naïveté. While the MIB has been effective over the years, it's not really mine per se, as it was just a bastardized ripoff of an idea that was never mine to begin with. I'm not trying to reinvent the Swimming Nymph, just modifying to better suit my needs.

Improved Swimming Nymph
As useful and effective as the Swimming Nymph is, there's always been a few things missing in order to make it the perfect carp fly. One is size. A size 8 is fine for carping, but I'm talking more about bulk. The original is sleek and hackled; I want a big warm fuzzy for carp. That means rabbit and plenty of it, along iwth a chunky mid section. The next thing is weight, so adding bead chain will help get the fly down, as well as add to a broader profile in the water. The final element is rubber legs. I like the movement rubber legs give a carp fly, and so do the carp. Look at any killer carp fly and it comes equipped with rubber legs. You add in all those factors and the fly pulses, moves, breathes. Carp are very tactile when it comes to feeding, and since you lose the element of scent when fly fishing, profile and movement of the fly and the feel of a fly in the carp's mouth is what's gonna make the difference between a take and a snub.

Improved Swimming Nymph
I've tinkered with a few variations and finally came up with something that I feel will work best for carp. Rabbit tail, beefy dubbed body, large pheasant hackled thorax, rubber legs, large bead chain eyes, and a bushy rabbit throat. I still maintained the classic signatures of the original swimming nymph with peacock herl and rust colored body, and still maintain a similar gestalt to the profile of the original. I think I've found the right balance for an Improved Swimming Nymph.

Improved Swimming Nymph
Now it's only a matter of time to see what the carp think.