A Local Favorite...

[DOUGSDEN]

Muskrat Wets and 017.JPG (79.34 KiB) Viewed 8162 times

Good Evening Forum Friends!
I wanted to post this picture of the pattern that I did so well with on one of our local ponds Friday evening! I tied it several years ago and it is quite the killer especially on cloudy, "Bloa" kind of days. I landed 8 hard fighting 'Gills on this pattern (the one I used is kinda bedraggled so I substituted one of it's brothers from my box for this picture) and had a blast!
The recipe is as follows (I remembered this time!).....
Hook: Tiemco (TMC) 102Y in sizes to suit your insect! By the way, this pattern was not intended for any specific insect hatch. It was born out of shear curiousity about the way fur and feathers can come together. It just turned out to be a pretty good searching pattern for me and I hope for you too!
Thread: Danvilles 6/0 pale yellow.
Wire (optional): Fine silver appx. four wraps.
Dubbing: The very fine muskrat fur found nearest the skin. Please pull out the brownish guard hairs. The fur needs to be blended a bit and this can be done by hand or in your fur blender. The body should be finely tapered to the front of the fly.
Tag: Tying thread appx. 4 turns left exposed before the dubbing catches up. These turns can extend down over the beginning of the bend of the hook but not too much.
Hackle: Jackdaw wing coverts. Starling does quite well too! If you look at the individual fibers from the jackdaw feather, they have a unique "light edge" along their length. It prob. does not attract fish that much more but it does look cool and that increases your confidence and, as we all know, this brings more fish to hand! Get a pair of jackdaw wings right away! No more than two turns! The length of the hackle should not extend any longer than the body of the fly.
Enjoy and report back to me right away!
Doug

[Roadkill]

Doug,
Great combination and tie! Do you find the yellow to be a great producer in midday as I have on many ponds?

[crazy4oldcars]

Looks good, Doug. As usual, I'll have to sub out materials, lol, but I am pretty sure I can get close.
If I come up with something good enough to photograph, I'll post it up.
As for getting it wet, it may be a while. TS Bill just gave us a little more water to run off.

This is the Stream Gage on my local creek. Normal is around 4 feet. We are high and dry, but there are a few flooded out roads.


Kirk

[tie2fish]

You have made reference several times to this pattern, Doug, so I am glad to finally see a photo of it. Very nicely tied, I must say. The color contrast is striking, providing "hot spots" at both ends, and the lineal striping on the jackdaw is an eye catcher as well. Thanks for sharing this.

[DOUGSDEN]

Fellows,
Thanks for the positive feedback on this wonderful pattern! I spent the evening (it's fathers day after all!) fishing a certain bamboo rod and again this pattern. It was not a repeat performance like Friday evening but it was interesting none the less! I am beginning to believe that the extreme softness of the materials in this dressing make it a bit more "comfortable?" to take in! It is certainly putting the fish on the bank for me and I could not be happier!
Roadkill.....yes, yellow has been a good color for me esp. in the ponds that I fish. It was an interesting statement you made about it's effectiveness at mid-day. It just seems to be good all the time! The tying thread that I use on this one is a very pale yellow almost a dead ringer for primrose silk by Pearsalls. It has a tendency to darken quite a bit when wet which makes it all the more....dull? For the lack of a better word! It does seem to be a nice contrast to the muskrat fur used in this recipe.
Kirk, interesting graph you show as it relates to the incredible amt. of rain we have had all over the country! The folks in California could stand a drenching rain about now! The fires out there are frightening!
Again folks, thanks so much for the kind words! Has anyone tried an old favorite in your waters lately? Perhaps one that they haven't seen in a while? Let us know!!
Doug

[letumgo]

Elegantly fishy, in the very best kinda way!

Great job Doug.

[UC Steve]

Nicely done. Has 'that look'. Magic. And that is a good looking hook. I'll have to try. Need to plug some jackdaws now.

[Smuggler]

That's a great looking fly Doug, I could easily see this picking fish up anywhere. Nice choice on the jackdaw, very buggy!

Sometimes you can find some great materials on ebay for our wonderful pattern's however, they usually come from across the pond. If you ask the seller sometimes they'll work with you on the atrocious shipping.


http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 22&alt=web
Give that a click.

[zen leecher]

I may have to tie some of these up this afternoon while I hide from the heat.

[DOUGSDEN]

Fellows,
I have a true confession and a correction to my orig. recipe! I was explaining to Bill the other day about how and where I store my "exotic" wings that I have collected over the years. The actual feather used for the hackle is not Jackdaw, but Moorhen! My mistake and I apologize for this!
When I started to tie this old favorite (recently), I grabbed both polybags out of the container with the thoughts of trying both birds just to see how they would differ. Both bags hit the desk and away I went! I thought I was using Jackdaw and after I tied a few, photographed the one, posted it and the recipe, then I saw the mistake that I had made! Years ago, when I first tied this pattern, it was hackled with Moorhen! Jackdaw is great but the longitudinal stripe effect of the Moorhen is very attractive to me and I hope to the fishes! See Bills latest posting on this same index, "Inspired by Doug". I like his better than mine!
Again, my apologies for such a screw-up as this! I guess I will have to break out the Jackdaw and compare the two! Is anyone up for the muskrat challenge? Better yet, try using starling in place of either Jackdaw or Moorhen! We are blessed to have so many varieties avail. to us!
Your mixed up friend in the den coming clean,
Doug