Otter Fly

[Old Hat]

I have been working on an article as of late dealing with older stillwater flies. One of the flies I was researching was Trueblood's Otter Nymph (or Trueblood's Shrimp). This fly is basically that. Only variation is the hackle is wound around the shank soft hackle wise instead of tied underneath as a throat. The fly was originally tied to imitate scuds or sowbugs. The properties of otter and the seal were believed to be an important part of this pattern as was the straight profile (it was important that this was not tied on a curved shank).

Hook: Heavy wet hook. #14.
Thread: tan
Tail: partridge fibers
Body: a mix of otter fur with guard hairs and little bit of white or cream seal (I used a little bit of cream simi-seal). Body should be full and rough to capture air bubbles.
Hackle: partridge

[letumgo]

Superbly tyed fly Carl. When will you be publishing the article? Can you share a link, when it becomes available?

[tie2fish]

That's really nice, Carl. The dubbing mix reminds me of the types of blends that JL and Pete Hidy came up with to mimic real life. Perhaps spinning the body for the Trueblood Otter Nymph on a Clark block would give it the texture needed to trap bubbles?

[Ruard]

Nice looking fly Carl.

Do you know the book of T.C.Ivens: Still water Fly-fishing?

It is the man of the Black and Peacock spider. If you do not have the book I shall scan the pages about the B&P spider.


greeting


Ruard

[swellcat]

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Handsome fly.

. . . it was important that this was not tied on a curved shank . . .

Any idea why? Seems counterintuitive, to say the least.

_____

[Old Hat]

Thanks everyone.

Ray- Will do.

Bill - I did this in a dubbing loop for durability. You could use a dubbing block but it requires quite a bit of dubbing to build the body profile. The otter is pretty slippery too. What I actually did was noodle the amount I wanted on the thread, turn this into a dubbing loop, wrap it tight and then pick it out some.

Ruard - I haven't seen that one.

_____
Handsome fly.

. . . it was important that this was not tied on a curved shank . . .

Any idea why? Seems counterintuitive, to say the least.

_____

Not at all counter intuitive actually. There is a misconception with scuds. Even though we see them most often tied on curved hook shanks, they only take this profile when they are dead or actively feeding on vegetation. When moving at all, they take a straight profile and swim very swiftly from spot to spot. This is often when fish take them. Fish will congregated in vegetation and snack on them as they dart about. Some fish do feed directly upon the vegetation taking feeding scuds. I have emptied stomachs of fish that are 70% vegetation and 30% scuds. To me this says they are just feeding off the vegetation. However, as of yet I don't have the skill to keep a fly on a piece of vegetation. So actively working a scud pattern near the vegetation with short twitches seems to be more productive and in this scenario they are in a straight profile. Both in stillwater and slow moving water.

Here is a neat little link you can see this in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXx6SLoqQC8

[swellcat]

There is a misconception with scuds. Even though we see them most often tied on curved hook shanks, they only take this profile when they are dead or actively feeding on vegetation. When moving at all, they take a straight profile and swim very swiftly from spot to spot.

Hmm. The hook marketers have some 'splainin' to do.

_____

[Old Hat]

There is a misconception with scuds. Even though we see them most often tied on curved hook shanks, they only take this profile when they are dead or actively feeding on vegetation. When moving at all, they take a straight profile and swim very swiftly from spot to spot.

Hmm. The hook marketers have some 'splainin' to do.

_____

They still work pretty well for caddis and stoneflies though.