San Gabriel

[UC Steve]

P1070460 (640x424).jpg (179.78 KiB) Viewed 6051 times

One I tied in the 7th grade, in my fanciful period, while still working with the stuff that came in the Ken E Bay fly tying kit & my mom's knitting basket. The little wild rainbows of the San Gabriel, where I was a regular, loved this one. One of the few survivors from that era. I still tie it & like it for prospecting small streams. Good brookie fly too.

Hook: #12 Mustad 3366

Thread: yellow UNI 8/0

Body: silver tinsel with a short thorax of dubbed gold yarn

Wing: golden pheasant tippet

Hackle: red/brown hen

[swellcat]

It didn't thrill me . . . until I saw the silver body. With that and stripped fast enough, it should pass for a minner. (Minners: they aren't just for breakfast anymore.)

Here's to fancifulness . . . and being able to celebrate it a few years on!

Good tying and fishin' . . .

[swellcat]

Today, I picked up a blue ribbon (the string or "handle" of a now-deflated balloon) and some remnant feathers (ostrich herl, I reckon) from a discarded, mostly-defoliated feather duster. That's said to say, your tying is something to aspire toward, and your humility, openness, and absence of pretense make is easy to try . . . so, thanks.

[UC Steve]

Swellcat, the aspirations are mutual. Hey & I recently scored a discarded feather duster too. Syncopation, brother.

[letumgo]

Steve - What a fun pattern, both in the construction and it the target. Brookies are one of my favorite fish, so I will give this a try. I bet it will work nicely with my tenkara rod.

I've also played around with using the golden pheasant tippet fibers as hackling, distributed around the hook. I will give your winged version a try. Thanks for the inspiration.

[UC Steve]

Ray, good candidate for a wee tenkara attractor in #10-#12. Wing can be sparser. Try it with copper tinsel.