MONTANA NYMPHS & STREAMER

Hook: Size 12 Hends wet fly hook
Thread: Black Hends twist tying thread
Tail: Black pheasant tail
Tag:Pearl tinsel
Body: Hends micro chenille no 30
Thorax: Hends micro chenille no 02
Legs: Soft cock hackle pulled over thorax
Thorax cover: Same as main body pulled over thorax  

Stocking up on some lake patterens recently I came across this fly that I have used for years and all over the world. It has rarely let me down and its one of those flies that every angler either dose or should have in there box. The dressing can also be varied in colour to make this nymph a prominent fish catcher.  I have not fished it too much in the last few seasons but this year ill have a new stock in my box and give them a swim for sure.

The Montana nymph originally was designed to match large stonefly nymphs in North American waters but can represent many other natural insects of the trouts diet depending the water type and location. This universal fly can be mistaken for a stone-fly nymph, leeches  snails, small fry, beetles, tadpoles among others; they have the potential to catch rainbow and brown trout in most environments and any other species of fish in the same systems.

Hook: Size 8 B170 Kamasan
Thread: Black Hends twist tying thread
Tail: Black hen hackle fibers
Body: Hends Black medium chenille
Thorax: Hends sunburst chenille
Legs: Soft cock hackle hackled through thorax
Thorax cover: Black pheasant tail fibers pulled over thorax and folded back to form legs or swimmers on the nymph

These are some of the first nymphs I would of bought from my local tackle shop as a kid growing up and used them to catch rainbows in a fishery not to far from my home town. When I got older I used them regularly in the lakes of Co Wicklow, fishing them on sinking lines and using a very slow retrieve they proved to be very effective throughout the years.

For a number of years a group of angling buddies and myself used to head to Oben in Scotland and enjoy a weeks fishing in the hills on some stunning little mountain loughs. I have very found memories of the trips and a popular pattern that worked for us up there was also Montana nymphs fished on slow intermediates and fished along the shores where patrolling trout would be looking for insects which venture from the heather on to the water.

Fishing in the World finals in Sweden in 2001 was a real learning curve for me in many ways. We were fishing up near Lapland and our guide for the pre-match days had brought us to some of the beautiful rivers and lakes I have ever seen. On one river session it was heavy water and very tough wading even for the local guide,  so he used a di 7 and cast across the river with a Montana nymph on the point the line dragged the fly to the bottom of the river and down to the calmer water where Grayling and trout waited for food to pass them by, with the Montana picking up several fish for him.

Hook: Size 8 B170 Kamasan
Bead: 3mm tungsten gold bead
Thread: Black Hends twist tying thread 
Tail: Black marabou
Body: Black marabou wound up half way on the hook 
Rib: Sliver wire 
Thorax: Glo-brite no 11
Thorax cover: Black marabou fibers pulled over thorax and folded back over the streamer

I am sure that there are many occasions, stories and variations of how and where a lot of anglers have fished these timeless nymphs. The original tied by Lew Oatman has spawned a lot of other patterens and variations that have lured trout out of countless waters world wide. Over the last number of weeks I have restocked up on these nymphs and look forward to giving them a swim this coming year. 
I hope you have enjoyed reading this post and if you have any comments or questions just drop me a line below, also if you would like to see whats coming next on this blog just sign in and follow us. Thanks for reading.

CADDIS PUPA

Two seasons ago I came across this Caddis Pupa nymph and had really good results with it sense then, it is a very simple dressing and what I like about it the most is that you can colour it in to suit your hatches or times of the year when Caddis are maturing.  It is a good solid bug that will reach the bed of the river quite quickly and good for picking out those big summer trout that lie in the deeper cooler waters of the river. I find it makes a good point fly but smaller patterens can be productive on droppers also. Here is the easy step by step of how to tie this nymph:

Taking a size Size 10 or 12 Kamasan B100 grubber hook add on a size 3.5mm copper, gold or black tungsten bead. Follow this with several turns of flat lead.

Tie on your thread over the lead, I used Hends Twist tying thread olive. Then take a length of Antron Body-Wool and tie it in to the rear of the fly, making sure that when you bring your thread back the the bead that the body is smooth and shaped correctly.

Taking the wool in your hand twist it till it becomes a tight rope like material then with you twisting as you wind it up the body the wool remains firm to give you the segmented look of the body. Tie off well before cutting away the waste near the bead.

Using permanent markers of your choice give the body some colour I have several good colours mostly natural colours like olives, yellow and browns. But the natural look can be catching also, experiment here with your colours. Then once you are happy with your body colour cover it with Loon UV fly finish to give your body the shine and natural look while also making it very strong. A blast of a UV light and the body is complete.

Next add a light hackle of either CDC or Natural partridge behind the bead. You also can use different colours for your hackle here too.

To finish the fly off add some natural squirrel dubbing or some hares ear and brush out to leave your nymph looking nice and fishy.

This is a fly that is really simple to tie and no doubt that you will have great fishing on them this summer as I have had over the last number of seasons so give them a try and if you need any of the materials used you will find them in our shop, www.irishflytying.com or just follow the links to the right of the page. 

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post and if you have any comments or questions just drop me a line below, also if you would like to see whats coming next on this blog just sign in and follow us. Thanks for reading.

BUNGING FOR TROUT

I was recently asked about bung fishing and the basics of using this method for catching fish on still waters, as I don't pretend to know all the tricks of this method here is some simple tips and set ups that will get you started bunging for trout. It was last winter that I was introduced to using a bung for rainbow fishing on lakes, when a good friend of mine was helping me get ready for a T.A.F.I inter-provincial competition and this method was proving to be a successful system for him in the right conditions. Due to the fact that I do little winter stocky fishing I am not sure how long this method has been used for by anglers to catch those lazy rainbows that want their food stagnant in the water. 

When I was in Wales recently just before Christmas I also saw the same set up being used for wild fish on a river and was quite impressed at the results, so much so that it will be another gun in my arsenal this coming season for wild trout in the Irish rivers.
For the lakes as I said before it for when the trout want stagnant food and are not in the humor to chase lures or moving fry.  The set up is quite simple the most complex part is getting the depths right so the buzzers or blobs are in the right feeding zone or depth for the fish. Using what ever tippet material you prefer for the still water you would have your point fly so it is just above the floor of the lake or sitting on for the fish to pick it up from from there you could have a dropper 3 or 4 foot back up the leader with a second fly and continue to a third fly if required and if you are competition fishing that the rules allow more than three flies on the leader. The bung which according to most competition rules must be tied on a hook and capable of catching a fish, should be tied on to a dropper at the correct depth so the point fly is where you want it to be. You can also tie in two spare droppers 30cm either side of the bung so you adjust the depth of your flies by moving the bung up and down the leader on the spare droppers.  

Fishing this method you cast out to your desired area and allow your weighted flies to sink till they are straight down from the bung and just keep in touch by figure of eight retrieve and once the bung drops you strike and lift into your fish if it is on. Some of the best flies to use are weighted buzzers and weighted blobs for this method but I have also heard of anglers using cats whiskers and the like also. 
The set up for river fishing this method has the same fundamentals as the lake set up, you are suspending your nymphs just above the river bed and allowing them to trot down the stream into feeding fish. Fishing these on rivers dose allow you to fish that slower water that if you nymph it as we normally do the slow current will quite quickly have your nymphs snagging on the bottom, getting stuck or picking up crap lying in the slow water, not allowing you to fish your nymphs effectively; so often enough most anglers will pass this water unless covering it with wet or dry fly. 
When you fish this method on the slow water you are wading downstream and casting the rig across the river or slightly up stream allowing the nymphs to move down river for quite some distance which allows them to cover much more water than without the suspension of the bung, if the bung drops or stops you strike into your fish. It also allows you to cast your nymphs further away from you across the stream when wading closer is not an option as you have the bung as a sight indicator you will detect any takes through its movements or behavior on the water. 

I did observe when anglers were using this on the rivers in Wales for grayling they were also shuffling up the bed with their feet as they moved down stream, this got the fish moving and feeding off the wake the angler was causing as he waded with the current and allowing his nymphs to move into the feeding zone down stream. Getting your depths right on the river is vital I feel as you want your nymphs to cover as much of the bed as you can allow it too before it gets caught up, if its too long then perhaps you find the bung dropping frequently with no returns of fish so adjusting the depths could be important to this being productive for you.

Here is a tying for a bung that can be used on still waters that is highly visible and will hold up most weighted buzzers and blobs:

Tied on a Dohiku Blob hook size 8 I used some Hends Booby eyes for the foam and superglued it in as-well as tied it down with Hends Red Grail thread. Once that was dry and secure I used red egg yarn to form the body keeping the yarn to the top side of the fly and packed in as much as i could before tying off the fly. 
Once you have done this then add a coat of Water shed and allow to dry properly before fishing the bung. You should tie these in two or three colours as i have found that visibility with some colours can be harder in different light during the day and switching colours can help this. Also have several dry bungs in your box as they do tend get wet and heavy after a while of being on the water so fresh ones will be useful to have in the box. The bungs  I have seen being used on rivers are much larger and some are just large squares of foam tied on to the hook this is for fishing with heavier nymphs such as 3mm or 3.5mm beads. 
This is a method that I will be looking at and trying out more on the rivers and lakes here this spring in certain spots, I know it is not the most traditional form of nymphing but if you are into competition angling and on your beat is a bit of difficult water then this might just get you a fish or two to save the blank. 

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post and if you have any comments or questions on this method I would be interested in  reading them so just drop me a line below, also if you would like to see whats coming next on this blog just sign in and follow us. Thanks for reading.