Step by Step Fly Tying Tutorial: Home Invader

As we approach the middle of summer here in Pennsylvania, my tying (and I'd assume quite a few fellow Pennsylvanians' tying as well) starts to shift, gradually at first, but more rapidly as Labor Day approaches, from dry flies and bass bugs to egg patterns, nymphs, and streamers in anticipation of steelhead fishing in the fall.  This transition is a chance to look back on the winter, spring, and early summer fishing season and recall any particularly killing patterns to keep in mind when replenishing fly boxes during long winter evenings.  Sometimes it's a classic pattern that I've just started to really use that year, other times its a niche pattern that fills it's specific need perfectly, and other times it's some homemade creation.  Any which way, it's a pattern or two that made a name for themselves over the season, that you want to have backups of when next spring rolls around.

For me, spring 2012 was mostly a missed opportunity of a season.  With a long 8 hour class every Saturday, from January until May, my weekend fishing was effectively non-existent for the entire spring season.  Even when I got out during the week, it was limited to just an hour or two after work, before it got dark.  That said, 2012, more than most seasons, has seen a higher proportion of warmwater fishing than trout, simply because when I finally got to hit the water, not only did I have a new 8wt to try out, but also, warmwater fishing was just getting into prime time.

So my fishing saw much more tossing streamers to bass and pike than drifting dries and emergers to cagey trout.  Because of this, I tied far more #4 and up streamers than any other type of fly this year.  While several produced fish, the clear standout has been Doug McKnight's Home Invader.  Striking a perfect balance between impressionism and realism, the Home Invader is liable to take any species that eats fish.  Of course, like any good fly tyer, I've made a few minor tweaks from the official patter that, in my opinion, make it even more effective in my fishing.  So, without further ado: the Home Invader...

1. Start off with a long shank streamer hook in your chosen size.  While I suppose you could tie it in any size, this is one of those flies where the nature of the materials will dictate proper proportions for the overall finished product.  That being said, for the materials I've chosen, I'd recommend a large hook, somewhere from #4 up to #2/0.  Also bear in mind that this is a patter that will ride point-up.  With these two key characteristics in the pattern, I've chosen a #2 60-degree streamer hook, designed to ride point-up anyway, with the addition of weight, this hook will ensure that the fly rides properly every time.

2. Tie in a zonker strip tail, upside-down compared to the usual.  This is the biggest change I've made from the original pattern.  The original calls for marabou, but to me, marabou is meant for drifted patterns, or swung streamers in slow currents, where the feather fibers can breathe, while the rest of the pattern is more suited to faster flows.  Substituting rabbit fur in the form of a zonker strip adds some body without compromising on motion in the water.  When dealing with warmwater fish, the hide strip may even add a bit of durability.  In this fly, I used a 'magnum' zonker strip, for even more body.

3. Next add some flash.  The specific type and amount isn't strictly limited, just keep in mind your general idea for the rest of the fly and adjust accordingly (If you're tying something big and bright for maximum visibility, load up on flash!  If you're going for natural looking realism, laybe limit to just a few strands, if any.)  In this tie, I used some UV polar chenille in silver flash color.  I find the amount I used to be enough flash to set off a pattern without being so gaudy that it turns off fish in clear, calm conditions.

4. If you do decide to use the polar chenille, definitely layer it.  The fibers are long enough to handle it, and without it, the flash will be subtle/skimpy indeed. Cover the back half of the shank in 2 layers of flash.  If it looks like too much now, understand that this fly is all about layers, and there will be plenty of material to shroud this, making a layered, translucent effect.

5.  Once you're finished wrapping that flash, clip a small bunch of your fur of choice (silver fox shown, though any light, compressible, flowing fur will work...keep fiber length in mind based on hook size), strip out guard hairs, and clip the butt ends evenly to size.  Then tie the clump in, on top of the hook, facing forward, extending over the hook eye.  Once you have it tied in, sweep the hair back over the flash, spreading it around evenly over the top half of the pattern.  After this, continue to tie in clumps of hair, but instead of keeping them on the top, distribute the hair around the shank, tie it in, then sweep it back uniformly around the entire body.

6. Once you tie in 3-5 clumps, you should have a body that looks kind of like this, with the front of the series of bunches up near the eye.  You can put a few thread wraps over the front of the tie in point to sweep the hair back a bit too.

7. Invert the hook, either by inverting the vise or removing the hook and putting it back in the vise upside down.  Add in a few hackles along each side of the top of the body, sort of like a tent or roof over the body, but with some space between the top edges.  I've used two hackles on each side to make them more defined, though one feather per side would give a more translucent effect.  Consider both solid hackle colors and patterned feathers like grizzly and badger.  This is also a great time to use some interestingly colored dyed feathers.

8.  Add a pair of hourglass eyes near the hook eye, making sure to super-glue them into place.

9. Using a dubbing loop, dub the head of the fly around the eyes, then whip finish and trim!

Home Invader

Hook: Size 4 or larger streamer hook (#2 Eagle Claw 413-2 pictured)

Thread: Black 6/0

Tail: White Magnum Zonker Strip (original pattern calls for marabou)

Flash: UV Polar Chenille (silver pictured, original pattern does not include flash)

Body: Silver fox fur, tied in reversed

Wings: Neck hackle

Eyes: Weighted hourglass eyes

Head: Dubbing loop (Senyo's laser dub, gray, pictured, not part of original pattern)

Fish this pattern like any other streamer, varying depth, speed, and pace to entice fish.  Also dry dead drifting this pattern with an occasional twitch.

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A Spring Cleaning

It's been a while since I've posted, but there's good (well...truthful at least) reason for that.  Over the past several weeks, I haven't gone fishing more than 2-3 times, and have exactly no fish to show for it.  Further, I've done no tying at all, and what little photography work I've done to this point has been just that: work.  The D80 got it's first real workout of the year at work, taking a few shots of various pieces of equipment for reference purposes.  Not exactly thrilling news.

That being said, changes are in the works for Dharma of the Drift. 

Dharma of the Draft? 

With recent added responsibilities at work, I've found myself becoming more and more interested in beer.  Not just the drinking of it, but the history, taste, brewing, and chemical aspects as well.  While I'm no chemist, brewer, or historian, I am now a beer-taster by occupation, at least partially, so as difficult as it's been to commit to tasting beer on a regular basis, I'm taking my tasting more seriously.

To that end, after posting some fun facts, reviews, impressions, and opinions elsewhere on the interwebs, I realized that my readers probably do their fair share to keep people like me, in the beer business, in business.  While I'm sure not everyone who checks out DotD is a beer drinker, I bet many are, and I bet there's a high-percentage of craft beer enthusiasts.

To this end, I've decided to include beer, alongside fishing, tying, and photograpy, as a focus of the blog.  Of course, some may argue against diluting the purity of focus...but ultimately, it isn't their blog.  Over the past few months, beer has become another sort of hobby-taken-seriously for me.  Instead of browsing the coolers for a funny name or snazzy packaging, I'm looking at styles, favorite brewers, hard-to-find beers, or beers that showcase particular ingredients.  I'm far from an expert, but I hope my readers will enjoy the shared thoughts.  Further, sharing my impressions will make for much more regular updates, which is a good thing for all of us.

Facelift

I'm sure many of you remember the original gray and orange theme that was in place when the blog here launched.  Wasn't much, but it was functional.  Then I made an overhaul to the current look.  Over the next several months, I'm looking to re-do the look of the site, preferable to a simpler (though not strictly minimalist) look.  I read several dozen blogs, and I most look forward to visiting the simplest layouts among them.  

While I want to maintain functionality, there's lots of baby fat in the current design, and I'd like to trim it somewhat.  Though it's far from finalized, I'm thinking 3 or fewer colors, in maybe 2 tones each.  Nothing busy or flashy.  I'm even considering dropping the carousel window (one of my favorite features in the early days of DotD).  

Long story short, I guess you'll know it when you see it.

PhotoRetro

Just added this little beauty to the stable.  

Though she needs a bit of TLC, expect to see some pics from this one (as well as a more detailed intro post) soon!

Reel Good News

The reel I wanted to pair with my new 8wt finally arrived at the doorsteps of a shop I've been emailing for a month.  Placed the order a day or two ago, so hopefully, I'll have it in my hands within 2 weeks!

That's all for now...after two weeks of stupid-warm March weather, an incredible St. Patrick's day in Pittsburgh, and a really nice birthday, it's time to get to some fishing!

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Looking Ahead

So of course, I owe you guys a typical new year post.

I don't (or I try not to) do the 'resolution' thing.  For me, its too confining, too all-or-nothing...which makes it somewhat counterproductive, as the whole point is to better yourself.  When you set a resolution, it's usually either too harsh (tomorrow, I'm done smoking!) or too soft (over the next year I'm going to try to cut back slightly on junk food).  In the first situation, the moment you break it, you're done.  And in the second, it's so lax that there's really no self-betterment.

No, for my new year, I just try to set a few well-defined goals that will require effort to accomplish, yet are realistically within my reach.

For this year, I have five goals for myself as far as my recreational activities go:

• For my fly fishing, like last year (and the year before), I want to catch at least one new species on the fly.  I don't care about how it was accomplished, only that I got a fish to take a fly.  Last year, by dumb luck, I caught a chain pickerel.  In 2010, I added a flounder, my first saltwater catch on any tackle.  This year, I'm hoping to add one or more of pike, carp, gar, catfish, or, if I make it back to the salt, another species from the ocean.  One of my best friends lives minutes from the Chesapeake bay, so we're hoping to get together to fish some of the estuaries from kayaks.
• For my tying, I'd like to explore one specific area that I've been avoiding ever since my first attempt at it: spinning and stacking hair.  I tried to tie a few muddlers when I first started tying a few years ago, and they simply looked horrible.  This year I'd like to improve on that, and get some nice flies tied with spun or stacked hair.  This will coincide nicely with my goal of catching a pike on the fly.
• In October, a friend of mine invited me to do some waterfowl hunting, and I loved it.  To that end, I've been making a good effort at finding some good hunting around here, but so far, I've been unsuccessful.  While I did manage to take one bird on that first outing with my friend, I'd really like to get a few 'on my own' in 2012.
• For my photography, I'd like to continue to learn, specifically in terms of landscape shooting, as well as macro work.  Of course, there's a wishlist of lenses, gadgets, and other good stuff I'd like to get, but the main thing for me is to make time to get out there, and to push myself.  Sure, this one is fairly nebulous, but it's probably the one that will mean the most to me on December 31st, 2012.
• Finally, and most difficult, I want to get my work out there.  Ideally, I'd get published by a magazine or some other publication, but I don't want to limit my options.  While this will take some work (and I may be kidding myself with optimism at this point), I believe this is a goal that I might be able to achieve in the next year.  Hopefully, with the right combination of hard work, inspiration, and luck, I'll be able to see my name, words, or photos in print.

Well, that about sums it up for me.  What are some of your goals for the new year?

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International Fly Tying Symposium 2011

This year, just like in 2010, I attended the International Fly Tying Symposium in Somerset, NJ in mid-November.  This trip meant a little more to me than the trip last year because I had planned on going since mid-summer, but then I lost my job in September, and I really couldn't justify the expenses of a hotel room, food, and gas at a time where I really had to stretch my limited funds to make ends meet.

Then, at the very end of October, just a few weeks before the show, I got a new job.

As it turned out, I got my first paycheck from my new job they day before the Symposium.  I could justify the expense again, and it seems like a bit of a karmic reward.

The show was fairly similar to last years show, and while I'd highly recommend that any fly tyer go at least once, there wasn't enough different to make me immediately say that I want to go again next year.  For the cost of the trip, I could easily add a rod, reel, or new piece of photo equipment to my arsenal, and now that I've seen what there is to see, I'll likely go that route instead.

That being said, I did have a great time at the show, and had a lot of fun in New Brunswick Saturday night.

I'm not sure how much I talked about it here last year, but when I went in 2010, I had only just bought my SLR, and at that point, I had no lens to use on it, which limited me to taking my compact camera to the symposium.  This year I got to take my SLR and get some pretty decent shots.  Hopefully you'll enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed taking the shots.

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My Fall (Part 2)

Aside from my now job, there were a few other really notable positives in the fall, the most relevant one to my readers is that I caught my largest trout to this point.

I didn't have a tape at the time, but comparing it to the rod beside it, I estimate it to be a 22-24" tiger trout.  This is my third tiger, and it was an intense fight on my 4wt!

As usual, I took a break from the small streams and wild brookies when they decided it was time to spawn...

As I said, I made it to Erie to do some steelhead fishing...

And for the first time in my life, I went duck hunting.  A friend of mine invited me to do a few days of hunting with him, and now I'm hooked, and on a mission to get a few ducks around here on my own.  My first duck hunting trip was successful...

But subsequent trips have been a bit less so.  In any event, it's a new venture for me, and just like fly fishing, I don't expect lots of early success.  I'll be out again early tomorrow morning to try to get a few, but even if I don't get any, every trip out is one closer to the trip where it all finally clicks.  For now, I'm just enjoying learning something new.

A few weeks after my first duck hunting outing, I started my new job, and focused on adjusting to it for a few weeks after that.  Still, it couldn't have come at a better time, as it meant I could afford the gas and hotel room to make the drive up to Somerset, NJ for the 2011 International Fly Tying Symposium.  While I was there, I made sure to take plenty of photos...

...which you will all get to see in my next update!

That's all for now.  Merry Christmas to all my readers, and when I post again after the holiday, you'll have lots of fly pictures!

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Introducing: Iso Hatch Exposures

No big, meaty blog post today, just a question and an announcement for my readers.

First the question:

About a year ago, I wrote the five part Erie steelhead guide that has become, easily, the most viewed, linked to, talked about, and shared pages that I've ever produced.  It's clear that this is something that people really enjoyed, whether you (the readers) were the novice steelheaders that the articles were aimed toward, experienced steelhead anglers that were nonetheless interested, or even folks with no interest or inclination to go steelhead fishing that simply wanted to see what it was all about.

This year, I got started in my steelhead season preparation a bit later, having a trip to upstate New York to prepare for (and go on, naturally) at the beginning of August.  From the day I got back, however, to the present, it's been Operation: Steelhead at my vise.

That said, I'd like to write another piece on some aspect of the Erie steelhead experience, and I'm hoping my readers will let me know what they want.

I've been leaning toward a multi-piece article focusing on the tying aspect of things, covering everything from hooks and materials to tutorials and applications for all of the popular steelhead flies, from eggs and nymphs to buggers, hairwings, and specialty flies such as modern spey and intruders.

If this is something that my readers would be interested in, the comments section is the place to let me know.  If you have a different idea, that's the place to sound off as well.

Second, the announcement:

Over the weekend, I took advantage of some free time to finally launch a second Blogger site, focusing on my photography.  Over the past two or three years, photography, for me, has grown from taking a few pictures a month with a ten year old basic Kodak digital, to a hobby that occupies nearly as much of my time and energies as my fly fishing and tying.  While you've seen a significant portion of that work here, there's plenty of other pictures that never make it to the blog, simply because there's no reason for these photos to show up in a blog about fly fishing and tying.  Additionally, I tend to feel bad, like I've somehow 'cheaped out' if I post pictures with little or no text.  This sometimes keeps me from posting when I otherwise might.

I wanted to share these photos and avoid that stigma by starting a dedicated photoblog where I could post photos of anything and everything, without much text at all to distract from the images.

This desire helped bring about my new photoblog, and although it's in its very early stages and still undergoing many tweaks and adjustments, I'm eager to share it with my readers here.

Please take a look at it and let me know what you think, as well as any suggestions either here OR there...

Iso Hatch Exposures

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Summer Rainbows

Last Saturday, I managed to free up an entire afternoon for some trout scouting.  I keep a Google map of locations for fishing as a sort of 'To Do" list, with little markers in green identifying places that have been good fishing spots in the past.  Yellow markers indicate places that I've heard about or had recommended to me, or simply found on the map and thought that it might hold wild trout.  These markers are usually accompanied by short notes such as, 'Look for parking and access.' or , 'Low water mid-summer, check back in spring and fall.'

Usually, I don't have the luxury of time to plan out a scouting trip to check out these places, but when I do, it's always a learning experience.  Saturday was one of those days.

I had made plans to attend a picnic later in the evening in a somewhat remote area.  Lucky for me, that remote area was host to several yellow markers on my map.  I picked out four markers and planned out a rough route in my head connecting them.  I wanted to hit the most promising ones first, even though that often means I won't get to the entire list.

When I got to the first location, there were big yellow posted signs every ten feet, making it abundantly clear that visitors were not welcome.  Some guys will track down the landowner to get permission, but I take the signs to mean that they really don't want people in there.

The second area simply had no convenient location to pull off the road.  A steep drop-off to the stream would have been a challenge to navigate, but there were no spots where I'd feel comfortable pulling off the road and trusting that nobody would slam into my parked car.  A bit frustrated, I went to the third spot.

The route to this spot took me on a bridge over my 'backup option': a large, rocky creek that has managed to humble and stymie me repeatedly.  I know there's big trout in it.  Hell, I've seen the big trout...but with just one notable exception (a chunky brown), this creek has limited me to nothing but smallish 6-7" fish.  For a small stream, that isn't bad, but when I know that an 18" trout isn't terribly rare on a given stream, six or seven inches of trout isn't much of an accomplishment.




The third spot looked like a good spot on the map, but in person, it was little more than a few damp rocks in a ditch.  In fact, the bridge over it was the only place that it wasn't completely covered by weeds and saplings.  There might have been a trout in there, but even dapping was impossible with the thick vegetation.

Finally, the fourth spot seemed worthy of a try. Actually the same stream as the backup option, this was simply a point much farther upstream than I'd ever fished, where the waterway was much smaller.  There was a handy pull-off just before the bridge and I quickly got out and walked down to the water.

While it was obviously low, the creek looked fishable, and I returned to my car to gear up.  A few minutes later and I finally got to my first cast of the day, hours after I left home.

This was the second outing for my new ultralight rod (which I'll discuss more fully in a later post), and I was still having trouble adjusting to the fast action in such a light stick.  Still, I managed a few decent casts and drifts...but failed to persuade any fish.  Twice, I was rewarded by quick, splashy rises, but I suspected they were minnows, not trout.

As I worked my way upstream, I was disappointed again, as I happened upon a deep, wide, slow section, too deep to wade and to steep and muddy to go around...just a few yards from where I entered.  Disappointed once again, I headed back for the car, and from there, my backup option.

Blue-lining, or searching the map for possible wild trouting locations, then following up with visits, is a venture often met with heaps of disappointment, but it usually pays off just enough to keep a few of us coming back for more.



Well, eventually, I got back to my backup creek, got my pack, and headed for the water.  Just as I entered, though, I heard a noise and looked up to see a guy and his young boy fishing and playing in the next pool up.  Had it been a lone fisherman, I might have been annoyed, but I was glad to see the young kid out with his dad.  Still, I had to make yet another decision.  To fish the lower reaches meant walking downstream then fishing my way back up.  Upstream would mean getting out and skipping over where the guy and his boy were, but would take me to water I'd only ever fished once before, so I decided to go that route.

As I walked along the train tracks that paralleled the stream, I noticed a small feeder creek that I'd only ever seen at the mouth where it emptied into the main waterway.  At this point, the light bulb came on and I decided to fish the feeder instead.  Dropping down from the railroad tracks, I started drifting the tricky currents in the rocky streambed, methodically covering every drift in a pool or riffle before moving up to the next.  Although I didn't realize it until later, I must have started to really get the feel for my new fly rod, because I noticed myself getting the drift I wanted more and more often, without the exasperating misses and splashdowns.  Another quick way to improve your casting is to fish any small stream.  You'll either improve, or lose every fly you carried in to trees, roots, branches, and shrubs.  Speaking of shrubs, the wild rhododendron was in full bloom...

As I went up, I started getting a few rises, and as I got used to the rod, rises turned into fish landed...and jus tlike that...I'd discovered a new stream for wild rainbows...

First trout on the new rod.  Not a bad way to break it in.

I love the fins of the wild bows...maybe even more than those of the wild browns and brookies.

Love the pink stripe that looks like someone painted it on there...

As always, the surroundings are beautiful...

A little farther up, I came to a bend in the stream.  At this bend, there was an extremely large, deep pool for a stream of this size in this rocky terrain.  It also had a unique feature: a rock island out in the middle of the pool.

Almost no spots on this one.  More than the browns and brookies, I think wild bows display the most variance in appearance from fish to fish in the same stream.

Terrible photo, beautiful fin.

This may be a personal best wild bow...not sure.  He was pushing 8".  Not sure what happened to his gill, though.

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