Tying the Smoke Jumper

Smoke Jumper 

The Smoke Jumper fly is a popular pattern on Montana’s Bighorn River. The CDC winged emerger is a great all purpose emerger for midge and mayfly hatches. The color scheme of the fly can be altered to imitate the insect you are trying to imitate. Hatches that the Smoke Jumper fly is effective at imitating are midges, Baetis, and Pale Morning Duns.

You can tie the abdomen on the Smoke Jumper with several different materials- peacock herl, turkey biots, micro tubing, or thread with wire.

The wing on the Smoke Jumper is CDC (cul de canard). A high quality CDC makes a big difference on this fly. My preferred CDC is Petitjean Select CDC feathers. Lower quality feathers are not as full and don’t make as nice a wing.

Smoke Jumper Fly Materials

Hook: Daiichi 1130 or Tiemco 2487 size 16 to 20

Thread: Tiemco 16/0

Abdomen: Stripped Peacock Herl, Turkey Biots, or Thread and Wire

Wing: 2-3 matched CDC feathers

Thorax: Nature’s Spirit Fine Natural Dubbing, Nature’s Spirit Emergence Dubbing, or Wapsi Superfine Dubbing

Tying Barr's Tung Teaser

Barr's Tung Teaser Nymph

Barr’s Tung Teaser is an excellent all purpose nymph from John Barr. This pattern has become a staple in my box and the bins at the shop. We often fish it as the lead fly in a two fly nymph rig. This pattern combines the effective features of many popular nymphs- biot tails, epoxy back, hackle legs. Tie and fish in sizes 12-18.

Barr’s Tung Teaser Materials

Hook: Tiemco 3761 Size 12-18

Bead: Tungsten Bead sized to Hook

Thread: 70 Denier Ultra Thread

Tail: White Goose Biots

Rib: Gold or Copper Wire

Abdomen: Arizona Peacock Dubbing

Flashback: Flashabou Pearl

Wingcase: Thin Skin Mottled

Thorax: Arizona Peacock Dubbing

Legs: Partridge or India Hen

Epoxyback: Liquid Fusion, Clear Cure Goo, or 5 Minute Epoxy

Or, Purchase some Barr’s Tung Teasers already tied up and ready to fish…

Tying Hans' Cricket Fly

Tying the Hans' Cricket Fly 

Cricket fly patterns have become a staple in my summer fly selection. Bill Logan’s Big Secret Cricket has been a huge producer for me over the past 4 seasons. I recently began tying a variation of Hans’s Hopper to mimic a cricket. The resulting pattern, Hans’ Cricket fly, has been working very well on recent outings.

Materials:

Hook: Daiichi 1260 size 8-12

Thread: 140 Denier Black

Tail: Black/Red Flake Sili-legs

Body/Head: 2mm Black Foam

Abdomen/Thorax: Ice Dubbing

Legs:  Black/Red Flake Sili-legs

Antennae:  Black/Red Flake Sili-legs

Wing: Black Krystal Flash

Strike Indicator: Hot Pink Ice Dubbing

Tying the Sparkle Dun

Tying the Sparkle Dun


The Sparkle Dun, a comparadun style dry fly, is an extremely versatile pattern for imitating mayfly duns. By changing the size and color of the pattern, it is easy to mimic many species of mayflies.

Happy Tying!

Materials:

Sparkle Dun Materials (match color to mayfly species)

Hook: Tiemco 100 or Daiichi 1100 size 12-22

Wing: Nature’s Spirit Comparadun Deer

Tail/Shuck: Sparkle Yarn or Antron Yarn

Abdomen: Nature’s Spirit Fine Natural Dubbing