At the Desk Tying Trash Flies

  The other day I was looking over a few fly tying books at a book store and came across one called Fly Patterns by Fishing Guides.  With 200 flies used by guides all over the world I thought that this would be a great addition to my collection of interesting books on fly tying and promptly bought it.
   The first one that caught my attention was the Foam Emerger by Masamitsu Kasuya.  Just my speed - easy to tie and simple enough to work. Tied these up on a #16 scud hook.  Now I can't wait to try it out - I bet the Tenkara Sunfish will kill them!

From there I went into tying up a few flies I had to replenish my box.  The beetle has long been a favorite of mine so it is no wonder why I am always re-stocking them in my small fly box.  With the creeks and tiny mountain streams I go to searching out the brookies, the small terrestrials are always a viable option to tie.  A passing trout cant help to give these little guys a look.  The only problem I have had with them is when fishing them I find it hard to see them at distance.  They are usually tied in #14 or #16 sizes and with a black body, I usually just fish a rise in the area of where I think my fly is drifting.  To solve this problem I have began to add a little white nail polish to the back of these stellar bugs.

I first start off with a cut section closed cell foam wrapped to the back of the hook.  This builds a thick body for the fly and I find gives the beetle a realistic appearance. I also do not use black thread.  I tend to go to a deep purple 6/0 thread because if you look carefully at the underside of a small beetle you will notice that it is not a true black but a varying shades of deep colors that make it look to us as simply black.

I then tie in some ostrich hurls for the under body.  These are excellent to give the fly a little life as it sits on the water.  The fish sees them move and they cant help themselves.

And then finally I bring the foam forward and finish the fly off with a little of my wife's nail polish.  Its a great fly and one sure to get a few looks on a small stream or on the pond.  Not technically a Tenkara fly but it has the same result when fished as a top water Tenkara style.

Messing a bit more with the closed cell foam I whipped up a few quick wingless wasp patterns.  You can count numerous way this is not remotely like a wasp but will the fish be so discerning? I bet when they see this rushing past them on a drift they will rush it like a linebacker.  The four or five wasps I pulled from a trouts stomach last year tells me that they do dine on the stinging insects so I am betting that these will be a winner.  Thoughts?