Flies for the new season- klinkhammer special….part 1

This time around I do not want to start the season with around 4 trout attacked flies that I need to struggle along with until I can be bothered tying up some more. My idea is that I will build up a little stock of essential flies so that I do not have to panic and start tying up flies at 6am for that days fishing, considering the time it takes for me to tie up a parachute I usually only get enough time to tie up a few before I have to leave anyway. I suppose that is one reason that actually drives me to tie up flies- absolute necessity. If I know I am going fishing in the morning and I have no flies then I am forced to tie some up. There is a certain enjoyment factor to this as well; as you are tying you just know that they will be in the water in a couple of hours and catching fish. The fact that I am usually in a hurry tying flys means no one would ever say my flies are the prettiest, in fact no one in there right mind would ever buy them in a shop. I am under no illusions that I will ever be one of these people that can turn out exquisite looking flies time after time. All I can really hope for is that I can master a few basic techniques and tie flies that the trout actually like. This cunning ploy seems to work.
So it is fair to say that in the winter, which is the traditional time for fly fishers to tie flies, I can never be bothered to get the vice out as I feel I have no real need. This year however I vowed that I would get a little stock of flies together so that the aforementioned panic would not set in.
I started by making a list of flies that I normally use- and flies that I would like to use. This list came to around 5 flies that are my main go for it full on attack force. In various colours of course!

The first fly I went for was a klinkhammer – I tied a fair few in size 12, all olive as that is the main go to fly that seems to do the business consistently. My problem last year was that the just seemed a little too bulky, the body was a bit on the fat side. I solved that little problem this year by…..wait for it…halving the amount of poly yarn that I usually use for the wing post. I don’t think this should affect the floatability factor but it does look a bit prettier. I remember reading somewhere that the tight binding of the wing post helps the fly to float as air gets trapped under the thread wrappings. Consequently I used to make my wing post a little thicker than usual by using a full strand of poly yarn.
We will see the results in the new season of the effects of using less. I strongly suspect it will be for the better for two reasons. Firstly, the actual fly is thinner and more tapered than before meaning that it is now more in proportion with an emerging insect and secondly I suspect that the whole air getting trapped theory is a lot of bloody nonsense.

[tags]fishing flies,fly tying, klinkhammer special [/tags]