FLYMPH FORUM

NedZeppelin wrote: ↑Sun May 03, 2020 10:02 am Frying Pan PMDs a new trick this September!

I swear, there are times when I believe I am the only person in the entire state of Colorado that has heard of a Tups. There are times that I mention it by name and I get the weirdest looks from other fly fishermen.

The first photo is my standard Tups variant that I use as soon as the river flows go down from Spring Run-off. Normally there are still a few Yellow Sallies around. At that time the PMD hatch seems to be in full swing. I have a suspicion that the Tups does dual duty imitating both bugs. I use it on the Eagle, Colorado, Roaring Fork, Gunnison, and Frying Pan rivers. I use it as a nymph, and I also swing it. The abdomen is Light Cahill thread, and the thorax is a mixture of light Yellow Haretron dubbing, Red dubbing, and sometimes a splash of Orange dubbing. Sometimes natural, sometimes synthetic. I add and mix until I like what I am looking at. I tie this pattern in size 16 on a Mustad 3906B Hook (or similar). Once in a while on a size 14.

Years ago, a tyer by the name of A.K. Best had mentioned in an article or book that his favorite PMD pattern for the Frying Pan River was a Melon Quill. It was a dry fly. I saw a few of these flies later on. To me, the body was the color of cantaloupe. I do not recall what the rest of the fly looked like. I could not find a thread to duplicate this color. By the way, the PMD's I have seen on the upper Frying Pan, or at least I think they are PMD's are the same melon color. I found that by taking the light Yellow Haretron and inserting it in to a split thread of Red, I could get close to the melon color when the fly became wet. It works, for me, on the upper Frying Pan from mile marker 6 to the Dam. The bad thing is, it is a bit of a disappointment any where else I have fished it. I tie it in size 18 on the 3906B hook.



Frying Pan Tups

Hey Dubbin,
Great looking flies.
There is a company called D’s Flyes that sells the melon colored quills. They are located in Denver. Web site www.dsflyes.com. They also have a color called Frying Pan PMD.

Lou

Variant wrote: ↑Sun May 03, 2020 3:29 pm Hey Dubbin,
Great looking flies.
There is a company called D’s Flyes that sells the melon colored quills. They are located in Denver. Web site www.dsflyes.com. They also have a color called Frying Pan PMD.

Lou

Yes sir, I know of them. Now if they just had thread that color.

I love this. Those Mile 6 up to the Dam PMDs are fun aren’t they? So at least I won’t be the only one throwing Tups based flies at them. Of course they’ll refuse them too, but hey that’s the fun of it. I like your recipes and will experiment. I just think no one is throwing flymph style impressionist flies very much and maybe that will be a key. That and a red Zebra Midge.

Ken & Kevin

FINALLY, this old guy got off his (my) butt and the Tups samples are being mailed today. Cheers.

Bob

Wayne - those flies are DOPE! (easy to get hooked on)

letumgo wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 11:42 am Wayne - those flies are DOPE! (easy to get hooked on)

Ha Ha ha! The Tups is DOPE! I just get in the neighborhood of the original and I can catch fish!

My Tup's mix.

Alan

sweet!

Beautiful blend.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of folks here I have a good supply of the necessary ingredients for Mike Valla's Tups dubbing, and have mixed up a few batches. I think I have it dialed in, with his recommended proportions but with the nuance that an additional half inch of red yarn is added at the end which is barely mixed, so that there are clearly visible red threads in the final mix (see, e.g., BrkTrouts' mix above). The Valla mix is also a good base for further experiments - for the Frying Pan Tups, for instance, I am experimenting with adding some tan rabbit fur to get that "dusty tan" look going. Your choice of silk will also change the end effect of course. I am playing with some ties to share but not there yet.

But time to "pay it forward" and bring it back to my original post, and to thereby encourage further obsession with this topic. I am offering 3 x 4 bags of Valla's Tup Dressing to those who PM me name and address. I'll limit this offer to 20 in the U.S. for now. I'll crank it out over over this upcoming 4th long weekend and get it out next week.