Variations on a theme (Assortment of POP Flies)

[letumgo]

1) Yellow & White (w/o underbody)


2) Orange & Copper (w/o underbody)


3) Red (silver tinsel underbody)


4) White (silver tinsel underbody)


5) Orange (gold tinsel underbody)


6) Yellow & Green (w/o underbody)

[letumgo]

The abdomen of these flies is formed with Baby Bug Wrap or Legs Alive material. In a couple of the patterns, I used two different colors of material to give the fly a segmented look. It is surprising how much some of them look like quill bodies.

[Johnno]

Those are nice Ray. I like the effects of the white and yellow and also the lighter and darker green in particular.


What is this "legs Alive" and "Baby Bug Wrap"?

[wayneb]

Hi Johnno;

Legs alive and baby bug material are products of Fly Tyers Dungeon. It's really neat stuff I use it for legs on my topwater patterns and as Ray used it for abdomen on wets.

Link: http://www.flytyersdungeon.com/Material ... ndlegs.htm

Wayne

[wayneb]

Hi Ray;

I really like how they turned out, as you said it really resembles a quill body. Did you use tinsel under all the patterns or just on the ones with tags in the later half of the photos? Also, does bbw(baby bug wrap) have similar translucence to silk?

Wayne

[letumgo]

Wayne - I used tinsel under most of them. I tyed some up without the tinsel underbody to see what difference it made in the appearance of the fly. Since this material is opaque, I was expecting the appearance to be the same with and without the tinsel. It turns out that the tinsel underbody makes a significant (in my opinion) difference in the color of the abdomen. Although the material is opaque, it seems to let a lot of light through to the hook. I found that the abdomens were darker (duller) without the tinsel underbody. If your working with the lighter colors (white, yellow, light green, etc.) the difference is more pronounced. When I want brighter colored abdomens, I like to use the tinsel underbody. When I want to tone-down the color of the abdomen, I just wrap over the bare hook shank (no tinsel underbody). This little variation will be useful if you are trying to match a local insect.

[William Anderson]

Ray, you've done it again. These are very nice patterns. between you and Hans, it's interesting to see all the synthetics used for bodies. I have a few synthetic materials...in a small dusty box in the back of my closet, but maybe I should put them back with the others. It definitely opens the possibilities for creative flies like these. These are very nice.

w

[letumgo]

In case anyone is interested, the abdomens of the flies were formed with the following colors:

1) Yellow & White (w/o underbody)
2) Orange & Copper (w/o underbody)
3) Red (silver tinsel underbody)
4) White (silver tinsel underbody)
5) Orange (gold tinsel underbody)
6) Yellow & Green (w/o underbody)

All of the flies are tyed on the same basic pattern (see below).

Hook: Mustad Model 3906/Size 8 (I like to fish size 6 as well)
Thread: Black UNI-Thread (6/0)
Hackle: Hungarian Partridge
Underbody (Optional): Mylar Tinsel (Silver or Gold)
Abdomen: One or two strands of Legs Alive or Baby Bug Wrap (I wrap it from the front of the thorax, back to the bend of the hook and then forwards back over itself. I like to leave a small bit of tinsel showing at the back as a tag)
Thorax: Five or Six Strands of Peacock Herl
Flash Wing Case & Flash Wing: Two Strands of Silver Holographic Tinsel (pulled over the back of the Thorax to add a small twinkle of flash/color to the pattern. All of the flies above are tyed with the flash. It is just tough to see from the angle they were photographed.)
Head: Tying thread with a small drop of clear nail polish to secure the wraps.

Here is a photo that shows the fly from a different angle. I trimmed the tag end of the holographic tinsel even with the butt of the abdomen. These two strands of tinsel/flash will serve as the wings of the fly. When you rotate the fly, the tinsel will occasionally twinkle. Most of the time the tinsel blends into the pattern. I like to think that the occasional twinkle will add to the attactiveness of the pattern to the fish. It may only be in my head, but it improves my confidence in the fly.

[redietz]

Ray -

Really great stuff. Your POP series is one of my favorite subjects on this forum.

[letumgo]

I am bumping this post so that JohnP could find it easier.