Feed 'em Fur

[afishinado]

Good article about tying and fishing fur only flies, aka Walt's Worm type patterns.

https://troutbitten.com/2020/08/09/feed-em-fur/

 

[UncleShorty]

If you are interested in all-fur flies including nymphs, emergers, wets, drys, salmon and saltwater flies try to find a copy of "All Fur Flies and How to Dress Them" by W. H. Lawrie.

It may be hard to find. It was published in 1967. Original price on the fly leaf? $5.00... Good luck finding it for that price today...

But if you're a "fur flinger", or want to be one, it's worth the hunt and the price...

 

[troutpoop]

Nice little article. When fishing PA I almost always use a walts worm for one of my two nymphs, at least to start. I'm not a huge nympher and do it as infrequently as possible because i prefer dry flies by far. So when I do nymph I go to what I have learned from experience works.
These simple flies work and if I lose them it takes only a couple minutes to whip them out on the vise.

 

[JeffK]

Back in the day a favorite fly was the Musky Shrimp, just a football shaped dubbing on a hook. The original was pale Australian possum over orange thread that glowed a nice orange color when wet. The gray option was muskrat fur with a black thread, which was popular since it worked and in olden days when kids trapped muskrat fur trimmings were always available for free. Tried ribs, shells and tails, but plain is better. Gray or cream honeybugs were another options.

Before curved hooks were common could get a curved shape by dubbing into the bend of the hook. In early 70s English bait hooks became popular for curved nymphs.

Agree that getting a nice football shape is easier by building up two to 3 thin layers of dubbing.

 

[lestrout]

Yo Jeff - how do you think the Musky Shrimp is different than the Little Lehigh Shrimp? Back in the 70s and 80s, especially when the suspension walk bridge was still there, the LL had loads of cress beds, and the regulars used the pattern you describe, though I don't recall the trick with the orange thread. Watching them, the trouts loved the LLS, even chasing them around.

 

[acesedgley]

Les, you must know about the LL Philadelphia Lawyer?
(Not a nymph...sorry)

 

[LetortAngler]

Warms my heart to see the comp crowd finally recognizing the effectiveness of classic fur flies without beads.

 

[Baron]

Interesting article on a simple fly. Looks like a killer Gill fly as well.

At the bottom of that page is a link to an article about keeping your split shot from sliding. I hope to test the Author's theories.

Thanks for the post.

 

[JeffK]

I don't know about a Little Lehigh shrimp - patterns were more local back in the day before the internet. I remember a rug bug tied with carpet fibers in the mid 70's. But I sure had luck at the Little Lehigh and Bushkill with Muskie shrimp and honey bugs. There seem to be a thousand variations of the muskrat nymph - one is just gray fur on a hook like the gray Muskie Shrimp. I'm sure many others have used the same fly under many names since muskrat fur was available and effective. I also remember simple hare's ears being just hare's ear on a hook. I caught a large brown on one in the 70's in the Bushkill at Tatamy. A friend of mine did good work with a blob of seals fur on a hook. Ed Koch's burlap fly was just a blob of burlap.

Simple flies do work