Utah Killer Bug pattern

T

tctrout

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Here's a simple and effective pattern I wanted to share with all, the Utah Killer Bug. A buddy of mine in State College fishes this pattern a lot with success, and he wanted me to share with all.

This pattern does not use the wire ribbing simply bc there doesn't seem to be a need for the pink in Pennsylvania; feel free to add a wire rib if wanting an additional color to shine through.

There is a specific brand & color of yarn used in the tying (Jamieson's Shetland yarn); if anyone has alternatives, let me know.

TC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJiB8Z_EPW8

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJiB8Z_EPW8[/youtube]

 
Nice fly and video. Where you get the wool??

Eunan
 
Send me a pm with you addy and I'll send you a piece after I get out of the hospital around Wed or so.
 
HERNIA of the brain !!!
or something to that effect, might be on his butt though. I know he said hernia just can't remember where henry
 
Thanks, Eunan; the material can be purchased a couple places and in some shops. I've emailed the company and they suggest the following online:

Yarn Barn (Virginia) - http://www.yarnbarn.com

Feral Knitter (California) - http://www.feralknitter.com

Schoolhouse Press (Wisconsin) - http://www.schoolhousepress.com

Hope this helps!

Tim
 
The fly on the upper right of the photo looks exactly like a beadhead Walt's Worm, which was originated by Walt Young when he was working at Flyfishers Paradise, sometime around the very early 1990s, or maybe even late 1980s. People in central PA have been using both the beaded and unbeaded Walt's Worm since that time with great success.

In my notes I found that I had a very good fishing trip using a beadhead Walts Worm as early as fall 1993, so Walt had come up with these some time, probably a few years, before that.

If you have some Hare's Ear fur you can tie that fly right now, without having to order the special yarn. For best effect, use a dubbing loop so the dubbing is really spiky. You can also pick out the dubbing with a needle for that spiky effect.

I don't think changing the name is justified, simply by changing the body material from Hares Ear to a yarn that looks like Hare's Ear. Give credit to the person who originated the fly. It's a Beadhead Walt's Worm.

 
THanks guys

i got some from yarn barn, enough to tie a million flies.

Looking forward to giving this one a swim before seasons end

Eunan
 
troutbert wrote:
I don't think changing the name is justified, simply by changing the body material from Hares Ear to a yarn that looks like Hare's Ear. Give credit to the person who originated the fly.
Click to expand...

Well, if you insist....

The Utah Killer bug is a variation of Frank Sawyer's Killer bug.

Frank Sawyer - as in originator of the pheasant tail nymph.

Frank Sawyer came up with the Killer Bug in the 1930's.

I believe the original yarn for the Killer Bug was Chadwick's #477.

Here's a brief article on it. LINK.
 
Heritage-Angler wrote:
I believe the original yarn for the Killer Nymph was Chadwick's #477.
Click to expand...

Correct. Its also long out of manufacturing, however there's several people who claim to have a direct replacement.

If you delve into the sorts of forums filled with jackholes who argue the merits of a 1940's embroidery yarn vs modern versions, you'll find numerous people who claim that Chadwick has some sort of magic, unequaled quality that nothign else can come close to.

I suspect that's simply because they have untouched cards of the stuff they move on ebay.

I actually assumed this was simply a Johnny Utahesque post where someone changes a material to something different, then renames the fly with their own name so as to grasp for all the glory being a celebrity fly tier involves, but didn't weigh in so as to not always be that guy.

FWIW, the Sawyer Bug was also tied with wire, not thread, like the original PT nymph.
 
Okay, then the fly shown in the video is the Sawyer Killer Bug. And the beadhead Sawyer Killer Bug.

Sawyer used yarn X (which is no longer made.) This guy uses yarn Y, chosen to look as much like yarn X as possible.

That's the creation of a new pattern?

 

As much as I hate people who change a material and then stick their name on a fly in hopes of getting phat stacks of cash and big booty chicks, this is almost a circumstance when its acceptable.

The Sawyer killer bug is a well known fly using Chadwick 477 and copper winding wire. This is a bastardized version using thread and a sub due to the fact that the bonafide material is no longer made. Reasonably, it can't be a "Sawyer Killer Bug" because its not. But it can be a "killer bug" because it is a direct line to it.

Furthermore, best as I can figure out its a nice, anonymous, regional name and not something along the lines of D. Frank's Steelhead Wonderkiller, so who can really complain?

Anyways, you should see "fen's worm." The fly, not the WMD of I keep hidden in my waders, that is. "Fen's worm" is just like a Walt's Worm except I use a antron blend and _yellow_ thread. Feel free to tie that up, just put my name on it. Its my fly. Totally changed it and own it. Copyrights.

 
Troutbert wrote: Okay, then the fly shown in the video is the Sawyer Killer Bug. And the beadhead Sawyer Killer Bug.

Sawyer used yarn X (which is no longer made.) This guy uses yarn Y, chosen to look as much like yarn X as possible.

That's the creation of a new pattern?
Click to expand...

I think dubbed fur noodles as a fly has been around as nymph fishing has been around.
 
@sasha, You know how I feel about copyrights.
 
turkey wrote:
@sasha, You know how I feel about copyrights.
Click to expand...

I've built my entire Amazon reviews empire around pictures of your porch table.
 
There's a million variations of both of these around. Here's a good post by a good blogger that splits it down the middle:

Korn SBS on half WW/ half SKB

You could dig around in that blog and come up with all kinds of things to try, including yarns.
 
If ya like the fly, whatever it's called or whatever it's origin...tie it and fish it. If you don't...don't.

I've been tying a version of Walt's Worm long before Walt ever "invented" it. I was a kid and all the material I had was rabbit dubbing (from a rabbit I killed myself) and some baitholder hooks...and the Afish Worm was BORN!

Sheesh!...get a life...go fishin'...quit bitchin'
 

See, if you would've simply morse-coded the SBS for that out into the ether on the shortwave set, then you'd be the man and they'd all be going on about the proper materials for Tom's Worm, but no sir. You didn't bother. You didn't think about the IP you'd come up with, and now you missed your chance.

You missed it. Walt's a hero, Frank Sawyer's dead, and you're stuck here on the Internet.

 
gfen wrote:
Heritage-Angler wrote:
I believe the original yarn for the Killer Nymph was Chadwick's #477.
Click to expand...
...jackholes who argue the merits of a 1940's embroidery yarn vs modern versions, you'll find numerous people who claim that Chadwick has some sort of magic, unequaled quality that nothign else can come close to...
I suspect that's simply because they have untouched cards of the stuff they move on ebay...
Click to expand...
You mean, kinda like Honey Bug Yarn?
 
No way, that's legit; just ask anyone with a skein to sell.
 
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