The Djuza Project, part 2

I’ve been experimenting with racoon, until I got to this pattern, which I think has great potential (I’ve tested them already, and they look very good in the water).

 

This is white racoon with pink chenille

It’s a bit hard to explain how I made them, so I did a ‘step by step’ to make it easier.

Click on any image to enlarge.

 

Put your thread on the hook

 

Tie in some flash material (this is polar flash)

 

Then some racoon

 

Then tie in some chenille (this Vampire Plush)

 

Wrap the chenille two times around the hook shank (although this depends on the chenille you use, with Krystal Chenille for example, I’ve used three wraps), and tie it in

 

Tie in some racoon, and spread it equally around the top of the hook shank

 

Repeat the last two steps up to the hook eye

(a couple of mm in front of it)

 

Tie in some racoon around the bottom of the hook shank

 

Glue on some eyes (or like I did, some sequins, since epoxy is the next step, so these will look like epoxy eyes)

This might be interesting

(if you aren’t using them already).

These are hair clips, which are very practical while tying or drying (pike) flies (after using epoxy). They come in all shapes and sizes.

I got this from Ken Capsey from www.pikeadventures.blogspot.com

and they are damn handy!

Epoxy the head

Normally I comb out a lot of fur, but with this racoon, I didn’t, because unlike other fur, the stuff you leave in, doesn’t just absorb water and lay flat, but it actually keeps it’s volume…

 

as you can see on this picture.

This is the same fly when wet.

And some other colours.

These are all about 9 cm long, tied on a Gamakatsu F 314, size 1.

 

Yellow racoon and red chenille

White and chartreuse racoon with red chenille

These are two flies from the experimental stage of the pattern above (they are tied on a hook that’s to big for this pattern, although that’s personal of course).

They are easier to tie, and certainly very functional as well.

 

I’ve just tied in the racoon on top of the hook shank.

Actually, I like using racoon. It’s durable, it keeps it’s volume, and has a great movement in the water. But this stuff is not very common here in Belgium, which makes it hard to find, and even if you do find it, they ask an absurd price for it. So, ordering it on the internet is the perfect alternative, but the problem with ordering stuff from internet shops, especially natural material, is that the example they put on their site, looks a hundred times better then the stuff you receive at home!

So if anyone can give me a good tip for ordering reasonably priced, good quality racoon zonker strips, please let me know…

The Djuza Project, part 1

Last week, fellow pike-fly-tier, and very sympathetic bloke from Finland, Djuza (from www.piketeaser.blogspot.com ), had a bit of an inspiration problem. So I thought that maybe we could help each other out. I asked him to send me a list of the material he had in stock, and I would try to make something out of it.

I don’t consider myself to be a fantastic fly-tier, but I love doing it, and I like a bit of a challenge (I just love to experiment), so I thought this could be a fun thing to do.

And besides, what kind of a world are we living in, if people stop helping each other.

Actually, I expected a rather short list (no offence, Djuza, but I haven’t seen that many different material on your blog), but the inventory he sent me will keep me busy for quite a while (so more posts are coming).

This is a piece of the mail he has sent me: “As you maybe know, I prefer naturals before synthetics” … “but I should not forget Slinky Fibre or other synthetics” … “My next tying project will probably be some baitfish imitations in a smaller size for the summer”.

I was already looking for some smaller sized pike flies for myself (usually, small for me is 12-14 cm).

So I had already tied this small version of a ‘Lonesome Tom’ (about 9 cm), and therefore, I thought, this could be a good way to start.

But the head is polypropylene fibre with Crazy Legs, and those were not on the list.

 

So I’ve changed it a bit. I’ve made the head with a brass wire dubbing brush with SF Blend, which I’ve cut into shape (I know that Djuza likes to use a dubbing brush himself).

But SF Blend wasn’t on the list either.

However, SF Blend is a mixture of Slinky Fibre and Angel Hair, and those two, he does have in stock.

 

So this one, I’ve blended myself (a dubbing brush is an easy way to do that).

This head is white and pink Slinky Fibre blended with white and pink Angel hair.

The only problem with a dubbing brush is the fact that the bottom and the top of your fly always have the same colour.

 

So here, I’ve used chartreuse Flash’n Slinky for the head, but I’ve coloured the top with a permanent marker (don’t worry, a permanent marker used on synthetic fibre is very water proof).

Another interesting part of this project, is that I’m forced to use certain materials, that I rarely use myself.

Such as, Polar Fibre.

I’ve used it before for flies like these, which could be used in the Baltic as well. They’re about 8 cm long. Some of them don’t look so fresh anymore (that’s because they have already hit the water).

 

Another fly that I've tied with Polar Fibre is this one. I got this pattern from Renzo Callebert, and he uses it for ide, feeding on fry, on the surface. I haven’t caught any ide on them yet, but they have been successful for perch, and I’ve met a guy in the Belgian Ardennes, who uses a similar pattern for trout.

But I wanted to do something else.

So I’ve tied me this baitfish pattern, which I’m rather satisfied with. They are also about 8 cm long, tied on a Gamakatsu F 314, size 1.

 

white and olive, with a little red under the chin.

 

white and chartreuse, with a little orange under the chin.

 

hot pink and purple

 

black and red

 

You do have to comb this material out first, and the amount of rubbish that comes out of this stuff is unbelievable (you can still use it as dubbing material of course).

The little jar is all the chartreuse Polar Fibre that I had to comb out for this one fly!

I’m already experimenting with Yak Hair (another material that I rarely use), so…