A number of years ago I dropped a fly box in the “crick” and thoroughly soaked the flies. When I got home I put the flies away to dry and promptly forgot about them. I re-discovered them when re-arranging my fishing and fly tying stuff. The hooks were good (read not rusted) but the beads and wire had tarnished. I kind of liked the muted color combination.
This past spring I proceeded to see if they would still work. I fish them solo and in tandem with a newly tied pattern with shiny Gold Bead and Wire. In fishing of this tarnished/dull pattern compared to a shiny pattern, the tarnished/dull has out fished the shiny by a margin of appx 4 to 1. It didn’t seem to matter whether it was the lead or anchor fly in a two nymph rig. This is probably due to the fact that the fish have seen a lot of shiny beads and ribs. This is just my opinion but it makes sense to me!
I found some old beads and wire that I have had 20+ years in my fly tying stuff that were dull and proceeded to use them. The wire spools are wooden and old beads may have been brass as opposed to being gold plated. I have also have dulled the shine on Gold Plated Cyclops beads by soaking them in red wine vinegar. The longer I soaked them the duller they became until they reached the point as shown in the fly picture. Click on the picture for an enlarged view.
I have also tied this pattern using the combination of a Brown Olive Cyclops Bead with Brown Ultra Wire. The results of which have been exceptionally good.
BH Fox Squirrel Nymph V1
Tied By: Larry O Jurgens
Hook: TMC 3769, TMC 3761, Dai-Riki #075
Size: 16 ~ 22
Thread: Brown 8/0 UNI Thread
Tail: Fox Squirrel Back Guard Hairs
Optional Underbody: Lead Wire
Abdomen: Fox Squirrel Belly Dubbing
Rib: Tarnished/Dull Gold Wire (If Available) or Brown Ultra Wire
Thorax: Fox Squirrel Back
Optional Legs: Natural Dark Brown Speckled Hen Back
Head: Tarnished/Dull Gold Bead (If Available) or Brown Olive Cyclops Bead
Optional: Water-based Head Cement and Super Glue
Send me an email for tying instructions.
