2026 - January Fly Tying

Fly Tying

Greg Walters

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I went to the Arkansas River while in Salida visiting my father-in-law to fish my favorite stretch. My rod had on two dry flies, which I figured would not entice many strikes, and in fact attracted none. I next tied on a Gasolina perdigon with a Cat Toy Caddis Larva (aka, green cheese burger) below and still could not get a look. I then replaced the Caddis larva with a Lightspeed Leech and I finally got a strike on the Gasolina and landed a small brown, but that was the only one.

After moving to another run and again not having any luck, I remembered a presentation I saw by Ken Iwamasa where he talked about the research he did on baetis flies in the Arkansas River. So, I tied on two fly patterns I had recently tied: Poison Tung and WD-40. I finally started catching browns in the range of 12 to 16 inches on both flies (Poison Tung on top and WD-40 as a dropper fly)! I even had a few bigger fish on, but they were long-distanced released :) 

 

Poison Tung

The Poison Tung is a really simple fly to tie and is meant to imitate an emerging midge, but as I found, works well as a baetis. I've tied them on 18 to 24 size hooks, even though Charlie Craven recommends size 16-20. Here is the recipe:

• Hook: TMC 2487 or 2488 #16-20
• Bead: 2mm Silver Tungsten Bead
• Thread: Uni-thread, Gray
• Rib: Blue Lagartun or UTC Wire, Fine/SM
• Body: Uni-thread, Gray
• Head: Ice Dub, Uv Gray Or Lavender

I substituted Gun Metal Blue wire, small, and pearl UV Ice Dub for mine (these were the wire and Ice Dub I had).

• Start with adding the bead to the hook and then placing it into the vise.
• Secure the thread behind the bead and snip off the tag.
• Tie in the wire; I usually slide the wire into the bead, making sure it does not extend past the front of the bead. Wrap back to halfway down the bend of the hook and back to the bead, keeping the body slim by spinning the bobbin counterclockwise.
• Palmer wrap the wire forward, creating even segments, and secure behind the bead. Helicopter or cut the excess wire.
• Add a few strands of the Ice Dub to your thread and wrap behind the bead, ensuring you keep the head small.
• Whip finish.

Here is Charlie Craven demonstrating how to tie this fly: https://charliesflybox.com/blogs/fly-tying-videos/poison-tung-fly-tying-video 

 

WD-40

The WD-40 was created by Mark Engler (Duranglers guide) as an emerger baetis. The WD-40 is also a fairly easy fly to tie if you remember one thing: don't crowd the hook eye! Here is the recipe:

• Hook: TMC 2488 {#16}
• Wingcase: Same as Tail
• Abdomen: Tying Thread
• Tying Thread: Semperfli Nano Silk 12/0 {Grey}
• Thorax: Fine dry fly dubbing or rabbit {Greyish}
• Tail: Wood Duck or Mallard Flank dyed {Wood Duck}

I used mallard flank, UNI 8/0 thread in gray, brown, and olive, and natural dubbing. I also have tied this down to a size 22 hook.

• Start the thread about a hook eye's length behind the hook eye and wrap back to about halfway down the bend of the hook.
• Tie in a bunch of the feathers (about 1/4 inch off the quill), keeping the tips even and about half a hook shank in length. 
• Wrap forward over the butt ends to about the halfway point.
• Add a rather large dub ball in front of the feathers, again making sure you do not crowd the eye.
• Pull the butt ends over the top of the dub ball to create a wing case and secure it in front of the dubbing. Snip the ends and make a few wraps to cover the ends (do not crowd the hook eye).
• Build a small thread head just behind the hook eye and whip finish.

Here is Mark Engler demonstrating how to tie the WD-40: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1vBpv45qks

Fun Fact

The name WD-40 for the brand of lubricant comes from Water Displacement, 40th formula. It was created in the 1950s. The WD in the WD-40 fly stands for Wood Duck (no idea what the 40 means).

Happy tying!