2026 May Fly Tying

 

Fly Tying   There is a particularly tough spot on the Arkansas in Salida that I have never been able to reach. The run is on the far bank, and I can't wade close to it. I have to cast across the middle to end of a fast riffle, which results in the current(s) catching my fly line and dragging my nymphing rig or dry fly, ruining the drift. I'm not even able to high stick the drift, as the run is too far out. During a presentation at the Denver Fly Show, I had an AH HA moment to use a streamer, which I have not really used on the river (unless a mini-leach counts). Later, I was talking to Jim Mendenhall about this, and lo and behold, he showed up at the next meeting with a small streamer fly called a Pocket Dweller. The Pocket Dweller is a Fulling Mill pattern tied in three different colors: olive, brown, and ginger, and only on a size 16 Jig Force Short hook. Unfortunately, I was unable to find an official video or recipe for tying the fly. I did find this video that uses different materials for the belly, but has some techniques that work for this fly. Here is the recipe I used: The hook is a size 16 Jig Force Short Black Nickel Barbless Fulling Mill hook. The beads are 3.2mm to 3.8mm slotted in olive, brown, and copper. Thread is 8/0 or 6/0 in either olive or some variation of brown; the final fly will not have any tread showing. I think the belly is Salty Fiber or Salty Flash Fiber from Fulling Mill. I used Hareline Ice Wing 8" Fiber in Pearl UV Hue or UV Pearl Minnow Mix.  The overwing is mallard flank in olive, brown, and ginger. The eyes are chartreuse adhesive eyes in 1/8" or 1/4" size (I used Hareline's 1/8" Yellow Black eyes). Clear UV resin for the head and eyes. To tie this fly: Add the bead to the hook and lock it down with thread wraps. Strip out some of the belly fibers and try to straighten them out. You should have a nice clump, not too thick and not too thin. Tie the fibers in at the midpoint onto the top of the hook, just behind the bead. Now fold the fibers back over and secure with a couple of wraps (don't wrap too far back, as you don't want a big head). Select a couple of mallard flank feathers. You can use one and strip off each side for the sides of the fly or use two whole feathers, one on each side. If you can, rotate your vice so the hook is up. This makes it easier to ensure the mallard feathers are on the correct side of the hook shank, as the fly will ride hook up and you want the feathers on the top. Tie in the feathers one at a time and one on each side of the hook. You want to make sure the feathers curve into the hook and stay on the hook side of the shank (making them look like the back of a bait fish when the hook rides hook side up in the water). Continue to make wraps just behind the hook eye to make a nice flat base for the adhesive eyes. Whip finish. Now add the eyes to each side, just behind the bead. Use whatever technique that works for you. I used a bodkin to pull the eyes off the sheet and placed them on the fly (I did not use super glue or resin to adhere the eyes to the body). Finally, use UV resin to secure the eyes and build up a nice round head with multiple layers, cured between layers. Here is the final fly I tied in brown mallard:

Pocket Dweller

So, I tried this fly on the Arkansas and caught a couple of browns and one 16" rainbow in a three-rock pocket! It is lighter than I needed to reach that spot on the other side of the riffle, but I'm still happy with the results. Happy tying. Greg Walters