Frank Sawyer's Killer Bug in Colorado

[Mole-Patrol]

This is the vice I used to use.

The SKB variants were more varied than I remembered. They blinked when I opened the fly box for the first time in many years. Most of the flies I used in the period just before coming out to France were for coarse fish; perch, dace, chub and roach. The slim greyish and cream & brown versions were best for roach and the orange /brown toned ones worked best for perch. Pink was for grayling.







This was specially tied to twitch along the bottom of estuaries for flounder, but it also worked on gravel shallows for trout and chub. In saltwater it is a Blenny Fly and in freshwater it is a Bullhead Fly



And these are the Trout Poppers I mentioned.

[Liphook]

Thanks for posting those pictures Clive Interesting stuff! Those poppers are just what the US anglers use for bass and pan fish etc - it's amazing what a rainbow will chase with their catholic taste. That vice I have seen in pictures, possibly Vosseler advertising? It looks like it could have come from a high tech laboratory or robotic factory line and no doubt is fine German engineering. Your variants on the SKB are very sedge/caddis looking - FS created the fly as a general impression of a variety of river insects including the many caddis larvae/grubs I believe. Isn't it interesting how grayling can at times be tempted by pink? Quite fitting for the lady of the stream. I've done a fair bit of fly fishing for coarse species and the bullet that is mulllet, but haven't actually targeted flounder - I've had a few on clouser minnows and such when after the bass in shallow water over sand. There's plenty of them only a 5 minute walk from my door. I'll copy your dressing and give them a go come warmer weather

[Mole-Patrol]

Yes, the Poppers were designed for American species. Watching a trout sneak up on one being tweaked across the surface, and then the mad rush as it attacks is exciting. Same with black bass in Cyprus.

I keep saying that I am going to get the fly tackle out and use it for chub and barbel on a small river near here. Most of the trout fishing locally is done using worms or spinners in small overgrown rivers for small trout that have been recently released by the authorities. They stock the rivers every week from February to summer and the locals know the dates and times of stocking so hang around near to the release points waiting for the next batch to be put in. There are some classic fly waters a couple of hours south of here, but for me, that ship has sailed. Sadly, there are no grayling near to us.

I had quite a lot of flounders on brown Woolly Buggers. They look a bit like a ragworm.



I got the vice from the Vossler agent in the UK at the time the Trout Poppers were being launched. He had been using it before I got it and had taken it to shows to demonstrate the vice to potential customers. I bought the larger head later to be able to tie sea and pike flies. I am not a good fly tier so the bigger the fly, the better for me. I tied some of the SKB flies on straight shanked hooks to see whether they worked as well as those tied on the grub hooks. Certainly for roach and perch they worked OK, but I did not use them for trout.

[Iasgair]

I don't know if a good vice makes you a better tier, but it sure does help with some of the tricky bits. In 2005 I sustained a serious eye injury and I could not see well enough to tie flies or take good photographs for 2 to 3 years so the hobbies were put on hold and I've never got back into them.

Exactly right. I can tie a fly on a non- rotary vise and make it look as if I did use a rotary. The vise is only a tool to hold the hook. Though I will say, with a rotary vise, it makes it easier to look at the other side of the fly, plus it does give you an option of using the rotary when winding hackle or wire instead of using your hand. But other than that, a rotary really isn't needed. And certainly these vises that cost hundreds of US dollars, or English pounds is not worth it. My vise is ten years old and it works flawlessly. There is no doubt that it will outlast me and I'm 55.

I have a friend who has tied flies for many years. He ended up getting brain cancer and when he was recovering the Doctor ( who was and still is his fishing partner ) told him that tying flies will definitely help with eye and hand coordination. You should see his flies, they are outstanding.

[Mole-Patrol]

I don't know if a good vice makes you a better tier, but it sure does help with some of the tricky bits. In 2005 I sustained a serious eye injury and I could not see well enough to tie flies or take good photographs for 2 to 3 years so the hobbies were put on hold and I've never got back into them.

Exactly right. I can tie a fly on a non- rotary vise and make it look as if I did use a rotary. The vise is only a tool to hold the hook. Though I will say, with a rotary vise, it makes it easier to look at the other side of the fly, plus it does give you an option of using the rotary when winding hackle or wire instead of using your hand. But other than that, a rotary really isn't needed. And certainly these vises that cost hundreds of US dollars, or English pounds is not worth it. My vise is ten years old and it works flawlessly. There is no doubt that it will outlast me and I'm 55.

I have a friend who has tied flies for many years. He ended up getting brain cancer and when he was recovering the Doctor ( who was and still is his fishing partner ) told him that tying flies will definitely help with eye and hand coordination. You should see his flies, they are outstanding.

So, that is why my brain has gone soft - no fly tying. Thank you for the diagnosis

I can't see me getting back into it though. I don't have any use for the end product for one thing. Even if I did fish the local rivers I reckon I could get by with a small PTN slung under a brown Shipman's or EHC for most of the time. I do envy skilled fly tyers. Those who can dress a perfect match of the hatch on a hook stuck into a fence post. Sadly I'll never be more than a rough and ready tyer and need all the help I can get with equipment.

[Iasgair]

I don't know if a good vice makes you a better tier, but it sure does help with some of the tricky bits. In 2005 I sustained a serious eye injury and I could not see well enough to tie flies or take good photographs for 2 to 3 years so the hobbies were put on hold and I've never got back into them.

Exactly right. I can tie a fly on a non- rotary vise and make it look as if I did use a rotary. The vise is only a tool to hold the hook. Though I will say, with a rotary vise, it makes it easier to look at the other side of the fly, plus it does give you an option of using the rotary when winding hackle or wire instead of using your hand. But other than that, a rotary really isn't needed. And certainly these vises that cost hundreds of US dollars, or English pounds is not worth it. My vise is ten years old and it works flawlessly. There is no doubt that it will outlast me and I'm 55.

I have a friend who has tied flies for many years. He ended up getting brain cancer and when he was recovering the Doctor ( who was and still is his fishing partner ) told him that tying flies will definitely help with eye and hand coordination. You should see his flies, they are outstanding.

Sadly I'll never be more than a rough and ready tyer and need all the help I can get with equipment.

Never sell yourself short, my friend. Most times a small PTN is all you need, and they don't need to be perfect or pretty. One of the first things I learned when I began tying was, if the proportions are wrong, the fish will never take the fly. I proved that theory wrong several times. Go to the river, look under some rocks and see the average length and color the nymphs are, then go home and copy them with the size and color. You'll be amazed.
Just look at Mr. Sawyers PTN as he tied them compared to what they look like today. They all catch fish.

[Liphook]

Agreed There are very few rules in fishing in my book. Variations (even on varients) can make a difference on the day or even individual fish if your able to see it and observe it. Often it's not the fly itself but the ways it's fished. Both of the Sawyer patterns we're talking about were originally designed to be moved at just the right time and so are case in point I feel. I know many good fly dressers that can't fish that well, some who don't fish at all and likewise many good anglers that wouldn't be considered great tyers as well as some who don't tie at all

[Iasgair]

Agreed There are very few rules in fishing in my book. Variations (even on varients) can make a difference on the day or even individual fish if your able to see it and observe it. Often it's not the fly itself but the ways it's fished. Both of the Sawyer patterns we're talking about were originally designed to be moved at just the right time and so are case in point I feel. I know many good fly dressers that can't fish that well, some who don't fish at all and likewise many good anglers that wouldn't be considered great tyers as well as some who don't tie at all

I couldn't have said that better.