 |
April 2002
by Rich Johnson
Articulated Water Rat
Notes: I had a request for an articulated fly. No pattern in specific, just a question about articulation. So I tried to think of an appropriate pattern to demonstrate this style of pattern. The most popular is probably the Articulated Leech use for steelhead. But what came to my mind first was a pattern that I first saw at McAfee's shop several years ago that my wife Jo found to be just a little to realistic. It was a mouse or lemming pattern for pike. It had a natural brown bunny body and a spun and clipped deer hair head that was clipped into a mouse's face, including eyes and whiskers. I bought one, and even put it to the test that spring at Red Shirt Lake for pike. But I found it had a few flaws. #1 -It didn't float long. Once the rabbit fur got soaked the fly started sinking. #2 - The face was all wrong, Sure it looked real, but it wanted to dive and there wasn't enough deer hair left to keep it on top of the water once the hair became soaked. #3 - It wasn't weedless. I tried fishing it in the brush line and became frustrated hooking branches and twigs. I think I've taken care of at least these three items, but beware; you'll still need a 7 or 8wt to cast this mammal.
|
|
Thread: Danville Plus, black and /or white
Rear Hook: 3 to 4XL Streamer
Rear Underbody: Foam
Rear Body: Bunny strip, natural brown
Front Hook: Bass Stinger style
Weed Guard: Oval Monofilament
Articulation Loop: Oval Monofilament
Body: Bunny strip, natural brown
Collar/Head: Deer Hair, Muddler style
|
 |
1) Lay down a thread base on the streamer hook and attach a bunny strip, hair down, at the rear of the shank.
|
|
2) Tie in the foam at the rear, bring your thread forward pull the foam over the top of the shank and tie off. (For this type of foam underbody I like to use the foam that comes from the protective covering from a Japanese Pear/Apple. They require a little trimming, but are well worth the effort.)
|
 |
3) Lightly wrap the bunny strip forward and tie off at the front. (I apply a bit of household adhesive along the underside of the foam along the thread base. This helps hold the body together without having to use as tight of wraps as I would on a normal bunny fly.)
|
 |
4) Using white thread, lay down a base on the rear half of the Stinger style hook shank. The thread should be at the rear.
|
 |
5) Tie down the oval monofilament on top of the shank so that at least a shank length is projecting forward out of the wraps, and enough is coming off the bottom as to be able to be wrapped down the hook bend and come back through the hook eye as shown. When tying the monofilament down you will need to lash it at least half way down the bend and bring the thread back up to the top of the shank again. Put head cement on these wraps on the bend to seal and protect them. (Oval monofilament ties down flat, but I can be had to come by. I've had mine for years. Round monofilament will work it just doesn't tie in as well.)
|
 |
6) Pull the piece of monofilament from the eye and secure it on your vise, out of your way. Take the top piece and lay it back on top of itself and tie it down towards the rear. Thread the back hook you just finished onto the monofilament
|
 |
7) Bring the monofilament forward on top of itself again, creating a small loop. Secure it with a layer of thread. Clip any excess that extends past the tie down area.
|
|
8) Take the thread to the rear and attach a bunny strip, hair down, at the rear and then bring your thread forward, just off the monofilament.
|
 |
9) Wrap the bunny strip forward and tie off where you left your thread.
|
 |
10) With a fair sized clump of deer hair spin and flare a collar directly in front of the bunny body.
|
 |
11) Continue spinning a deer hair head. Do not crowd the eye! Half-hitch about four times and cut your thread. Clip the head into your preferred haircut. (A full bullet shape is shown.)
|
 |
12) Reattach your thread directly behind the eye. Thread the oval monofilament that's coming off the hook bend through the bottom of the eye and adjust the loop size so that it is just a wider than the hook point. (You may have to take the fly out of the vise to do this properly.) Secure the monofilament on the bottom of the hook eye first with a couple of wraps and then pull the top piece to the rear and secure with a few more wraps. Cut the excess monofilament as close to the wraps as possible and finish the fly with a couple of half-hitched and a whip
finish
|
|
13) The finished fly is a mouthful for any fish. I usually cut the tail hook off on this type of fly as II figure that pike inhale everything anyway, and that's one less hook I have to worry about when I'm attempting to cast this monster.
|
 |
14) This photo shows the extent of articulation that this fly is capable of. Articulated flies also work very well with barbell eyes when fished in a strip/pause action.
|
 |
15) Even wet the Water Rat is an impressive size. With the foam underbody, weed guard, and a large deer hair head this fly is a definite improvement over the commercial realistic pattern.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|