Chagrin River Outfitters

Prom Dress

2011-09-06T15:23:00.000-07:00

Prom Dress: Designed by Scott Howell
Shank: Fish Skull intruder shanks 35mm
Dubbing Ball: Pearl or Red ice dub
Tail/collar: Guinea Natural
Back wing/front wing: Silver Holographic Flashabou
Body: silver diamond braid
Hackle: silver hackle flash
Eyes: medium eye ballz

Great fly for swinging any time of year and in a multitude of colors. Try purple, blue, black/chrt, copper, pink or your own favorite color and you will not be disappointed. This version is tied a little different from the original only because as fly tiers we can't leave well enough alone.

First things first we have to tie in our 30# fireline on the new fish skull intruders shanks available here at the shop.

Next we need a little dubbing ball at the rear with either red or pearl ice dubbing.

Next step is to tie in our Guinea at the tip and palmer nice and neat and tie off.

Next we need to tie in about 14 strands of our chosen color of flashabou in the middle nearest us on the side of the hook keeping it on the top half.

After you have it tied in fold the forward facing section back and tie off on the far side of hook something like this. Very important with the flash to keep it on the top half of the hook.

Next we need to tie in our hackle flash and then our diamond braid and advance thread about 3/8 of an inch from hook eye.

The next 2 steps will be to wrap body with diamond braid and about 5 wraps of hackle flash.

Next we need another guinea feather tied in at the tip and palmered just like the first one we did at the back of the hook.

Repeat the flashabou steps. Tie in about 14 strands in the middle on near side and fold back forward facing flash to far side of hook again keeping everything on the top half of the hook.

Next we are going to tie in our eyes leaving enough room between hook eye and form a dubbing loop with pearl ice dub. If you don't want to do a dubbing loop just leave thread behind eyes and with pearl ice dub finish head.

We have finished our dubbing loop and whip finished.

Next we are going to take our scissors and gently use one edge to pick out any tangles in our dubbing loop.

Head is neatly finished and we are ready to work on another one.

A few with a little chartreuse thrown in at the head. That's alot of bling.

Silver, purple, and silver/Chartreuse will all work well, but don't forget to try the other colors mentioned above as well or your own personal favorites.

Good Luck

Avenger

2011-08-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

Avenger
Thread:6/0 white or blue uni-thread
Hook: 2220 size 2 or any large streamer hook that you don't mind cutting with a large eye that can be tied with eye facing up.
Hot spot: red ice dub
Tail: Chinchilla rabbit strip
Body: Pheasant tail ice dub
Wing: Holographic rainbow flashabou
Throat: Chartreuse ice dub
Eyes: Large bead chain gold
Head: Steelie blu ice dub
stinger hook: Daiichi or Gamakatsu octopus hook size 4

The hook in this instance is a down eye streamer hook but we are going to cut the hook above the bend and place in the vise with the eye facing up.

Great fly in the surf when fished with a sink tip and a go to fly for swinging on sunny days in early and late Fall.

With hook in the vise take thread base back about one inch along hook shank.

30# Fireline thru hook eye and tied down along hook shank.

Fireline tied along top and bottom of hook for strong connection, then super glue very lightly along shank for extra strong hold(optional)
*note fireline loop should be about 1 1/4 inches.

Tie in at the middle small clump of red ice dub along inside edge of hook just on front of fireline.

Bringing forward facing ice dub to the rear and outside edge and tie down.

Trim Ice dub to slightly more than 1/8th of an inch in length.

Tie in Chinchilla rabbit strip in front of red ice dub. Tail should not extend past fireline.

Dub a very small body, not longer than 1/4 of an inch with pheasant tail ice dub, and tie rabbit down just in front of dubbed body.

Take one wrap of rabbit around hook shank and tie off.

6-10 strands or however many you prefer rainbow holographic flashabou tied down in middle just in front of the rabbit on top.

Fold back the forward facing strands of flashabou and tie off.

Slide medium clump of Chartreuse ice dub over the hook eye and tie down in the middle of clump just in front of flash with three wraps.

Stroke back the forward facing ice dub and make about 5-8 wraps just in front to hold it in place.
Tie on large gold bead chain eyes leaving about an 1/8th of an inch between bead chain and hook eye so we can whip finish later.

Steelie blue ice dub in a dubbing loop. 2-3 wraps behind eyes, a couple wraps around the eyes, tie off and whip finish.

Attach hook and your ready to go fishing.

Small batch of avengers ready to go.

Its always hard to name a fly but when i read about the "Avengers" movie being filmed in Cleveland right now it seemed like a natural fit. Good Luck

White Rabbit

2010-10-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

"White Rabbit"
Hook: 2220 Daiichi size 6
Thread: 6/0 orange uni-thread
Tail: 1/4 inch white zonker
Body: White ultra-chenille
Hackle: silver hackle flash
Collar: mallard flank natural
Head: Lt. Olive ice dub

Great Bug for all gamefishes. Tie in any color combo you find effective. Rabbit tail gives tantalizing motion fish can't resist. Try this pattern in larger sizes 2-4 for swinging and you will be pleasantly surprised. Other great color combos are white/chart, olive/orange, black/chart, black/purple, purple/orange, purple/silver.

Lay down thread base

Tie in rabbit above hook shank

Tie in hackle flash and then ultra-chenille.

Wrap chenille forward leaving about 1/4 inch to hook eye.

Wrap hackle flash forward.

Tie off hackle flash.

Tie in mallard flank at tip and palmer forward.

Tie off mallard flank.

Medium clump olive ice dub over eye of hook and tie down with three wraps of thread.

Pull back remainder of ice dub, tie down, whip finish and done.

Blue ice dub is sweet as well.

Good luck.

Goblin

2010-09-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

"Goblin"

Hook: Daiichi 2220 sz 2-4
Tail: Wooly Bugger Marabou Olive, black crystal flash
Body: Olive Polar Chenille
Throat: Orange Finn Ra coon
Collar: Mallard Flank Natural
Rubber Legs Olive
Mirage Flashabou Opal/Copper Blend

Tie in Marabou Tail with 3-5 strands Crystal flash on each side.
Tie In Polar Chenille.(sorry but lost a couple photos)

Wrap polar chenille forward leaving roughly 1/4 inch of space to hook eye.

Tie in small clump of orange Finn raccoon for throat to give contrast.

Tie In Mallard flank at tip, palmer forward.

Tie off mallard flank.

Tie in 4 rubber legs, two legs each side about 45 degrees off center each side top of hook.

Tie in at center on top of hook Med size clump, about 8-14 strands flashabou.

Fold back flashabou laying forward and tie off. Starting to look good.

One small to med size clump olive sculpin wool tied in at on far side of hook again about 45 degrees off center.

Tie in second clump on near side 45 degrees off center.

Pull back sculpin wool evenly around hook eye and tie off and whip finish.

Yes it's supposed to look like this. Using sharp scissors and using hook eye as a guide trim sculpin wool to triangle tapered head. Take small cuts as it is easy to cut more but hard to put back on.

What finished head should look like.

Tell me they aren't gonna destroy that. I call it the Goblin because it's both a sculpin and Goby imitation which makes it doubly effective. Steelhead, brown trout, and smallmouth go crazy over this one. Good luck and i hope no one is swinging this one ahead of you.

Estaz Egg

2010-09-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

Estaz Egg
Hook: Daiichi 2571 sz 6
Thread: uni thread 8/0 orange
Body: Medium Estaz
Bead(optional): 5/32 gold

Bead is on hook and hook is in vise. Tie in Estaz above hook point and wrap thread forward to bead.

Wrap estaz forward to bead and tie off.

Whip finish and done. Fish catchers don't come any easier to tie than this. Proven colors are Peach, Chartreuse, Pink, Orange. This is a favorite guide fly because you can crank them out in record time and they catch fish, what else is there to say.

Blue Bait

2010-09-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

"Blue Bait"
Hook: Daichi 2220 sz4-10
Bead: 5/32 gold or med cone
Thread: Uni thread 6/0 white
Tail: Grizzly Marabou
Body: Blue Estaz
Hackle: Grizzly

This is simply another wooly bugger variation tied in a very effective color scheme. Steelhead seem to pounce on this pattern any time of year in any water condition but excels in slightly stained water combined with a sunny day. For darker days try black, Olive, or Purple.

Place bead on hook, lay down thread base and tie in tail. Tail length should be as long as hook shank.
Tie in Grizzly hackle at the tip.

Tie in estaz.

Wrap estaz forward, Tie off, followed by hackle.

Done deal. Don't be afraid to try in any combination that works for you. The key is the grizzly hackle tail and grizzly hackle which give this fly nice contrast to catch the fishes eye. I'm a big fan of olive, and purple estaz bodies as well.

"Invasive Species"

2010-08-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

"Invasive Species"
Hook: Daiichi 2220 sz 6
Thread: Uni-thread 6/0 orange
Tail: Grizzly Marabou
Body: Medium Olive Chenille, Chartreuse Hackle flash
Collar: Mallard Flank Natural
Head: Pink Ice Dub

Lay down thread base and tie in Marabou tail(Usually 2-3 feathers)

Tie in hackle flash then Chenille.

Wrap Chenille forward leaving about 1/4 inch of space to eye.

Wrap in Hackle flash and tie off behind chenille.

Tie in mallard flank, palmer forward

Tie off mallard

Small clump of ice dub, slide over hook eye so half in front of hook eye and half behind. Two wraps to tie in place, slide ice dub in front of hook eye back behind eye.

Tie off ice dub. whip finish and your done.

This fly has proven very effective the last few years for steelhead whether swung or dead drifted. Other deadly color combos include silver/chart, black/chart purple/pink.
Good luck and make sure you give this one a try.

2010-06-29T09:26:00.001-07:00

Rubber Leg Crystal Zonker

Hook: Daiichi 2220 Sz 4
Eyes: Painted Dumbell Eyes
Thread: Black 3/0
Body: Olive Estaz
Tail/Wing: Chartreuse Zonker
Legs: Chartreuse Crazy Legs

Lay thread base and attach dumbbell eyes on top of hook shank. Secure dumbbell eyes with numerous diagonal cross wraps in both directions. Further secure dumbbell eyes with several figure-8 wraps.

Wrap thread back on shank to point above barb and tie in 5 inch piece of estaz.

Advance thread to 1/3 point on hook shank. Wrap estaz up hook shank to same point as thread. Secure estaz at this point on hook shank with 2-3 wraps of thread. Tie in 4 crazy legs on each side of hook shank just behind dumbbell eyes. Advance thread in front of dumbbell eyes.

Wrap estaz one time behind crazy legs and one time in front of legs behind the dumbbell eyes.

Wrap estaz one time diagonally around dumbbell eyes and pull estaz over the top of the hook shank near eye of the hook.

Secure estaz on top of hook just in front of dumbbell eyes.

Invert fly in vice jaws. Peirce zonker strip with point of hook with rabbit fur facing up. Pull zonker strip tight against estaz body. Pull zonker strip over estaz body and secure immediately in front of dumbbell eyes. Trim excess zonker near eye of hook and build tapered thread head.

Whip finish or half-hitch thread to tie off and fly is complete.

The rubber leg crystal zonker fishes great for a variety of species. This time of year we fish them primarily for largemouth and smallmouth bass, but this fly has taken a number of large trout, white bass, pike, and even sheephead out on Lake Erie. Other color combinations include chartreuse and purple, white and olive, black on black, and orange and brown. The fly will swim hook point up and can be swung, stripped, or jigged.

Clouser Minnow

2010-06-06T10:34:00.001-07:00

Clouser Minnow

Hook: Daiichi 2220 sz 4-10
Thread: Red 140 UltraThread
Head: Red Dumbell Eyes
Body: Pearl Sparkle Braid
Top Wing: White Bucktail
Bottom Wing: Contrasting color Bucktail (shown with Chartreuse)

Lay thread base on hook. Wrap thread back to approximately the 2/3 point on the hook shank. Create small ball of thread at approximately the 1/3 point on the hook shank. The dumbell eyes will rest against this thread ball in the next step.

Attach dumbell eyes such that they sit against the front of the thread ball created in the previous step. Attach eyes by making numerous wraps of thread across dumbell eyes in both directions. Continue with figure-eight wraps until dumbell eyes are secure. Optional: add drop of head cement for extra security of dumbell eyes.

Tie in 3 inch piece of pearl sparkle braid. Wrap thread back to 2/3 point on shank.

Advance thread in front of dumbell eyes. Select small clump of white bucktail and attach to top of shank immediately in front of dumbell eyes with progressively tighter wraps of thread. Once secure, clip excess bucktail.

Tie down bucktail on top of shank immediately behind dumbell eyes with 3-4 tight wraps of thread.

With bucktail on top of shank, wrap sparkle braid forward, creating a tapered body. Secure sparkle braid immediately behind dumbell eyes with several tight wraps of thread. Trim excess sparkle braid.

The remaining steps can be easier to tie with the hook in the vice point up, however this is personal preference and may be tied either hook up or hook down. Tie in a small clump of pearl krystal flash in front of dumbell eyes on side of shank opposite from white bucktail and trim excess.

Tie in small clump of chartreuse bucktail immediately in front of dumbell eyes on side of shank opposite from white bucktail. Secure with increasingly tight wraps of thread. Trim excess bucktail.

Wrap thread numerous times to cover any exposed bucktail tips. Build smoothly tapered thread head. Whip finish or half-hitch to tie off.

Apply head cement to thread head and fly is ready to go fishing!

This is one of our favorite flies for smallmouth bass in any of our local Lake Erie tribs. The lead dumbell eyes give the fly a nice jigging action that fish cannot seem to resist. The fly rides hook point up to minimize snagging on river bottom. Works great in a variety of colors, favorites include white and chartreuse, white and olive, white and blue, yellow and chartreuse, and yellow and brown. Strip it, drift it, or swing it, this fly is a classic smallmouth producer.

"Steelhead Tellico"

2010-02-17T14:38:00.000-08:00

"Steelhead Tellico"

Hook: Daiichi 1530 Sz. 8 w/gold bead
Tail: Black Goose Biots
Body: Orange Ice Dub
Wingcase : Black Crystal Flash
Ribbing: Red Brassie Wire
Hackle: Hen Soft Hackle - Brown or Black

Step 1: Slide gold bead on to hook, and lay down base layer of red thread.

Step 2: Create ball of thread towards back of the hook. Tie in goose biots in to a "V" shape coming off of the back of the hook using ball of thread to split them.

Step 3: Tie in red wire and black crystal flash to the rear of the hook. Dub body using orange ice dub consistently almost to the bead.

Step 4: Pull crystal flash over body, tie in behind bead. Rib body evenly with the red wire. Fold crystal flash back over body, and trim leaving a bit of excess to form a wing.

Step 5: Dub small amount of black ice dub just behind beadhead. Select soft hackle hen feather, and peel one side.

Step 6: Tie in feather, and palmer around once or twice until enough.

Step 7: Whip finish and fish.

Midnight Express

2010-01-22T14:38:00.001-08:00

"Midnight Express"

Trailer Hook: Daiichi 2553 sz 4
Main Hook: Any cheap Sz 2 streamer hook with big eye you don't mind cutting
Tail: Blue Ice Dub
Body: Black Ice dub
Hackle: Black
Wings and Collar: Eumer Finn Raccoon Kinfisher Blue, Black strung Marabou, Strung Natural Guinea

Note: If you prefer to tie or fish this pattern without trailer hook on a regular streamer hook just do away with steps that attach fireline for trailer hook...

No we don't have it at the shop and yes if you like this style of tying you will need it...

Attach thread and apply good thread base ending up with thread just behind eye of hook...Double up the fireline and run thru the eye of hook as shown...tie in fireline with thread starting from eye of hook and working back...do this two times...Tip: Make sure loop for attaching hook is long enough to pass trailer hook thru when ready to attach...

Finish tying in Fireline and apply one very thin coat of zap a gap to secure...this will take a few minutes to dry...

Tie in clump of steelie blue ice dub at rear of hook...

Tie in Black hackle...

Dub Body with Black or peacock ice dub leaving about 1/4 inch between dubbing and hook eye...
Wrap hackle forward and tie off where dubbing ends...

Tie in small clump of Finn Raccoon making sure it is spread evenly around hook shank...

Tie in another very sparse clump of Blue Ice Dub....

Tie in Black Marabou at tip...stripping the top side and palmer forward...about 3-5 wraps...Tip: When Palmering wet your fingers and stroke back marabou with each wrap making it easier to work with...

Tie off Marabou...

Tie in Guinea and use 3-4 wraps, stroking feathers back with each wrap to form collar...Tie off Guinea and whip finish...

Apply head cement and you have a finished fly minus the hook trailer hook..

Cut off streamer hook with side cutters...Thread fireline thru hook eye...

Pull hook back thru Loop and your good to go...

Finished fly with hook attached ready to go to work...Note: Black/Blue is a great combination for streamers and buggers during low light and or off color water...

This extended hook pattern is ideally suited for swinging on our tribs for Steelhead and spring run Smallmouth...The hook placement allows you to hook more fish than more traditionally tied patterns because you don't miss those short strikes...the wide gap short shank hook also allows you to land more fish due to better hooking penetration and fish cannot roll and torque the hook out like they can with long shank streamer hooks. Another advantage to these style of flies is being able to replace the hook if it becomes dull or you roll the point. Again this is a very versatile pattern that can be tied in any of your favorite color combinations...I like blue/black, red/black, chart/black, pink/white, olive/white, purple/black, and yellow/orange. Good Luck with this pattern as i know the fish enjoy it which means you will probably enjoy it as well...

Tips: If you like this style of tying with the extended hook for swinging which we highly recommend there are a few things you should look for when choosing hooks. For the trailer hook you want a light wire short shank hook with a big enough eye that the fireline fits through it easily so you can loop it on usually sizes 2-4 are good. Also when choosing the streamer hook remember something inexpensive because you are going to cut it and also a large enough front eye allowing you to run the fireline through leaving enough room for you to tie on the fly as well.

Micro Mink Minnow

2010-01-21T16:09:00.001-08:00

"Micro Mink Minnow"
Hook: Daiichi 2220 sz 8
Thread: Olive Uni floss 6/0 or ultra thread 120

Wing: Mink Zonker Olive or Gray
Body: Pearl Ice Dub
Throat: Red Ice Dub
Bead: 5/32 Gold

Tie in Mink Zonker Just Behind Hook Point leaving 1/4 inch tail...

Dub Body forward and whip finish behind bead leaving enough room to tie down zonker in front of bead...

Reattach thread in front of bead to tie off zonker strip...

Tie off zonker...Cut off excess...whip finish and apply head cement...

Finished Micro Mink Minnow....

Micro Mink Minnow in Olive and Gray....

Lite Brite Zonker that substitutes Rabbit Zonker for Mink and fishes exceptionally well...

This pattern is a proven killer on our steelhead tribs and catches just about everything else that will go after a minnow for a meal...The Micro Mink Zonker also fishes well in smaller sizes 10-12 in clearer water conditions..and on the flip side the lite brite zonker with rabbit works well in larger sizes 4-6 when the rivers are pushing a little more water...Good luck and hold on tight when these hit the water...

Hot Spot Bugger

2010-01-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

"Hot Spot Bugger"
Hook: Diacchi 2220 sz 8
Medium gold cone
white 6/0 or 120 thread
Tail: Bugger Marabou White
Body: white estaz
Hot spot: Pink estaz
Collar: Grizzly Marabou natural

Great Shiner pattern fished as a dropper below an egg for steelhead or a great pattern by itself for most fresh water species...

Lay down thread base....

Tie in Marabou above hook point...

Tie in estaz and wind forward and tie off leaving enough room for 4-5 wraps of pink estaz...

Tie in pink estaz and wrap forward to cone leaving room for collar...

Tie off pink estaz...

Tie in Grizzly Marabou by the tip just behind cone stroking marabou backwards after each turn and wrap 5-6 times to make collar...tie off collar

Finished fly...

The color combination's to tie this fly in are almost endless and the hot spot seems to make a difference as opposed to the more traditional single color scheme....great in faster to medium flows were the marabou tail and collar get a chance to undulate and sway in the current...this pattern in larger sizes (2-6) is also very good for swinging...
good luck

Grand River Special

2010-01-07T05:55:00.000-08:00

"Grand River Special"

Notes: This fly is basically a Psycho Prince but with a copper bead and tied in colors better suited for steelhead alley. A very good clear water color combo is UV tan ice dub body with UV pink ice dub thorax tied on a size 12 Daiichi 1530.

Hook: Daiichi 1530 sz 10
Thread: 8/0 uni thread black
Bead: 5/32 copper
Tail: Black Goose Biots
Body: Black Ice Dub
Wing Case: Pheasant tail
Rib: extra small copper wire
Thorax: Chartreuse Ice dub

1: Tie in Goose biots for tail, tie in wire and pheasant tail.

2: Dub Body (wax may help), tie down wing case and rib forward. Tie off rib

and add goose biots on either side of fly.

3: Chartreuse Ice dub for thorax and whip finish. (Steelie Blue and Orange can

be substituted for thorax giving you three fishable flies)

Note: Same fly different color scheme. Golden stone biots, Orange ice dub for body
and UV Brown for body. Copper Bead.

Steelhead Slammer - High Water Worm

2010-01-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

Lets start with an easy to tie fish catcher that has produced many Steelhead over the seasons on our local streams. This fly fishes best in stained water when fish need a little flash and movement to get their attention. Fish as a point fly with nymph dropper below on a tandem rig.

Hook: Daiichi 1120 sz 8-10
thread: Uni-thread 8/0 or Ultra thread 70 (orange or red)
Body: Ultra Chenille (standard) fl. chart
Head: Amber Orange Estaz

1. Lay down thread base and tie in Chenille in rear of hook just above the bend.

2. Tie down chenille on top of hook with 4-5 forward wraps of thread, tie off, leaving enough room for 3 wraps of estaz.

3. Tie in estaz

4. 3 forward wraps of estaz, whip finish, lightly burn end of chenille with lighter to keep from unraveling.

5. Go catch steelhead

Shown above are a few colors we fish including pink/white, chart/orange, and brown/chart,

Welcome to the new CRO Fly Tying Blog

2010-01-06T10:34:00.000-08:00

Welcome To The New Chagrin River Outfitters
Fly Tying Blog

The team here at CRO has decided to start our very own CRO Fly Tying Blog to discuss patters, how to fish them, when to fish them, and most importantly... how to tie them.

We'll also discuss the materials we use, new material we have in stock, and all the fly tying gear we have and use on a daily basis.