Manny's San Lorenzo Magic
By Elaine Cook
Manny's San Lorenzo Magic
By Elaine Cook
I haven't been able to track down the original name of this fly. But in honor of Manny Gutierrez, who shared his knowledge of steelhead fishing with a very kind heart, I'll call it "Manny's San Lorenzo Magic."
In what may have been the first SCFF fly tying class, Manny taught us how to tie this one. This January, it proved its effectiveness on the San Lorenzo River once again.
| Hook: | Heavy wet fly hook, down eye, standard length and gape, Sproat or Limerick bend. Mustad 3761, Tiemco TMC 3769, TMC 700 or Targus TAR 3761 are the closest currently available hooks. Size 2 had the recent success; also used in sizes 4-8 |
| Thread: | Black Monocord (flat 3/0) |
| Weight: | .030" wire. Note that lead is prohibited in many places, and lead-free or non-toxic wire is commonly available. |
| Tail: | One maroon and one black hackle tip (use non-webby tip of strung saddle hackle) |
| Body: | Black chenille, small |
| Hackle: | One maroon and one black hackle (use non-webby portion of strung saddle hackle) |
| Reinforcement: | Cut a 6" piece of Monocord before starting to tie the fly. |
| Head: | Black Monocord |
1. Crimp barb.
2. Start thread one eye length behind eye and wrap to rear of shank.
3. Starting at rear of shank, wrap weighting wire forward in close touching turns to two eye lengths behind eye.
4. Break wire off at the starting and ending points.
5. Spiral tying thread forward to eye and back again several times to bind the wire to the shank.
6. Form a short thread taper at each end of the wire wraps and apply head cement to the wire and thread.
7. Select hackles with barb length equal to twice the hook gape at the widest web-free part.
8. Tie the hackles in at the bend of the hook so the tips extend one shank length to the rear. The hackle tips (tail of the fly) should point slightly downward from the hook shank. Do not cut the excess. Instead, pull the butts up gently so the body can be wound underneath.
9. Tie in the 6" length of Monocord extending to the rear.
10. Strip the fuzz from the very end of the chenille and tie the chenille in by the bare thread core right at the hackle tie-in point. Bring the tying thread forward then wrap the chenille forward in close turns under the hackles to one eye length behind the eye, tie off and cut excess.
11. Spiral the hackles forward (palmer them) in about eight turns to one eye length behind the eye. If you wrap them one at a time, take care not to bind fibers of the first hackle down with the wraps of the second hackle. The front-most turn of hackle should be maroon, a full turn at the front of the body. Tie off and cut excess. If the last turn of hackles is a little webby, that's actually a good thing (it adds a little bulk to the front).
12. Wind the piece of Monocord reinforcement forward in the opposite direction of the hackle winds, working it between the hackle fibers, taking care not to bind them down. Tie off and cut excess.
13. Wrap a tapered thread head, forcing the front hackle barbs back just a little. Whip finish and apply head cement.
(Each of you club members is welcome and encouraged to submit your favorite fly for publication here. Please include a picture with your words of wisdom about why it's your favorite, how to tie it and how to fish it.)