Boatman Flies

[nebc]

I am interested in knowing just how many versions some of you pack in your kit this time of the year.

 

I have several tied using a pheasant fiber shell with peacock herl underbody...some have an epoxy coat on the shell some not

 

two different ones out of foam one brown with a glass bead and one with a bead of crystal flash with peacock herl surrounding it either brown or black underbelly

 

one has a black foam back and peacock crystal chenille underneath

 

On another topic someone says they had success with a black backed/yellow underbody one

 

some with black legs, some olive color, sometimes sillilegs sometimes black superfloss

 

What I have found is not as well organized enough that one might be better prepared for this event...

[kipper]

I use this one exclusively..Goose wing back, peacock herl body with a silver mylar tag and black goose biots for legs. I use "hard as nails" to coat the back. I "fish" the boatman with a dry line ...there is no need to have any other variations in your flybox..I was introduced to this pattern at Police Outpost Lake in 1980 and have used it successfully in every lake I have fished in since then.

[nebc]

Thanks for the response. This one is similar to the one I have used the most as well other than the use of biots for the legs.

 

[jack]

Non-tying comment deleted. :$*%&:

j

[Wolfie]

I use this one exclusively..Goose wing back, peacock herl body with a silver mylar tag and black goose biots for legs. I use "hard as nails" to coat the back. I "fish" the boatman with a dry line ...there is no need to have any other variations in your flybox..I was introduced to this pattern at Police Outpost Lake in 1980 and have used it successfully in every lake I have fished in since then.

 

..you said...'lake'..so how does that pattern hold up to the Bow..has it been successful there as well?..............Wolfie

 

 

[theboy]

Man the boatmen I saw on the water yesterday were tan colored....threw me for a loop with all the dark patterns I had tied.

[trailhead]

There are different colors and sizes in various waters, be it lakes or streams. I have found the boatmen in the Bow are tan to a light peach color on the underbody.

[Wanny]

Max took some sick pics of them in one of his bow bugs threads. check em out.

[troutlover]

I ve always heard that fish if they are feeding hard will gorge and then regergitate and continue to gorge i haden't heard of them getting full and stopping. I've heard they will feed and feed till conditions change conditions beeing change in food source or weather? any thoughts?? by the way i've never found a boatman to work better than another but i have found the presentation matters A LOT sometimes they want them on the drift some times on the swing sometimes floating like a dri and striped.

[Guest rickleblanc]

The way I heard it, all those beetle shells are harder to digest than their normal fare, and that's why they usually shut down for a couple days right after the main boatman fall.

 

The best commercial boatman pattern for me is the Stillwater Solutions peacock crystal chenille pattern. Presentation is paramount, though. Seems like any pattern I tye with a foam back, attached to a sinking line, works like a charm.

 

Rick

[Guest Dennis59]

I like a boatman with a foam black back using either a peacock super Flash or a Northern Lights super flash( very flashy white with a green tinge to it) dubbing for the body. Love fishing them dry. Its a real rush when it hammered by a big fish.

 

That is about the only pattern I carry.

 

Tight Lines Always

Dennis S

[DonAndersen]

nebc,

 

You talking boatman or swimmers. Much different bugs. Swimmers are generally tied on #12>#10 hooks whereas boatman are tied on #16>#18 hooks.

A lot of fishermen use the term boatman when they really are looking @ or fishing swimmers.

 

catch ya'

 

 

Don

[jack]

Non-tying comment deleted. :derby racer:

 

j

[bhurt]

The shellback contains an acid(can't remember the name) similar to that found in the shell of flying ants. After keying and gorging for a day or two, the trout get an upset stomach and just lay off for a day until the "acid reflex" is gone.

 

j

Just to remind everyone that this thread was about FLY TIEING and not about the actual bug, please take the discussion to the entomology discussion and leave us that want to talk about patterns we tie for boatmen here.

 

Thank YOU

 

As for Boatmen flies I use a Prince nymph during the Boatmen season as I tie them for all year and I have found that the past week the fish are still rolling o the surface slashing at boat so anything that looks close to a boatman should work.

[Simpson]

The shellback contains an acid(can't remember the name) similar to that found in the shell of flying ants. After keying and gorging for a day or two, the trout get an upset stomach and just lay off for a day until the "acid reflex" is gone.

 

j

 

 

I tie a deadly rolaid pattern for just such an occasion

[nebc]

nebc,

 

You talking boatman or swimmers. Much different bugs. Swimmers are generally tied on #12>#10 hooks whereas boatman are tied on #16>#18 hooks.

A lot of fishermen use the term boatman when they really are looking @ or fishing swimmers.

 

catch ya'

 

 

Don

Definitely only water boatmen. Thanks. Interesting comments here.

[nebc]

Definitely only water boatmen. Thanks. Interesting comments here.

 

The spring season will see small waterboatmen usually, but in the fall especially on lakes however also some streams, they have grown up to 1/2 inch in size and I normally go with small sizes like 14 to 16 hooks in spring but go with larger ones in the fall to reflect that. Depends on what I see them eating if I can ascertain that.

 

[danhunt]

I think the acid Jack was referring to is formic acid, which is also found in ants. The same thing happens with a flying ant hatch/fall, the fish tend to hit them hard for a couple of days and then they have to take a break.

 

I've never heard of fish eating until they are full, regurgatating and then feeding some more. I suppose anything is possible, but it doesn't make sense to me that they would have evolved that way as it seems like a really poor survival strategy. Why trade an already full belly to expend more calories just to fill it up again? That being said, I really don't know one way or the other...

 

I use a pattern that has a tan foam shell back, a pearl crystal chenile body and rubber legs tied in perpendicular to the hook shank about midway down the hook. I use a black fine tipped sharpy to make the chevrons on the back, and fabric paint or a red sharpy to do the eyes. I've tried almost every boatman variation I could find and this is the one that has worked the best for me.

[Brunsie]

I use a pattern that has a tan foam shell back, a pearl crystal chenile body and rubber legs tied in perpendicular to the hook shank about midway down the hook. I use a black fine tipped sharpy to make the chevrons on the back, and fabric paint or a red sharpy to do the eyes. I've tried almost every boatman variation I could find and this is the one that has worked the best for me.

 

I'll take a dozen

[Wolfie]

(danhunt @ Oct 9 2009, 02:48 PM) *

I use a pattern that has a tan foam shell back, a pearl crystal chenile body and rubber legs tied in perpendicular to the hook shank about midway down the hook. I use a black fine tipped sharpy to make the chevrons on the back, and fabric paint or a red sharpy to do the eyes. I've tried almost every boatman variation I could find and this is the one that has worked the best for me.

..

 

..can you post a pic of Ur tie?..............Wolfie

[Flytyer]

..

 

..can you post a pic of Ur tie?..............Wolfie

 

this is somewhat similar but without the pearl chenille:

 

http://www.kalflyfishers.ca/flysPatterns/u...e%20boatman.htm

 

[Wolfie]

(danhunt @ Oct 9 2009, 02:48 PM) *

I use a pattern that has a tan foam shell back, a pearl crystal chenile body and rubber legs tied in perpendicular to the hook shank about midway down the hook. I use a black fine tipped sharpy to make the chevrons on the back, and fabric paint or a red sharpy to do the eyes. I've tried almost every boatman variation I could find and this is the one that has worked the best for me.

 

..using your idea, this is what I came up with, however..looks like I should get myself some sharpies......huh?...........Wolfie

 

.. http://i33.tinypic.com/2mhd8ic.jpg

.. http://i35.tinypic.com/2nsxfs7.jpg

.. http://i33.tinypic.com/2ujh653.jpg

 

still would like to see your finished product..

[bhurt]

Those boatmen should work very well. Nice tie.

[danhunt]

this is somewhat similar but without the pearl chenille:

 

http://www.kalflyfishers.ca/flysPatterns/u...e%20boatman.htm

 

Yep, that is the pattern that got me started. A friend and I were fishing Pinnacle Lake up by Hathume Lake in the fall about six years ago, and mid-morning we started seeing fish rise for no particular reason, and then around lunch time the lake started to boil. He had a couple of Jennings Ultimate Boatman patterns that he had picked up in Kamloops that summer, and I had some more traditional boatmen I had tied myself. Long story short, he out fished me about 5 to 1 with the JUB, and it is fair to say it was mostly the pattern because after he lost his last JUB our catch rates evened out to where they were about on par with one another.

 

The pattern is a good one, but I don't really like making the JUB, mostly because I don't have the skills to easily work with epoxy. I found that with the techniques I used the JUB was taking me about 15-20mins each, which was far too long in my mind. That, combined with the fact that I couldn't find a way to incorporate the little bit of flash I wanted on a boatman pattern in to the JUB, is what lead me to try to accomplish the same basic characteristics with older tying techniques.

[danhunt]

 

..using your idea, this is what I came up with, however..looks like I should get myself some sharpies......huh?...........Wolfie

 

.. http://i33.tinypic.com/2mhd8ic.jpg

.. http://i35.tinypic.com/2nsxfs7.jpg

.. http://i33.tinypic.com/2ujh653.jpg

 

still would like to see your finished product..

 

Sorry, I don't have a camera with a decent macro to do closeups, but you've got the idea. I trim the foam in to sort of an elongated triangle before I tie it in to get a little more of that teardrop shape. Sharpies are fine, but if you have a Michaels craft store, or an art store, nearby you can try the pantone felts too.

 

An idea I got from someone on another board was to use UV knot sense on the foam to help make the fly a little tougher (the fishes teeth slash that shell back foam) and it does seem to help. It adds some time to the tie, though, and dealing with sticky gooey crap is why I went looking for something other than the JUB in the first place.