The Benchside Fly Tyer: JAB's Riffle Robber

This little fly came to fruition when I lived on the banks of Russian River in Ukiah, California. While there was little in the way of trout fishing on the river below Coyote Dam, the headwaters above Lake Mendocino was an untapped jewel of a fishery.

As a youngster I spent many summers visiting family in Ukiah and fishing for smallmouth in the river. After all, it was a quick 5-minute walk to wet a line. It wasn't until Uncle Sam sent me to the Bay Area for a tour on Treasure Island and moving 90-miles to north did I discover paradise.

Once the household goods were moved in the first the did was prospect the surround area for quality fishing. Although I knew the Eel River was short drive, Cow Mountain had trout plants, Clear Lake had monster bass, and the lower Russian had steelhead, I was looking for something closer to home. I set out for the headwaters above the lake.

Within two miles of turning off Highway 20 I ran into a warden from California Fish and Game parked in a pull out along the river. I asked if he had a few minutes to answer questions about the headwaters. In a nutshell he said the trout fishing should be off the hook with the amount of plants and large fish in the river. He also mentioned that he rarely had the opportunity to talk with other anglers because no one knew of this fishery. That's all I had to hear... I spent a few minutes overturning rocks looking for clues.

I have yet to encounter the amount of insects I did that day! The amount of caddis and large black stoneflies was staggering. Since the amount of stoneflies heavily outweighed the caddis I figured these large bugs were going to be the ticket. I set off for home to return "loaded for bear." Boy Howdy, I was wrong.

I caught a few fish, but it took a couple of weeks to truly figure the puzzle out. For some reason, the fish preferred caddis patterns all season long. Interesting? I thought so... Many of the caddis in the headwaters had a golden goniochromism. While I tried various materials to replicate this iridescence, including oval gold tinsel and Krystal Flash, it wasn't until I stumbled upon an antique gold color at the craft store did the game serious change.

The Riffle Robber is a two material game changer! Not only does this fly take less than five minutes to tie, but the true beauty rests with ability to fish this pattern both upstream and swinging downstream. I feel the effectiveness of this pattern comes from a collar of very translucent and wavy attributes of the American opossum. The translucency of this material is first rate (akin to polar bear) and although the under fur is somewhat coarse it breathes well against the current.

With the exception of a few patterns, I normally do not tie with a bead on the hook. Rather, I slide a bead on leader before tying on the fly. Not to worry... The bead will find it's way to the fly during the cast and/or drift. However, sliding a bead on the leader does a few things: (1) saves a lot of money over the long run and (2) the ability to switch the color of bead and/or convert non-beaded patterns. (3) Bright bead's (gold and copper) protective coatings eventually fail (especially copper) after exposure to the amino acid on our fingers. There is no longer a need to tie more beadhead flies to fill the box once the coating fails. Give it a shot- you'll be happier!

Materials

Weight to suit

Thread: 8/0 to match

Hook: Daiichi 1150 (or choice) Size 10 pictured

Bead: Size appropriate- gold, black, copper

Body: Embroidery thread, DMC #E436, Antique Effects (Antique Gold color) or DMC #E703, Jewel Effects (Bright Lime)

Available at craft stores

Color: Natural American opposum

Step 1

Place bead on hook and secure in vice.

Step 2

As this point additional weight can be added. In this step by step, I am wrapping copper wire to fill the bead's void. Wrap 5 or 6 turns of medium UTC wire, then double back over previous wraps and trim.

Push wire into the bead.

Step 3

Start thread immediately behind the bead.

Cut approximately 10-inch of DMC embroidery thread. You'll notice 6-strands of embroidery thread that will separate upon cutting to length. Take two strands and double the ends (4-strands) and secure the ends.

Tightly wrap thread rearwards stopping at a point on the hook as shown below. Return thread in close, tight wraps.

Step 4

With a dubbing hook or spinning tool, tightly spin embroidery thread counter-clockwise until material nearly doubles over. Spinning tightly in a counter-clockwise direction will force the rope to lay rearwards allowing for a nice tight look. Wrap forward providing a segmented body. Secure material with a few thread in position shown.

Step 5

Form a dubbing loop and wax thread.

Cut a portion of American opossum from the hide equating to approximately an inch and one half of fur in the dubbing loop. (This will take a few attempts to get the portion right.) Remove all longer guard hairs. You should left with the darker tips of the under fur. Place under fur in the dubbing loop. The tips of the under fur should extend about one hook length past the bend of the hook.

Trim the hair as close to the thread as possible.

Spin until the hair stands outs at a 90-degree angle. Comb or pick out any trapped hairs.

Moisten and draw under fur to the rear. Wrap forward in close, tight turns.

Step 5

Whip finish and trim thread. You are ready to fish!

Again, this fly can be fished both upstream and down. I thoroughly enjoy covering as much water as possible fishing dead drift upstream between riffles. After covering several hundred yards upstream this fly can be cast quartering downstream and slowly twitched back to the rod trip on the return trip to the truck.

The wet look