Fly Tying

Yarn Dying Adventure

by Matt

I’ve been on a bit of a bass fishing fix and have been working on tying different bass patterns. One of the patterns that I’ve been wanting to tie and use for the longest time is Rich’s Ultimate Worm. This worm pattern greatly resembles the Yamamoto Senko worm that many gear anglers successfully use for bucketmouth bass. The yarn used for this pattern, Patons Bohemian Yarn, is extremely difficult to find due to being discontinued several years ago however I managed to get my hands on three different colors wandering wines (purple), coral sunrise (pink), and artistic taupe (brown). Although I was confident that these colors would work I wanted to tie a green pattern because the green senko is the most popular color and the color I used the most when I fished with gear. With no green bohemian yarn for sale or in my collection;my grand idea was to try and dye the colors I already had, except one thing.

I had never dyed yarn before.

The first idea I had was simple; water, a pan, and food coloring. As I soaked up my yarn with water and food coloring I noticed that the colors weren’t really changing. I confirmed this by squeezing the liquid mixture to find that the color had not changed at all. Turns out that dying synthetic yarn is a totally different process from dying natural fibers.

Patons Bohemian Yarn is a synthetic yarn, 85% polyester and 15% acrylic, both are synthetic. Synthetic yarns also need a different type of dye as well as needing to use more of said dye. I ordered Rit Dyemore in Peacock from Amazon after figuring this out.

I ended up using the entire bottle.

The yarn came out beautifully. I drained it and left it outside to dry but got a bit antsy and threw it inside the dyer instead. Mistake! I believed that the tumble setting unraveled parts of the yarn making some of it useless. I still have plenty of workable yarn to make as many worms as I want for now but I wish I hadn’t had put it in the dryer.

I can’t wait to hook a largemouth bass with these worm patterns.

Fly Tying

Fly Tying: San Juan Worm

by Matt

The San Juan Worm is a classic fly pattern that imitates the greatest fish catching bait of all time, the mighty earthworm. This is a simple pattern that tends to produce fish after a fresh rain spell or when fishing discolored water. During or after a rain event worms will often come out of the ground in efforts to find a new home however more often than not many don’t survive and end up becoming food. Aquatic worms that fish feed on are also perfectly imitated through this pattern. Many anglers will tell you that a San Juan Worm isn’t a fly but to me if it’s tied onto a hook I consider it a fly.

San Juan Worm

Material List:
TMC – 2457 – Size 16
Uni-Thread – 8/0 – Red
UTC Wire – Brassie – Red
Vernille – Red

Fly Tying Instructions

Step 1: Set your hook up and begin making wraps with your thread.

Step 2: Near the bend of the hook tie in about three inches of vernille leaving about an inch for the tail.

Step 3: Tie in the wire where you began your initial first wraps.

Step 4: Wrap the wire tightly together around the hook.

Step 5: Wrap the remaining vernille over the wire.

Step 6: Make wraps underneath the vernille near the eye of the hook and whip finish.

Step 7: Take the fly off the vise and with a lighter burn a bit of the ends off to create a the classic tapered look. Finished.

The San Juan worm is a fantastic pattern that has caught many fish. It is a bright go-to attractor pattern that seems to work best after a rain spell when the water is off color. The wire helps weigh down the fly and imitates a worm’s clitellum which is their reproductive organ. The San Juan worm is a simple and great pattern that everyone should have in their fly box.

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