Sow Bug

[Phil Lilley]

Spring is just around the corner and the biggest annual event for fly tyers in the twin lakes area is to be held this week. The Sowbug Roundup is an international fly tying show organized by the North Arkansas Fly Fishers, our local fly fishing club. It is scheduled for March 19, 20, and 21 at the Christ the Redeemer Lutheran Church Family Life Center from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM each day. In these tough financial times, it is great to find an economical and family friendly event like this. Admission for all three days is only five dollars per person and children under twelve years of age are free when accompanied by an adult. When I first moved here nine years ago, I joined the North Arkansas Fly Fishers and immediately got involved as a seminar presenter and fly tier at Sowbug. When I married my wife, Lori, a couple of years later, she also got involved as a seminar presenter and casting instructor.

I have been preparing for the event. Since I will be a fly tier, I gathered the tools and materials that I will need. For the past few years, I have been tying my signature fly, the green butt. It is a highly effective soft hackle for imitating the rhyancophilia caddis, our major spring caddis hatch. This year, I have decided to do something completely different, I plan on tying Dan’s turkey tail emerger. This is my brother, Dan’s, signature pattern and an effective pattern for the many midge hatches we have on both the White and Norfork Rivers. This is a fly that I fish a lot and I have had some great success with it. I mention it often in my writing and I get a lot of questions about it. I thought that the Sowbug Roundup would be a great place for me to show others how to tie it.

First, I had to learn how to tie it myself. This is a fly that Dan always tied for me. Though I fished it often, I had never tied it myself. I gathered the materials and sat down with the recipe and an original that Dan had tied. I tied a few and then had Dan critique them. He gave me some constructive criticism. Then, I sat down, tweaked it a bit and cranked out a few dozen. I am definitely getting the feel of it and am now comfortable with tying them.

It is my habit of tying a fly for any one interested in the pattern at Sowbug. Therefore, I go through quite a few flies during the event. I have to make sure that I have plenty of hooks. While I prefer to use a Tiemco barbless hook, my brother, Dan, thinks a barbed Dai Riki is actually a better hook for the fly. I checked all of my other materials and I noticed that the eyed peacock feathers that I use for the fly were a little long in the tooth and were starting to get brittle. I went to the fly shop and replaced them.

I am also presenting a couple of seminars. My first one is When, Where and How to fish the White and Norfork Rivers. I have done this seminar several times for several fly fishing groups. I am very comfortable with it and don’t need to do much, if any, work on it. My other seminar is Fishing Dry Flies on the White and Norfork Rivers. I have only done this seminar a couple of times and I felt like it did need a little work. So I sat down at the computer and updated my outline. I called my yellow lab, Ellie, into the room and practiced it a few times with her. She thought it was great. Of course, that may have been the dog biscuits talking.

Lori is getting ready also. She is presenting a seminar titled getting started. Over the years she has presented this seminar several times and is well acquainted with it. In addition to guiding, Lori does corporate training so she is very comfortable speaking to any size group. Her great love is casting. This year, like the last two, she will be conducting a ladies only class. To prepare herself, she has been honing her casting skills. Last year, we bought the lot next door and now she has a nice big wide open space to practice. In addition, she has been teaching casting every time she has had the opportunity.

Now that we are ready, we have begun to anticipate sowbug. I look forward to seeing all of my friends from years past and the opportunity to meet new ones. When fly fishers and fly tiers gather, it is always an occasion.

I also look forward to eating some of the great food at sowbug. This event is different from any other, because they have the church ladies catering all of the meals. All of the food is hearty, delicious and inexpensive. Nobody goes off site for lunch. My favorites are the sloppy Joes, the home made chili and the home made cookies. They have added a few new items to their repertoire this year and I am anxious to try them.

Sowbug is just around the corner. I hope you are as ready for it as I am!

John Berry

(870) 435-2169

berrybrothers@infodash.com

www.berrybrothersguides.com

[Thom]

Thank you for all of the good info. I wonder if you could post a picture of the fly described.

[Terry Beeson]

JB,

I'll be sitting in front of you as soon as I can get there and see you... I need to watch that DTT tie one more time...

I also hope to get Cindy with Miss Lori on casting and fishing. She's working on getting her feet wet - pun intended...

Thom... You'll just have to go down and watch Dan or John tie this bug... Pictures are few and in between. I think they reside just either side of the KFC recipe of eleven herbs and spices.

[Zach Bearden]

I apologize for jumping away from the subject but for some reason my comp won't let me open the Sowbug page.

This is on the White River right?

[Terry Beeson]

Well, Zach, it was this weekend in Mountain Home. GREAT fishing and a lot of fun at the Sowbug itself. If you weren't there, you missed a great time on the water and off!!