OPST Shank Chucks

OPST Shank Chucks are now in. 

Makes tying on shanks super easy.

Articulated Shanks

Now in Stock. Senyo's Articulated Shanks for Steelhead and Salmon.

Several colors and sizes available.

Saturday Morning Seminars-Introducing The Intruder

Saturday Morning Seminars

Saturday, March 10, 10 AM

Country Pleasures

Introducing the Intruder (& other Steelhead patterns)

Brent Piche ties some of his most prized possessions, steelhead

intruders. He'll also tie some other popular patterns, with a twist of course.

You can also check out Seminar topics at our web site – www.countrypleasures.com – by following the links to Seminars.

All seminars start at 10:00 am and will end between 11:00 and noon. There is no charge and no pre-registration required. Simply drop by the shop and enjoy the seminar. Although we will make every attempt to present the seminars as outlined above, topics are subject to change without notice. If you have a topic you would wish covered in a seminar, please advise the staff.

Tying Brent's Spring Fling

A quick glance on how to tie Brent's intruder variant: Brent's Spring Fling. A great steelhead fly for any coastal stream, as well as for winter fish. Fall fish don't seem to mind it either!

Intruder Alert

The re-stocking production continues...

Here's a few more:

Tying in the shitty weather

Been refilling my Steelhead boxes after the Babine trip. Tying a bunch of Peach and Pink variations (going to the Yakoun on Boxing Day). A little different, we use a lot of black on the Babine.

Double Egg Peach Intruder
A new Prawn pattern I've been working on. Looks cool, hope they eat it!

One side of the box is full again. Kind of got cleaned out in October.

The Hoh Bo Spey. Did some of these in new colors like Peach, Pink, and Cerise. I'll post some photos later. Did I mention they eat the s$#@ out of this bug!

Pair of Intruders, one pink, one peach/orange.

Some Bugs

Here's a few flies that Brent has been tying in his free time. Doesn't take much of a guess to tell where he's going in a week!
ps. sorry for slacking on the blog! We should have a bunch of photos from Mike's Babine trip next week.

Brent Piche Flies

Some flies that Brent tied recently.

Some pretty cool stuff... One of the better Intruder tiers I have seen.

Intruder Step by Step

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The Intruder. Originated in the Pacific Northwest by Ed Ward, this fly has become pretty much the go-to wet-fly of most NW steelheaders. The size and motion in the water are meant to produce the most violent strikes possible, and will move the most sullen fish.
Personally, I think for a fish like steelhead, every bit of a fly needs to be put in with as much thought as possible towards motion and asthetics. Steelhead are an incredible fish, and deserve a work of art to catch them. Simply put, this is no ten minute tie, and personally I don't believe it should ever be rushed.

While rhea isn't cheap, it does make a fly with more movement then regular ostrich. Plus, every fish you land on one of these bugs feels even more special.

SHANK - Partridge waddington 35mm
LOOP - 30 Firewire, twice looped (for strength and stability)
THREAD - black
HOOK - Tiemco 600sp,
#2TAIL - White Artic Fox spun, followed by Blue Artic Fox Spun, Followed by Pink and Blue rhea wrapped around it. Followed by Blue Amherst
BODY - BlueLagartun flat braid
HACKLE - Blue Rhea followed by Pink Rhea over spun Blue Artic Fox. Followed by Blue Amherst and Two hackles each of dyed grizzly saddle (blue and pink)
COLLAR/Head -Pink Senyo's Laser Dub
HEAD - Spirit River Real Eyes
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Attach the firewire loop by laying it down on the shank and doubling back apon itself. This saves you having to glue (which can make a mess, as well as having to wait for the glue to dry)
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Spin white artic fox followed by blue artic fox in a dubbing loop and wrap them forward. This will make 1. a lot of motion in the water and 2. a support for the rhea, so it does not collapse.
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Add amherst around the shank. You can also spin amherst in a dubbing loop to speed this process up. I like being able to place every bit of amherst exactly where I like it.

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Wrap rhea (should be split already from the stem. Come in the shop to see how this is done.) a few times around the shank. Less is better, as it won't clog up in the water.

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Wrap blue rhea forward

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Attach blue largatun flat braid and wrap it forward. If you have lots of time, it's nice to make a nice clean shank using thread. It doesn't matter too much as you can hardly see this when the fly is done. Also a good time to add in the real eyes (helps to tell how much room you have remaining to work with)

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Again spin blue artic fox in a dubbing loop.

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Wrap blue rhea again. This should be considerably longer then the length you used at the back.

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Wrap pink rhea forward. The rhea shown here is nearly 7" long. Big flies move big fish.
We recently got in a new stock of what could easily be called the best Rhea we've ever seen (oh, and it's cheaper then previous batches :) )
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Tie in blue and pink grizzly hackles. I like to match them to the longest rhea on the fly. Finally these are available pre-dyed, and are one of my favourite products on the shelf right now. No more dying or using permanent markers!!

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Tie in an 'egg' head using Senyo's Laser Yarn. This is a new product that I'm also very impressed with. Spin it in a dubbing loop and wrap forward. Then pick it out with velcro and it makes a VERY sleak head that looks great in the water.

The 'egg' addition is nice, and has been proven over and over with the success of the simple Egg Sucking leech.

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Done!

You can tie these in as many different color combinations as you want. See down the blog one post for an orange and black that Babine fish can't help to smash (especially on Halloween).

What ever color you can get the Rhea in, you can tie this fly in.

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Note that I did not attach the hook (mostly cause I didn't have one beside me at that time). By far my favourite hook for these flies are the Tiemco 600sp. They are possibly the sharpest hook we've ever found, have a nice short shank and the super-point doesn't miss any grabs.

If you have any other flies that you'd like to see featured, feel free to email or comment!

Halloween Intruder

Happy Halloween! Well, almost Halloween. I've been tying a bunch of these for a steelhead trip in November. I love these color combinations, and have tied a ton of them in these colors. They seem to just stand out, and the new Rhea we have in stock has proven to be wonderful to work with.

SHANK - Partridge waddington 35mm
LOOP - 30 Firewire, twice looped (for strength and stability)
THREAD - black
HOOK - Tiemco 600sp, #2
TAIL - Orange Artic Fox spun, followed by Black Artic Fox Spun, Followed by Black and Dark Orange rhea wrapped around it. Followed by Orange Amherst
BODY - Black and Orange Lagartun flat braid
HACKLE - Black followed by Dark Orange Rhea over spun Orange Artic Fox. Followed by Orange Amherst and Black Holographic Flashabou
COLLAR/Head -Black Artic Fox Spun
HEAD - Spirit River Real Eyes