Keith is a very passionate fly fisher, general angler and fly tier as those who know him will testify... he'll be alternating with Warren McCarthy's articles with a few alternative patterns and tyings for stillwaters and reservoirs, here's an angle on an almost 365 day a year fly... the Buzzer

So fly-fishing... What’s it all about? I wish I knew to be truthful. But I guess flies have to come in to it somewhere right? But what IS a fly? What constitutes a fly for fishing? And what constitutes a fly for fishing on rivers and still-waters? Well I guess you will have to decide if you fish rivers whether its right to fish a Cats Whisker tied on a size 10 long shank hook in that deep hole under the far bank by the tree stump. And likewise is it proper to fish the same fly for those stockie rainbows in that puddle we call a fishery? Well whatever you decide it’s the right choice. Why? Well fly-fishing has long been seen as a sport for the rich and the landed. That is if you are on the outside looking in anyway. The sport has however done a lot to break down the barriers and misconceptions and what we want is people to come in to the sport and enjoy it. So if you feel the need to use the good old Cat then do so but don’t get trapped in the "it’s the only fly that catches" vein.

There are thousands of flies out there to try and to be successful with. So what I would like to do is introduce a few different patterns over the next few issues for you to try and to use on the still-water side of fly–fishing. It is after all the most accessible area of the sport and despite what you hear can be easy or hard as hell. The majority of trout fisheries will be regularly stocked and there will always be the fish that can’t resist the good old Cat. However some fish respond well to patterns a world away from the lures or streamers so often seen in use. Don’t get me wrong these flies have their time and place, and I will cover them, but to get a bit more out of fishing a small still water why not try a different route? You may well be very surprised at the results. And you may surprise the guys using those lures too.

We have all heard of the good old buzzer. It’s the name given by anglers to the "none biting midge" or Chironomid. Why buzzer? Well the adults fly around your head and the sound of the midge flying is a buzz. Like a mosquito but friendlier. So the whole life cycle gets named as a buzzer. Fine.

It’s reckoned that 80% of a fishes food is taken below the surface and on some lakes the buzzer makes up 75% of that diet. It’s also said that 85% of statistics are made up on the spot. What is without question is that fish LOVE buzzers. So let’s "tie one on".

This fly is just a simple thread buzzer with a bit of flash and cheeks. It’s a variation of the Blakeston Buzzer that is such a successful fly. To give an idea of how popular these flies are I have had a squint at one of the top fly supply houses and they list an amazing 101 different buzzer patterns and variations!! Oooer missus. And that’s without the variations on a theme like Diawl Bach’s.

Buzzers have a few important factors that need to be taken in to consideration when tying the fly. I will point them out as we go through the sequences below. I will also show a few common mistakes when tying your first buzzer.

MATERIALS

Hook : Kamasan B100 in a size 10 for the demo but tie them from an 8 down to an 18.

Thread : Gordon Griffiths Wisp in black. It’s an 8/0 thread.

Rib : Thread.

Thorax Cover : Mirage Tinsel in Pearl.

Cheeks : Orange floss Globrite No.8

The whole of the fly is then covered in either varnish, super glue or one of the UV cure materials.

TYING

1 - The abdomen or body of the fly is thread. Take your time. Wisp will unwind if you let it and can give you a superb body that looks like all you did was paint the hook, in this case, black. With buzzers slim is super and really is important. Try to avoid over doing the thread turns on the body. Bulk will come later.

2 - Now add the rib. As opposed to letting the thread unwind and lay flat here we spin it tight and wind it up the body as shown. The rib represents the segments of the fly body. The segments are smaller at the tail and are closer together. The turns widen out a little as we go up the body. 2 - Now add the rib. As opposed to letting the thread unwind and lay flat here we spin it tight and wind it up the body as shown. The rib represents the segments of the fly body. The segments are smaller at the tail and are closer together. The turns widen out a little as we go up the body.

3 - The thorax cover is tied in. Don’t struggle with short stubby bits of tinsel. Leave a good length so you can manipulate it easily. Don’t have it too long in the thorax. Where you tie in the tinsel will govern the proportions of the fly. Here I have tied it in over the eye of the hook. The result will be a clear hook eye as you will see later.

The right hand photo (red) is not an exaggeration of how wrong some folk get it. Wrong thread and proportions.

4 - The fiddly bit. Tie in the floss for the cheeks. They can be tied in to come up from the back of the thorax or more easily from the front of the hook going backwards towards the bend. A common problem when tying the cheeks in from the back is that the cheeks may come out when cut. Tying them in at the front by the eye and then taking them back and down gives a more secure tie in. That’s my view anyway!

Tied in cheek material Thorax cover tied in Cheeks now tied in Whip finish behind the thorax

Now for a couple more “Oops moments”... The following show the materials were tied in to loosely and came adrift during the coating. In the second photo the materials were trimmed but not too well. The eye of the hook is also covered over.

5 - Finish off with your choice of coating. Varnish needs three coats and time to dry in between each one. Super glue is similarly slow but the new UV cure coatings are quick and easy to use. There are four or five around and always in the press so you choose which one to try.

Below you can see the effect of playing with the coating material. I used a UV coating and set it briefly. Then I attached thread again and created the rib effect by wrapping the thread through the part set coating.

The coating was flashed to set it completely. The thread then removed after it had set properly.

This is the end product of a simple to tie pattern.

It takes a lot more to write about the fly than do it so don’t be put off. I have deliberately shown the common errors made when tying these simple but murderously effective flies... Go get em Floyd.