Hammer Creek's Rubber Leg Copper John II

When tying flies I have always seemed to have had a few patterns that I just HATE tying. It might be because I have problems or issues with certain materials or techniques, because I do not like to look or style of the fly,  or sometimes I have no reason at all. Copper Johns have been on that list for a long time. I always have had issues with getting biots to sit the way that I like and have a hard time wrapping my head around the benefits of a biot versus say hen or dry fly hackle or something that moves in the water with the different currents. Also getting a nice clean head with beads, shell cases, flash and all of those things going on at the same time near the head of the fly has given me problems in the past but as I have grown as a tyer things have started to get easier.

For whatever reason the second that I saw the video of the Rubber Leg Copper John II tied by Hammer Creek Fly Fishing I was captivated and knew that I needed a few dozen for my box. The only substitution that I have made with the pattern is changing from a biot tail to some speckled hen because I simply believe that motion is always better then a stiff biot.

I tied up 2 dozen of this pattern to get a feel for it, starting with size 10 and working down to size 16. I cannot wait to get out and try this pattern once trout has opened here in Ontario and have a feeling that it will be deadly effective for not only trout but pan fish and other species as well.

  

Please check out Hammer Creeks website and here is the tying video for this pattern