Flies for Oregon Coast Albacore Tuna (Part 2)

In this issue, contributing fly tyer Eric Martin Adds to his Flies for Albacore Tuna collection that he introduced in the last issue. For the story, and the other flies in the collection see his article, Flies for Oregon Coast Albacore Tuna; Jul-Aug 09 issue.

By way of introduction to the new flies, however, I have copied the text explaining the construction principles for his Albacore Tuna Flies below.

Excerpt from From Flies for Oregon Coast Albacore Tuna

You will notice that the ‘ingredients’ used in each fly are few. This is to help keep costs down, while streamlining and speeding up the overall process. The tricks here are building in layers, and securing the materials. The tying process is basically a series of ‘chevrons’ >>>>>, using sparse amounts of body materials which build upon themselves with each subsequent step. Use too large a portion of material, and you’ll be stuck trying to work around a bulky clump that doesn’t blend with the rest of the body.  I like to tie everything in the middle, when securing the materials, fold the front half back, and then secure again. For example, a 4” fly would use 8” of Super Hair, tied, folded back, and tied again. This will prevent materials from slipping out when fished. Super Hair is great for this because it comes in 10.5” lengths. Other good materials are Unique Hair, Sea Hair, and Puglisi Fibers. As for flash, Flashabou, Krystal Flash, Polar Flash, and Mirage Accent are all great.

Coat the heads (from hook eye to behind the fly eyes) with thick cement like Flexament, or even epoxy, to give the heads good rigidity, further adhere the eyes, and most importantly, to give the fly an air pocket up near its front, which causes a pressure difference in the water around the fly, thus producing a bubble trail to flow from the fly and add realism. Bubbles are a good thing in tuna fishing!

And now enjoy the patterns:  

Original Creations for Albacore Tuna

Fly fisherman and tyer Eric Martin grew up in the central Oregon town of Madras, Oregon, earned his degree in in Fisheries and Wildlife Science from Oregon State University,  and has the great fortune of being provided with riverfront housing while working for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. During times when he is not at work, he can fish and tie to his heart's content. You can read more about Eric and see many more of his flies at The Flies of Eric Martin.