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 Tying Instructions |
Materials:
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Notes: The Copper John originated from John Barr of Boulder, Colorado. John's
original pattern, in 1996, called for a copper wire abdomen, a tail and legs of Hungarian Partridge, and a thorax of peacock herl with an epoxied Turkey quill wing case. He designed it as an attractor fly to draw attention to a more realistic dropper fly to be used below it. John wanted to achieve a slim, yet heavy, nymph pattern that would allow for a quick descent
and have a flashy look to get the trout's attention. It took John three years to achieve the pattern he
desired. Since 1996, the pattern has been modified to have a Goose Biot tail, Brown Hen Back for legs, and Skinny Skin for the wingcase material with a Pearl Flashabou over the top of the Skinny Skin. The biots and hen back were much more durable than the original materials. The Skinny Skin is more durable, but it also accepted only one drop of epoxy, rather than the two drops that were required by the turkey quill. In 2001, Wapsi came out with muliple colors of tarnish-proof wire to give the pattern a wide range of colorations. It is an attractor fly shaped to look like a mayfly or stonefly nymph. Having a broad nymphal shape, it can pass as a caddis
larvae with the chartreuse wire abdomen. Larger sizes in black or brown wire can pass for dark stoneflies, and the red
patterns can be used for PMD hatches or Yellow Sallies. Black colors in size 18-22 make excellent Baetis or Trico imitations. His favorite colors are copper, red, chartreuse, and black. John likes to use a Hopper pattern as the floating fly and drops the Copper John pattern below it. His preferred rig set-up is a 7.5 foot 3X mono leader with a heavy butt section to the Hopper fly, next is 2-4 feet of 4X fluorocarbon to the Copper John, and 12 inches of 5X Fluorocarbon to the dropper. Under a Strike indicator, John may use the Copper John as the first fly and have two nymphs dropped below it. | |||
