McTage's McLuvin Carp Fly

I have been working on this fly since August of 2011.  The original goal was to have a fly that takes advantage of the positive attributes of the Trouser Worm without being so...so....WORMY.  The Trouser Worm is so amazingly effective that I thought combining it's basic action with a cray-fishy profile could be a deadly alternative.

Initially, I wanted a bulky profile with this fly, but that just didn't work out.  Instead, after having success with several different iterations and getting trounced on others I have whittled the design down to a lighter, sparser and more delicate version of Option A in the video linked above.

This fly has the same unique rocking action as the Trouser Worm with a sparse but buggy soft-hackle profile.  The sparse profile and delicate micro-pine squirrel allow the fly to get down (particularly with a loop knot) without requiring too much weight and the base design of this fly will use a brass bead instead of tungsten.  This allows for a more delicate presentation in medium depths and/or moderate current.  It is probably slightly too heavy for long-range ultra-shallow still-water applications but will work at moderate range using indirect presentations such as a drag and drop.  It is also too light for heavy current, which will require substituting a tungsten bead.

It has gotten a very positive reaction on the Denver South Platte this fall, and has earned a name which will be "McTage's McLuvin".  Like the Trouser Worm, the McLuvin was specifically designed to be effective for virtually every presentation including a dead drop, twitch, sitting,  stripped or slow swimming.

McTage's McLuvin

Tying Instructions:

  

Materials List:

• Hook:  Size 8 Tiemco 2457 caddis
• Thread:  140 denier burnt orange Ultra-Thread
• Bead:  3.25mm black brass bead
• Eyes:  #6 stainless bead-chain
• Tail:   Brown micro-pine squirrel
• Body:  Rust Brown "Nymph Free-Range" Dubbing** (singlebarbed.com)
• Collar:  Small brown Hungarian Partridge
• Head:  Pink Shrimp UV Dub

**At the time of this post I am not positive "Free-Range" dubbing is still available.  I am trying to confirm if the "nymph" dubbing listed on singlebarbed is the same stuff with a new name.  If not I will be on the hunt for a substitute.  Keith Barton at singlebarbed.com has confirmed, his "nymph" dubbing available for order at his online store is in fact the same thing as his famous "Free-Range" Dubbing.

Bathtub Video: