Copper Collar Fly - the CC Fly

The CC Fly (Sunset Orange) with a mounted double hook and short wing for daytime fishing.

The CC Fly is a development of the flies I used during the years when I was spin fishing with flies for salmon. Those flies were rather course and grotesque compared to today’s patterns, but they worked well.
When I put this pattern together the basic idea was that the fly should be cheap, simple and fish well. By choosing a tube instead of a streamer hook I leave it open to use the same fly to many kinds of fishing. All you have to do is choose the right type of hook. I do not work with the fly’s body, but simply roll the tube in water resistant holographic adhesive tape. When using a thin tube it results in very refined bodies with just the appropriate amount of flash. The wing consists of cheap fox hair and a few strands of Angel Hair. To finish I use a medium sized copper cone. The cone I use for tying is from Spirit River and its diameter is just a little smaller than normal gold- and silver cones. It gives the fly a better look.
The end product is a tube that tilts slightly in the water while the wing beats horizontally with the stream and it fishes very well. If you attach a single hook that the carp fishers use the fly will lie almost straight in the water while a big triple hook will make it tip more vertically. The last-mentioned is not good and if you want a triple hook I recommend using smaller hook sizes, which mostly hook the fish better.

Pattern description to the CC Fly in Ammarnäs colours

A series of CC Flies in colours suitable for the river Vindelälven. The variations of the colours in the table below follow the picture in right to left order.
 

When I tie these flies I mount the silicone tube, that later will hold the hook, before I tie the fly. By doing so I can attach the tube with some tying thread so it does not fall off when fishing. At the same time I don’t have to press the tape covered tube together in the vise.

To be able to do this a tube vise of the type that Renzetti (see picture below) markets is necessary. I use two pieces of the somewhat harder tube (the so called US tube) as distance not to harm to the tube while tying. One distance piece is a bit longer and is simply inserted into the silicone tube before it is mounted in the tube vise.

In this picture we clearly see the mounting of the tube with silicone tube. The distance piece to the left passes in and under the silicone tube all the way to the tube with holographic tape. The distance piece is then fixated in the tube vise where the passing-through mandrill also is fixated.

Now the entire tube is kept steady when tying the fly, without need to compress the tube. The flies of the Ammarnäs series may also be tied in this way if you want them to be slightly longer and their bodies more defined.

It’s practical to make a few tubes while you are at it.

Tying instructions

1. Start by cutting a tube and attach the holographic adhesive tape.

2. Mount the silicone tube on the tube and insert it in the vise.

3. Secure the silicone tube with the tying thread and finish off with some firm whip finish knots.

4. Wrap tying thread over one and a half millimetre of the tape at the very front of the fly. It is important not to cover too much space of the tube since the cone might then not cover all materials.

5. Take a small bundle of fox hair, which you relieve of much of the wool and even out the tops.

6. Tie in the wing pointing forward and let it spread by an even layer around the entire tube. Secure the wing with five or six turns of the tying thread. Trim off the excess fox hair that sticks out towards the tube’s rear end.

7. Fold the entire wing backwards and secure it in its final position with another five or six turns of the tying thread. You now have the possibility to adjust the hair so that it spreads evenly and nicely around the whole tube.

8. Take four or five strands of Angel Hair and tie them in by two turns of the tying thread. The first turn should be at the most rear end of the head and the second turn far forward. Keep the thread tight and fold the forward pointing strands backwards. Secure with a few turns and finish off with a couple of whip finish knots.

9. Taper the Angel Hair strands along the wing’s entire length.

10. Remove the fly from the vise and pick away the distance piece. Put a layer of glue or varnish around the fly’s head. Slide on the copper cone and cut the tube a bit more than a millimetre in front of the cone’s end. Melt the tube towards the cone to fixate the cone. Finish off the fly by reopening the tube’s front with your dubbing needle to be able to insert the leader.

The light olive variant is my favourite for ocean fishing by the West coast. The fly works excellently at Ammarnäs when the water is clear and the daylight bright.

A typical Lapland purple fly that always is sharp ammunition at dusk and the brown trout start moving around more actively in the water.