Even in a sport as old as fly-fishing, new methods pop up. Sometimes they are revivals or revisions of tried-and-true methods, but occasionally entirely new paradigms are developed. Not long ago Bob Popovics began experimenting with fly tying by using an old method in a new way. The result, which he calls a Hollow Fleye, is an impressive bucktail fly that gives the illusion of bulk without weight. The tying technique is so simple, the results will astound you.
Like Popovics, most people are familiar with at least one of Dan Blanton’s patterns. A small West Coast contingent of fly tiers began working on a new way to weight flies to give them a more realistic action during the retrieve, and they came up with something they call rear weighting. Blanton has incorporated his own version of the method into his Sar-Mul-Mac, giving it unbelievable action. Again, the process is not complicated, but the redesigned Sar-Mul-Mac is impressive.
We felt these techniques and the resulting flies deserved a bit more space than in the standard Fly Tier’s Bench, so we present them here, in both Popovics’ and Blanton’s own words. These patterns will add another dimension to your fly-tying repertoire, not to mention your fly box.
The Lead Ass Mac
By Dan Blanton
The Hollow Fleye
By Bob Popovics
