The LOD

Recall this fly swap. Most dominant swap I've come across. Every fly I got I immediately rubbed all over my body. Fly Carpin McTage was patient with me/USPS and I really appreciate that. Because the booty was significant.

It came to my attention that >=1 person asked for a step-by-step of the LOD. I am amateurish and thus do not do many recipes, steps, etc. and I've never put anything on YouTube. But I did pound these pics out tonight. Thanks for asking.

This variant uses a squirrel strip in place of chenille and hackle. It is untested. Sink rate is uncertain. I can't put it up there with the original LOD yet (which I put up against any fly out there). And it should be noted that the original LOD roots back to a crayfish pattern tied by John Montana. And it should be noted that you could call the LOD a peacock-backed, DB eye bugger. And you'd be right. But everyone names all these iterations. I'm not going to apologize for it. Like T. McGuane says: you have to have confidence in your fly when fishing it. Naming it, running through a certain song while fishing it, feeling like it's a badass fly, etc. that all instills confidence. And maybe fun. So rather than just say "Hello Wellington, I'm going to fish this peacock dumbell eye wooly bugger today" you say look out biyatches for the LOD ON THAT ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like to wrap the scrap forward to add a little more bulk.


Tie in medium copper wire, then clump of peacock, then a squirrel strip. Tie the strip in at what would commonly be figured to be the "back" of it so the hair is laying down toward the front of the fly. I suppose that is standard palmering technique.


Palmer forward and tight off tight. You can use a little extra thread to lock down the strip because you'll cover that up with peacock.


Pull the peacock clump forward and use it to splay out the squirrel hair. Might have to use your fingers to pull and prod to get the hairdo just how you want it. Tie off peacock.


Lash it all together with the copper wire. Move the wire back and forth as you wrap forward to avoid pinning the hair down. This creates a bit of a segmented effect which is cool. And it should keep the fly together.


One carpy-ass fly. A long time ago years back I used to say that any unspooked carp that saw this (actually the original LOD) had eaten it. I'll have to think on it but that might not be true anymore. Maybe though. They rip it up pretty hard. It pulls some punches. Etc. One thing to think about is the sink rate, which will vary according to the size of DB eyes you use and materials you apply. Look at different combinations. Drop flies in buckets if you feel like it. Make sure they are saturated before you start timing the drops though.


Post Script: scrounging for rabbit strips in my cast-off box, I found this old nag. BWCA smallie fly. Looks like the Gorilla Glue initiated chemical reaction with DB eyes. But this fly will catch a carp. Taking it to DC. Will rise from the Leinie's box that is the fly graveyard and stick a Lake Michigan carp. The old bitchy naggy oxidized head fly.