Original Frank Sawyer Killer Bug Fly Tying Recipe:  Hooks of size 10, 12, or 14, Chadwick’s 477 Wool, and redish fine wire Wind the wire starting at the bend to the eye and back again, leaving wire dangling at the bend. Starting at the eye (if doing one covering of wool), lap the wool along the wire covered shank and stop at the bend.  One or two coverings is usually all that is required, stopping at the bend.  Take the wire and secure the end of the wool with three turns and trim .   ___________________________ Probably one of the most famous and oft copied flies in the world is Frank Sawyer’s Pheasant Tail. However, Sawyer fished with three flies the PT, his Grey Goose and his Killer Bug (his tying descriptions for all three flies are in the photographs below), which is also not counting his Bow Tie Buzzard for midges and the Swedish Special for Northern Sweden, all strokes of genius using copper wire. Sawyer’s Killer Bug or Sawyer’s Grayling Killer Bug, as it might have been originally called by some, is a very productive fly and is simple to tie, my favorite kind of general purpose fly.  It was tied in very large sizes and he caught salmon with it.  In smaller sizes, it was used for trout, and it was known primarily as a grayling fly. The only problem with it, is that the yarn used to tie it, has been discontinued since 1965 and it still has a mystical following among fly tiers, so any remnants of it are often gobbled up.  Some call trying to collect Chadwick’s 477, as a hobby within a hobby.   I often use the Killer … Continue reading Frank Sawyer’s Killer Bug