Saturday, March 1, 2014

2014 Fly Swap: Mr. P's Black Betty


Click HERE to visit the swap summary page.

Tier: Jim Pankiewicz  - Mr. P.
Location: Bothell, Washington
Home Water: Columbia River
Website: GotBacking.com
Instagram: @JimPankiewicz

About: "I fish this fly and the carp carrot in rivers and in lakes. Early in the season size 6-8 hooks work best, in the mid-season size 8, and at the end of the season size 10 tends to work better. I tie Black Betty with three different sizes of dumbbell eyes. The speed of the current and the water level determine how heavy of a fly I fish with. If I have caught several fish, or if for any reason the hackle starts to disappear, the fly noticeably loses effectiveness.

Notes: I love this fly because of what it is, and that is a carp catching machine. Mr. P has condensed this fly down to pure carp catching essence. No bull, and no extraneous details designed to catch fishermen instead of carp. The result is a fly that is going to work anywhere. As a matter of fact, I would feel 100% confident throwing this fly to carp anywhere in the country!

I also love this fly for what it represents, and that is our constantly evolving heritage. Fly-Carpin has put me in the lucky position of knowing most of the longtime hardcore carpers in the country. I talk to a bunch of people about their favorite flies and how they evolved in the sport. Through those discussions I have learned that most experienced carpers have some version of a soft-hackle in their top 5 favorite carp flies. If you dig deep and read between the lines you find out that nearly all these flies were directly or indirectly influenced by Mr P's Black Betty and Carp Carrot. These are good flies of their own right, but when you add up all the flies that owe them lineage, these flies are Titans!

Recipe:
  • Hook: Tiemco 3769 #6-10. The swap fly is #8.
  • Eyes: Nickel colored brass 7/64, 1/8, or 5/32. The swap fly has 1/8. 
  • Tail: Red round rubber—medium
  • Body: Peacock herl—two strands
  • Rib: Gold or brass wire (counter ribbed). The swap fly has copper.
  • Hackle: Pheasant rump dyed black




Posted by DFrasier at 8:07 AM
Labels: ,

9 comments:

  1. Mr. P.March 1, 2014 at 12:02 PM

    Great write-up--thanks Trevor and Dan!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carp AficionadoMarch 2, 2014 at 8:09 AM

    Mr. P's blog was the first fully carp-centric web site I found when I began carping. I spent hours reading through his posts. His patterns like the Carp Carrot and Black Betty absolutely shaped the way I think about carp flies today. Never met Mr P in person, but I sure have learned a lot from him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. testflycarpinMarch 3, 2014 at 9:40 PM

      Me too. I found Mr P, Roughfisher and John Montana in that order.

      Delete
  3. John MontanaMarch 2, 2014 at 7:06 PM

    Good stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  4. GreggMarch 3, 2014 at 2:35 PM

    I'll second your opinion of Mr.P. and his blog Ty.In my initial web searching for carp I found his and have to say it is one of the classiest there is, very well written with tons of information, and he is a very helpful upbeat person. To say nothing of his wonderful flies.

    Gregg

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)