The Atomic Dog is a Winner

Hopefully it wins first prize with the fish in a few weeks

The Atomic Dog a winner, but not in the sense that it has caught a pile of fish yet (it's too early in the season for that). But the fly did manage to tie for first place in the Skeena River Fly Supply Snow Runner tying contest. The contest was held on speypages.com. The rules dictated that an original fly be tied with snow runner as a material. I had purchased some snow runner from SRFS to tie this fly regardless, so I figured I would enter it in the contest. I'm glad I did! 

If you haven't checked out Skeena River Fly Supply, I highly recommend you do so. They have some unique materials and a good selection of tubes. Due to their location, their inventory is highly steelhead-centric, but there is plenty for tyers of Atlantic salmon, saltwater, and trout flies. I'm looking forward to getting my next shipment and will post some more flies tied with SRFS materials. Thanks again to Jaap Kalkman and Skeena River Fly Supply for sponsoring a great contest! 

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I can't wait to get out there and try these flies. I think we have about two or three more weeks before the striper fishing turns on. Where I fish, the sea run brown trout usually come in a little after. I think we'll start to see them by the middle of May and they will continue to trickle in through most of June, so long as it doesn't get too hot too quickly. They're phantoms that don't run in real numbers, so the only way to know if they're around is to go out and pay dues (lots of dues)...I love it! 

Black and White Dogs

Atomic Dog (Black)

Thread: Black
Tube: 1" 3 mm plastic tube; 1.8 mm plastic tube,  nested inside
Rear Body: Black flat braid
Weight (optional): Lead tape, wire, or non-lead alternative

Base Wing: Black bucktail tied on top of the front portion of the body
Front Body: UV Black Ice Dub (heavy & loose) over bucktail butts, picked out
Wing 1: Black marble fox tail and light blue Flashabou
Wing 2: Black marble fox tail and UV pearl Angel Hair
Wing 3: Black snow runner topped with micro mirage Lateral Scale

Wing 4: Black snow runner topped with several strands of peacock herl
Underwing: Black marble fox, tied to the under side of the tube
Topping: Black hackle, tied flatwing style
Sides: Jungle cock
Head: Large ball of Black UV Ice Dub, tied loosely over wing butts and picked out

Throat: Fluorescent pink Fluoro Fiber
Collar Hackle: Black schlappen
Cone: Black turbo cone (small)