john barr has invented a number of versatile and popular flies, among them the the fly that has become one of the most popular of modern patterns: the copper john. the copper john went through several design changes over a period of about three years beginning in 1993. the early patterns caught fish, but i didn’t consider it finished until 1996. after trying numerous hook styles, i settled on the tiemco 5262, a 2xl, 2x heavy hook. in the first version, i wrapped natural-colored copper wire on the hook shank to form the abdomen. the original pattern’s tail and legs were hungarian partridge and the thorax was wrapped peacock herl with an epoxied turkey quill wing case. the epoxy may give off a little glow that many emerging nymphs and pupae exhibit. when wapsi introduced thin skin, i began to use that instead of turkey quill for the wing case. thin skin is durable, easy to work with, more readily available than turkey, and accepts the epoxy coating better than the turkey.
the first layer of epoxy i used soaked into the turkey feather and a second coat was required. the hen-back fibers were durable and came in a variety of mottled colors. to make the fly sink faster, i wrapped lead wire on the hook under the thorax. the fly was almost where i wanted it. the pattern was finished. at first i only tied the fly in natural copper. it took me a few years to try the red and green, which turned out to be productive colors. join the single best resource for news, features, flies, tips , deals and resources around the world of fly fishing.
steve recommended a bunch of patterns of which i knew all except for one – a pattern that steve referred to as the copper john. with all respect to john barr’s effort to make an excellent generic nymph imitation, it is not the imitative strength or general good looks of the fly that makes it a killer. with a dozen materials and alone two plus epoxy for the back, it is more than i usually bargain for in a fly pattern. you might want to treat the dry fly with floatant in order to hold it high and carry the nymph for as long as possible. i will say that i have heard this story about he copper bob and it certainly was a buzz in and around the rocky moutnain front range for years, nice to see bob’s take on it as well.
thanks for sharing your letter to john barr and the “original” publishing magazine of the copper john article. the fly was inspired primarily by my needs as a guide, and by some of the ideas and nymph patterns that other guides and my fishermen shared with me. i believe that this style affords the guide or fisherman a greater degree of flexibility, allowing it to be to fished plain, for mid depth drifts, and with whatever size and color bead added to the leader for deeper drifts. – when i’m asked why i didn’t promote the concept/pattern, i remind folks that, at the time, i was a working guide in a very competitive area, and that my primary concern was to keep the fly a secret for as long as possible. the global flyfisher has been online since the mid-90’s and has been free to access for everybody since day one – and will stay free for as long as i run it.
invented by john barr in the mid 90’s. it’s easy to tie and very effective when you need a heavy simple nymph pattern. by changing the color of tying steps: copper john 1. place the bead on the hook by inserting the hook point into the smaller hole on the front of the bead. 2. break off both ends of the copper john, developed by john barr in the mid 90’s, has become a remarkably popular pattern and with good reason. it sinks like a stone and, although it, copper john vs pheasant tail, copper john vs pheasant tail, best copper john color, copper john fly tying materials, hillbilly copper john.
first introduced to the world of fly fishing in 1993 by john barr, the copper john has made quite a name for itself amongst anglers and tyers the “copper bob” was designed to be a “guide’s fly” one that is effective, easy to tie in quantity, durable, and allows clients to fish a nymph deeply number 2 on etu members’ list of “must have” flies to fish colorado streams was the copper john, a mayfly nymph pattern that gets down in the water column, brassie fly pattern, copper johns.
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