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Well I finally sat down and tied my first coho fly ala "Brother Nature's Favorite". It is harder to do than it looks like especially when you have chubby fingers! I am sure it will get easier after I tie a couple more. I am going to try the hollow tube version of the coho fly next. I quickly figured out that if you tie your individual "pinches" with a piece of thread at the midpoint to keep the bundle together it goes a lot easier. Here is a pic.

You got a winner there! Now make about a dozen more just like it and you'll be set for the first two months of the season.

Well done Don!!!

I also got around to tying a few more peanut flies for early coho this year. Did well on the green/blue flies I tied last year and they seemed to hold up better than a certain store bought brand I used along side them. Experimented with a few colors this year but stayed heavy on the greens and blues. May have to make a few more with some gold mixed in. Thanks for sharing your favorite colors and good looking fly there Don.

Those are some great looking flies Birddogs!

Those are very professional looking. Looks like you are very skilled in making that style of fly. What size hook are you tying up?

SD: The fly is tied on a barrel swivel, not on a treble hook. The swivels I use are about an inch long. Then a split ring and a treble is added to the swivel. Size of hook varies with the length of the fly. My smallest swivel flies are just shy of 1 1/2 inches and have a rather small treble, the largest are about 2 1/2 inches and have a larger treble. The advantage of the "swivel" instead of just tying on the hook shank like peanut flies is you can make a tiny fly and have a relatively small hook. The peanut flies are tiny, but the hooks are relatively huge and hard for 16-18 inch fish to inhale into their relatively small mouths.

The ones I am tying as I type this are a copy of your swivel style. I was merely commenting on the appearance of birddogs p-nut fly. I have some similar to those I bought at one of the big chain stores near the lake. I have done much better on the ones I use now and I hope on the ones I am tying now! I have just finished a blue, green, and silver one on a swivel and a number 4 treble. Here is a pic of this one and my tied up pinches of material.

I had meant to ask why the swivel ahead of the treble but that makes a lot of sense BNature. May have to try making a few of those as well. I'm sure I miss a few coho from short strikes or missed hook-ups. The ones I have been tying are on a #2 treble. And there is definetely something rewarding about catching fish on self-made tackle.

SteelieD: Not a bad looking fly. No doubt it will catch fish! On the B/G/S pictured it looks like you intermingled all the colors. I try to make my flies 2-toned or 3-toned. Look at the rest of your lures, most are half one color-half another - spoons plugs, etc. Same concept. Once the water clears and I start fishing blue/silver, black/silver and other colors, I strive to keep the colors separated. I try to keep them separated on the blue green golds but because of the size they still blend, a bit. Main thing is in cloudy water such as we deal with most of the early season, the dark flies work best. My blue/green/gold, Boilermaker black and gold, June-bug, probably the Notre Dame blue and gold, but I don't remember ever tying that one. I am a boiler-backer. Once the water clears up, I switch to silvers, pearls, aqua, etc.
One thing always made me wonder. If fluorescent red or orange is so hot on plugs, why not on flies. I've tried them time and again. Basically duds.