This Fly Was Almost BANNED! - YONG SPECIAL/THREAD MIDGE - Fly Tying Tutorial

In this fly tying tutorial, Cheech ties the Thread Midge a.k.a Yong Special.
There are many different names for this fly, but I came to know it through Andy Kim as the Yong Special about 20 years ago. As you will see, we kind of play around with the name of the fly, but regardless of the name, this midge pattern absolutely produces in this color and in many variations. This fly catches so many fish it should be banned.

Material List:

#flyfishfood
Fly Fish Food

[waltsnow]

Met Andy Kim on the banks of the Green River, didn't know then what I know now! He showed me the fly and how to use it. The next day, my son and I are drifting the A section with Boomer (Trout Flies, Dutch John) and we talked about this guy and his popular midge fly! Boomer and other guides didn't like him. We had a wonderful day on The Green!!!....next day I had just caught and released a nice Rainbow, then a very nice Brown, and Boomer drifts by, I yell at him '' I just released a nice Rainbow and Brown on a Yong Special! yells back '' didn't count '' we waved at each other!

[streamsidedrifter]

Nice looking fly! Simple and effective does the trick!

[TheBear]

Good stuff, did a internship on the Juan. I chased this fly for years and its history. I sorted core samples. One table spoon 3 thousand larva!! and 40 hours so eye strain.

[vernonbice]

Didn't see this when it got posted. I'm another convert of the thread fly. I've tied a bunch of the small ones for my trips to the San Juan, but, I also tie them in larger sizes for lakes and ponds. On 16 jig hooks with beads I will even put a tail (mallard duck) or collar (peacock or ostrich) on them. FWIW, most of my patterns I tie with thread bodies.

I was also taught to use Coates and Clark thread, but, I now use silk thread (Gutermann sewing thread or embroidery floss). The JuJuBee is another variant I like. Andy said he uses a different material now but I don't know what it is.

Yep, Andy got tired of the folks snagging at the river. Many intentional. Pegging especially.

[Taylor_in_Southern_Oregon]

Love the vids Cheech, but c'mon. Please get off the bandwagon of ppl claiming this or that fly got banned, it's pure bs and you know it. Banned by who? Where? Pure unadulterated bs, please stop that. But definitely keep putting out vids, you're doing good work.

[ssegura]

If you want to save bulk on the collar ditch the whip finish on the body thread and tie in your collar thread then tie off the body thread.

[HalfInsaneOutdoorGuy]

I'm beginning to really like semperfli threads =)

[MainelyFlies]

So you joined the 'banned' wagon! 😂 great tie as always simple midges are hard to beat

[jerryrichards]

ty for giving Andy Kim credit for inventing this fly

[CBL]

Like that patch on your hat..got any for sale? Video was great too. Lol😂

[cpayne]

I dig ur purple vise. Who makes it...? Thx!

[GeorgeSemel]

Gee's with that had you look like some sort of revolutionary. As for the fly, that is the kind of fly I like, quick and cheap to tie.

[mikekuczynski]

Thanks god you didn’t say the name because you know Andy is at the ESPN hole watching this :-)

[Subaruuu]

its like a mercury buckskin, this thing would slay in later spring and summer when Caddis are about.

[flytyer]

The crack about digital watches was pretty funny. Also, the copper color inside the glass bead is actually called the/a ‘liner’ or ‘lining’. The only issue I have is why would you use pure silk? Is awfully expensive compared to some of the other materials design to create underbodies. They are (depending on the manufacturer) labelled as “underbody” or “stomach”. They are great for building underbody bulk and would be excellent for this type of fly. Using pure silk as the full dress boys falling off their chairs right now….

[TheBear]

Wigwam club tried to ban a fly called Yellow Canary. Bet you cant find that one. It is a awesome streamer for the Kanloops that came out of Wigwam's hatchery ponds.

[wvlongshooter]

It’s so funny how the effective flies get banned or almost banned. I tell ya, cry babies in a sport can ruin it or at least put a dark mark on it. Ole well, thanks for the tie, I really appreciate it!!!

[bonefish]

nice fly buddy, but next time you record a video though, remember to wear a light-colored shirt. Dark on dark doesn't look good ;)

[mattp]

How can a fly be banned who's saying you can't use it???

[glenndotter]

Been fishing Yong Specials for years. Who wanted to ban it? How absurd!