Fly Swap IV: George Revel's Steelie Lip Ring

This wicked fly was produced in the most recent Beyond the Bug fly tying jam in San Francisco, CA by George Revel, one of the best young distance fly casters in the United States and an avid steelhead fly angler.
George calls this fly the "Steelie Lip Ring" and it's, in a word, HOT. With a punk rock tail of paired biots, a trim and beautifully ribbed thread body, spiky hackle collars over flashy gold dubbing, and topped with a dark bead head, this stonefly-esque creation is downright nasty.

A native of Redding, CA, Revel grew up with the some of the world's very best trout and steelhead fly fishing opportunities right on his doorstep. His experience has given him a keen sense of proportion and how to get the most out of the materials he adds to a fly. George doesn't just tie flies that look good on the vise, he understands how they'll behave underwater, where they do all their best work. Imagine how those webby brown hackle fibers will hug the dubbing beneath them...

The Trinity River is Revel's Nor Cal home water and it's famous for its winter steelhead runs. Season after season, the right angle poly yarn indicator rig a la Dean Schubert and Dave Hickson proves to be one of the most effective fishing methods on the river. During the colder months, the half-pounders in the Trinity will key in on slow moving nymphs and crippled emergers, and no one knows this feeding behavior better than Revel (pictured below with a brilliant Trinity River fish).


Stoneflies are abundant in the Trinity's rich ecosystem, and Revel's Steelie Lip Ring carries elements of these distinctive packets of buggy protein. From the fly' slightly green abdomen to its two prominent black tails, beefy gold mid section, and dark head, Revel has illustrated how experience and field observation can (and should) inform the flies we design.


Evan LeBon is a regular contributor to beyondthebug.com

photos provided by Ian McNemar, a regular contributor to beyondthebug.com