Guide Flies: Easy RS2

Hate tying RS2s? Me too. Heres a quick version of an RS2 that with a little practice you can whip up in about a minute and a half. You asked for "guide flies", heres a fly box staple.
Tying Starts at 2:07
Hook: Fullingmill Ultimate Dry #20
Thread: SemperFli Nano Silk 18/0 Black
Tail: Flouro Fiber
Abdomen: Thread
Wing: 1.5mm grey foam. 1/2 hook gap in width
Thorax: Black Antron Dubbing

[@coreytohme9861]

The Mary Poppins is strong in this one.

[@littlesilver2205]

Dig that little tail trick he did, bend it over to the hook eye and cut , be ok for this but conq de leon be a little tough.

[@sethallyn7712]

“We want you to keep going with this trend because it makes us happy” - Everyone

[@johnyorchak5162]

Nice job. If someone wants to split their tails a tip learned from another awesome tier is to leave your tag end, set your tails, and then draw the tag end forward between them and then wrap over it with a couple of turns of thread. It creates a nice split but who knows if the fish really care or not!

[@rayler9120]

From CO. Ill be doing it like this from now on. Thx

[@wesleywillard]

QUICK and DIRTY ftw! Nice job man, love the guide flies.

[@almoschetti5503]

Have used the RS2 with good success and love your videos and the way you tie and explain what you are doing. Thanks for sharing. Tight lines.

[@AboutTrout]

Happy to hear it’s put some fish in the bag for you.

[@charlieboutin3341]

Nice! I love guide flys..hate loosing a 20 minute fly (or any fly really) to a tree or bush. Thanks for showing your pattern. Very few places have trout here in Tx. but I try to tie all kinds of flys for the experience..and yep I did use brush fibers for the tail on my first ones of these. That’s an awesome tying table! Thanks again! 👍👍 Have a great week!🎣

[@bryanandryszak925]

I recently had my first guided float trip on the Juan, and am a beginning fly tier. Learning this easy and quick pattern will help me immensely in gaining confidence along with the couple other quick patterns (Big Mac and WD40) that my guide and I very successfully used on that trip. Thanks, James.

[@mattfrondorf9862]

Superb! Another vote to keep these coming. It helps me get better at tying and expanding my box to catch a few more fish per trip. Thanks

[@AboutTrout]

Thank you!

[@FlyTyer1948]

Wow. You tied an RS2 without Microfibbetts! It is the first time I’ve seen it done. Thank you! I don’t have problems with other tail materials, but Microfibbets totally defeat me. They end up splayed or launched everywhere except the proper tail position. Flourofiber I can handle, and I have lots of it. Thank you again. Dumb of me not to think of using Flourofiber.

[@AboutTrout]

Micro fibers can be tricky. Hope this helps!

[@SigmaWolfOutdoors]

Reminds me of tying camp flies on the green River after long day of fishing

[@JaceOnDeck]

I like the guide flies, keep em comming! It’d be sick if you caught a fish with one at the end of the video like the beardo!

[@arghkade6860]

Seriously one of my favorite Go to flies thanks for the tutorial 👍🏼

[@mackieredd5503]

Hey James, Thanks tons for the video. Got some tied and in the box.. I'll try and let you know how they work for me.. Stay safe and I'll see ya on the water.

[@nixadventures3938]

Just thought I’d leave a comment, cause my first saltwater fish on this fly yesterday. Cheers, love the vids brother!

[@AboutTrout]

Thanks !

[@nixadventures3938]

Gonna need more of these! Thanks bud

[@flypatch2245]

I like it...thin to win!

[@AboutTrout]

All day !

[@lastcoyote2355]

Oh great video by the by

[@TJRainbowWarrior]

The Antron for the thorax idea…👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@rplecker]

This is a nice simplification of the RS2. I agree, the OG is a pain in the ass to tie.

[@AboutTrout]

Honestly 50% of the time spent tying RS2s was splitting the tails and getting them even . This is way easier haha

[@Paul-qe1uf]

Fantastic video bud. Great job. I'm going to tie a few of these to take with me to the S. Platte in a couple of weeks

[@AboutTrout]

Awesome! Stoked you like it. Please report back if the S. Platte fish like it as much as our fish in the Juan. Good luck!

[@davidveilleux4688]

Like this version. Looking forward to tying up a few.

[@schmoonkie]

I also use the 18/0 nano silk for the RS2. When I start the thread, I use little pressure and then the thread doesn't slip. Moistening your finger tips a little while holding the thread also helps. When I don't have the proper feather for the wing, I use Glamour Madeira ( GM ) which is also used for the Top Secret Midge. The GM sparkles a little and it seems to work just fine as a substitute. You can get GM from The Blue Quill Angler in smaller quantities, or from Sewing Parts Online on a spool when they have it in stock ( Glamour Madeira No.8 color 2400, Item# 98042400 for $6.49 ).

[@AboutTrout]

Thank you!

[@alexargyros7186]

Clearly, this version of the RS2 is very different from Rim's. Since you've known Rim and his flies for many years, I was wondering how you feel about this "guide" version? Do you think that, everything being equal, it would be as effective as Rim's?

[@schmoonkie]

@@alexargyros7186 That's a really hard question, Alex. It's not just the fly, but the angler and his skill level. And if the angler is skilled, then is there a particular feature of the original RS2 that'd make it more effective than its imitations? It may be the thin profile... or the segmented body. However, if you look at the RS2's that Pat Dorsey ties, they're fatter and are not segmented. Yet, Pat is an outstanding angler and guide who catches lots of fish and he knows what he's doing. Quick story: I fished the Eagle River last ( 2020 ) fall. There were lots of small tricos with mint green body and dark thorax. We caught lots of fish on size 24 and 26 mint-bicolor RS2's. After about a couple of weeks the trico hatches subsided. I caught a trout here and there on a size 24 mint-bicolor RS2. Our friend did much better. He used the same fly. The difference: he was using a size 26. Seemed that the fish got more selective and SIZE mattered. I called Rim about this question just now. He said he couldn't comment on "skeuomorphic imitations" of his fly. ( I had to look up that word while we were talking... ) By the way, Umpqa and Rim are in discussion to produce his RS2's and Avatars that meet his specifications.

[@alexargyros7186]

@@schmoonkie Thanks for the answer. And, if you have time, please ask Rim if a "skeuomorphic imitation" is possible when the original is itself a semblance. In fact, it's the semblance (2) of a semblance (1).

[@schmoonkie]

@@alexargyros7186 LOL. Oh no, Alex. I won't go there again... One discussion with him on the topic is enough for me. My opinion is that any fly that catches fish consistently is a good fly. I don't care if it's a knockoff, or an imitation of the natural. What I can say with absolute certainty is that the RS2 and his Avatar catch a lot of fish and they HAVE been doing that consistently for a long time--especially the RS2, which he designed in the 70's. In fact, when I fish my home waters in Colorado, I almost always use those two flies, imitating his method of tying them, which is not trivial. As noted before, I do use Glamour Madeira for the wing and it seems to work just as well. I've used squirrel dubbing in place of beaver dubbing when tying the Avatar and I did very well on the Eagle River with that. Clearly, the body wasn't as slender--it was spikier. The fish loved it. I still kept the Avatar's shape. So maybe it's the overall profile that mattered... or that it was an interesting looking morsel for the fish. Look at Devin Olsen's flies or Lance Eagan's creations. Some don't even look like any bug in existence, yet they catch fish. At least they worked for me on the Madison River. An extreme case is the Mop Fly. I tied George Daniel's version of it. It looks NOTHING like any natural. Yet, during runoff and dirty water I caught ridiculous numbers of fish on it. Apologies for the lengthy post.

[@elywilkinson7404]

That's an awesome way to tie an rs2. Much simpler than the standard method. And, yeah, I'd like to see more of this kind of content. I do not ever want to see the beardo nymph again, though.

[@AboutTrout]

Sounds good , no more beardos ..... maybe

[@elywilkinson7404]

Hey man, it's your channel.

[@Adroit1911]

Bro! Thank you, this will definitely save me some time at the vice!!!

[@bombdizzlermoney166]

Gonna ty a grip of them. I've tied similar ones but that looks tasty. Keep up the ez fish catching ideas.

[@jimreilly9179]

Love the method to create tails - super thanks!

[@wiki0531]

Nice simple pattern; can’t wait to make some. Thank you

[@thedirtpeople6754]

Yeah this was a great video, I'm all about quick and dirty flies.

[@mariaavila45]

Best guide fly ever! Keep the videos coming!

[@HalfInsaneOutdoorGuy]

use 140 d thread and you dont need the dubbing, you can use sand paper to rough the thread up a bit to give it some character as well.

[@marcocecala6736]

Thanks for sharing the wealth! Keep 'em coming.

[@williammiller353]

I always enjoy your videos, the music is my favorite.

[@Meh-hr7gq]

Probably great in olive and white as well!

[@AboutTrout]

It fishes great in olive and white too. A staple in the boxes. Thanks for watching!

[@Meh-hr7gq]

@@AboutTrout I started tying recently. Been watching your vids. 👍🏻

[@jamesshanley913]

Yes, more guide flys

[@insomnatic]

Use fly tyers wax to combat Semperfli’s Nano Silk Thread from slipping on the hook... The wax holds the silk thread on the hook like glue 😉

[@AboutTrout]

Appreciate that . Hot tip 🔥

[@martinhodell8465]

Thanks-- very useful video. Perfect content.

[@michaelbrown1690]

Make me happy. Keep them coming bro

[@southbranchdaddy]

Great version of a great fly - looks fishy to me. MORE GUIDE FLIES PLEZE!

[@DoranKevin]

Just subscribed! YES - Keep the Guide Flies coming! Thanks

[@AboutTrout]

Haha then you’re going to like the next video

[@mddmdd4766]

Nice and easy - like it. Don't like wasting too much time with the tying when I could be fishing. What's the best way to fish this fly? Slightly subsurface? on swing or dead drift?

[@AboutTrout]

Rs2 can be fished in the “film” or nymphed. It’s two things !

[@alexargyros7186]

@@AboutTrout When you "nymph" it, do you put it on point and use a weighted fly on the dropper, or vice versa?

[@rickulibarri8394]

Really enjoy your tying videos keep it up.

[@jack_batterson]

Not sure this is an RS2......but me likey.

[@danjensen1565]

Yes keep going! Keep makin me happy

[@dougwalker9647]

Awesome vid! Got to fish with this guy! Great guide!

[@kareni1591]

Go with the trend!! 🎣

[@AboutTrout]

New camera lens comes soon

[@ruthmoore3310]

Canada like this fly. Thanks. I'm a bluegill nut and love to fish for them

[@johnnewman8431]

Way nice tie. Thanks.

[@OldDominionTroutBum]

I just saw a 10 year old video from Mossy Creek, VA. Was it you??! And yes, keep going....

[@m.b.h.c9543]

Keep the tying videos coming!

[@ryangoesoutside]

Killer fly. Nice job dude!

[@williamklein6749]

Loved this vid. I also hate the tails on the rs2. More like it would be great.

[@AboutTrout]

Haha no one has time for that . Flouro fiber has been a game changer

[@robtgom]

@@AboutTrout Love the videos, please keep them coming, are Floro fibers and Krystal flash the same thing? If not what's a good source for them, thx

[@austin9720]

Perfect. Thank you!

[@charlesmiller3625]

Sweet little fly!

[@jeffcowles5328]

hello. my name is jeff and i have a tie flying problem. you sir are enabling me. monster. fiend.

[@patsheridan]

New fly tier here. Appreciate the down and dirty. One question: the Antron, is it Antron dubbing or cords? Thanks in advance!

[@AboutTrout]

Thanks for checking out the channel! Antron dubbing

[@gocubbiesgo]

I like these videos, but one way to make it better is to show how you fish this pattern and go catch a fish on it! I'm guessing you'd use this as a dropper above a heavy tungsten bead euro style point fly, but for other flies you might tie in the future knowing how you fish it could be killer. Thanks!

[@AboutTrout]

Noted

[@TheACEEChannel]

Love this for you

[@TheMJh33]

Keep on keeping on!

[@maxbigelow8805]

So guide flies are synonymous to beginner patterns.

[@AboutTrout]

Pretty much anything that’s quick and easy to tie or has a bunch of steps stripped out of it.

[@sitkitoren2217]

Süper Yaptığınız İZLEMEYE DEVAM ( TURKEY)

[@OKCKettlebells]

Very nice!

[@thomass4422]

Great video and much appreciated. Purchased the micro grizzly. It seems a bit large for tails. Is that what you use. Best Regards

[@AboutTrout]

This fly is tied with flouro fiber for the tail. Micro grizzly would work too.

[@wywyoilguy5012]

Good fly man!

[@coreytohme9861]

Hit me up when you feel up to it. I've gone to the next generation RS3. Always forward thinking, I am.

[@AboutTrout]

Elite knowledge, that should be your next redfish fly .

[@tpbrinkman]

Keep going!

[@johnpurcell1]

Good job keepum coming!

[@ecomed-davidhagan2996]

Does that little fly really catch fish? I will try to tie a few and see if they work here in Australian trout streams.

[@AboutTrout]

It’s an American staple . Fish them all the time in 20-24. Let me know how it works down under .

[@melstar9134]

Nice - thanks

[@bigbriontheflysouthwestren6949]

keep'em coming

[@lastcoyote2355]

What are good colors for the rs2

[@schmoonkie]

Yes, there was an RS1. I've asked Rim to tie one up for me so that I can post it on the RS2 home page with a bit of a description to go along with it. The RS1 was his first effort.

[@WoodsGhost]

Any luck yet?

[@schmoonkie]

@@WoodsGhost Don't have it yet. I asked him again yesterday. I'll keep at it, because I really would like to have one for my records as well.

[@WoodsGhost]

@@schmoonkie Thank you for the quick reply, curiosity gets the better of me too much lol

[@AboutTrout]

Thank you! The world needs answers lol

[@WoodsGhost]

@@schmoonkie Rim tying the RS2 popped up in my feed today and reminded me about this. Any luck convincing him?

[@christopherpluchos1324]

Nice!

[@alexargyros7186]

Another question, if you don't mind. Rim Chung fishes his RS2 using tungsten putty to get two flies, tied in-line, down. He detects strikes via a mystical connection to the fish. If you're fishing your version deep in flowing water, what kind of rig do you use to get the fly down and to detect strikes.

[@rossthompson2471]

Great, need to see more guide flies. What's your take on the mayhem midge?

[@AboutTrout]

Haven’t fished it but I’m sure it’s great.

[@smg5052]

Thanks for the hack. Can we see you tie a beginner fly in slow motion for us newbies. Thanks. Nice AboutTrout logo on the wall. How can I get one?

[@martinhodell8465]

aint nobody got time for that! 2:39. Shouts to Sweet Brown.

[@AboutTrout]

Yessir

[@alexargyros7186]

Thanks for the video (and yes, keep going; please). One question: Rim Chung thinks that segmentation is very important in an RS2. What are your thoughts? Would a rib help, or would it be a waste of time?

[@williamklein6749]

Put two similar color pieces of thread together and use for the body. Gives the segments.

[@alexargyros7186]

@@williamklein6749 Great idea. An alternative would be tie it the way Andy Kim ties his Yong Special: use embroidery thread that has been twisted very tightly. Now, could you tell me how you fish this fly if you want to fish it deep (for example, on the bottom in swift water)?

[@AboutTrout]

They fish haven’t seemed to tell the difference. If you tied this fly in a lighter color , you could spin and cord the thread and hit it with a sharpie to give it a segmented look.

[@nfri5108]

@@AboutTrout IMO size and color is the key not segmentation

[@AboutTrout]

@@nfri5108 I agree 100% size first then color

[@irvedenenberg7431]

Great video ❤ can you add a copper wire?

[@AboutTrout]

You absolutely can! Fly thing is supposed to be fun. Copper wire can add segmentation and give the fly a little bit of pop. Try it and let me know how it works for you!

[@paulabradfield5893]

James, what do you think... gray, black and brown for colors over here on the Arkansas?

[@paulabradfield5893]

I finally ran out of the dozens i tied 3 years ago and decided to look to see if you knew a better way...of course you did! Can't wait for our february fishing trip to the San Juan.

[@ColorfulCOFlyFishing]

Can you do more tying videos of guide flies ??

[@timjacobson5729]

What is with the big loop ring holding your materials????

[@AboutTrout]

Loon bench rings. I love them.

[@Mojofilter111is3]

Good

[@Mojofilter111is3]

Is this fished like a dry or like a nymph? Is it both? Does it matter? Does anything matter? What is truth?

[@AboutTrout]

We are 3 dimensional beings who can only experience time in a linear fashion . Beyond infinity there is infinity .

[@tozankyaku14]

So a question about color: do you guys who use this only fish it I’m in black? or are there other effective colors?

[@AboutTrout]

I fish them in grey, black, and sometimes olive . Grey and black are my go tos

[@jassonco]

Yes, it should be on the State flag!

[@TheQwik512]

más moscas guía por favor!!

[@Pianosa77]

Wow that's it?

[@AboutTrout]

Haha that’s it that’s all

[@illini81]

Yo, what's that cutting tool that you used to trim after the whip finish?

[@AboutTrout]

That’s just the butt end of the loon whip finish tool. Some whip finish tools have them so don’t. The one you have may have a cutter. Hope that helps !

[@glenndotter5065]

Sure makes this easy for a guy who has had 10 retina surgeries in 22 months..

[@richardherrington2852]

Would this style of fly be good for fishing for Bluegill?

[@AboutTrout]

I’m sure it would work for blue gill but they’re pretty opportunistic . I’d try things like poppers/sliders and mop flies. Squirmy worms and eggs are also great blue gill patterns .

[@richardherrington2852]

@@AboutTrout Thanks for your thoughts on this. Bluegill are the only fish I fish for. U.S. Army, Ret. TX

[@samuelbaldwin496]

The four horsemen of Colorado tailwater flies: Rim Chung Charlie Craven Pat Dorsey Pat Dorsey again

[@wheelerwalker6424]

Great video, except for the crappy music.

[@bensnyder5890]

Put me down for a yes

[@markgotschall2914]

I tie it without the tail, fish don't care.

[@ScottyBrunton]

I didn't watch this video because of the commercials! Thumbs down! No more u-tube commercials!!! Commercials WASTE my time!!!

[@AboutTrout]

I just saw your video on how to make a catapult . Don’t worry I didn’t give it a thumbs down. Maybe you should use it to catapult the negativity out of your life 😘

[@petedetolve7172]

Don’t ever tie it in red. It won’t work 😬

[@leonardwells9613]

Good pattern, HORRIBLE MUSIC !!!! L 😱🎶😱