The
Para Cord Flies
By
Brian
Garringer
Anyone who has served in the military knows about parachute
cord. Often referred to as 550 cord or
Paracord, it has as many uses as duct tape.
It can be used for everything from securing gear in place, to securing a
sunshade. It is even used to make items
such as lanyards, belts, dog leashes, and key chains. Like duct tape, the uses of paracord is only
limited by the users abilities.
Capt. Michael Seminelli, (known as Mike to the members of
the Fayetteville Project healing water) has come up with a new use for Paracord. He uses it to tie flies. He debuted his creations, the Tactical
Para-Bugger and Airborne Adams, at the
April Fly Tying Forum hosted at the John E. Pechmann Fishing Center in Fayetteville,
NC.
 |
| The Tactical Para-Bugger |
These two flies utilize all parts of paracord to form the
fly. The Tactical Para-bugger is spin on
the wooly bugger. The Para-bugger uses
the braided sheath to replace the chenille that is used to form the body and
the marabou that is used to form the tail. A portion of the sheath is un
breaded with a piece of Velcro. It is
then slide over the hook. The loose
threads form the Parabou tail while the braided section forms the body. The Tactical Para Bugger does not have much a
resemblance to the Woolly Bugger. It
does have a similar action in the water.
 |
| The Airborne Adams |
He has not completed the Para fly family yet. He is currently working on several other
patterns. He has tied a “Freefall Minnow. This pattern is designed to simulate a baitfish. There are also wet flies, and nymph patterns
he is working on. There is even a crawdad
pattern in the works.
While Mike is the creator of the paracord flies. He did not
think of it on his own. Bert Kinkead, a
member of the Fayetteville Project Healing Water, original suggested the use of Para cord. He suggested that a signature fly be created
using paracord to represent the Airborne culture that is so closely tied to
Fort Bragg. He then began using the term
Parabou, a spin on marabou, to describe the tail of the flies.
Mike has been tying his own flies for about 2 ½ years. It has helped him to improve his level of
knowledge on fish behavior. This in turn
has improved his skills on the water.
His favorite fish to chase is the Wild Trout in the medium
to small rivers and streams. It does not
matter which one, small brookies to the huge brown and rainbow trout. As long as they are wild. Wild trout are harder to catch because they
are so wary and aware of the surroundings.
They also tend to fight hard to escape.
He also enjoys chasing bluegill.
To land a large bluegill on a 3 weight rod takes some skill.
Currently he is getting ready to transition into a
instructor position teaching freshman math at the US Military Academy where he
graduated in 2005.
