JSzymczyk

I can't imagine it's worth the bother? I know it's neat to use stuff you gather/make yourself, but commercial wax is cheap, effective, and lasts a long time...

great pics!

my opinion is that there are too many patterns which are applicable to many more than just one group of fish species. Even general "warmwater" and "coldwater" doesn't accurately divide patterns anymore.

thanks- my limited research also indicated most polyesters and nylons had pigment added during the mixing of the plastics, not dyed in after. Sharpie pens work, I'll just need to figure out how to reduce the odor, or be willing to wait for it to dissipate over time.

good deal! there are tons of possibilities with this stuff. I made up some "disco worms" last night, single-furling the tails and making the body like a woolly bugger except using a single strand of disco for the "hackle." Definately a slimmer profile like a traditional soft plastic worm. I fished a boa worm the other day, and didn't like it. Probably I dressed it too heavy. It twisted like hell on the cast, and held a lot of water making it heavy. Mine didn't have the action in the water that disco and tiffany have either. Boa is still very versatile stuff, I made some sparkleminnows out of white boa and marabou that look great and take color from sharpies really well- just need to wait a week for the stink to go away. now you need to go out and catch a bass like the one you posted, but on a fly-worm!

that's a nice one! score another for the good old Rapala.

hi David= I personally haven't had trouble with largemouths and short strikes on these or any other long fly or lure. Basically they're pigs with fins, and when they go to eat something, they usually want to just cram it in and swallow. Not saying it won't happen, but it hasn't happened much to me. If you try running a a stinger hook in the back, you might get away with using very light superline, like 8lb test, but I think you'll kill the action. I did a kitchen-sink test before coming to work tonight, and the Boa worm holds on to more water than the Tiffany worm. They have different actions in the water. My plan for a snake was to spin a deer hair head with a long tiffany tail. That way the fly will ride with it's head on the surface and the body right in the surface film, just like a real snake. Or, better yet, you could make a Snikky head for it. This stuff has real potential for catching all kinds of stuff!

I also picked up some boa yarn, the purple is sort of mottled light/dark purple and makes a really nice worm. The white is sort of shiny and makes a nice minnow body when twisted into a chenille and wrapped. I haven't tried fishing them yet but it looks as if the boa MIGHT hold more water than the others, and be a bit heavier to cast. Still better than a bunny strip though. Should work great, this type of yarn has the potential to open up a piece of fly fishing for bass that's only been scratched before... I know with my "field tests" so far that bass will hold on to these things after hitting - not quite like a squishy plastic worm - but there's no other material I've seen which can be used to make a snake/eel/amphibian/leech fly with the action of these things except bunny stip. The disadvantage of the bunny is how much water it holds and how heavy it is to cast. With my 7 wt I can cast a 6" yarn worm with ease.

Thanks- looking forward to it

http://cache.lionbrand.com/yarns/tiffany.html

if your camera has a macro setting, it will enable it to focus up close. Usually it has a designator shaped like a little tulip-flower symbol. Just about every digital cam has it.

the price of socialized medicine (?) I think your gasoline is around $8 per Gallon too, if I got my liters and pounds-sterling near right. Is a Quid the same thing as a Pound?

several of us are looking at dying materials which come in white but not in the "fly" colors we want... These yarns are 100% or nearly 100% Polyester. RIT and the other common dyes I've looked at state on the labels "NOT RECOMMENDED FOR POLYESTER" Are there dyes available for polyesters or do the colors need to be put in during the manufacturing process? Sharpie pens seem to be an option, but results are never uniform and it seems the stink takes a great deal of time to go away. any advise would be appreciated.

I had to vote for Smallmouth... because I grew up with them, and largemouths were considered a lazy cousin from the 'hood. Now, I'm very thankful to have access to a couple of ponds that have largemouths in them, because that's my only opportunity to fly fish near home.

The maker's company name is Lion, the yarn name is Tiffany. There are some other really interesting similar yarns of this type out there too. I saw some at a Michael's craft store today. Also, "Polar Chenille" marketed by Hareline Dubbin seems to be EXACTLY the same construction as Tiffany, only made completely of a mylar type stuff. and it's $2.50 for a couple yards... I'd be willing to bet the same company makes it, or one of the few big yarn companies. I looked at RIT dyes today, and they specifically say NOT RECOMMENDED for Polyester, which is what most of this stuff is made out of. I don't much like using Sharpies to color my flies because the stink seems to take a LONG time to go away.

you could tie a few grizzly saddle hackles on each side of a bucktail like that, and it would provide a speckled black/white effect. For that matter, a grizzly and black/white deceiver-type would do the same thing. I think maybe a white bucktail with 3 or so griz hackles on each side (not matched up, just tied in so they don't overlap) would get you pretty close. Put some pearl krystal flash outside of the hackles, and it should do the deed.

I picked it up at a store called "Hancock Fabrics" but any sewing/craft store might have it. I didn't see it at my local wally world, your mileage may vary. I looked on the website of the manufacturer, and they don't make it in any bright colors except red, and white. The black is good, and they have a tan that looks promising.

nice variation on the theme... the good thing about buggers is there's really no wrong way to make one, as long as you get a fluffy tail and a palmered body.

Woolly Bugger! tail: plain white or "grizzly" marabou, plus some pearl and rainbow krystal flash body: white chenille or pearl sparkle chenille hackle: heavily marked natural grizzly silver bead head or a little lead if you need to go deep. My OPINION is that a suggestive pattern usually works as well as or better than trying to exactly imitate a specific baitfish.

that's what happens when you get old- you troll around sewing stores looking for fly materials. yeah, if I had half a brain I would have wrapped three yards of it on little cards and sold it for $2.50 each! I think I paid $5 for a ball of this stuff, fifty yards or so. It's enough to tie a :poop: load of worm flies, maybe more.

I just had an order with J Stockard, and the service was pretty fast. One item turned out to be backordered and I didn't find out about it until the package arrived. No biggie because it wasn't a super-important item to me. Two observations- 1) it's a hell of a lot better today ordering stuff online than it was filling out a paper order form, writing a check, mailing it out, and waiting for a box to show up. There was no way ever to tell what was going to be in stock or not. 2) There's really no excuse anymore for an online retailer to screw around like you described. Inventory is pretty much real-time, everything can be cheaply bar-coded and scanned, and even if you can't see on the website if something is out of stock/backordered, the computer receiving your order should know instantly and kick you back an e-mail. If it's a real person on the other end finding an item backordered, then it's a matter of a few seconds to send an e-mail. The way I see it, either a company wants to be in business or it doesn't. Customer service defines that. I'm constantly amazed at how sometimes it seems as if it's a major problem TO GIVE SOMEONE MONEY FOR DOING WHAT THEY'RE IN BUSINESS TO DO!!! If I'm trying to throw money at someone because they allege to offer a product or service I want, and they don't treat me well, I move on to somewhere else, fast. Off topic, several years ago I decided to buy a custom T/C Contender barrel from a famous maker in Utah, Bullberry. They tout themselves as the premier maker of custom barrels. I was told ten weeks before delivery, which was fine, and paid up front with a money order. 10 weeks go by, no barrel. I called, "we're behind schedule, it will be two more weeks, sorry for the inconvenience. OK. 12 weeks go by, no barrel. I called, "we're behind schedule, it will be two more weeks, sorry for the inconvenience. OK. 14 weeks go by, no barrel. I called, "we're behind schedule, it will be two more weeks, sorry for the inconvenience. OK. :bs: Talk to the owner, sob story about one of the guys in the shop being off work, blah blah blah, "give us two more weeks." OK, I wish you would have just told me that up front. Now starting to cut into coyote season, and I still needed to get the thing and form brass and work up handloads. 16weeks go by, no barrel. I called, "we're behind schedule, it will be two more weeks, sorry for the inconvenience. Not OK, "where the F is my barrel?" :crying: "It's being welded as we speak, should be finished within a week and it will be out to you." OK then. 18 weeks go by, no barrel. WTF Over? "we just haven't had the demand for Contender barrels since the Encore got so popular, and we have to make limited runs of Contender barrels." So for over 4 MONTHS you've had my money and have been dickin' me around? "you didn't have to send payment in full, up front." :ripped: "You'll have it within the week." Take a guess.... 19 weeks, no barrel. "You gotta be :poop: 'n me!!! Give me my $$ back and shove the barrel!" At this, the owner got pissed off at ME on the phone, and told me I didn't know anything about the custom gunsmithing business. Maybe not, but I know when I've been mislead and jerked around. I demanded either give me my money back or provide a tracking number for the shipment right the hell now. I got the number and the barrel showed up a week later, finally, with a scratch in the chamber. Live and learn. Thankfully I haven't had any of those kinds of issues with fly material suppliers. It would be awesome to have a well-stocked shop somewhere within a few hours drive though! Supposed to be opening a BassPro in Montgomery this fall( 90-120 minutes drive.) I somehow doubt they will have much fly stuff though...

It does come in white. I'm going to look into how I can dye it chartreuse. This material has some serious potential, a double-furled tail has the same bulk but more action than a bunny strip, and it does not hold as much water which makes it easier to cast.

I did! the fly in the pic caught 3 LMB this evening, 12 to 17 inches... The owner of the pond was there and he always laughs at me for fly fishing, and not using 40lb test superbraid. I showed him the action of this fly in the water, and shortly after caught the 17 incher. It was almost enough to get him to try it, but not quite. BTW the big one absolutely HAMMERED the fly while it was just sitting still, in between strips. I rarely ever have had a fish of any kind whack a fly that hard. If only this tiffany stuff came in olive and chartreuse!

that tiger/perch you made is kick-a$$!!

Excellent job David!!