rougetrout

very nice theme fly--and I bet it will catch fish

Midges lots of midges---gnats down to size 26

that'll catch some fish

That is another good idea. Have you ever experinced problems with the visable rear portion of the hook shank scaring fish?

Nice tie SD

i make shadow boxes and display the flies from swaps. I currently have about 150 flies framed on my walls from swaps, I hope to fill the walls of my den someday.

The multiple midge bodies on one larger hook shank is a great idea Al, I will have to try it.

Having amassed ~15 books with fly patterns as purchases or gifts from others there is no one good book with a fair amount of patterns for diverse species. I have the FFF book and plenty of others. I now use this site to find most of my new patterns. Most of the flies in the database have been used by a member on water and have been effective I would pass on the book and as Will said us the fly pattern database. The search feature is awesome.

That there fly is real nice...

Sjo, How do you find the danville 17/0 for tensioning materials, does it break often? i haven't tried it but I am certainly willing to try it if it works well. Ryan

The question is where on your mind can you put the tags without fear of losing both tag and mind?

I agree that thread choice is personal preference. I like uni 6/0 and 8/0 but for my really small and really big flies I like orvis 1/0,3/0, and 10/0. I have tried many different thread brands while tying and I always seem to come back to these selections.

I was back packing/fishing in northern new mexico a few years ago with some buddies. We were at one of the few staffed trail camps one night and the ranger had made us aware that they were attempting to live trap a black bear that had been humanized. They also said if we heard the trap go off during the night to come get them. So about 1:30A I heard the door of the live trap slam shut. I heard the bear growl and beat against the door. So I got the flashlight out and my buddy and I went to the ranger station and alerted them that the trap was shut. Suprisingly when we got back to camp all was quiet. About 10minutes later the rangers stopped by to let us know that the bear had made it free from the trap. YIKES. We found some cloths on a line, 1 backpack, and our coleman fuel filter bitten that next morning. It freaks me out that I was wandering around in the dark with a pissed off bear that was no longer afraid of humans. FL H2O-- Seeing the shark after swimming must have seemed surreal.

Nice picture. I vote mayfly as well. What size was the bug?

It floats suprisingly well. The ostrich herl being only at the tip of the hook tends to help it float on drift. Once you have pulled on the line though it will go subsurface. I have also had luck fishing this fly as a dropper with a teeny amount of weight attached directly above the eye.

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by rougetrout: Ostrich Midge

Sjo sounds like your son is a motivated individual. Tell him the best of luck and to keep safe.

I would try a range of sizes and shades imitating sulphers as suggested above. Tricos hatch in the fall and I have seen the same behavior you describe here for both tricos and sulphers.

Best way to do it. Take the "listed" pattern and make it your own--thats the great thing about tying leaders you can make the lenght/wieght/stiffness that you desire.

I have still found Denier strength to be misleading. A tensional strength would be better.

Definitely try the dropper with a small pupa or midge. I like to use a misquito pupa or emerger as a dropper. Also a midge that works well for me and that is easy to tie in many colors involves a size 20-28 hook and a single strand of any color ostrich herl. Strip ~1/2 on the herl of the fuzz and tie in at the bend. Wrap the strand forward such that as you reach the front of the hook the remaining fuzz wraps and causes a little puff of fuzz on a nice hard body. I like these in dun, olive, red, tan, brown, and yellow. The fish often pick up on these and not just here but I have a friend in St. Louis who swears by these little buggers. Good luck!

That is a good technique--do you go fluch with the head or out a little from the surface?

Very nice SD. I need to organize my bench. I have been tying like crazy to keep going on the rivers and lakes. If only it would thunderstorm--that would keep me off the water!

I like the bead body--good pattern and nice fish.

Here is a variation I tied of the adams. I used some pike materials I had out combined with some traditional adams materials. I wished it had turned out better but as a concept I think it works. The wing and tail are crystal flash and the body is steel gray antron. it is tied on a size 16 dry hook but with 3/0 thread--what I get for being lazy!