jkilday4

That arrowhead tip seems like a good one, Kirk. Nice tie, tidewaterfly. Not a quick tie for sure though...let's hope they catch fish now! Thanks for the pointers & feedback. John

First attempt at this one; found some camo-colored yarn which might be good for tannic/brackish waters and mud-bottomed bays/estuaries. Claw feathers might be a bit big? Legs too short? Saw a pattern tutorial that had the dumbell eyes on the bottom of shank and legs on top; I thought that seemed wrong because it would ride hook-down which would snag more for one, plus the legs would be on top of the 'shell' rather than below it... Thanks for looking

Bruce - Whiting American hackles or Capon necks per your previous message are on my list...I don't really have a good selection of tail materials yet. True, these on the latest are way way too short; I've just been preoccupied with the stacking technique & overlooked this element. Thanks for the guide on length there. Hairstacker - awesome mat-dancer you've got there! Does the hook ride point-up simply due to the bottom being flat or is there something else at work as well?

Thanks Hairstacker. Nice tips, including the no-coat bottom for friction. Here's another tie from last night: First clump tie-in point just in front of hook point. Perhaps the rear of the body needs to be gradually trimmed down (starting just behind mid-body) to about a third of existing 'waist' height (where trimmed meets untrimmed)? Her'e's a photoshopped pic: Forgot about the no-coat tip...at least it should float longer! These things are fairly time-consuming and require some patience for sure. Rewarding work if you're into artistic-type building & sculpting. I think I'll check out foam bodies for mass production though...

Update - The bodies are getting denser thanks to all the feedback here, plus I invested in some Wapsi Premo Strips & GSP 100 thread. Here's last night's attempt at I guess what is a popper style bug? Maybe there's another name for it. I saw Bruce's videos at youtube ( - this is first of six or seven parts - thanks Bruce, good to find this reference!) A few pics of mine: Will get to the eyes eventually. I didn't half-hitch & glue between clumps nearly enough; entire body will rotate on shank. Also you can see my trimming needs work, plus there are some vacant spots here and there...should come along with practice. Please critique if ya like...

Following this one with interest myself..I had been having trouble getting a real dense body by merely spinning & packing - thought to myself that 'stacking' might be a way to get more hair in place. I guess stacking will be the next tutorial I seek out...thanks for the info so far. Double-edged razors - just called my wifey at store; she says they are $13 for 10pcs! I'll have to hopefully find a better source on price. Brassie packer: I saw one in the fly shop Friday but didn't get it. The notches were way too small (course I could have filed them out to accomodate larger shank diameters I'm working with), plus I've been using a set of wire strippers with what I guess is good success so far...

Hey thanks so much for the openness of ideas here...some unbelievable stuff on this site! I'll refine the tying, fish 'em, most likely refine some more and keep you posted!

Hey thanks to all for the comments and tips so far. And no offense taken on any of this, of course. I added weight to the 2nd one at a buddy's suggestion - he has guided for a while now, fishes a lot of different ways, and mentioned that the weight (depending how much and where it is positioned) will make for a much longer, subdued dive - just another presentation to try out on the fishes' mood of the day. Hairstacker, interesting note about the first one - as you mentioned, the head slopes up & flattens before collar transition. You're saying transition to collar before leveling off at top. I'll keep that in mind. I guess I'll shape it some more, making it more of a taper like #2 & still be in business on this one... Also, my tie-in/spinning method results in collars being sloped rearward; yours are sloped forward...any tips on how to make this happen?

I can't recall...this might be my first post here. Hoping you all can give me some good feedback about these I've just started tying. This one is unweighted: And this one has several wraps of 35 on shank at rear - maybe weight should be at front? It's at back so that I could better spin at the front for a more compact head... Thanks for looking and giving any feedback! John

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by jkilday4: dahlberg diver

New to the forum (I think this is my first post...) - have been accessing this wonderful resource as I learn to tie. I've been tying just under a year now. I had a good fella send me a batch of duck feathers from a recent hunt. We're wondering what all types/parts of flies that these feathers would be good for...I appreciate any suggestions - I'm sure there are a ton of fly parts that these feathers would work on...my hunting buddy and I are just wondering if it's worth his while to send me all these different feathers or if certain ones are better than others. Thanks for any feedback, John [On any suggestions, please reference them this way: Row One: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 Row Two: 5 - 6 - 7]