CoachBob

Try tube flies, foam flies and non-salmon saltwater patterns. A classic tyers worst nightmares.

or go here http://hipwader.com/2003/mayfly-caddis-life-cycle

Some sites where you can buy discount flies: http://www.hillsdiscountflies.com http://www.flyfishing-flies.com http://www.hookedonflies.com http://www.discountflies.com http://www.blueflycafe.com https://www.anglersdream.net http://www.flydealflies.com http://www.percysflies.com

Foam beetles. Prep of knotted legs and set up of components to use takes longer than tying the fly. I don't know how it stacks up to pro tyers, but I've done 12-15 decent quality foam flies in an hour.

First, don't buy 30 yds of floro tippet for $12. Buy VANISH where you get 250 yards for the same price. Second, use an improved clinch, palomar or pitzen to tie with floro because it doesn't take knots as well as mono. Third, understand that you can use a larger diameter floro than mono because of the visibility factor. For panfish I now never use smaller than 6# or 8# test. For bass, specks and reds I'll use 20# and up bite tippet.

For anything bigger than size 12 and for all saltwater patterns I use Danville's Flat Waxed Nylon.

A difficult problem I suffered with for years until I surrendered to conventional tackle boxes. I now store flies with weed guards (wets and poppers) in conventional plastic lure boxes with removable inserts (Plano type). I also limit the number of flies I take onto the water, so I can use a smaller size box. In a boat, or onshore near a vehicle, a larger box is no issue and I might bring a soft sided case with several large boxes all packed with different large poppers (for bass onshore or reds/specks/jacks offshore). Taking a tackle box the size of a piece of luggage fly fishing may seem strange, but it keeps your flies how you want 'em.

Yea, good'un.

Shrimp and crab patterns -- almost exclusively -- for redfish, specks, black drum, flounder, permit, bonefish and pompano. Sometimes skimpily dressed minnow patterns or a DT special type fly for snook.

I am keying on the term "beginner" here -- ten thumbs. Dubbing is hard for beginners, though many of us forget that. Yes, something that looks like a hairball your cat choked up may catch fish, but dubbing done right is actually an advanced skill. Working with hair is hard for beginners, so, sorry, no humpys. Making a dry fly hackle anything is not a beginner's skill. The same goes for any fly under size 12. Teaching kids to tie teaches the teacher what beginners find possible. Adult beginners are often worse because they assume stuff, and always assume wrong. Clousers are very good for beginners and I should have mentioned them.

I used two of those until I had more hook sizes than it would accomodate. Now only the 20-24s are in those -- for which it works fine. As for the rest, I usually buy Dai-Riki or Mustad hooks that come in boxes of 50 or 100. I have a drawer in my tying desk that is dedicated to fresh water hooks and they are arranged in the boxes by size. There's maybe 60 boxes in that drawer. I have anothe drawer dedicated to saltwater flies that has sizes 1-3/0 also in boxes. Actually, keeping them in the original boxes is quite convenient and if you don't have a drawer you could get a scrapbook paper storage container (Hobby Lobby) that would hold probably 150 hook boxes. [That's what I used before I got the desk.]

Wooly bugger/worm, soft hackle, foam beetle.

The "cosmic chicken" discussion reminded me of this thread. I went looking for two patterns on the Internet last weekend. Under "Crazy Charlie" I found over a dozen variations with no imaginative names given to the patterns, even though they differed slightly from each other. Then I looked under "bass popper" and found tons that were basically the same fly but were named because they had two spots instead of three, or had a a strand of krystal flash added to the tail. I agree that the easiest way to designate a fly is by using terms like "variant" or "style" such as "clouser varient #12". Then wouldn't looking through the index of fly patterns be easy.

I going off the reservation here, but for many patterns you can substitute bead chain eyes. Bead chain comes in about 10 sizes (ballchain.com) but you're only going to be interested in sizes #1, #2, #3 AND #6 and costs around $5/foot. I have gotten some in hardward stores for considerably less, so you might only use the web site to learn about ball chain. It comes in brass and chrome and aluminum and, by comparison, costs about 1/10th of dumbbell eyes. After you snip off two beads to use as eyes, the hole in the bead works fine to represent a black pupil.

Question: If the flies entered are not in the realistic category, must they be fishable?

Allen wrenches. Many sizes, work great. Nice bend to secure in your vise. I use them all the time.

Franky, I don't know. The original post (the one I can't find) seemed to NOT want to use a traditional box that holds flies with any of the traditional technology but was looking for something other than Cliff's Bugger Beast -- which is the logical solution. Just trying to help here.

I can't find the previous thread where someone asked how to carry very large flies. I came across this bit of advice on www.saltwaterexperience.com and felt it was too good not to pass along. If is from an article entitled Fly Storage by Capt. Tom Rowland. "It is extremely important to use a fly that will not foul while fishing. Fly tyers spend excessive time and energy to insure that tarpon flies will not foul and will pulse and breathe while in the water. Improper or careless storage of such flies ruins them. Hackles become bent or broken and collars are smashed resulting in a fly that will either foul often, spin or swim unnaturally. Using steam can sometimes salvage damaged flies but it is too late if you open your fly box on the boat only to find damaged flies. "One way to avoid this is to use a rippled foam fly box and stick the flies into the foam. This can maintain hackles but often the hooks become rusty at the bend and can break while in a fish’s mouth. Flies placed too closely together may also fade onto one another altering the original colors. Another problem with this type of box is simply that only a few flies are able to be stored at once. Rarely will more than a dozen tarpon flies fit into a trout style box without damaging them. Open compartment boxes are ok but often hackles are shut in the lid, smashed or misaligned by overcrowding. "The solution that I have chosen allows me to carry hundreds of tarpon flies or streamers neatly in one small box without damage, fading or rusting. I insert the flies into individual plastic sleeves on by one. I purchase plastic sleeves in various sizes from Johnson Bag Company for the flies I plan to carry. The flies are then neatly stored in a Plano box and sorted by size, color and style. I am able to carry about 3 dozen of each fly in each size. The box is kept in a waterproof neoprene tackle bag, which remains in a hatch. If the box does happen to take some salt spray or get a little wet, the plastic sleeves will still protect the flies. I have kept some unproductive flies rust free in such a box for years. Since the flies never physically touch one another there is no bleeding of colors and as long as the box is kept out of the sun, there will be no fading. " Good idea, huh?

For that result you probably want to loop the leg around the thread between the bobbin and the hook. Hold the loose ends in your left hand and make two turns around the hook shank and let the middle of the loop be pulled down to the shank. You have now tacked the leg down wherever you want it positioned. You can then pull the legs forward or back and make a wrap over the end of the loop you have tacked down, and in this way you angle the legs however you want. If you want one leg on each side, just make a figure 8 around the center of the leg.

Coastal Cameron Parish (south of Lake Charles) and Vermilion Parish (south of Lafayette) were flattened by Rita then by Ike. The newspapers now report that 60% to 70% of evacuated residents of these areas will likely not return. Can't blame them much.

This one's easy. The best price is at jannsnetcraft.com. About1/10th of competitors prices.

Sometimes I fear our sport is lacking youth.

Cover the shank with thread first. This keeps it from spinning. Then tie in small clumps N, S, E & W. The result is generally uniform.

For Mustad 34081 try http://www.do-itmolds.com/prodhooks.aspx?c=108

Let's be fair to this thread folks. Name ONE tip you consider to be the best to help beginners (since you can't look over their shoulder). Buying a good book is a good hint but not what I intend for this thread. For me the best tip is this: You should rarely have more than 1/2 inch to 1 inch of thread out of the bobbin. Sometimes materials or rare circumstances require more than that, but generally the less thread distance from the tip of the bobbin to the fly the better your control. Many beginning tyers end up with 3-6 inches of thread they are trying to manipulate around the fly. All that does is make life difficult. For flies that call for many many winds of thread around certain components (the head of tarpon flies for example), the smaller the distance becomes almost mandatory rather than optional.