Rob Knisely

The first muskie I ever hooked grabbed a white zonker (#4 maybe?) I was using for trout. Course I didn't get him landed, but he was a big one! Had another shred a size 6 BH olive/black woolly bugger. Guess they like snacks, too.

That looks great! Love the colors on there! :thumbup: I tie a similar pattern for bass... looks just like a dying shad or minnow, works great with twitch/slash motion. You should definitely get some great action!

Nice! Is that guinea dyed brown on the side? Looks good.

Good stuff! That articulated looks like a killer! Good idea... I'll have to try that.

Only you, darling. Now where are my stockings?

Man, I do that all the time. I tell folks I just got a couple (had a bang-up day) or didn't get any (caught some big trout). Then I feel bad when they tell me where I should go next time and give me a couple can't miss flies.

Network with some upland game bird folks and you'll get a lifetime supply for free! And woodcock is absolutely beautiful! My buddy gave me a couple skins:

Was reading the latest 'Drake' issue and they had a write-up on this site, so I checked it out. www.catchmagazine.net Fly fishing p*rn (as my wife calls it) at its best! Excellent photography and vids! Of course, Brian O'Keefe is a no-brainer, but all the contributors have outstanding skills! The Kamchatka vid made me cry... I had just saved enough to take that trip when my ex decided divorce and I needed the money to start a new life. Aaahh... someday! :serenade:

Awesome color combos on those Half-N-Halfs! :headbang: Got me thinking I should replenish mine.

:dunno: Okay, I'm having a "why didn't I think of that?" moment. Sweet tie BDH! Have you used the circle hooks much? I tied a few patterns on them and have had some trouble hooking up with them. I cant get over the urge to set the hook and let them turn with the fly to hook themselves. And when I do, the fish seem to realize their mistake before getting hooked and eject the fly safely. How's the little one?

Yeah, it's a little weird when my daughters borrow my nail polish. Just so they stay away from my nylon stockings! (I use them to tie boobies... uh... okay... never mind!) :bugeyes:

Before applying the eyes, cement the head. Once it's dried, add the eyes. The adhesive on the stick-on eyes is useless, so I use Loctite Stick-N-Seal, a waterproof glue you can get at the hardware store or WM... great stuff, also works for putting eyes on deer hair bugs. I've yet to lose an eye doing this.

People said those Hummers we used to sell at the Warehouse worked really well. I have to admit I wasn't impressed with the way they looked, but we sold a bunch of them. They just had the propeller in front of the the head of the fly with no bead. Water's been a bit low up here... guess y'all have had a bit more rain down yonder?

Alum will work very well, but it's a chore to "break" the hide to soften it. Also, it's not waterproof, so if you want to use your squirrel pelts for Zonker type stuff, you'll need need to use something that is. Check out Van Dyke's Taxidermy. That's where I used to get all my stuff. They used to have some very helpful booklets.

Anybody have the recipe for this guy? I reckon I can figure it out, but would like to be precise. Thanks!

I don't mean any disrespect, but I don't get it. Is the hype that this is a more realistic eye? Taxidermy suppliers have had those for years. So the fish sees the ultra-realistic eye in the seconds it has to make a food-decision, and disregards the hair/flash/synthetics it's supposed to assume are a minnow's body, sclales, fins, etc.? Please clue me in... I may have missed something, or I'm reading this wrong (I admit my error in advance). :dunno:

There's also turkey flats and mallard flank dyed to the color. For a more precise profile, reindeer tied in as bundled wings and flattened with Flexament is awesome (Darrell Martin- Micropatterns), but is hard to come by and I had to dye my own to a couple shades of dun. Well worth the effort, but to go through all that, you may spend less energy and money on a new hen cape. Z-lon or Antron make good sparkle wings, too.

I tend to stay away from bright-colored posts, only in attempting to present a more natural imitation. I use mostly light dun or medium dun, or mallard flank, etc. for parachute posts to more closely match the naturals. Of course, on the smaller sizes, like BWO's I have only a vague idea where my fly is out on the water, so if I see a take in the general vicinity, I set the hook. Kind of a balance-thing going on there... if seeing the fish take your fly gets you more hook-ups, use materials you can see; if you do better "winging" it as I do, use post colors that match the naturals' wings.

LOL! Pure what? Pure fly-fisherman? Pure dry-fly-fisherman? Pure old-school? Pure new-school? Pure antiquities? Pure bamboo? Pure fiberglass? Pure bait fisherman? Pure natural? Pure synthetic? And just what are the rules for all the clubs ad infinitum that are out there? Where do I sign up? Are there annual fees and bylaws? Who's making the rules and to which club do you want to belong? Do you really need to be in a club? Guess that depends on what you like and if limiting yourself in particular ways is a source of enjoyment for you. Purity and fishing is a silly concept. We really just want to catch fish, which we do. To make the experience more rewarding and enjoyable, we set our own limitations. (IE. we'll only fly fish, or only use dry flies, or only use flies tied with natural materials, or only use bamboo, or only use graphite, or only use synthetic, or only use hand made hooks and unharvested material.) I could go to the local park and catch monster size carp all day on corn. I prefer to trick them into thinking they're picking up some natural food that I've mimicked in natural furs and feathers. That's fun to me and really neat. Hence my enjoyment as far as I'm concerned is fulfilled. Others using corn find that they like that the best... that's their thing. Most of the time when I'm concocting some new fly pattern, I like to stick to natural materials because it seems (to me personally) to fulfill a kind of circle of life thing. However, when a particular need arises, I pull out the pragmatist (like the all-synthetic Superfly for 'gills and bass). And I'll go fish alongside fellas with nightcrawlers and bobbers, and we all have a good ol' time. There are many debates about what constitutes this or that. I could cast a Yamamoto Senko soft plastic bass bait on my six-weight rod or a Gummy Minnow. What's the difference? (I prefer to do neither, by the way !) To each his own, and I believe all "purists" are in their own little one-man clubs. For anyone to look down upon another just because the person doesn't adhere to their own personal limitations is, well... dumb and childish. Be yourself, follow your dreams, find enjoyment and refreshment in ways that uplift you and harm none. Enjoy the spirit of the sport for what it is. :coffee:

Another method: Clip the feathers to length, do NOT trim the barbs along the stem, hold them all together in position, take a couple loose turns of the thread, then pull up or down to tighten the wraps while holding the feathers in position. The untrimmed barbs help hold everything together and make for a durable wing. This is a Dave Whitlock type method and works very well for fishing flies. For display-type flies, where thread wraps and Spartan neatness is a concern, go with flattening the stem.

This may be of some help if you're just starting out... http://www.invictaflies.us/Bass%20Flies/de...ir%20popper.htm

While you're playing with embroidery floss, you may find this interesting... http://www.invictaflies.us/Articles/clipped%20thread.htm

1. Eight-inch piece of 17 lb. mono folded in half = bobbin threader 2. Disposable nylon brush, bristles cut at an angle = dubbing rougher-upper (toothbrush trimmed does the same job better on bigger flies) 3. Needle with a mono loop attached to the end = for inserting rubber legs through foam popper bodies and an aid in knotting pheasant tail fibers for hopper legs 4. Toothpicks marked for measuring or symmetry. 5. Large art clip for holding materials to be inserted in a dubbing loop (ie. clip a fur strip or feather by the hairs/barbs, trim away hide or stem, insert into the loop and away you go with fibers perfectly aligned!) 6. (my personal favorite) A clear Bic pen with the ink insert removed = hair packer, hair/hackle guard (push back on the fibers, throw a half hitch around the tapered front end of the pen casing, it slides right off precisely in front of the hair/hackle without catching any fibers... beautiful!) And of course lots of homemade tools.

Well cripe Ye Olde Killer! It would be easier to list what flies (or imitations) can't be made from that stuff! Any of it can be tossed in a bass or 'gill bug as tail or hackle. All can make innumerable trout, bass, bluegill, salt flies. Add your own dye jobs to some of the booty and possibilities increase 100-fold! Only thing limiting may be the marabou, which can limit the potential for dry flies if used as wing material. (craft store marabou is often low quality and burnt by over-zealous dye jobs) and show-quality streamers (if tips are broken, ie.).

Holy Smokes! What a lot of info! It's amazing just several years ago this was such an obscure topic. Good to see everyone experimenting and figuring out some great stuff! My .02 worth: -Some nail polish clear coats are made from different bases, and may thin certain paints like lacquer or oil-based and make your cool designs run as you apply it, so test those first. -Acrylics are set for life after they dry (unless a very potent solvent is applied to it) and flexible. These are good for soft-foam bodies and resist chips and flaking off better than paints like enamel or lacquer. -If painting with lacquer paints, do NOT use a lacquer clear coat unless your body is solid... it will thin your design and it will run all together. -Never use 5 or 15 min epoxy (check the set time on the package)... these will yellow on the first day of fishing and become brittle in the sun. -Two-ton epoxy is great (usually sets-up in 30-45 mins). That's enough time for any bubbles to surface and break before it sets, doesn't yellow, and you can get at least half a dozen bodies coated before it starts setting up. -Epoxy coated poppers WILL crack and the coating will break off in small pieces if you bang a lot of rocks... so either watch your casts, or use clear acrylic, which is more flexible. -Acrylics, while more flexible, are less durable, so will succumb to rough bass teeth quicker than epoxy or nail polishes. -If you use nail polish, at least make your overcoat clear Sally Hansens... this is infused with fiberglass particles (guess the ladies don't dig chipped fingernail polish ). -Spray enamel, spray acrylic, brush-on acrylic (doesn't matter the brand- pretty much all the same aside from color tone and consistency unless you find a basement knock-off/rip-off brand) * (oh, and any acrylic can be thinned with water for dynamic affects if you're the artist type), permanent marker, colored pencil, crayons, ink pens, and more... all remain stable under a coat of 2-ton epoxy (your pattern doesn't smear). -Add a small amount of fine glitter to 2-ton epoxy for cool effects. As said, a small drop of enamel or acrylic model paint will tint the epoxy, but don't use too much or it will affect the integrity... it won't set up and remain tacky. -Always use a turner so your finish can smooth itself out, and use thin coats- if you want a thick coat of epoxy, do it twice or 3 times. Bottom line... get creative and use whatever means necessary to get the design you want on your foam body, then coat with 2-ton epoxy and put on a rotary drier. The only downside: it will crack if you double-haul it hard against a cliff face from 40 feet away. Good posts everyone! :headbang: -Rob