Rob Knisely

You might want to check out the Stealth Bomber. Creates a nice wake and bubble trail using foam tied slider style over the head. (Just a thought... have never used one myself! :dunno: )

Hi Hans and welcome to The Fly Tying Forum! How've you been? Care to make an introduction for the few who may not know you? How's the family? What are you up to these days? I've learned so much from the advice you've given others and myself over the years in articles and especially forums like this, I almost feel like you are a friend and mentor. I still use your phrase "your mileage may vary" when teaching others. I've also benefited greatly from the displays of world-wide tiers on your web site. I've seen your posts on flyfisherman.com ~ lots of cool patterns, but for some reason the photos don't show up recently... prob an error here at my terminal. But the ones I've seen are, or course, inspiring. What's the reason for all the pattern posts? Just want to share? That would be my guess, as you've always been generous in sharing your knowledge and expertise with everyone... Thank-you for that! Good to see you here, Hans! -Rob

Can't get to the post today, so will shoot them out Monday. Bad thing about this pattern- it's easy to tie. I kept procrastinating cause I thought "Oh, they won't take me long!" Bad tier! Bad tier! :nono:

OMG! I thought two teenage daughters was bad! It gets nuts, for sure. But when things get crazy, I step back and apply the same philosophy to flies, daughters, bills, etc. "Eh, it'll work." and I throw 'em in the box (well, not the daughters, unless that 'guy' comes over again). Don't sweat the small stuff, and think about just what the small stuff is. With any hobby, embrace the quirks that add character and life. Hmm. Might make a good T-shirt: "Embrace the Quirks" :jumpy:

Good stuff, Bru, but I agree with FishyboY. Put some together with the tails about half the length you have now. However, keep the long-tail ones, too... they'll ride lower in the water and chug instead of pop. May make the difference at dawn. (seeing yours, I'm thinking I might wanna tie some up with longer tails! just with larger hooks)

Wuh-ooh! I think we have one pack of that left in the store! If it's there tomorrow, I'm grabbing it! We generally fish the NC side of the park. The monsterous hike (2 miles, straight up, then straight down... not long but intense, so hit the stairmaster a for a few weeks first) into Raven's from Straight Fork is worth the extra effort if you're up for it! :wheelchair: Great tie, my friend! Have a name for it? If not, I'm calling it the Overbrook.

:hyst: That made me laugh! Let's get this fella some pics!

Daaannng! Awesome flies from everyone!!! I'm extremely impressed with everyone's flies, and this is best selection I've gotten in any swap! Great job to all! :thumbup: Well worth the wait! Okay, questions: Overbrook- I'm taking that fly to the Smokies! What did you use for the dubbing? cencalfly- that looks to me like a smallie/carp killer! Is that 1mm orange foam on the body? Mikey99- what was the inspiration for that?! I don't know what it looks like, other that BUGGY and good to eat! I'm tying some for everything I fish for! Houndog- that Crystal Wizard looks WAY better in real life! What's the flash on that? Epoxy or cement coating? I wager it'll be awesome for spring trout here. Floyd- my daughters laughed hard when I said your flies looked like boobies! Awesome idea for the "center color" on those! Orange Caddis- excellent tie and a great idea with the furled Ultra Chenille. Is that Christmas ribbon on the wingcase? Got some that looks just like it! I'll be tying some of those damsels for the local public lake! j74snook- I looked your's over with my bright tying lamp and magnifying glass. What is that nice wispy stiff tail? Mink guard hairs? Good-looking pattern, I think would be a good all-around-type fly, dry, wet, emerger, nymph, etc. lostlure- Peacock Krystal Flash tail and wing? Ultra-fine green wire rib? Looks like a good one for the local tailwaters! flykid- your's looks good for the tailwater and for summer 'gills. Can you provide a recipe? Had trouble deciding what everything was except the thread, hook, and flash wingcase. Thanx all! Great ties and lots of inspiration!

Mine are divied up according to where and what... as in, where I'll be fishing and what kind of fish I expect to find. For example: one box for the Smokies (few patterns, all know producers, lightweight and small for the hike in, etc.) Bluegill/panfish box, a medium size, double-sided Plano. Largemouth box. Smallie/bream box for fishing the warmwater creeks. This has my crayfish, hellgrammites, etc. for the bass, plus a good assortment of smaller flies that will work on the bluegill, redear, and green sunfish. A small box dedicated to carp flies. A large box for muskie flies, which is fine in a boat, but when on foot- annoying and cumbersome (still working on that arrangement). For the trout- one for small stream work that holds my favorite or hatch-type dries, nymphs, wet flies. I have a seperate streamer box, mainly cause I like 'em a lot. This I'll also carry to the big trout waters, along with a nymph box (which includes some wets and soft hackles), dry fly hatch match box, and a smaller dries and midge box. For the back-stock, I have lots of Plano organizer boxes and a couple of those big utility storage things with lots of drawers (the ones made to put screws, bolts, etc. in). This is, in essence, a fine example of organized chaos! But that's part of the fun!

Sometimes, the dubbing pre-packed in the dispensers is "wound too tight" agianst itself. It's like a dust-bunny... you can open it up and pull the whole batch out in one clump. Try taking out the dubbing, mixing it up a bit by hand, and stuffing it back into the container willy-nilly. If the fibers are chopped too short, you'll still need something to pull it out on occassion. I use my old whip-finish tool, since I can't remember how to use the thing after tying the knot by hand for so long. The hook "grabs" more of the dubbing. As for applying the dubbing onto the thread, if it's that fine, you may need to incorporate some soft, tacky wax, applied on your fingertips. Dubbing of this sort is not useless... rather, it creates some very wispy, transluscent bodies. Especially good for soft-hackle wet flies.

Okay, well, technically speaking I'm in the U.S. as you are, but I've lived in Jersey and it seems to be it's own little country (no place else like it on Earth). Same goes for Kentucky, where I live now. As evidence, put two locals from each state side-by-side and ask them some questions. I'd really like to join in the fun (AWESOME idea!), so if you can fuzz up the geographical boundaries, I'd like to participate with a pattern that works very well locally.

I will jump in on this! Cumberland Crayfish (recently improved/revised). One of my best patterns for smallies, and even big browns! :serenade: What's our deadline, Mr. traveler?

Got mine! I don't know if it's politically correct, but I always try to pick out the best one, mine not counted. I really like the Meat Whistle by ibrb. I looked it over again and again. It looks like a bass slayer, gave me ideas, and the tying was excellent. Very nice! And for those that don't know, those hooks are beautiful, and not cheap! A very close second was Pelhament's Spinner Bait Prototype, though for odd reasons. I'd seen flies like this before and just kinda blew them off as silly. But upon close inspection, the hourglass eyes seem too be mounted on the underside of the hook, which seems to me would make the fly "swim" hook-point down, the "spinner" part trailing underneath. First, I said, "Uh oh," then the gears in my head started whirling. The mono to which the flash is attached would act as a weed guard, the flash becoming a tail even as an extension of the weed guard. Very interesting idea and that's given me some great ideas! Aside from that, the skirt color with blue on the tips is a fantastic scheme, and again with the hooks... very nice and pricey (at least from what I've seen, compared to other hooks). One question for Pelhament... how did you mount the skirt? Pre-made spinnerbait skirt, slipping the band off, or..? Great flies from all! Thanx Mikey99 and everyone for a great swap! For anyone interested in tying the Flatback Shad, here are the instructions... http://www.invictaflies.us/Bass%20Flies/Flatback%20Shad.htm

For your featherwings, tie the feathers in so they curve away from each other... again prettier for the fish. Add sparse strands of the more limber types of Flashabou (pearl is a bit stiffer than, say, silver or gold).

Okay, here's mine. Kinda fun how a lot of us choose the same themes! Lore of the Flies

Where do we go to get a list of (links to) all these new great blogs (present and future)?

FWIW, the cost of the hook is relative. I've been a big fan of the Mustad Sigs for about five years, after tying commercially and noting the overwhelming response in my customers' success and my own. I still use some of the old Mustad stock I have, but when it's gone, I'll go to the Signature. Most of my customers bought my flies instead of the bargain flies because of 1) quality of the tie 2) durability (meaning more fish caught before the fly fell apart) and 3) hook-up percentage. The great hook points and small barb of the Signature series far surpassed the old style and was comparable to other brands like TMS and Daiichi. As for falling apart, the quality of tying is one thing, the qualities of the hook is another... I've found (that is, my customers found) that they had no hooks break when a big fish was on, compared to flies they bought from other places touting the use of "high quality TMC hooks." I believe that may be due to high carbon content in the latter, and better "elasticity" of the signature series. So in a price-based world, what are you really paying for? If you just want to tie less expensive flies, the world's your oyster. But if you want to catch more fish for the least amount of money, you should look at the other variables. Couple other notes: the Signature series has a wonderful coding system and consistency among various styles and sizes; there certainly are other hooks that are inexpensive that will do very nicely for flies, like Eagle Claw aberdeen hooks for bluegill topwater, and Mosquito hooks, circle hooks, etc. ; also, I've tried the Eagle Claw fly-tying hooks and found that line okay, but inferior to the old Mustad line. Just my $.02

Horseshoes, steelie has it! Participation is the key! I've found that many of the ideas, techniques, thoughts, etc., that have proven very effective for me come from beginners... those who are not limited in their thinking to "the way things are normally done." Everybody has something to learn AND contribute, whether you've never tied a fly in your life or you've been tying for many years. I organize fly-tying seminars where I work and it always saddens me when I try to get folks to come out and they say, "Oh, I've been tying for x number of years..." and that's that. My thought is- so? So they will miss out. Sharing ideas, getting fresh ideas, participate and rub elbows with fellow tiers of all backrounds and experience... that's what makes this so fun! Those guys that put themselves on pedestals thinking nobody could tell them anything they don't already know, well, those would be the guys sheepishly asking what fly you're using to success while they have next to nothing. Keep the faith! I'm certain you have much to contribute! I for one am greatful! :thumbup: -Rob

Finally got mine in the post yesterday! Had them tied for a while, but family crap came up and HAD to take a couple trips throwing flies for muskie... couldn't get to the post office to send them out- go fig! Sorry 'bout that everyone, I'm not usually so long getting them out. Has been a great pattern for me so I hope it'll be worth the while- nothing like 20+inch largemouth bass on a six-weight! :kicking:

Sent mine out today! :scooter:

I had an old cheap closed-face reel that I fixed a hook to (wire bent to shape, then attached via the nut that held the spool on). I mounted this to a small board, attached a piece of wood about 10 inches away, a hook in the middle of it. The wire or thread is secured to that hook, run to the reel-hook. Then i used a block under the wire/thread as a support to place the dubbing. Fold the wire/thread back over the dubbing and secure to the hook. Couple of turns to tighten, then remove the support, and finish to your liking. Hand-turning the reel handle produces a very nice brush, though it's often much tighter further from the reel depending on the materials used. Way cheap version, but I've yet to find another I like better. I've found being in complete control of the speed and "force" of the spin is valuable, especially when using finer or more fragile wire, such as for micro patterns. Often I'll just gently crank it until the wire breaks at the far hook.

I found it very useful when working "around" the fly, such as picking out dubbing, tying in legs, or applying smooth finishes to streamer heads, and head cement application. Yeah, you can do this stuff without, but I ended up using it a lot for those kinds of things because it felt better some how. Sometimes it seems to keep the fly in the position you want (like upside down or on its side for legs) since the weight of the handle is down, that is, if the tension on the rotary is fairly loose. Don't know if that's what it was intended for, just my mileage.

Cool! I'm in! I'll tie the Flatback Shad.

Okay, I'm in!