Rob Knisely

Hey, I'm in if you still have a spot left!

Sounds great! I'm in!

Hey gang... got mine done! :headbang: Put together an idea I had rolling around in my head for a nymph pattern based on durability and elements of some patterns that work locally. Took some finagling to get it looking just right, and they came out okay... the real test comes on the water, though! Looking forward to see what everyone came up with. Merry Christmas!

Hi FishyboY, Go sparingly on the amount of dubbing you spin onto the thread... a bare wisp at a time (you could almost count the hair fibers). On larger flies (#14 and up) don't try to apply a whole body worth of dubbing onto the thread before wrapping- do it in stages. It is better to to wrap layers of dubbing rather than try to get more dubbing on the thread when you want the tapered effect. Not only does this make for a good-looking fly, it is durable; so after a half dozen trout it doesn't look like a dust bunny. And not to be contrary to others, but in my experience, pinch tight as you roll the dubbing around the thread between your thumb and forefinger (actually, I use my middle finger and thumb), at the same time using an upward (toward the fly) motion. I've not used dubbing wax for years. However, I find that if your hands (fingers) are slightly sweaty, or oily, this helps a great deal. If your hands are cold, go ahead and use the wax (softer wax is better), but run your finger over the wax just once, then get the dubbing, then apply all to the thread, pinching tightly as you roll. (As opposed to putting the wax on the thread first and trying to apply the dubbing on top. Basically, the wax helps hold the dubbing in the shape you form as you roll it around the thread.) And keep your thread wraps almost to the breaking point of the thread... this is not the place to be gentle-handed if you want a tightly-dubbed body and a durable fly.

Hi iso18, A fast-action 8-weight loaded with a Bass Taper line will give you the punch you need to deliver larger poppers if you want to go on top, and the extra umph for those bunny-type flies. When you grab hold a big one, you'll be glad for the extra power in the rod. Just remember to sharpen the hooks and don't do a hook set like Bill Dance or your fly will swim off (experience talking there! :wallbash: ).

Kenneth, I'd love to get in on that, but I'll be manning the booth for Sportsman's Warehouse (Lexington). Sorry... my boss got me first. Stop by and say HI!

Woops! That was supposed to be 3665A... sorry! You can get them through www.cabelas.com or www.jannsnetcraft.com The Mustad 79580 is pretty good too, I just like the Limerick bend of the 3665A better.

Hi Mike, Try the Mustad 3995A. Inexpensive and stout in sizes above #6. The proportions in the range of these hooks are a little off, but in the larger sizes this is what I go to, even above "higher-end" hooks. (Read as: flexible, yet strong... less carbon content=less brittle). A good heavy-duty no-nonsense big-fly hook.

What the heck is a "raccoon dog?" Hound? Oh yeah... ever since I captured the marauding mole in my garden several years ago, and subsequently skinned it and tanned it- dyed it various shades, captured others, blah-blah-blah... I'd have to say mole fur.

Hi flykid, I'm in! :yahoo:

Great idea for a thread! I drive a semi. Just regional 75-80 hours a week, deliviering stores like WalMart, Target, and convenience stores... I bring the the candy, cigarettes, Gatorade... all the good stuff. Yes, I drive the semi right onto the lot at the BP or Exxon station, Dairy Mart, whatever. A lot like tying #22 BWO's. I unload an entire 53' trailer in one day, up and down a ramp off the back with a dolly. (Note: I'm 5'6" and 130 lbs. ) I go to school 14 hours a week... computer applications technology. Small-time commercial fly tier (mostly retail, and two flyshops). Maintain my web site and a couple others. I have two daughters, my wife works at the county "bad-kids" school... the kids aren't as bad as all that. In my spare time I do some artwork and read philosophy. Oh... once in a while I'll sleep a little.

streamertyer... I love the color scheme on your purple/claret one! Did you custom dye the wing/shoulder feathers? Beautiful! Aarne... that's a great tie! What is the cheek on there?

OSD... That's cool how the shoulder mimicks a minnows pale belly/front. When you fish that streamer, does the profile remain (shoulder on the lower half, showing a dark upper-side from the grizzly feather beneath)? Any special technique to get the shoulder on the lower half like that, or do you just find appropriately-shaped feathers? Great-looking pattern... looks like a real fish-getter! Got a name for it?

This one is interesting. If I remember correctly, the body is 16 strands of floss, 4 strands of Pearl Flashabou woven up the shank.

Here is one of my favorites, still unnamed.

Whoo Hoo, featherwings! Here's one...

Hi Brandon, Have a look here: Fly Anglers Online Over on the left click on Fly Tying, then on the new menu there, click on Beginning Tying. You may want to check out some basic fly tying books as well. That really is a lot to answer! Also cruise around the posts here. You can learn a lot in a very little time just reading questions and answers from other board folks. A very talented group here. I would narrow it down to a fly or kind of fly you'd like to tie, either by what you like, what catches fish, popular patterns, whatever. Then learn how to tie that and find out the nomenclature, techniques and so on. Specific questions about that pattern can apply to many others and help clarify things.

Arctic Clouser (uses Arctic Fox tail/body hair) and beadchain eyes, standard streamer hook. Killer for stream bass/bream. Olive over yellow is the top producer locally. Another version for panfish using dyed gray fox tail (underfur for the belly, guard hairs for the wing) and tiny painted lead eyes: Dyed colors on this pattern are nice, but the killer is the bleached Gray Fox: I also use the standard Clousers on 3306 hooks for bass.

QUOTE (seanrus @ Mar 10 2005, 10:56 PM) I need better instruction on spinning deer hair. I'm giving up til then. Seanrus... this may be of some help: Deer Hair Popper

QUOTE Where can one get woodcock? Hey, Joe: You might try Anglers Den (formerly English Angling Trappings). I've got two skins and several in the freezer waiting to be skinned, courtesy of my bird-hunting friend. I'll send you a few feathers if you want to check them out... just shoot me an e-mail with your address. Here's a nice woodcock pattern: Riley's Fancy

Yes, three strands. To tighten the knot, apply even "prolonged" tension. Basically, pull both ends to tighten the knot, then hold it there for a moment as the rubber material stretchs and tightens throughout the knot. You can practice on a rubber band to see what happens to save your leg material... the rubber strands turn a very pale color. You want to tighten it almost to breaking. It should hold without cement, but you can add that if you like. Try to tie the knot in the opposite direction for the leg on the opposing side. Hard to explain, but say, if you hold the Foot portion in your left hand and bring the other end up and in front, then loop it behind/pull through, pull tight... for the other side, bring the other end up and behind, loop around the front and pull through. This gives you more symmetrical legs for a balanced tie. You'll notice one strand sits lower when the three are tied in. Clip off the the top two. To do this, pull the two strands, and clip to a scissor-blade width from the knot. As long as your knot is tight enough, this produces a small "clip area" at the joint. Do the stretch clip when trimming the front legs, too. As long as the thread wraps are tight, you're good to go. Fun pattern!

Okay, one more reply on this subject to touch on something Pujic brought up... Whenever you venture to represent something, regardless of the media, it is art. Obviously, fly tying is an art, as Pujic said. Yet, because of the functional aspect of the end result (the fly is tied to catch fish) a couple conflicts arise. One, is that non-artists participate. That conflict is short-lived, however, because those people become artists in their own right. The other conflict has to do with design. Take the chair you're sitting in. An artist designed it, but a company considers it their design and has the rights, etc. and seeks to name it this or that. Just think if some fine artist tried to say his painting was a watercolor and all others were copies, regardles of what they're called and how they're done. Ludicrous? Of course. Same with a Deceiver. If Lefty tied it, or it is tied just like Lefty does it, it's Lefty's Deceiver. If Bob ties it different, it's Bob's Deceiver. I tie the Squirrelly Cuss, but if someone ties it with badger hair, it's plainly something else, even though it may look similar, so it ought to have a different name. In essence, this is art. The true artists and lovers of art know the masters and copy their works, eventually breaking out into their own style. It may be that this style is similar to the style of those they studied, or it may be something completely different. This has been the way for as long as art has been around. To touch on Al's comments, if you give 100 art students watercolors and paper, and tell them to paint that tree over there, you'll get 100 different versions. And they would all be named according to what the artist perceived/felt in painting the tree. As for new materials and tools, new material is simply a new medium to work with, hence new patterns and styles. New tools, like the Magic Tool, can make old techniques accessible to those either unaware or unable to produce the effect by the old method, and in introducing the technique brings more artists into the pool to produce a broader range of styles. So I say thank goodness for folks like Marc who bring us these tools, even though I don't have one, nor do I think I'll ever need one. Create your art, name it what you will, pay proper homage to your mentors.

Woodcock... cool colors!

To me it's mostly about names. There are types of flies, different styles of flies, and particular patterns. A fly that is similar to another, slightly different, with a different name, separates it from the original without tagging on the original's name, or variant #--. For instance, a Chili Pepper is a Woolly Bugger. But if someone says they'd like a #6 Chili Pepper, I know what particular colors and materials to use. Rarely do you see a respected tier say their pattern has never been done before. It may be new... which is mostly true= new to them, new to many, new to the general public. Unless the pattern was specifically tied to match an older pattern precisely, it's new. Give it a name, and folks know what to call it. Recently a couple magazines had flies in them that were the hot "new" thing. Revolutionary techniques to imitate such-n-such. This fly is called ----. Okay. I have a couple dozen of those in my box that I call ----- that I've been using for years. Is it new? Sure, and it looks just like my pattern. Maybe it's not new to me, but it's new to many. And of course, if you're out to get famous by hording techniques or saying this or that is my creation, you're in the wrong field! Way too many creative people in the fly-tying world for that! I know of one fellow who has successfully trademarked his pattern and scolds anyone that ties it without permission. Is he famous? Sure. Everyone knows he's a (fill in with expletive . Those folks that readily present their findings to the general public or family of fly fishers are the most well-respected and loved. And they (the respected ones) don't say they've invented a new fly, rather here is something new, and I don't think they intend to imply they've invented a completely new thing. Now if someone wants a dozen Steve's Magic Minnow, I think I could pretty much tie it. And it would be very different from a Deceiver, with different attributes. I think such a fly should be called Steve's Magic Minnow, rather than a Deceiver Tied With These Materials in Such a Way, the Same as Steve Did It. Sounds like a good fly, too! Then there's the flip side. Tie a classic fly like a Quill Gordon. If you use purple hackle instead of dun, is it really still a Quill Gordon? Not really... you should give a new name like Quill Gordon variant #3567. or Purple Gordon. or the Grape Ape. whatever to distuingish it. Now I'm really getting out there! Anyway that's my .02!

For a rounded belly, you could slip a clear glass or plastic bead into the tubing. Unless you're imitating shad or other "narrow" baitfish, this is more realistic profile. Check out the Zonker-like streamer in my Contest 2004 flies... Epoxy over all and the mono disappears. Using the shot, you get the illusion of internal organs. Using clear beads, you'll get some interesting distortion, but it will maintain its translucency. Another method would be to run a thin band of epoxy (2-ton, 30-minute) around the tubing, either before placing over the hook, or with just the rear portion tied-down (front of tubing still open). Yet another would be Super-glue... not as strong, but it does fuse the mono filaments and the basic shape can be maintained with care. For a flat profile, use clothes pins to compress the tubing while the band of epoxy or Super Glue cures. You might find a couple useful tips here: Bunny-Back Jiggler