fishyfranky

I was getting consistent tailwater brown trout action with #10-#12 black nose dace last year. I tied them with glass beads for eyes and it makes them shimmy.

My wife's uncle is the target of tacky fish gifts. This beauty is hollow with a 40 watt bulb inside. The green buttons glowed nicely next to the christmas tree.

Nice tie. Good idea with the mallard flank and definitely a hot green trout pattern I've also got some pheasant rump that might make a good palmer on that pattern.

I've tied a few Garry Dog's just for fun (don't really use salmon flys too much). Kept on asking strangers if their name was Garry but they ran away once I pulled out the scissors... don't know why? Not my tye:

OSD, from their description, its $1.58 for a single 8ft strand, $14 for the 12 strand bulk pack and $104.36 for the 1000ft spool.

When I first started tying I was looking for some hackle for a woolly bugger. This one guy sold me a 1/4 cape of whiting dry fly hackle. Not quite right I don't go back there very often. Then there is this other shop where I said to the manager I was thinking of getting into fly fishing. He then talked to me for an hour and half on the virtues of fly fishing vs what the bubba's do. Next time I see him he goes: Hey bubba, are ya fly fishing yet? Funny guy, I like him

That jelly rope looks nice. How about mono? Maxima Chameleon is a nice nymphy brown, or Berkley XT is a nice green, or clear mono over dubbing should look good. How about colored copper wire? I figure to save a step because lead wrap won't be necessary, just rib with the copper. I've got 8 different colors! I'm curious to see if anyone has compared lace nymphs vs regular material as far as fish catching ability.

Kool! The next time I get a brazillian wax job, I'll ask for the wax strips with my hairs! Till then, I still need a baby sitter so I'll make a pretty streamer with my sister in-law's hair

Well, I'm not quite skilled enough to tie those small dry flys nor make a nice dragless surface drift but I may be one day. Till then, I am wondering if the use of emergers or other wet patterns is effective during an actual hatch. TIA!

Just once, I would like to catch a carp on the fly. Just once I tried a few times last year but they totally blew me off. Closest I came was an inhale 10 feet away from me. It exhaled the woolly bugger faster than I could set the hook.

I started tying this year and my first muddler was like a bad matter transporter accident. But I tried it anyways in the spring and got a 2+lb resident brown and a couple of nice steelhead in short order. I was onto something and a variant (still a crappy muddler) of it was my most successful fly for steelhead this fall. I'd say try fishing with everything because you never know...

As a funny stocking stuffer for me, my sister in law saved some of her hair from her last cut. I'm trying to think of a suitable pattern for it. Almost as bad as the patch of red deer hair my wife gave me for valentines day. What to do?

I have a related problem. I think of flys that I need to tie when I'm in the shower, or falling asleep or dozing on the commuter train, or while listening to my wife talk, etc. Of course I can't seem to remember them all when I'm actually at the vise.

Looks a lot like the spring wiggler, ie a hexagenia limbata imitation. Supposedly a hot pattern but not one I use regularly. Try the flourescent colors in green/orange/pink.

I'm with daryn on this. After seeing my den fill up with cabinets of material, with hair and feather fluff in every nook and cranny within 30 feet of my vise, burning away all the receptors in my nose with head cement fumes, etc. everything else that follows is just the residual aftershocks of the original act of monumental madness: getting into fly tying!

Thanks guys. I'm not much of a dry fly fisher (except for foam things) so I generally don't have to deal with this issue.

Is there a way to make deer hair waterproof? Anyone do this? I've got a muddler variant that works great for steelhead. It has a very bushy and long collar, basically a wing. When it gets soggy however, it stops working and I have to tie on a new one. thanks.

Hopper, that's a nice color combo. I didn't realize that grasshoppers came in so many colors until I started tying! Here's what I've been using up on Ontario, Canada. The rear legs are made from craft lace (i.e. gimp):

Nice! I tie a club sandwitch that hasn't seen too much trout but the bass sure do like it!

I've had good luck with nylon plastic canvas yarn. Its very shiny and sparkly like Antron (also a nylon). Comes in plys but I untwirl it and it become a nice long wavy shank.

Nice hen. I've read reports that rainbows follow the scum lines out on Lake Ontario feeding on insects and various other creatures.

Ever since I got hitched, I whip finish less.

Call me a rebel (or clueless newbie) but I use regular Coats & Clark sewing thread for everything. Mind you, I tie fishing flys.

Graham, what a great idea: a Booby nymph! That fly as tied has some lead wrap but I'm sure some playing around would produce a rising/neutral fly. Maybe add some more hair or a bit of foam, no lead, switch to a dry fly hook, etc.

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by fishyfranky: Deer Hair Nymph