Alex C.

I actually think of Jahnny Cash as more rock than country. But most of today's country is a lot more like old rock and pop than country. Sure there's a few artisits who have a strong country sound, but just cause someone sings with a southern accent doesn't make their music country to me. As far as country music goes, I like the old stuff like Hank Sr. It's just really relaxing to listen to sometimes. Some other music I like is some stuff by a Robert Johnson. I'll have to see if I can find a sample of his stuff online when I get home tonight(no speakers at work, yet) I like a lot of the stuff that was popular in the 50s/60s. I really love Blues/Jazz Swing type music. Frank Sinatra is always welcome on my playlist. I like punk/ska a lot too. And yeah I like rap. I love classical music, Mozart's Jupiter Symphony is one of my favorites. except the first time I heard it I was reading one of the books from the "Interview With the Vampire" series and now whenever I hear it, it reminds me of parts of that book. Really there is no type of music I don't enjoy listening to. It mostly comes down to what kind of mood I'm in or what I'm doing at the time. Driving to work everyday I usually listen to classic rock. If I'm tying I'll put something on that doesn't have much vocals. If I'm cleaning house I'll put something in with a good bear which could be some D12 or my all time favorite cleaning music, The Doors. I'm almost always listening to something. I love music. Except when I'm fishing, then all I want to hear is birds, and fish rising.

There is no one type of hair that you have to use. But traditionally they are tied with bucktail. If your hair won't sit low, then there's something probbly pushing it up. Let's look at this one again With the yellow bundle of hair, the thread wraps behind the eyes are holding it so that it lays flat. So what do you do since a couple posts ago I tolod you not to do that with the other bundle? here are a few things to troubleshoot off the top of my head. If theres omeone else reading with something to add, please do. 1- There shouldn't really be any type of bulk or materials tied in on the bottom(hook point side) of the shank. look at yours and see if there is some type of bulk that is causing your dark colored bundle to stick up. 2- Look at my wraps on the head. There is a small gap between the first wrap and the eyes. The point directly under the eyes is gonna have the "most" bulk. Now that still shouldn't be much, but, if your wraps are tight like they should be, the closer they get to that little mound of thread under the eyes, the more that hair will stand up. 3- Some types of hair are just going to stand up higher than others and there isn't much you can do about it. Hopefully that makes sense, and helps

Maybe I should clarify what I meant by "get lucky" and what I mean by entering multiple flies. I just think that since it's a Fly Tyer of the Year contest, that someone who is the fly tyer of the year should win. Not someone who was lucky enough that a majority of people thought a single fly they tied was the coolest. That is a fly of the year contest. There are guys who send in multiple flies that have a legitimate shot at winning and then there are other guys who enter a single fly with a chance of winning. Being a great fly tyer is about more than being able to tie one style of fly. To me, someone who can "throw down" in multiple tying disciplines would be much more worthy of a sweet carlin bamboo rod than someone who can only tie one type of fly well. Something else that type of format would do is show a tyers weaknesses as well as their strengths. If all a guy can do is tie realistic type flies, the voters are gonna see that when they see a group of his flies together. Here's a scenario. Guy A has a Classic Salmon fly, a Realistic, a Classic Streamer, Catskill Dry, and a Spun Deer Hair Bass Bug. Guy B sends in a Realistec Nymph for the Trout Nymph, a Realistic Damsel nymph for the Smallmouth nymph, a realistic nymph for the great lakes Steelhead & Salmon nymph, a realistic mayfly nymph for the panfish category, a realistic dragon nymph for the largemouth bass category. Both guys sent in 5 flies. Every one of each person's flies are tied great. Perfect proportions, etc. With the current format, both have an equal chance that the voters will like one of their flies the best. But in the format I'm "lobbying" for, people would be able to see that tyer A has a lot more game than tyer B. I think it would cost tyer B a lot of votes that all he can tie is realistic nymphs. People would see that guy A has a wide range of disciplines mastered, and could vote on a Fly Tyer of the year, instead of a Fly of the Year. Not only would this format encourage people to broaden their horizons, which is good for everybody, but really good for fly tying in general. But i think it would give this contest some serious "clout" and attract some of the tyers who only tie for contests such as the Mustad, etc. Like I said, just an idea, and just my twisted opinion. Don't take it as a negative against this great contest cause in no way do I want it to come across that way.

I actually thought this one was easier than the first round. There's one fly that to me just blew the rest away. I still think it would be cool if the FTOTY grand prize went to a tyer based on multiple flies they entered. That way it goes to someone who can tie more than just one style of fly well or got lucky on one fly.

I got one of those from you last year in the santa swap, it went straight to my box of reference flies. Great one Matt :headbang:

and if we're gonna go talkin about the best, there is no better than Johnny Cash

something I just noticed on your first bugger is that the tinsel looks like real metal tinsel, is it? If so it's gonna make things tougher than they have to be. When you have the extra money try to pick up some small mylar tinsel. It's gold on one side adn silver on the other, and is much easier to wrap.

Yeah those look great :headbang: . The only thing I see that you want to watch is to not make any thread wraps behind the eyes on the "hook point side bundle" of hair on your clouser. Kinda like this But what you have posted will still fish great, especially if your local waters are mostly dirty :headbang:

I think Hank Jr. rules, but Hank Sr. is 10X better

I haven't bought very much stuff online since i started tying actually. Most of my stuff was bought via local shops. I've dealt with Stockard, two thumbs up. I've dealt with Cabela's, one and a half thumbs up only cause they have always sent my stuff in like 5 seperate boxes. One day I get a shoebox sized box with a pack of hooks in it. A couple days later I get another one with a patch of fox hair. Etc, Etc, Etc. So that kinda bugs me Bought some stuff off ebay over a year ago, everything was as advertised. FeathersMC.com had good prices, shipping, and some of the customer service attributes of a local shop. Bought a pack of hooks from Day5, got them quick. I think thats it

Actually I have to disagree. You ever try screaming like that? I start coughing after about 4 words Some of the guitar solos on those metal songs are very impressive, and their drummers are INSANE!

:hyst:

I don't know, but I like it

Check this song out, click the play sample button link

I love hearing a great band for the first time. Seems like there were a lot more great new bands coming out in the mid-late 90s than the past 5 years or so. I think the internet has made it harder for some to stand out since there are just so many.

My mom turned me onto this site recently. It's pretty cool, type in a song or artist you like and it will play music very similar to it by people/bands you probably never knew existed. Pandora Internet Radio

It never ceases to amaze me how I cannot walk out of any fly shop without spending atleast $30-$40. I just don't get it :dunno: Great looking ties :headbang:

Looks awesome! What is the hook?

Well I've had this one sitting on a shelf on my desk for about a month and a half now and am getting remotivated to finish it. Thought I'd share a couple pics The hook is a mustad bass bug/ stinger hook, 1/0. The underbody is vernille and thread, built up to shape. You can see that there is no limit to what you can do with this tecnique. The beak is a piece of balsa wood from one of my son's model airplane kits. I just colored it. The piece of mono tied into the head will be burned to form the eyes once the feathers are all tied in. The feathers are from a $5 cape I had lying around. I'm at the point where I am set to tie in the wings, but I might go backwards and redo the feathers I've done so far since they've gotten kind of grungy from the abuse of the rest of the stuff in that pile Comments, suggestions?

tie one up to look like one of those jesus fish

I don't debarb my hooks. I find that it helps keep the fish on the line as I swing it around in the air and make helicopter sounds :j_k: There's only been one time when I wished I had debarbed my hooks. That was when I was catching brookies one after another in the 5"-7" range. They were just too pretty and delicate, and even though I took extreme care unhooking them, I had one that took the fly deep and I had problems removing the hook. It swam away just fine, but I felt like crap afterwards. Since then I pinch my barb on a case by case basis. I don't look down on anyone for not debarbing, and in most situations don't think it matters much. I think anyone who uses a net should try to pinch their barbs. I've seen several people net a fish then have the hook point stick in the net. It's never fun helping them try to get the hook out of the net so they can get it out of the fish. It wouldn't be so bad if the fish would just sit still. I don't really buy into the whole "barbless hooks penetrate quicker" reasoning for using them. We're using a 9' lever, with a hook point so short that I don't see how anyone could honestly notice the difference. Obviously there is less surface area so in theory, yeah, the barbless hook penetrates quicker. But 99% of guys set the hook like they're on the bassmasters tournament trail anyway. Which means they can't tell the difference in the ease of penetration. Even if you hand strip to set the hook, you're probably pulling way harder than you need to. The only exception to my point of view here would be on really big hooks where it might actually make more of a difference. Even then most hooksets are overkill.

Thanks inconnu! Fly Time- Now I know what you're talking about, shucks.

I've always wondered how a fish would react to a 6"-8" nymph. Would it run for cover or would it stand there in amazement similar to you or I in the company of a 10' tall cheeseburger

What's a stripper? Is that what causes strep throat? :dunno:

Thanks. I think I'm gonna try some super hot chilli to clear this thing out :devil: Anyone have any habanero peppers?