bgause1

The only thing I can think of would be to go to a local stream and get a bucket of fine sand/gravel from the stream and then let it dry out. Or get some varying colors of sand from lighter to darker colors to match whatever is in the stream you are fishing. But I think it looks great. I had been thinking about doing something similar for a long time.

:thumbsup: I dont have some of the materials you use but those are giving me some inspiration.

I would love to see pictures of several of the things mentioned on here. I think I can visualize what most are typing out..but a picture is worth a thousand words. The binder clip idea is genius. Id like to be doing more dubbing loops to create more unique bodies. I heard about using cotton swab tubes before. It was in an issue of Fly Tyer a few issues back. I recently got a tube tool and kept telling myself to get the cotton swabs. I have a lake near me that is excellent for crappies and hybrid stripped bass in the spring. They school up shallow and you can catch them all day. I could easily pump out a bunch of small tube flies for that.

Thanks. To anyone else that may read this...whats a good way to display dry flies? Also any tips on displaying in general would be great. Especially things that are more bulky and may not go into a frame well (deer hair and what not). The shadow box I have other flies in works ok but I dont feel like it really captures their look as well if you know what I mean.

Thanks Mr Vegas. Here they are framed. Id prefer to do it a bit different but this was a nice cheap frame. In the future I would like to frame them more like the pros do. Cant wait to get it up on my office wall come Monday.

Tied up these classic flies the other day on a few salmon hooks I had sitting around: I recently moved offices on my university campus. I will be in this office while I finish my phd (studying aquaculture) for up to 4 years so I wanted to make it feel like home. I put up some neat vintage style tin fish signs (eagle claw, creek chub co. etc) and a shadow box with some other flies I have tied in it. And of course I have a few fish tanks in there as well. I plan on framing these flies as well and putting them up on the wall. Im acutally fairly pleased with the way these came out considering I really have never tried to tie any of them before (except for the skunk).

Would be a nice peice of software. I could do it if I had time but I really don't right now. Maybe in a few months. You make it happen and i would be happy to try it out for you...maybe even purchase it if it works well.

A friend and I talked about and dreamed up a piece of software a while back (before I ever signed up for this site). But I know nothing about software writing. But anyway I would love to see soem software that would not only keep a database of all your materials but would also have patterns in there as well. Bascially what I envision is a software pack you buy and load. It would have the materials database manager where you could add in whatever info you want (type of material, size, color, where you bought it if you want, cost etc). So you got all that in there. Then it would come with pattern recipies and pictures for a bunch of flies. But it would also allow you to add any you wanted to. So you could go online download a picture of a fly (or add pitures of your own versions) and put in the recipie and any tying insturctions if you wanted. What I also thought should be in there is a search function. Say you have a few materials that you want to use up for whatever reason. You could type those materials in a search (kind of like on here) and it would spit back all the different flies in your personal database that use any or all of those materials. At the same time you could find a fly you like and then click a button or something to see if you have all the materials for it listed in your materials database. I know that something like this basically exists with the database here and that you can essentially create your own personal database by favorting flies. But it would be neat to have a piece of software to do it to that wouldnt rely on having an internet connection. Or something that would be a little more personal/managable. Someone should get on that. Id pay money for it.

j stockard has a ton of stuff. Pretty much most of the standard materials you could possibly need and some specialty stuff. Flytyers Dungeon and other sites out there are good for specialty stuff. I also use saltwaterflies.com at times though it has been a while. They have a fair amount of materials as well. The good thing about jstockard though is they do give you "points" for each dollar worth of stuff you purchase (40 points/$) and every thousand points you earn can be used for $1 off your next purchase. You also get 500 points for reveiwing products and they send out gift certificates every now and then. There is actually a thread of people discussing the christmas gift certificates people got via email (anywhere between $5 and $25 so far).

Here you go...so much stuff...

Got mine today. No Words. Should have sent a poet...haha. Seriously though. So much stuff for such an amazing price and some of it is definetly original style materials.

I think I have the circular flouresent you speak of. When I unwrapped it last christmas i seem to remember there being a menards sticker on it. I like it for the most part though at times I have had issue getting it to stay where I want it. But have usually be able to overcome that with a few adjustments.

I use an Ott light myself. Found one someplace for crazy cheap. Its not huge but provides nice light. Its short as well so I built a small (but very crude) box for it to sit on top of to illuminate things a bit better. I also have a clamp on desk lamp that has a round flourescent light with a magnifying glass in the middle. I actually found myself using the magnifying part less than I thought I would though it does it come in handy. But I still use the light. Having one light on my left and one on my right gives me a good amount of lighting....I also have the room light on the ceiling which is just 2 of those twisty style long lasting bulbs...equivalent to 75 watters I think.

Its a good site. And like i noted for every $25 you spend you get 1,000 points (40 points/$ spent) which equals $1 off your next order. For every approved reveiw you get 500 points. I have 7,000 points banked myself right now from my last order and reveiwing stuff. So $7 bucks off right there and then the $10 gift certificate they sent me. I can order $25 worth of stuff I want/need then order a few more materials for free. Wait to see if I get any cash from the folks for x-mas and then make an order. My wishlist is quite large on there.

I accidentally deleted the email without looking at it. Good thing I went back and checked my trash it was still there thankfully. Mine is for $10. Like smokinprice said it must depend on how much you spend or review stuff (I love to reveiw stuff since they give you more points when you do and those points are also good for discounts).