neoFLYte

Great concept! With a little tweaking, you could probably market it!

Might also try using hackle pliers... but sounds like you have a rotary vise and I think that would be the easiest way to go.

I just tried some wiggle dub for the first tme the other night and had a heck of a time with the rubber in it. I have been using Seal, Angora, synthetic, etc.... for years, and I tell ya, I HATE that wiggle dubbing. I have found it VERY hard to work with and have had nothing but NIGHTMARES with the stuff since I bought it. One small hint for the beginner. Learning how to do dubbing if you have never been shown can be a bit tough, try doing a dubbing loop, it makes applying dubbing easier until you learn how to spin it onto thread. Dubbing loops. Rick I agree with the other dubbing loops comments. With a little practice, you can loop-dub just about material. BUT... the effect is not quite the same. Stick with it, though! You'll get it all figured out!

Posolutely bah-root-e-full!

Excellent! My first was a small bluegill on a wooly bugger. Quite a thrill!

I agree with the other posts here. J Stockard has always been super straight with me. J Stockard is my #1 source for anything I want/need. I go to other sites to buy only when J Stockard doesn't carry whatever it is.

Tying flies is a hobby for me. A dozen flies in a day would be a lot for me. Even so, I like for my hobby tools (toys?) to be hassle-free. I just replaced my Peak Rotary with a Griffin Mongoose. In my opinion, the biggest benefit of the Peak was the rotary function, which works quite well. My first vise, and still my alternate, was a Griffin Montana Pro. I prefer the hook holding power of the Griffin and the hook access of the Griffin over the Peak. I will say that I think the Peak's pedestal is a little better than the Mongoose pedestal. Both vises have 3/8" stems, so I use the Peak pedestal with the Mongoose. Is the Griffin the best vise ever? I have no clue. It's certainly not the prettiest. :-)

Nice flies! I'm curious. Do you find that adding the spinners makes these more productive?

Ditto to the other replies. I know tying a few flies takes the edge off for me. I wish you the best in the job hunt.

It has a cicada-looking head. I think it's great!

You are too kind! :-) I just wrapped up some scraps I has sitting here for the fun of it. Call it a little humor... very little. But I do like the Mongoose - and Griffin's hook-holding ability in general.

I just got my Griffin Mongoose vice. I really like it! Here is my first fly from it.

I really like the Umpqua Ergonomic.

You think the Humpy, Stimulator, Lefty's Deceiver, Irresistible, Griffith's Gnat, Hare's Ear, and Pheasant Tail are immoral? <just kidding>

Good lookin' fly! Better crimp that barb, 'cause you're gonna get tired of unhooking all those catches!

Understated elegance. To me, that is every bit as awesome as some of the over-the-top show flies seen here and elsewhere. Beautiful.

Nice looking flies! My first week's flies probably looked like hooks with hairy tumors on them. :-) One "take it or leave it" comment. I don't pretend to be an expert, but I think one can benefit greatly by spending some time trying to duplicate some of the classic patterns seen here and elsewhere. A lot of the folks on this forum tie beautiful flies - some of which look very simple. They can be deceptively challenging. Anyhow, the point is that as you get better with the classics, your homegrown "best flies ever" will look even better. Cheers! neoFLYte Austin TX

there are a couple of thinks you need to do when tieing in and wraping these hackles tie the hackles in by the tip, fold the barbs so all the hackle barbs are coming off the hackle on the same side of the hackle stem. I just wet my fingers and stroke the feather so the barbs all face the same way, this is called folding the feather. i do this after i tie in the tip, its easier for me. when wraping the hackle on the hookshank,make sure the hackle wraps are side by side, not one on top of the other. also at the same time as wraping the hackle, be stroking the barbs back toward the hook bend, so your not traping any barbs under th hackle. dont try to use too many wraps. heres a video showing some of the things i mentioned,this one if for a fly called the goats toe. http://www.youtube.com/user/DavieMcPhail#p/u/22/6vI8ATG92UY there are tons of other davie mcphail videos, he shows many diffrent techniques, i suggest watching them all to see how he does things This is the first I'd seen of David McPhail. Man, that dude can wrap some thread! I'll be watching the rest of his videos. Thanks!

This one maybe? http://www.ifly4trout.com/flypatterns/purple_pupa.htm

Man! What a wonderful wife! :-)

I use my mouse and credit card. Sorry... couldn't resist. :-) I few months ago I did some online research on knife sharpening. I saw some scissor-sharpening info along the way. You might see what you can find with Google or something similar.

I'm sorry but this post makes little to no sense....could you please try again? No kidding.

It would be tough to do an apples-to-apples comparison, but very interesting if one could determine if the first fly was any better (or worse) at catching fish than the second one. Take care! neoFLYte Austin, TX

Interesting point. I don't use Danville very often because I think it flattens too easily and I have to spin it to keep it from fraying. I have come to prefer UNI thread, even though it breaks on me from time to time. Maybe it breaks because I let it become too tightly spun. Thanks for the insight! Flattens too easy? Heck thats the whole point. Danville is a flat smooth thread on purpose.....doesn't make for alot of bulk, makes smooth underbodies, and whip finishes like a dream (especially on the really tiny sizes). The 'flatness' is on purpose, and makes it a easy thread to work with IMO. Absolutely! Danville is great thread if you need a flat thread. I can't remember having it break on me. I guess I should have qualified my statement with "for the flies I usually tie". Cheers! neoFLYte Austin, TX