jburge

BassMouth, sent you a PM.

I can tell you that typically shipping from my location (northern California) to Canada is under $8.00. I can't believe you got dinged with customs and duty fees. That's really unbelievable. Enough to stop anybody from swapping. Like vicrider said too, Horseshoes has done a lot of swaps across borders and has some great tips. And paying with PayPal has turned out to be a great option--they even calculate currency rates automatically.

Hope you can do it. Those are some mighty fine looking flies, and love the flyboxes--which look to be bamboo, right?

John

Woohoo! Flies arrived and what a great set. Love 'em. Thanks Horseshoes for hosting. Once again, a great swap and swapmeister :-)

I'm in. What cencal says :-)

And another great day at the mailbox. Not one, but two sets of flies arrived. (I should say two tiers and three sets.) Henrik Thomsen sent some gorgeous (and definitely fish-getting) flies, and vicrider sent not one, but two sets! These are really nice! Thanks you two.

Beautiful story and beautiful fly. This made my day. Thanks for sharing...

It's my kind of day when you go to the mailbox and pick up another set of great looking flies. sniperfreak223's box arrived and you all are gonna really like 'em. Thanks!

They are the only trout I've hooked, played, lost, watched it go right back to it's feeding lane and hooked again. Bass yes, pike yes, but only brookies in the trout family.

Ha! And sometimes, it's the "not so bright" fish that take the skunk off the day.

Hey, if it's salt you're talking about I'd like to know too since my folks live there and it's a tradition to visit every year. For freshwater, I've done OK with my 5wt and topwater bass flies.

Well, I have my sets done and I'll have them off tomorrow. The first one I tackled an unusual tie and think it worked fairly well except ended up with maybe a little too much thread loop rabbit fur used for hackle on some. Used stripped peacock for body and rabbit fur dubbing with a glass bead head. Also ran out of light olive fur so half are dark olive, dubbed thorax and thread body.

 

Did an accompanying tie that struck me as a good way to tie since Tenkara flies are backwards anyway. Mounted the hook in the vise by the eye and tied the fly backwards. Grizzly hackle and dun dubbing. Doesn't look bad and an easy tie. Much easier than first one.

Cool! I usually think of Quill Gordons when using stripped peacock. Ought to be a great looking fly. Thanks!

Flies have left the building. Thanks for hosting Nick.

Awesome! So envious of all the waters for a multitude of reasons! Thanks for sharing :-)

Well, the first set arrived and they're gorgeous. Horseshoes has the honor of being first one in. All here safe and sound, and thanks for the extras!

jburge your flies have landed. I spent time trying to get the flies exchanged. I tried to not send you back the same type of flies. I will now try and get them packaged up and in the mail in the next few days. Apparently we have a N'or Easter coming. twice this week! I was kind of getting used to that southern breeze sauntering our way.

 

I will give a yell when I get them to the PO

 

Thanks everyone, it is never the same.

Awesome! Can't thank you enough for not only putting this together, but doing an amazing sort job with all the personal preferences. You deserve a dinner out!

uhg.. This white thread I got is not good for these flies.. Making a change for the better.

 

Here is my fly I will be tying for the swap. Silver Badger Saddle Hackle. Size 14 Tenkara Ishigaki Kebari

 

IMG_1799.jpg

Nicely done! "That dog will hunt." :-)

These flies are kinda difficult.. I think I figured out the pattern I'm going to do. Going to be a dry/wet black and white pattern. Should be done by the end of next week.

Well, don't make it too difficult. Tenkara is simple. You don't need a lot of complexity for an effective fly :-) Remember, some patterns are nothing more than thread and hackle.

I forgot I hadn't told you what pattern... it's going to be a Callibaetis CDC Cripple

Well, I will have flies for the swap. They will be in a Tenkara style. But the beaded bomber may have to be saved for a different swap down the line. I can't get the fly to behave right. Guy who listed said it's a tough tie with a learning curve and he's definitely right. I probably will end up with a more standard fly pattern but won't give up yet. Haven't been able to do anything that looks as good as the flies on the site I'm trying to copy tho so end my be in sight for the beaded bomber idea.

Go with what works for you. I wouldn't worry so much about absolutely perfect flies. The more you tie, the better you'll get.

And to add what DavidHE has already posted:

Google "tenkara flies" (loads of images, sites, and videos)

Go to youtube and search "tenkara flies" (plenty of good videos)

Jason Klass has put together a nice "how-to":

http://www.tenkaratalk.com/2011/08/a-beginners-guide-to-tying-tenkara-flies/

As to the hooks, you have all kinds of options. Yes, many tenkara style flies are tied on scud hooks, but they don't have to be. Look at the videos.

And really?... My flies haven't arrived yet? Hmmm... gotta talk to those Sacto posties.

Well said but... Fishybob got his flies here before you. So I figure you must be older.

Uh, truth be told... on second thought, I won't tell. Maybe my flies are more "cali" than Bob's. You know... he is one of those guys from Oregon who wet wades all year long!

I'm interested, but I know nothing about fly swaps. I tried looking up rules, but didn't see any

Great. Here's a good place to begin:

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=1515

In a nutshell, this is the way it works. 12 tiers (including the swapmeister) tie up flies for the swap. Tie 11 flies if you don't want one of yours back. Tie 12 if you do. Once your flies are tied (before the due date), you let the swapmeister know, and he/she sends you a PM with a mailing address. You toe tag your flies, box them up (Altoid tin works great) and mail them off to the swapmeister, along with a self-addressed and postage paid envelope. Once all the flies are in, the swapmeister divides them up so everybody gets one of each, and he/she mails them back out. Easy peasy.

Swapmeisters also have some rules:

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=15836

Wanna give it a go?

We're oh so close to have a full swap. Just looking for 3 more tiers. Give it a go!

my flies are done...can you send me the mailing address?

Address has been sent. Boy, you guys are quick :-)

Addy, please.

Henrik

You got it :-)

I've tied 'em both, and fished 'em both. The fish ate 'em all, so I can't say one fished better than the other. I personally like the look of the hair.