Kirk Dietrich

Here's a deal I bought last month. Looks like he has a supply as it is the same guy. Don't remember what size I bought but he doesn't have many sizes to choose from. He gives the dimensions so you have to just kind of figure it out. Go to the seller and see his other products, you should find another size or two and actually a 1,000 quantity bulk price. Its legit.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cork-Stoppers-Size-1-B...=item45ee92d31b

Kirk

Robert, I've got a Nikon D40, D300 and old Film camera as well as a Canon SD850. Red tends to shoot a bit on the over saturated side especially outdoors in daylight. Indoors with one or both of my SB600 flashes, it does not seem to be as much of a problem. I have a circular polarizer filter for almost all of my lenses but I haven't tried one when shooting flowers in the yard, may have to try that.

I have heard the Nikon cameras in the amature pro level and below tend to lean to the red being a little more saturated. Then again, maybe with the brighter light, I'm not getting a proper exposure although I usually spot or spot with a little area meter when shooting, I rarely use the matrix.

I began using Adobe Lightroom a couple years ago and have been using Adobe Photoshop since version 7 I believe - about seven or eight years ago. I currently have CS4 but have not used it much since obtaining Lightroom. I usaully get resonable results but red flowers especially seem to be a subject that usually needs attention.

The red in flies and smaller bits of red here and there seem to do okay, it is with solid red flowers and shirts that seem to lack detail. I do think I have better luck when using my 105mm Nikon prime lens as well as the 50mm prime. Maybe what Ben is saying makes sense.

Kirk

Check the threaded connections to make sure they aren't stripped. The vise head screws on to the stem, there is a threaded knob that holds the stem into the base and depending on the version, there could be threaded knobs that operate the jaws. Speaking of which, bring some hooks and make sure the vise holds. I wouldn't wait to long, that price looks like a steal.

Kirk

Those are sweeeeet :headbang: :headbang: !!!! Anyone know what the tail fibers are? Looks like EP or Congo Hair to me, but I'm not sure.

The pencil poppers appear to have Ultra Hair for a tail, it is a bit stiffer and crinklier than the other supple synthetics like Kinky/Slinky Fiber, Streamer Hair, and EP fibers, etc. Its either Ultra or one of the other older "kinky" fibered materials.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Thompson-Ultra-Hair-Fl...u-/270587942679

or it could be this Unique Hair. I think it is the Ultra though. I used to use it all the time but couldn't remember the name until I started searching. Its a good tail material for a minnow popper because it keeps its slender shape without fouling on the hook when casting.

http://www.saltwaterflies.com/unique_hair.jpg

Anyway, the Sneaky Pete bugs have Krystal Flash.

Kirk

Our local craft stores carry the stuff too.

Good looking streamer, I love black and purple/blue! That is a great looking hook, don't think I've seen that one before. The recipe says SF for the wing; is that Slinky Fiber?

Kirk

Go Fishing! Its usually good for the soul and clears my mind.

Kirk

Great idea Dart to recap the swap by posting all of the pics in one post! Great job! Dart, that black balsa popper looks great, don't know what you were frettin' about earlier.

Kirk

I think the silicone with glitter inpregnated breaks easier because the pieces of glitter break up the continuity of the silicone. If rubber were impregnated, I think it may break easier too. The plain silicone and the micro silicone legs from Cascade Crest don't break as easy, yes, still easier than rubber but a lot tougher than the impregnated silicone. I think the micro silicone from Cascade, the glitter is applied after.

That being said, the popper you have above is a great minnow imitation popper, think crease fly, pencil popper, skipping bug and minnow plugs for spinfishermen - sleek shape, no rubber - catch the hell out of fish especially when they have sushi on their minds. Bugs with legs that create the larger profile I tend to work slower and more like a struggling insect or lazy cautious frog. The minnow, I work kind of erratic but still with rests and no action just like a wounded baitfish. (Disclaimer: those retrieves are not hard and fast rules, they are only generalities and vary wildly depending on the conditions and my feeling of what will work.)

Kirk

Holy crap. Very nice fly. But that's a whole lot of trimming around all that rubber. I would have stacked it and then run the rubber through after trimming, but that's due to a lack of fortitude and knowledge that I would end up cutting off half of the rubber trying to get the hair. I really like the yellow/orange combo with the black head. Nice work.

 

Deeky

Deeky took the words out of my mouth, I didn't know if I could write that on this forum but the first words that came to my mind were Holy Crap! I kid you not.

Awesome looking fly, it they don't want to eat it, they'll surely want to hump it!

Kirk

Tom, that sounds like a good idea. If you want to see how it works and keep the glitter closer to the body, you can brush on some nail polish and sprinkle the glitter in case you want to make any paint adjustments or additional marking over parts that are glittered before you epoxy top coat it.

Stip, you know, I recently tried a couple things to try to avoid a topcoat paint protector. I tried enamel and sharpies and uncolored bugs. Of course, the uncolored presents no problems cause there is no color and actually they catch fish just fine but no fun in building; good functional bug.

The sharpie is okay but the colors are hard to get vibrant once you start overlapping and they fade but they do hold up fairly well especially on soft foam, didn't really try on hard foam.

Then, what I thought was going to work was Testor's enamel model paint, it is waterproof but after two fish, the paint begins to scrape off especially around the face.

I haven't tried the airbrush sharpies and doubt I will but I'm going to stick mainly with the old standby acrylics and top coat of epoxy.

When you got a good thing...

Kirk

I've got an Ott light, an earlier version of this Wing Shade Table Lamp by Ott. http://www.ottlite.com/p-65-wing-shade-tab...price-6999.aspx

One of my fly customers gifted it to me after I lost everything in the Katrina flood.

Its a really neat lamp, the top is a rotating visor so you don't get any light and glare in your eyes.

Are you're talking about Surf Candies? If so, here is how I used to do them: After saturating the synthetic fiber wing with epoxy but not excess amount, holding the materials by their ends, pull them to a degree of taughtness that satifies the thickness you want and hold while it dries and sets. After doing a batch, apply stick on eyes, sharpie markings etc. and then give it a top coat of 2-ton epoxy to protect the eyes and markings.

Its been a while since I've done these flies, but that's how I used to do them.

Kirk

Whatcha mean, rubber? That's a new one on me. Epoxy and other clear finishes are primarily used to protect your paint so I would think it would go over the paint.

Kirk

Let Fluffy Chuck in is fine with me. As I mentioned in my PM to you Horseshoe, I'll have plenty enough and different ones coming your way to let a couple more in. Especially Fluffy.

Kirk

Rabbit dubbing is great behind a popper head if it is applied as a dubbing loop so it will be full and fuzzy and flowing and give a nice transition from the head to the tail. The absorbent nature of rabbit will help tilt the rear end down for a nice orientation.

Kirk

OMG!?!?!

It must be

Here is a sneak peek of my flies I have dusted off for this swap. I did say a peek.

 

A creative teaser you are Horeshoe!! I like it.

Kirk

I've never seen one stamped like that but I used to use a hook that size in tying classes to demonstrate the jam knot, half hitch and whip finish using twine.

Kirk

It looks to have some thick downy type underfur in the hair. I've seen Fox fur that looks like this wing. Also, looking at the pictures, it looks like they uesed different hair on at least two of them. I would guess that they are using any black hair for the wing.

My guess is 2" fox fur, the guard hairs are kind of crinkly and there is thick underfur. and if not, that would be a really good material to use for that application.

Kirk

Kirk, here are the tungsten bodies They are basically shaped like half-footballs. I think they are designed for scud bodies but I have seen them used on baitfish bodies because they make a great belly. However, if your fishing shallow water for reds, it may be too heavy. The tungsten body will make the fly sink like a cinder block.

I was thinking the same thing, the shape is good but tungsten is pretty weighty. Moving water, it would probably be a good choice. Sounds like you've done a little sightcasting for redfish.

Kirk

Count me in.

Kirk

AGN, I really like the ice chenille stuff for a lot of flies. That tungsten thing sounds interesting for weighted flies, I think I saw them somewhere but can't recall where. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion.

Tom, thanks. No, I have not posted the pattern; actually, I've never posted a pattern so not really sure how to do that. I'm not really finish designing this fly yet. I've got to do some more field tests, and material variations to decide on what I really like. Also, I've got to try a few different ways of creating the belly buildup that will be effective but easy and efficient to tie.

After my experience with EP fibers on a popper I fished yesterday for redfish that I thought "looked" really good and worked fine with short casts in freshwater but fowled around the hook with longer casts in the marsh. It caught fish but I had to trim the tail back to reduce the fowling. That experienced reinforces my belief that flies need to be field tested under different conditions before being broadcasted as a good looking pattern.

These 3DBBs work fine, it is more of tying adjustments to make it easier to tie as well as weighting options that I want to work on before posting a pattern.

Kirk

Just a note here on the popper tails: The tails may be to long on these saltwater poppers - let me explain.

I've been using the EP fibers on many of my freshwater bugs where I tie a short length of fibers in for a tail and add rubber/silicone for length. They cast nice, lay in the water nice, no fowling problems and catch fish.

That is why I used those fibers on these saltwater poppers and some for myself. Well, I fished one today that I painted with enamel paint and tied in a single length EP fiber tail. I was ticked to find that the single length tail wrapped down in and around the hook bend. I trimmed it shorter and that seemed to help.

That being said, the ones I've made for the swap are trimmed with a taper and are a little shorter than the one I fished today so I hope you don't have any trouble with it. If you do, try trimming the tail shorter. If it still gives you trouble, let me know and I'll send you a replacement.

Sorry,

Kirk

Nice little deer hair bug, I would have cut the legs off trying to trim that thing. Good job and the fish are reward and proof in the pudding for your efforts.