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Fly Tying

Curtis Fry

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Everything posted by Curtis Fry

  1. Here's my little cheap hack: http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/11/fly-tying-hack-spool-minder.html
  2. From experience, don't mess around with the Chewee skin. It's a horribly inconsistent product and will most often just disintegrate over time as the material breaks down. I've tied probably 200 or so flies with it over time and like 80% of them have just come apart. I've had some success when I thoroughly coat it with a UV resin or something, but in general, untreated Chewee skin is just too difficult to work with. If you go to the manufacturer, they'll tell you you're tying it in wrong (upside down) or stretching it or something that makes no sense. So yeah, go with a scud back, body stretch or latex or something along those lines.
  3. Sow bugs on the brain... (tutorial here)
  4. Crackaig has some great advice there, so pay close attention to that list. You should also search up other winging methods. I, myself, use a combination of this method and a couple of others I've seen. Just do what works for you. However, I'd offer one other suggestion. If you're like me, the wings are, by far, the most difficult part of a classic wet. What I ended up doing is prepping a bunch of slips (as Crackaig suggests there), but then just tie them on again and again until you get the seating right. Then, when a wing pair is no longer viable, do it with a new one. Again and again. Don't tie the whole fly in. I think we become invested in the rest of the fly and can be content with sub-par wings because we don't want to re-do it all. Doing "wing-only" sections will get you focused on the wings. Of course, make sure to tie them in onto material of similar thickness as you would on a normal pattern (thread, silk, floss, dubbing etc). Good luck.
  5. For simplicity, leave out any resin or epoxy and just use something like pearl mylar or some simple scud back for the wing case. This is one I did a while back and, although it has the skin and resin, you don't 100% have to have it. http://www.flyfishfood.com/2014/03/copper-john-skwala-style.html
  6. Quote of the month, right here.
  7. Another small tweak that can make a difference and this is related to not being mounted directly onto the main pedestal stem: Tweak the horizontal "stem to vise head assembly" connection distance and start with the vise as snug to the stem as possible. This extra little gap creates a moment arm and can also introduce a bit of tippage into the equation. These are the only things I've really had to do to dial it in. We'll do a video though, good idea.
  8. This is a good question. I never quite understood the need to have a billion spool pegs on a tying station. I like to keep a lot of my thread on bobbins (either in the home-jobber foam thing down lower or the spring loaded holders in the back) and the remaining thread spools in an enclosed container like the Rubbermaid drawer units shown here: I also have some other photos on an article we posted last month for organizing your tying area, just FYI: http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/12/10-organization-tips-for-your-tying-area.html
  9. We have a vise selection article on our Fly Tying 101 section. It echos a bit what's being said here: http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/02/the-newb-corner-choosing-vise.html
  10. Hi Jose, you'll get a lot of opinions on this topic, but based on the hook sizes you're tying, I think the Regal would be great -- especially if you like the style. The "small" hooks, I've seen troublesome on the Regal would be into the 22's, 24's and smaller (the hooks go flying across the room when squirted out of the jaws). I know people that do just fine in those sizes too, but if you're only going down to a #18, you'll be ok. Also, the Dynaking has a "collet" style jaw and it makes it a little bit more time-consuming to dial in hook adjustments. Not a big deal (I tied on a Squire for the first 8 years of my tying experience), but something to be aware of.
  11. The Euro saddles would probably be a good size for you. Also, you might try going with a cape instead of a saddle. You'll find a bit more variation in sizes for what you're looking at. Not as uber-cool as a saddle, but it would work. Ideally, you can hit a local fly shop and look at what you want first.
  12. I have both the beavertail and chernobyl cutters, but use the chernobyl more frequently. You might also consider the Hopper/Ant/Caddis cutters too. I did a review of the cutters a few months ago: http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/09/review-river-road-creations-cutters.html
  13. Because we normally shoot from a viewer's perspective, toward the vise, we usually wear blue colored plain shirts as I feel that provides the most widely compatible color when tying.
  14. Oldie but a Goody, Partridge & Orange: And a video tutorial here: http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/10/addicted-to-good-soft-hackle.html
  15. Fall Sculpins on the menu... Tutorial/Recipe: http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/10/fall-sculpins.html
  16. We have a little website that we do a few tying things on: http://www.flyfishfood.com
  17. Woolly buggers are always good. Try this for getting started as well: http://www.flyfishfood.com/p/fly-tying-class.html
  18. Try this: http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/08/tying-tip-finishing-parachute.html
  19. Nice pattern! It's similar to one we've been using for a while that has been very effective. http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/05/frisky-damsels.html I like that you did an extended body like that. Cool stuff!
  20. We're on Instagram. @flyfishfood If you're not on instagram, you're missing out on some good content across the board. I think a lot of people prefer it over FB due to the lack of (mostly) political or whining type posts. Pure pics and you can filter to the major hashtags #flyfishing, #flytying
  21. Yikes, creative, but not practical. I'm dizzy and couldn't watch much of it.
  22. Thanks Will. To add to what we have in the above post, I ended up making smaller versions of this pattern for the smaller bugs. Works great.
  23. We did an article on this a few months back. Check it out: http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/03/craft-store-recon.html
  24. One of my personal favorites: http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/06/the-deflectinator-must-have-bass-fly.html
  25. Hey all, with Cicadas on the brain in a lot of the country these days, I whipped up a tutorial on the high-floating pattern I posted a picture of a while back. I call it the "Sickada". Enjoy! http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/05/the-sickada-foam-cicada-fly-pattern.html
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