fshrmanms

I turned them on the lathe. I have scrap from carving too.

monfilament floats: flourocarbon sinks. I use that twist method; a second person to keep the twist out of the ends is helpful.

just finished making 14 new popping bugs, these have been good for bass and bream. bodies shaped from tupelo gum wood. painted using the airbrush, added a little flashabou to the black marabou tail and a purple saddle hackle for the collar. I was trying to make the colors resemble a baby bream.

Yes we are still looking for tyers and that would be wonderful if you could do that. Thanks Blane ok I'm in

so you still need flies? I can make 14 popping bugs.

Nuclear Engineering Technician at a shipyard, retired Jan 09 at the tender age of 55. There are no regrets only flies, poppers, carving decoys, fishing, hunting and spending time with the family. Biggest wonder is where does all the time go and why can't I keep my workbenches clean?

seems just like any other paint if you let it dry a completely before you add clearcoat

I haven't seen it before. looked it up, looks good, does look similar and it's proven. but its not available at wally world for a buck do you think the extra 3 bucks a bottle plus shipping is worth it? do use it for any thing else besides eyes?

picked up three different sizes of netting at Joannes fabric store they have big rolls and will cut off only as much as you want. I think most fabric stores have it (I got what might be a lifetime supply for $2). I also am using some fiberglass window screen leftovers (with four dogs the one on the storm door only lasts about a year.) with the screen if you position in the wrong direction you get little squares instead of diamonds but it does pretty good. I'm reusing pieces. So far 3 or 4 times hasn't seemed to effect the pattern.

Just playing around with some stuff I found at the Wally World called "Puffy Paint" (been raining for a couple of days). I think it was a buck a bottle; thought it might make a good 3d eye. This was my first try. The bottle has a little pointy tube you can squirt it straight onto the bug body or squirt some out and use one of your stippling tools I tried both and seemed to have more control with the tool. Biggest drawback was drying time.

Twelve inch strip of wood, some high end wood clamps with the tips sawed off (from the Dollar Tree)and some hot glue made a descent little jig for airbrushing scales on my popping bugs. I don't have to clean my air brush as many times if I do several bodies at a time. The cloths-pin seems to hold the netting well; I was worried an alligator clip would cause it to bunch up. I am pretty happy with the results but I might try wrapping a rubber band near the top of the cloths-pin to give it a tighter grip.

I like bass wood it turns very well. Make sure you have air flow around the pieces use scrap to keep them separate. The bad news it takes about a year for the wood to be completely seasoned. It makes a sturdier bug than balsa. With the lathe I split pieces off the log then use the band saw or a froe to square up the pieces to make it easier to manage in the lathe. I have never tried to use balsa in the lathe, instead I shape the front, cup it or whatever, mount it on the hook, use an old vise and use the dremel to shape it. I don't get the uniformity as with the lathe but if you don't have a lathe it'll work on basswood too which is a fine closely grained wood that is easy to carve and shape.

So sad, first time in many years I have been skunked. The Northwest river in south east Virginia has routinely given me bream catches of 40 to 140 in a day with a few bass thrown in. Seems hurricane Irene washed a lot of decaying swamp matter into the river resulting in a depletion of oxygen in the water. Many fish were killed. Nary a blip on the fish finder. This has also been the case for several rivers in north east North Carolina. Any body have any experience with situations like this? I wonder how long it will take to recover or if it will? This river doesn't really flow except for the wind tides.

You can get free feathers when you shoot turkeys, ducks, etc. I get some white tail deer to donate their tails and body fur every year. I even get some of my buddies that hunt to save their pelts' tails and feathers. I use table salt to dry the animal hide stuff. After a few months it dries out and I wash it using water and mild detergent. I wear rubber gloves until I finish this processing (ditto for roadkill)(some states require a permit to harvest "found" game). Sometimes you can find multiple items selling in lots on eBay. Also check your local Craigslist. dollar tree has craft foam, super glue, emery boards, nail polish, beads, rubber gloves and stuff. Like the previous post said its easy to end up with a bunch of stuff you'll never use. I might have to add on to my workshop to make storage space.

Any fedora! I have four straw , a couple felt and a couple cloth. Ya gotta check em the night before to see which one is feeling lucky! I picked wrong this morning; at least the weather was beautiful.

The Pine (spruce) are lighter than foam, the tupelo gum a little heavier and the cedar and basswood only a little bit more, but all seem to do o.k. on the rod. I am using a 9' rod loaded with 7 wt, weight forward line.

Takes me twenty minutes to tie a 5 minute fly! I spend Thirty minutes tying a muddler then catch a hundred bream and bass on a chernobyl ant (white over electric blue). I haven't been tying very long and find alot of the patterns challenging, wish folks would let us know if it's one of their go to patterns so I could get better focus. I wonder if some patterns have ever gotten wet. But I sure am having fun!

This is my first post. Got to thinking how many ways I use scrap wood and thought I would share. I used cedar log, tupelo gum, bass wood and pine for bodies for popping bugs. Cedar log and a piece of tree root from a downed oak to turn some rod handles . The rod wrapper came from various pieces I found laying around in the shed (just completed my first custom rod). I am still pretty new to tying and would love to see some of your home made stuff that might save us some bucks down the line. I fish mostly for bass and pan fish. Thanks to all for the helpful advice and sharing your awesome patterns.

I had a really cheapo vise but got a regal medallion and a griffin 2a off eBay in a package deal. I use mostly the regal. I love the speed and power of the spring loaded jaws. Hooks will bend before they move. No adjustments just squeeze the lever and pop the hook in and start tying.