Jaydub

you forgot bauer

And Hardy!

I have used Danville Flymaster 6/0 and Benecchi 12/0. Bonded threads like Uni don't work so well.

My point about the age of the book was not that the patterns weren't still good. Just that if you are looking for flies that were developed or became popular in the last 20 years, you won't find them in that book.

Flies, The Best One Thousand is a decent book and shouldn't be too expensive. But it is almost twenty years old. It doesn't have newer patterns. It depends on what you are looking for.

Or a great Rainier Beer ad. Do they still make that stuff? Brings back memories of my college days.

Bugwater is a great book. Fantastic photos and great information on bug life-cycles and behavior. I would couple it with a hatch-guide relevent to where you fish. Something like Hatch Guide for Western Streams or similar. That would give you a quick reference in addition to the more detailed information.

Here is a good pattern. Deer Hair Daddy You can also tie it with hackle tip wings.

People would really bother contacting the company about one <$.20 hook out of hundreds or thousands? I have occasionally run across bad hooks from every brand. Unless it becomes a significant percentage it's not worth my time to worry about.

You might find this interesting http://www.poweringforward.org/

It's from Brian Grant a former NBA player with Parkinson's.

Bugwater is a great book. Although the species presented are regional, I think the descriptions and behaviors would translate well to similar species in other locations. And the photography is spectacular.

Most of my nymphs are weighted the old-fashioned way, with lead wire. I haven't seen too many naturals with giant gold heads. But I do have bead-heads and unweighted nymphs in my box and use split shot as well at times. I don't tie for speciifc holes, but I will select fly combinations and weight based on the speed and depth of current. Sometimes you can't use shot. For example on flyfishing only waters in Oregon, you can't attach any weight to your line or leader. Any weight has to be part of the fly.

My guess is Hexagenia limbata. They are a burrowing type Mayfly and inhabit lakes and slow streams with silty bottoms. They are big.

Your best bet may be local fly shops or outdoor sporting goods stores that don't have an online store.

The feathers you seek come from roosters that have been bred for many generations specifically for fly tying. You won't find anything close at the local chicken farm. That said, if you are desperate you might find something to get by. When I first started tying, Indian rooster necks were all I could afford. These were inferior to genetic hackles in every way, but I managed to tie plenty of dry flies with them.

Good luck.

I'm not sure if your foreceps will fit, but: http://www.amazon.com/General-Tools-Pro-Magnetizer-Demagnetizer/dp/B0000WU1N4

I think if you examine a bunch of mayflies you will find most have at least some separation of the tails. Some are widely split.

On my recent trip to CO and my first trout fly fishing trip, my guide selected size 18 Pheasant Tail Nymphs as our fly of choice for the day. I was able so see the little pmd nymphs in the water and it made sense. I have seen and read that a lot of people tie this fly up to a size 10 or even 8 and I am having a difficult time imagining where/when you would want this particular fly in sizes that large. Are there insects where you live that large nymphs like this are common or is there some other reason to use a "nymph" fly of this size?

The pheasant tail nymph is a general purpose nymph that could be used to imitate any mayfly. They can also be used to imitate stonefly nymphs and I have even seen people use long skinny ones for damselfly nymphs. Green Drake mayfly nymphs can easily be a size 10 or 8 and stonefly nymphs can be much larger than that. Personally I choose other patterns for nymphs that large. Most pheasant tail fibers are fairly short and don't have enough bulk on their own for bigger nymphs. Most of the Pheasant tail nymphs that I tie are size 14 and smaller.

I'd fish a two fly rig with one of those and one with short gills and see what happens. The real gills are short but sometimes trout are attracted to unexpected things. If it doesn't work you can always trim the gills.

I am going to assume you mean paraloop style otherwise known as the hackle-stacker style. They do work and I think they give a little different footprint than other styles. I can't say they are any better than a regular parachute, thorax, comparadun etc. They are just another tool in the box. They are kind of fun to tie once you get past the initial awkwardness.

I was looking at a book about Tying the Parapost Way and was wondering if anyone had an opinion or experience with tying and using that method of fly, does it really make a difference or not and what they thought of it in general. I bought the book online for about $2 and thought it might make a good addition to my collection of knowledge to be learned at some time. Any feedback anyone?

 

I really liked the way it showed the fly sitting in the water, it had a much more realist look to it I thought, and it really doesn't look that hard to do, but I have no experience in it so I am not sure about it. I also like the way the flies tied this way look in general, but I am not a fish so who knows how well it will do in the water.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Blane

The best thing I have found is polypropylene macrame yarn. Separate the strands and comb it out. A spool is several lifetime supplies.

Umpqua has been the US distributer of Tiemco for a long time. That packaging looks just like the small qty Tiemco package except I don't see "Tiemco" on the label.

Hey, I know that fly. Nice to see it show up here.

Congo hair is a substitute for Enrico Puglisi's EP Fibers. EP fibers are available at most fly shops, but expect to pay at least 4X the price of Congo Hair. That is the trade-off. Pay for fly shop customer service or be patient and save money.

Tails and legs on nymphs, wings on wets and drys, dyed as a substitute for Wood duck (same uses), sides of a Hornberg streamer... They can also be wrapped as hackle on spider or spey flies.

What exactly is the "webbing"? Im guessing "webbing" is not good?

The individual fibers of a hackle feather have some fuzzy stuff near the base of each fiber. That is what we are calling web. Hen hackles tend to have webbing that extends well up each fiber and the fibers are soft. That is fine and even desirable for wet flies. Premium genetic rooster hackles have little to no web and have stiff fibers. That makes them best for dry flies.

The cost of rooster vs hen hackles has more to do with the value and scarcity of genetic rooster hackle than length. A barnyard hen might have perfectly acceptable wet fly hackles. But good dry fly hackle is much harder to come by.

Your Copper John looks great by the way.

good for swung flies... where a fish will attack the from behind

 

large fly with a short shank hook= better leverage on fish= less lost fish

What he said.