Kirk V

I have used a steel bobbin for 3 months now with no problem, even after hitting a cement floor.

This is what I am calling a turkey buzzer Hook :Sz 14 1x long Thread : Black 6/0 UNI Body and Head: Turkey feather Support: Silver wire

After all is said and done, I am now using both half hitch and ship finish but I am still doing them by hand. Still not understanding the tool, but that is ok.

second batch of midges/buzzers

Well looks like spring is almost here. The weather is starting to get back to the 40's regularly and the lakes and rivers are opening back up. Just need to do some minor fixes to the boat and I am ready to go.

Here are some stick flies I produced Feedback welcome

These are the best ones I have come up with so far.

Here are some recent flies

So in the past couple of days I have tried to master the whip finish tool, to no success. I have though decided to try whip finishes by hand and have great luck with that. Now I am doing both knots to my flies depending on how crowded the head is. Thanks for all the great advice.

I used a green meanie, and killer bug to end the month with practicing. I did my variation due to lack of materials I have. Comments Welcome

Thanks for the comments. I think for now I am going to stick with the half hitches and head cement cause I can produce those regularly instead of messing with the whip tool for now.

Thanks for the comments, but I used the finish tool and never really got the hang of it and last night after about 3 flies I could tie the half hitch faster than with the whip tool. I was just curious if it was just as good of a knot.

Do you use a whip finishing too or do you tie your own knot? Yesterday while "working" I decided to surf youtube and found a gentleman known as David Cammiss. He showed me how to tie a double half hitch knot. I have not used any of my flies on the water yet due to ice, but I am curious to the strength of the two. Which way is better to go is one stronger than the other? I also use head cement on all my flies so it is strengthened that way. When I got home, I decided to try this know and it was a whole lot easier for me to tie, should I stick with that or try to master the whip finisher?

These are some midges I created while tying from a syllabus comments are more then welcome. Thanks

I will just wait until the fad is over with then go to the second hand stores/ thrift stores and buy my feathers and furs there. It will happen I just might have to wait a while.

Thanks for the comments. The thread is acrylic and was used for sewing I got it at a garage sale. I used it for the long tail in one of my first flies not to actually tie with it is way to thick.

Kirk, Try tying the tail and only the tail and post a pic. And then we can start from there. Here is a pic of a tail that I just did.

I did this one a dozen time then my creative took over and this was the best out of the bunch

I have been working all day and these are the ones I have created and could use some input please be as descriptive as possible. I am just trying to make myself better at this 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7:

Thanks everyone for the comments and confidence you are giving me. I am practicing as I am typing and I really appreciate all the great advice. Thanks Kirk

Thanks for the info and I will keep posting more and learning along the way.

I have only been tying for about 2 months. I have had some equipment for about two years but could not really get into it until recently. I set up a little spot in the basement with an old bookshelf I made and some lights. Now I am starting to ty my own flies and loving every minute of it. I am uploading pics so any advise would be great, please remember only 2 months and basic training from a book.