srfrsean

Nicely done Carl. That's an excellent pattern for the tailwaters this winter along the South Platte.

If you're still taking orders add 1 Black XL for me please. I've been off the board coaching peewee football and just now getting back to the bench. Thanks, Sean

Flies arrived safe and sound. Thanks for the nice work everyone. srfrsean, Connor & Grant

Any word on when the flies will go back out? Grant was asking about them tonight. srfrsean

<bump> - Can't wait to get them. Thanks for running the swap! srfrsean, Connor & Grant

I agree with Carl about the realistics. I have a lot of respect for the time and skill required to create realistic flies but they are not practical to fish with. I made note this year that if I want to try to win something from this contest you need to create a photogenic fly with a heavy emphasis on realistic traits, eliminating any effort to create a fly that would be durable or increase the fish-ability of the fly. Every contest has boundaries for competition and overall this is a very well run contest. My only objection is that the flies that catch fish and would be fished in real conditions are at a disadvantage here because they are allowed to mix with realistic patterns in the same categories. srfrsean

Connor and Grant are done with their flies. I've packaged them up and they'll go out in tomorrow's mail.

This is probably a long shot but for anyone in this swap that lives in the Denver area of Colorado, I'll be taking Connor and Grant to the West Denver Trout Unlimited Fly Tying Clinic (http://www.westdenvertu.org/Activities.htm#events) this Saturday. PM me if you're bringing your swappers and we can introduce the kids at the clinic. srfrsean (Sean Best)

Connor and Grant have finished their flies but I've been too busy to take a look at them for completeness. I'll make time this weekend and get them in the mail ASAP. BTW - For those looking for good tutorial sites, Charlie Craven has excellent step by step tutorials on all flies he publishes. (www.charliesflybox.com). srfrsean

My son's Connor (8) and Grant (7) say, "I'm in!" We'll be working on some traditional patterns this time :headbang: srfrsean

:headbang: Flies received in today's mail. Excellent work; thanks to all! srfrsean

We receive our flies in today's mail. I'd like to personally thank BigTodd/LittleTodd and Don Stracener/Jr.Threader for some truely impressive flies. My boys have just recently started tying themselves which I'm sure you figured out. They are both very excited to take these out and give them a try. This swap has shown them the quality of flies they can work towards if they continue to practice. LittleTodd and Jr.Threader, you should be very proud of your flies. These would do well in many adult swaps. We'll also be spending more time on formal patterns and a little less on creative patterns for now Have a very happy holidays, Sean(srfrsean)

BigTodd/LittleTodd, This is from Grant

Jr.Threader, This is from Connor/CStreamer

Thanks DaUP. I'll tell the boys. Sean

My flies were sent in today's mail.

CStreamer and GDrake flies will be in tomorrow morning's mail. Sean

Hey, just an update to say that I'm still in but have had some set backs recently (Strep throat at 38 and my wife is now down with the flu!!). I've had to do double duty ever since I started to recover but I'll be done well before the deadline. I'm half way done with the flies and headed back to the vice now. Sean

Addy here as well. I'm live from Springfield, Oregon this week at the in-law's house. The McKenzie river is flowing at 5600 cfs and rising due to rain all this week. It's killing me cause the locals have said that there's still summer run steelhead only a couple of miles from the house but the river is so high I'm going to be lucky just to find a place to access the river let alone fish it well. Everyone else including the guides have hung it up for the week but I'm determined to get my lines wet. If you never here from me again you'll know I tried to hard :headbang: Happy T-Day to all, Sean

These will go out in tomorrow's mail. The standard dry in the picture is the inspiration for my parachute variant.

Update - srfrsean will be tying the Kelly Galloup's Zoo Cougar

I'll take the last spot. Sean

I'm in. Give me a few minutes to figure out a pattern. Alright, I'll do a Parachute Green Loco Foam Humpy. Sean

Ok, we've created screen names for my boys You can update the list for my son's to GDrake (Grant) and CStreamer (Connor). srfrsean

My eight year old wants in as well so count me in for 2 for which I'll be supervising. I'll come up with screen names for them and report back. We picked up some cool materials last night at Charlie's Fly Box that's got them really excited to start tying for this swap. Sean