Franky6767

I bought a peak years ago....and although I like it overall.....THe plastic screws that came with it are cheesy...

I have a peak brand vice...had it several years. Does everything I need it to with no problems.

Little update....I tried the whiting bugger pack. Alot better material for the collars in my opinion. This stuff is a pleasure to work with vs the other. Thanks for all the suggestions and advice.

I'd be happy with that fly if it was mine. Maybe I might work on shaping the popper body a bit at the rear but the collar/tail area looks good. Since joining the forum I've had to acknowledge that while quality materials do make a difference, a lot of the good looking flies comes down to shear practice, patience and lots of bad looking flies Look at some of the posts and you'll see the 'simple' flies only look so because the person tying them has done it so often. As my granny used to say, hard work is easy to find, easy work is always hard to. Thanks for the reply. I kinda saw a popper jig online sold as a kit...river creations or something like that sold them. Thought it was really cool as I could cut some cylinders with sharpened tubes and such and make a bunch fast. Then I looked at the price and thought...thats not that cool lol. Ended up making one and thats the shape of it. New razor blades help...not the rusty huck of absolutely nothing I was using til I got a new pack lol. Perhaps I should just start out taking all the feathers out,culled and sorted from the start might be the best for me. Instead of dealing with that one at the time deal.... might be better for me.

Its not really that its not working....probably....no scratch that most likely lol... has alot to do with lack of experence. At the same time though seems there would be a better material to make it easier on someone less experenced like myself to deal with...also speed things up abit. Heres one like the type I'm talking about.

I have been tying the saddle( two of them at a time) in tail first, folding it back as I wrap and after the last wrap, trap the feather with a wrap and kinda hold the whole deal back and make a few wraps at the head of it...then the end of the popper body pushes over that alittle. Ya like a skirt type deal. Kinda like alot of collar ( maybe a lil wider than most folks would too) to give it a real bushy look behind the head...and all the plucking, looking, cussing lol kinda burns up time looking for the right width and length. Kinda makes me feel like I'm not getting alot done. Guess I enjoy it more when I can not only make bugs that look decent, to me anyhow......but make them faster in my time allowed. Haven't been able to see any metz saddle first hand to know myself. Hard for someone like me to tell about the pictures online when ordering....without having the first hand experence with alot of it.

Thanks for the replies! Guess I'm looking for something that wouldn't slow me down as much as this material I've been using....but yet look great...well to me anyhow. I've considered the estaz, ice chenille type stuff but thought it wouldn't give me the better look, but honestly never gave it a fair try. I do have a good bit of bucktail someone gave me once but don't know exactly how to produce a collar with it that would give me that traditional look I'm going for, I assume you mean spin a clump of hair and trim it? Haven't really considered that...hmmmmm. Funny someone would mention whiting bugger packs as that was exactly what I was eyeing online. Looks like the type stuff that I could move right along with and get a great look but not at all sure till I get my hands on such. That type thing is what I think I would want anyhow lol. Thanks again for any and all replies...nice to get input from folks more experenced with this type deal.

Hello all...new here and seems like a really nice site. Thought perhaps someone could help me out a bit. Guess I've been making a few foam hoppers, spiders, all kind of different topwater critters for topwater panifish awhile. Never had anyone teach me anything I don't guess...just kinda self taught. Anyhow lately I've been trying to make a few foam cylinder type poppers and I've been real happy with the ways things are going with them...well besides the collars, skirts, however you'd call them. I ordered a few packs of strung saddle hackle and can get a pretty decent look with them.....it just seems there should be a "better" material for this. Maybe one I wouldn't have to dissect and pick through, waste and cuss so much lol. There are no fly shops around this area I can just look around look for what I think I want. Being very unfamiliar with hackle in general makes me very unsure as to what might be a better choice. I guess what I'm looking for is a longer, more consistent width type hackle for these 3/8 diameter cyclinder popper collars. Like alot of color choices too. I'd appricate any suggestions...many thanks.