switch10

thats looks like REALY nice place to BE !!! Best part is we have this about 8 miles away... ...and this about an hour away! Luckily, the fishing is still good here in California. For a few hours at least...

For your legs you can use broom bristles. Heat up a needle with a lighter and bend them into shape once you tie them in. Paintbrush bristles work great as well, especially on smaller patterns.

12 degrees F here. Nearest good (warmer climate) fishing is about an hour away, and I have a meeting at noon, so no fishing today for me either....

yup, those are cheap, thanks.

RS2 emergers. Barr's emergers.

I use these for the individual lids, and rounded bottoms:

How often do you see discarded powerbait packaging, jars of eggs, hundreds of feet of mono laying around popular fishing areas (two weeks ago I almost ripped my waders open on a treble hook attached to a stack of mono...)? Where does all of this come from? Not fly fisherman, I can tell you that... I don't fish many places that allow spin fisherman. Personally, I prefer it that way. I see less dead fish in the water, and less trash on the banks. That is a fact. I do know that not all spin fisherman do this, but being more of an entry level way of getting into the sport, spin fishing attracts people who may not know the proper etiquette. That being said, I am poor. I fish leaders and fly line wayyy tooo long. I don't have all the top of the line gear. My net was $14 at Rite Aid. I've had the same fishing vest since I was about 12 (a buddy just donated his fishpond pack so I can finally retire that vest!!). I also catch more fish than most of the rich guys who are all decked out in the latest equipment. So like with anything, you can spend a ton of money on fly fishing, but that won't necessarily mean you will catch more fish. I grew up spin fishing in northern Wisconsin/U.P of Michigan, and started fly fishing around age 12 because I found it more fun to land a fish on a fly rod. It's all preference.

I used to use 3 or so half hitches with head cement. About 6 months ago I bought and learned how to use a whip finish tool. A whip finish looks much nicer, and in my experience holds much better.

Yeah, no patterns in this one, but definitely the most comprehensive fly tying book I have ever seen. I also highly recommend this book. As far as patterns, I own a few books, but mostly these days I have just been Googling the patterns that I am looking for. Sometimes, I also purchase a fly from my local shop to copy.

Razor blade works best. I put the fly in vice and push the razor blade from the eye, to the hook bend. You can easily pull the materials off afterwards.

Last weekend I had a pretty interesting time. I was fishing an olive birds nest, followed by a zebra midge. I caught around 30 fish, bows and browns. The strange thing is, the rainbows only ate the zebra midge, and the browns only ate the birds nest...

I use the loon knot sense. It works fine for me. I haven't had any issues with it not curing, although, I do leave it under my UV lamp for at least a half hour or so while I continue to tie... I have noticed it's sensitivity to colder temperatures though. I have to hold the bottle in my hand, or put it near the heater for a bit. Otherwise it comes out like molasses.

I fish primarily with nymphs. Here are a few of my go-to favorites. Gold ribbed hares ear sizes #14-20, bead head, and without a bead. Midges/buzzers like the zebra midge sizes #18-24 Pheasant tail nymph, sizes #14-22. With flashback, and without. With bead and without bead. WD-40 Various sizes and colors. Black bead birds nest Two-bit hooker various sizes and colors. Size 20 seems to be the killer size around these parts. I hope this helps fill your nymph box!

Here it is all loaded up! I have it set on top of a computer desk with a roll out keyboard tray. I use it for keeping walking materials out of the way when I'm not using them. I bought some storage containers for my hooks to consolidate my collections. Each container has one style of hook with 7 different sizes.

Great! Thank you for the replies! It's exactly what I was looking for. Steve, what if I just spun the whole thing around, and wrapped with the thread closest to me? Do you think that will work? I was hoping I didn't make the arms too tall... That's an easy fix anyway. What height would be considered standard? Just as long as I can comfortably rest my forearms on the bench while wrapping?

Awesome. Thanks for the responses. Can't wait to get started!

Some awesome pictures here, thanks for sharing!

Let me start by saying that I have never built a rod before, so I wasn't exactly sure what I would need in a wrapper. For now, I plan on keeping it simple, and if need be, I can add things after I build my first rod. The base is ash, which I routed out so I can adjust the arms/thread guide, which are made out of pine. Tension is kept on the thread with a spring between the thread spool, and a washer and nut. I also plan on adding some felt to the V's on the arm so the rod doesn't get scratched when I'm wrapping.. I totally guessed on dimensions, but this seems like it should work.. I know there are a few rod builders here, and I was wondering if anyone foresee's any issues with this design...

That Koa wood looks awesome! Nice work!

Awesome, nice work.

Nice work! Looks great! Is that a rubber band holding the flashabou in place?

Nice fish!!! I'm jealous for sure! I grew up in northern Wisconsin/Upper Peninsula, and I've caught some pike on a fly when I was a kid, but no musky. I remember the figure 8 always seemed to be key with musky. I remember fishing for large mouth bass out of by grandpas paddle boat with an ultra light spin casting rod. I had this 40 or so inch musky follow my spinner up to the boat. It had a head the size of a dogs head, and being 12 or so years old, I got scared and ripped the lure out of the water (afraid he might break my $40 rod:rolleyes:). Looking back, I might have given it a figure eight. It could have been the fight of my life! Anyways, congratulations on those nice fish!

Thank you sir!!

...if not cheaper. Lowest price I could find for standard dry fly hooks was $8.00/50. GCO hooks (all styles) are $3.00/25.. http://www.sportsmanswarehouse.com/sportsmans/Mustad-Signature-Dry-Fly-Hook/productDetail/Fly-Tying-Hooks/prod9999007183/cat101066 Box of 50. Still, it's pretty close. $11.24 for 1 box of 50 when you factor in shipping.... 50 GCO hooks, with free shipping comes to $5.92... Free shipping when I buy at the store. BTW switch my original post mentioned "my" source not yours. When the price goes up on Mustads again, I will consider GC hooks. All I am saying is that for the quality of the GCO hooks, they are the cheapest "I" have found with a simple google search.