gunpowderleader

A hares mask in my opinion is more useful that a dubbing kit. A dozen plus separate colors and various textures to work with. Works great with dries as well as nymphs and wets.

Enoz, Morh Ice Crystals. In the section with moth balls. This stuff does kill carpet beetles and eggs, but the material has to be treated in an air tight container. Regular moth balls do not protect against carpet beetles at all.

A great pair of scissors and a ball of tying wax Everything else is truly a commodity to make tying easier. Vises were a Japanese invention to make commercial tying faster, before that even the salmon flies were tied in hand

There are a couple of methods to achieve this look. One is to use a very short post of elk/deer hair, I believe the fly in the picture is one of Weims pattern which uses this idea. Then you could also do the hackle with the parachute tool using Kevlar or mono, but more of the John Goddard style when he was working with the "upside down dun"

Ginormous1 where in Colorado are you located. I may know of someone in your area doing classes or available to do so either in the classroom setting or private one on one of you are interested. I am based on the west slope and guide out of Basalt

I've had skins from many quality materials places Both from the U.S. And England. It's not uncommon for them not to be fleshed thoroughly Use a dull knife and remove the fat and membrane left on the skin. A light washing with dawn dish detergent will also help to remove some of the left over fats and oils. Blow dry and lay feathers down to dry in open moving air. A layer of borax and or sawdust really aids the drying and helps to prevent bacteria. I prefer the borax as it just seems more "sterile" to me

One thing to add to the already great advice given but I feel has been missed and is of the most important. DO NOT SKIMP ON THE QUALITY OF YOUR HACKLE! Not saying to go spend a fortune, but please do yourself a favor and do not try to learn to tie dry flies on poor quality capes. You don't have to go to your shop and buy all gold medal or number 1 capes to achieve great flies. But investing in some of the well known names of hackle, maybe some of their #2 grades or equivalent will go along way in your dry flies turning out well and will ease the process of learning technique. Most advanced tyers have the brands they prefer and may feel one is the best for many reasons. That part will be up to you to determine at a later date. I personally bounce between hackle farms depending on what I want the hackle for. A few that are known for great quality though would be Collins, Whiting, And Metz. Spend some time learning about dry fly hackle and how to look at a cape to get what you want as well.

For sure check your local regulations, a lot of place regulate anything scent emitting as bait even though it is artificial. That could get you in a jam, if you are not 100% on the regs

Just to add my two cents worth, you have gotten plenty of advise on the tools and such. If you have a fly shop local to you and can swing it I highly recommend taking a tying class or two. Some shops will even offer a beginners tying class. Not only will a hands on class greatly shorten the initial learning curve, but the instructor should also go over how to select materials, what you are looking for in quality materials and how to use them. If you are unfortunate and do not have a local shop, you may be able to seek out a local fly tyer that would be willing to share information. There are also plenty of written articles and videos on the subjects. But face to face hands on is the way to go. Also be careful of trying to save to much money buying cut rate materials, if the quality is not there it will greatly hinder your ease of learning, By all means shop for the best bang for your buck, but use reputable dealers especially when just starting out.

Guiding a good bit I usually find mysel dropping tag ends into my waders, it my lazy way of saving a bit of time when re rigging clients rods. Clip the tag and let it fall right into the top of the waders. Eventually I remove them to a proper place. Which seeks to more often then not be my gear bag until the end of season clean and organize Long pieces and junk leaders either end up in the mono master or in my shoulder bag

Igotwood, that is a piece of burl redwood I have for making reel seat spacers. I have accumulated a few different nice pieces like this to use for spacers. I do enjoy a pipe occasionally, but cannot say I spend a lot of time with one. I did a few years ago but a nice (to me)Peterson pipe, it's really makes a nice fishing companion

I figured that while we are waiting I would post a pictures of my contribution, designed by me. Used mostly at the base of dams in white. It heavy, it's fluffy and my girl named it Squishy! Hope you guys enjoy

I'll join in if you will have me. I'm sure I can find something fun to tie,

Eastern fly. I can email the tying instructions for these if you like. Pm me your email if you want it I wrote up a full tying instruction for this fly a few years ago

Ok this is not cool. I ordered the last materials I needed to finish my flies a dozen days ago. Had to use stockard for the small order and usual speed of service I have had in the past. As of today still nothing Will keep all informed Stuff should be here any day, and the finish time for the flies will only be a couple of hours. May have to express these to keep them on time

I have to agree with the many here, the patterns themselves are not that important. Any pattern that covers the techniques being taught is perfect for the task. Techniques and thread control are some of the most basic and most important parts to fly tying. A solid bit of information on selecting the proper materials really help both newcomer and novice alike. But I think the most important thing for those attending the classes is to keep the atmosphere of learning light and fun, sometimes we as fly tiers get to serious about our craft and make it less appealing to new comers

Ha. That's sounds like a mix of good old Jungle Juice. We always made it with fruit and everclear!

Thanks for the add. And thanks for the kind words vicrider. I'll be doing a articulated streamer of my own design.

I would like to join in on this if you still have the room

Everybody here. I do apologize to you all for my flies being late. This swap completely slipped my mind. Between moving across the country and re-establishing work this one fell through the cracks of the mind. The flies should be there anytime now.

I spend a lot of time in that area, and moving there this year as well. I teach a guide school based in Mesa which is about 40 minutes drive north east of Grand Junctuon. The Grand Mesa has many ( over 100) great still water fisheries. As mentioned you will also have access to the Gunnison and Colorado rivers. A bit more of a drive puts you on the Roaring Fork and Frying Pan. There are many other lesser known watersheds in the area as well. Countless opportunity within a 2 hour drive time

I've finally decided on patterns, I'll be tying two for you guys. From Trout. Plate 5. Kineo And plate 9 widow Joseph for you hosting such a great swap I'll have a Durham ranger from plate 3 This one will definitely be a picture worthy post, so let's make sure the pics get up to share with all.

I'll jump in on this one!

I also make a tip indicator styled furled leader and have it available on my website. I don't use them for tight line style nymphing, I do however find it very helpful on skinny water when nymphing shallow and a traditional indicator has spooked fish. Whether from splash down or shadows. Greasing up the leader the tip makes a perfect straight line indicator that is unobtrusive.

The flies and wood duck arrived today in good order. Thank you for hosting such a fun swap