wschmitt3

I'm not going to be doing any reshaping. I have a thing about reengineering something that I purchased that probably should have been engineered properly in the first place (not a big fan). But thanks for the input. Popper - Your right it is magnetic. So not aluminum. My bad. I knew that it was magnetic, slipped my mind I guess. I'm glad your so happy with your Danvises. I actually have been pretty happy with mine as well but not happy that the jaws keep giving me problems like this. As I said before I follow directions pretty damn well, I couldn't have been more careful or vigilant in my efforts to prevent this and it still happened. Flytire - In short, no I didn't put it in too shallow. If I put hooks in any deeper than I do I wouldn't be able to tie on them especially in the smaller sizes like 18-20. My final thoughts on this topic - This is not a user error issue and I am not one of a small number of people that have had this problem. This is a pervasive problem with this device in my opinion it is a design and engineering problem. A quick internet search will reveal quite a few forum discussions and even 2 bad reviews on the Orvis website. Here is a thing to consider. Why did both Cabelas (the place I originally bought it from) and Orvis discontinue sales of this item? I am betting it is because it isn't a quality product and they got tons of negative customer feedback. But....I like tying on this vise it was a great purchase as a starter vise and its ok its not perfect. It just irritated me that I have to replace the jaws again to continue to tie on it and because of this irritation I have decided it is time to move on to a vise that is designed and built better.

I ordered a new set of jaws to get through until I can make a purchase of a new vise. I didn't get to stop by the fly shop in Lebanon, NH today to look at a new vise as I intended. So I'll have to wait a little while until I can do some hands on shopping, I'm hoping to go to the Fly Rod Shop in Stowe, Vt on Monday since I will be in the area. I have tied on a Regal Medallion a few times and I tied one fly on a Renzetti (Traveler I think). I used both at Project Healing Waters a couple years ago, it was the first and second time tying flies so I cant really say weather or not one of them were a vise I would want to buy. I do like that the jaws on the Regal don't need to be adjusted just open and close but I don't know I am planning on just trying them out in the store. If I remember right The Fly Rod Shop had a pretty good selection of vises so we will see I guess.

I don't even think it is steel. I'm pretty sure it is aluminum. This is what it looks like.

I'm not doing anything crazy or fancy. Just standard patterns like muddlers or dave's hoppers one of the times it came loose was when I was tying a Moorish mouse. But these things require what would be considered "over-tightening" if your going by the directions to ensure that the hook doesn't come loose. Don't get me wrong, if you follow the directions the Danvise holds a hook very well for standard tying and pretty well even for those times you need to lay into a fly to spin hair or what ever. I just don't think that following the directions to a T will prevent the tips from flaring. I think they will flare after a time no matter what you do.

Silvercreek - I totally agree. It is time to move on to a new vise. I am actually going to do some hands on shopping for one tomorrow. I really wasn't asking any questions. This post was really just intended to vent about a fly tying tool that has irritated me.

I do it just like Al says in the video. Set it in, get it close with the set scew, close it half way, check for wiggle if it wiggles up and down a little but stays in place it is loose enough to close it all the way. So I close it the rest of the way. If there is no wiggle I loosen the set screw and check again. Because of the failure of my first set of jaws I make very sure to only apply the pressure required to hold the hook in place and no more. I couldn't tie on the vise if I used less force to hold hooks, as it is I pull hooks out of the vise if I pull on them any harder than is used in regular tying. I have pulled hooks several times spinning deer hair and giving it a tug to flare hair wings. I'm not the type of person that breaks things or misuses things, I follow instructions very well and understand mechanics and how things function and I use them accordingly. This is not an issue with use or misuse this is a design problem. Popper - I don't know what to think about the longevity of your jaws but I would venture to say that it is entirely possible that the metal used has changed or something about the manufacturing process is different because there is no way that my jaws would last that long with any sort of regular use. I have probably tied some where around 1,200 (rough guess) flies in the last year and that is about the same as what I got out of the first jaws. Admittedly, my first one flared out a little bit much earlier than this one did and that may have had something to do with technique (which I changed as soon as I noticed the damage) but I'm pretty good at admitting fault when it belongs to me unfortunately the fault for the failure of this device does not lay with me. They need to make these jaws harder, I think that this is simply the problem here. With something that can produce this kind of holding force on something it doesn't make sense to make it from material that is softer than the material it is holding.

For the second time in two years of ownership I need to replace the jaws on my Danvise because they are flared out. I don't believe this is a case of operator error. I follow the instructions provided on BT's Fly Fishing website very closely and have since I got the new set just as I did with the old set. Late last summer I started to notice that they were starting to flare a tiny bit and it has slowly gotten worse since. It cant even hold a size 16 hook in a position that I can tie on any more. I actually really like tying on the vise better than the others I have tied on but having to once again replace the jaws really irritates me. It doesn't make sense that a company would make jaws on some thing that is made to clamp onto something out of a metal that is so soft.

Great looking flies.

I don't fish for large mouth bass but I do catch a my share of good size small mouth bass on buggers. With that said I catch them on size 10-6. I caught this one on a small brown bugger. I think it matters more how and where you fish it than what size it is.

That's a good start, keep at it and you'll get there. If I might offer a suggestion, try tying the wire onto a bare hook shank and super glue it in place at the bend of the hook. It makes for a smoother more slender body. You can do it two ways, you can start wrapping from the bend up to the eye then secure it or secure it by the eye then wrap down the shank to the bend. check out these two step by steps http://copperfly.net/brassie.php http://www.flyfishfood.com/2014/01/build-better-brassie.html

That's why my fish pictures are usually not that good. I almost never remove fish from my net or the net from the water. I typically release the fish right from the net and as a result of careful handling I have caught several fish on my home river more than once. My favorite example of this is a rainbow trout I caught two summers ago that thrashed violently in the net with a hook still in its mouth and tore the hook out of his mouth and a small chunk of its upper lip along with it. I caught the fish again a few weeks later and noticed the wound on the lip had healed and scarred over thanks to this scar I can be sure when I catch this fish it is one I have caught previously. When I caught it again early last summer it was easily 3" longer than the first time I caught it and I attribute this fishes survival to never being handled with bare dry hands or really ever being taken out of the water.

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the forum. Where in New England are you? I live in Vt on the Connecticut River. If I were to give a piece of general advise for a beginner material purchase I would suggest picking two or three (like wooly bugger, hare's ear and pheasant tail) fly patterns you would like and get only the materials you need to tie those flies once you get good at tying those patterns move on to another and get the materials you need for it. I suggest avoiding buying a beginner material kit period and whole sale lots of materials until you are looking to expand into a big supply of materials you may or may not ever use.

I've also been very happy with my purchases from feather emporium.

Thats pretty cool. Thanks for sharing.

There are four books that pretty well cover all of the tying techniques you will really need to tie most of the common and traditional fishing flies. They are dont contain instructions for fancy salmon or steel head flies, predator flies (for pike and musky) or some of the more modern flies but they have alot of info and details on performing the tasks required to make the features found on most flies like wings, legs, tails, hackles etc..... I suggest Dave Hughes "Essential Trout Flies", Randall Kaufmann's "Tying Dry Flies" and "Tying Nymphs" for tying guides. These three and the Benchside Introduction to Fly tying are my go to books. Edit - Flytire, streamers365 is a great website I have gone through and read posts a bunch and its very interesting. Don't think I have seen it referenced on here before. I really like barrel full of bucktails section @ http://globalflyfisher.com/streamers/bucktails/ I like the little bit of back ground info on each fly.

I don't have much to add to this topic but ill toss in my two cents. My favorite dry fly dubbing is Waspi Superfine it is super easy to work with and looks nice. Spirit River also makes a very good product with a little sparkle called fine and dry that like quite a bit. Ice dub cannot be done with out for adding some sparkle. For buggy nymphs I love Davy Wonton or Dave Whitlock SLF (made by Waspi). Dave Whitlock's Dark Stone Nymph (Black color, I use it for black hare's ear nymphs and they rock) and Brown Stone Nymph and Waspi Squirrel SLF Brown Olive are three that I use very regularly. Hareline's Hare's ear plus dubbing is also an excellent product. I use the Hare's Ear color for my natural colored hares ear nymphs and I love the way they turn out.

That's pretty good. I have a hard time with sizing soft hackle properly for small flies (18-20) this could help with that I think. I wouldn't have to use such small feathers that break really easily.

it can be a real pain but stripping flies and reusing the hooks and beads is what I usually do.

I like to sort of window shop on with the paper catalog but when I am really interested in a particular product I investigate it online then try to check it out in person if it is available in one of the very few (and poorly stocked) fly shops I occasionally visit.

I also would have suggested feather emporium. I have been very happy with my purchases of several types of feathers from him. I hope it works out for you.

Welcome to the forum.

Check out this leader formula chart on hipwader.com http://hipwader.com/2003/10/leader-formula-chart/ It doesn't have a formula specific for 2 weight but I'm sure that the smaller size 7.5' leaders (5-6x) for the 3-5 weights will work just fine. If I were going to use this formula to make a 9' for a 2 or 3 weight I wouldn't use the 9' formula that is listed I would just tack on a 18" section of .17" to the butt end of the 7.5' formula. I make some leaders using these formulas and they seem to cast quite well.

I have a hard time with storing dry flies also. It seems like in slit foam either the tail, hackle or wings are getting mangled depending on the size of the fly. I think I am going to try one of those compartment boxes for my dry flies this summer.

As a general rule of thumb I wash my hands with dish soap before I tie just for the reason that clean dry hands make it much easier to dub. I also have bad problems with static I usually just try to discharge the static if I feel like I am charged up(I can always tell because my hair sticks to my forehead).