Goose77

Very grateful! Thank you Nick for hosting this swap. I got a great Christmas present from TymeKeeper...wonderful flies. I will think of you both this year when I tie on one of these beautiful flies. God bless you and Merry Christmas. Ed

Merry Christmas to all and cheers, Ed

Eide that is gorgeous [all your work looks gorgeous to me]. Thank you for going to the trouble to post your work through time. I don't do this sort of work, so I'm no decent judge. But this stuff still rings my bell. Cheers, Ed

Hey cnc, nice work, man. Merry Christmas and cheers, Ed

Hey Tom, the ideas presented are very good. But if you are tying large/long flies as Muskie implies, here are some more thoughts. Consistency is important. A 7" streamer will behave differently in the water than the same fly tied at 5" [or whatever, just an example]. On long flies it pays also to know how far you can go before getting into tail wrap problems. For example, I know that split hackle tails at 1-1 1/4" need only some bucktail between the splayed tails to prevent wrap. But 2 1/2" splayed saddle tails need a more powerful tactic to prevent wrap. This knowledge comes from doing the same thing over and over and making adjustments. Also on long flies a ruler can be real helpful, especially on the first [usually longest] material tied in...then you can taper and get correct subsequent lengths from there. Hope all this wordiness helps. I do believe consistency helps fishing success on these big flies. When you find what works, you can do it again and trust it to work again. Cheers, Ed

Hey FIN, thank you for the note. Merry Christmas and cheers, Ed

I believe at least some of these new tails are not made of rubber...I recollect the ones FIN was talking about are made of a much tougher material. They also are pretty big and can be modified by trimming, punching holes, etc. They also appear to have better action than rubber. They seem to need to be set back pretty far from the tailing so the tail doesn't interfere with the action. FIN let us know how they work, or if they dry out and get stiff...that kind of thing. Cheers, Ed

T o Cream and Crackle...way to go! Merry Christmas indeed. Thank you and cheers, Ed

Hey Saint Nick, I got a package in the mail today. I put it next to the piece of coal under the tree! Thank you for all your work and help. Merry Christmas and best wishes, Ed

Nice work Dan. Cheers, Ed

Hey Jasper, welcome to the site. All the above remarks are good and show you're gonna be able to buy a nice tool no matter which way you choose. Also you can knock yourself cold reading previous threads on this topic. I'm a bassbug guy for the most part, so we may be similar. One point I haven't seen mentioned is whether or not to go with a pedestal or clamp mount. Pedestals have some real advantages, and are what is presented most often. But if you have to pull hard on the thread, need to be away from the table, or need space under the head of the vise...the clamp mount may be better. Cheers, Ed

Hey Right, welcome to the site. I DO like books, and there are alot of them out there. I like Jaworski's saltwater flies maybe the best...has good classic flies for several categories. Popovics' Popfleyes is good, but I wish there was more detail on the bucktail deceiver and semper fleye. Drew Chicone's Featherbrain has some new ideas and good tips...the streamers are a more contemporary style. These are some of my favorites...I read them over and over, learn something new every time. Good luck and cheers, Ed

Hey Terje, congrats on your new toy...good for you. That is a wonderful picture. As always, thank you, man. Best regards, Ed

God bless you all, your families and friends. Have a great holiday season. Best wishes, Ed

Hey sk, welcome to the site. Gorgeous fly. Cheers, Ed

Ray, I will [Lord willing] see you at the Sowbug, and thank you for your help. Best regards, Ed

Our prayers for he and his loved ones, and for a great healing and recovery. Ed

I've got an order from one of our local farmers for a white turkey...supposed to pick it up this week. Also my wife got me a white chicken a week ago...the skin is tacked to plywood and drying. Will let you guys know how it works out. I'm guessin' there's gonna be some decent feathers in all this for various applications. I simply wanted to try it out of curiosity...you know looking at these birds around here made me wonder. Since alot of my flies are big, I thought it might work. Ed

Hey Cuckoo, welcome to the site. What kind of flies do you like or have an interest in? Cheers, Ed

Hey Battenkill, that's a good looking bug. Nice tying, trimming, and colors. Thank you, Ed

Welcome to the site Bodger...Mike hit it dead-on. It's a great place to learn, and fun too. As you get going, show us your work. Cheers, Ed

I agree with SilverCreek regarding the talents of Kirk Dietrich...he has truly been a guide and inspiration especially on hardbodied fly work. Note also the examples of foiled flies in the work shown...Beautiful! Ed

Hey Mike...thanks for the question. Tanned [pliable] deer hair is nice to work with, you know, like pieces of deer body hair you can buy. But stiff [untanned] hair is also nice...just as good I think. This is almost always what you get on purchased deer belly hair pieces. It's alot easier to cut the hide when it's stiff. You want it flat though...not all curled up. If the hide is scraped thoroughly it's pliable enough when dried that it's easy to work with. Hope this answers your question. Oh yeah, the pieces are cut out from the hide side, not the hair side. It still gets hair all over, but it's better by far. Best regards, Ed

Hey Antonio, thank you for another great post. I look for your work on the internet as an inspiration for my hardbody fly work. Cool, and cheers, Ed

Hey Joe, welcome to the site. Thank you for showing your work. Regards, Ed