niveker

My flies went out today. Thanks for hosting the swap BB.

I picked up a similar on a while back, but it was so frustrating to tie with I threw it in the bottom of one desk drawers and haven't touched it since. Great idea using them as legs, denduke.

Thank goodness my dog and cats don't touch my stuff, even the fur and feathers I harvest. My tying desk is a big ole mess most of the time, with feathers, flies, yarn, hooks, and fur flung all over the joint.

I only keep a fish (trout only) under certain circumstances: if I damaged the fish in some way and it won't survive, when camping, or when I know I'll be visiting my Dad soon after, as he loves trout. So maybe 3-4 times per year, and I fish several times/week in the warm months. And I never keep any pan-fish or Bass. Last year I was fishing for the first time with my new brother in law, who's from Pennsylvania. I pulled in a slab of a Crappie and he nearly had a heart attack when I threw her back. LOL.

Some nice ties as always, and a good variety of tyers too. Here's a variant of a Madam X I've been playing around with this winter. Haven't fished this variety yet, but the sunfish here in New England go crazy for a regular Madam X.

In my experience, this is it in a nutshell. One quick pop and it flips over, then it's time to let my line unwind. Also, when tying, make sure your non-buoyant and water absorbing material is on or below the plane of the hook, or at least blow the foam sections. .

I second that, Norm.

Ouch!.

When I get that tied right that is one of my favorite flies. If I do those for a swap I have to do about double the number to get those I'd send in. Getting just the right amount of sparkle yarn (I use Aunt Lydia's Rug Yarn) and getting it to distribute around the body evenly is the most difficult part of the fly for me.

That's not too bad, LOL.

LOL. I always like to see the flies in a swap that I didn't participate in.

Another nice looking rod, Steve. That one is right in my range as far as size and weight goes. The way you described the feel of the grip reminds me of foam. How was the action on that one?

Pretty impressive catch numbers and underwater photos, Mark. How thick was the ice?

Since I'm new to swaps on this site, I hope this is not out of order. I usually take a photo of 'new to me' flies, as my memory has gone the way of the Dodo and I would never remember them otherwise. I assume all have received their flies back from the swap, so I thought I'd post the pic of the ones I received. Thank you again Bryon for hosting and for all who participated, I now have a great set of crayfish patterns, in sizes and styles.

Breambuster, mine are done, but I'll hold off for a final count. PM me the address please. Thanks

I'm in this round with LaFontaine's Sparkle Emerger

That's actually a great idea, Mike. I have magnetic strips I glue to the inside of some of my DIY fly boxes, which are really useful for smaller flies, but the usefulness of a magnetic sheet above my tying desk never occurred to me.

On the fly only? Not that different for me anyway, as I've never fly fished in the salt. Mine is somewhat limited compared to others: Trout -Brook -Rainbow -Brown Dolly Varden Bass -LM -SM Crappie -Black Perch -Yellow Sunfish -(growing up in New England, we lumped them all together as 'kivver", it wasn't until I was @ 40 years old that I realized there were different types, now I try to differentiate them, but have not systematically listed each type, and there are so many hybrids I loose patience). Dace Chain Pickerel If we expand outside of fish: one bat, and one dumb, but devoted and forgiving, mutt hound.

What? No chartreuse? I'm waiting on some #6 stinger hooks before I can start.

Received my set yesterday, what a great looking assortment. Very glad I participated. Thank you Bryon for hosting the swap, I can't wait to put them to good use.

I once coated the nail knot where my floating line attaches to the leader with UV resin to facilitate movement through the guides, maybe it was my imagination but I swear it caused the knot (and line tip) to sink. Not sure if it would affect a fly the same way, as I coated it pretty heavily with a few coats to smooth that knot out.

That's a pretty sweet set-up. I had a freshwater aquarium for years, until a few years back in the middle of one of the coldest nights ever, an inexplicable phenomenon occurred, resulting in me standing outside the window in two feet of snow, in my skivvies, gagging as I tried to get a siphon going while sucking down aquarium water in the process. I swore off aquariums after that, but something like this would be pretty cool.

LOL. Never heard of that pattern before, so I did a quick search, very funny.

Very nice work as usual. I have a soft spot for those old Trevarno glass rods.

LaFontaine's Sparkle Emerger