Chasing_Tails

Looks great! As others have mentioned, nice and sparse. It is easy to overdress a bonefish fly. Also, I use the twisted Krystal Flash body technique a lot. I find the benefit is you can mix several colors of Krystal Flash to get a mottled body look that isn't possible with straight Diamond Braid. And since the body is flatter I usually give it a coat of thin UV Resin like Bone Dry to make it more durable.

Smitherman's Draggin' Nymph Fly Hook: 60 degree Jig hook, #10 Thread: Uni-Thread, 6/0, Olive Abdomen: Senyo's Laser Dub, Light Olive Collar: Hen saddle, Grizzly Olive Thorax: SLF Dubbing, Olive Legs: Crazy Legs, Pumpkin/Olive/Black Flake Eyes: Bead Chain, Medium, Black Really neat way to make a larger profile extended body with combed out dubbing. This one will be making it's way down to the pond this week. Next up: Gotcha Bonefish Fly

Smitherman's Draggin' Nymph Fly I'll claim this one.

Shaggy Wire Caddis- Hook: Curved Caddis, #16 Thread: Uni-Thread, 6/0, black Body: Wire, 0.3mm, caddis green Rib: Wire, 0.02mm, brown Back: Peacock herl Throax: SLF Squirrel Spikey Dubbing, green olive Head: SLF Squirrel Spikey Dubbing, black

I am not either, especially one that is just a fish on a wall. I want to feel a connect to it, and using the real tail from the fish brings the memory back of stalking this fish from 50 yards out and trying to get it to eat. It also made a great dinner while providing this as an additional bonus.

As most of you can tell from my username, one of my favorite things to see on the water is a redfish tail in the distance waiving at me just asking for a well placed fly to be delivered. For several months I have been working on a project to preserve a redfish tail (the rest of the fish became dinner). Upon cleaning a 22" redfish back in October, I decided to start the project to make something from the tail. The first step was cutting the tail and preparing it for drying. I removed as much of the meat and bone from the tail base, covered the tail in borax, and sandwiched in between two pieces of plastic sign board to maintain the shape. I then left it alone in a well-ventilated area, only disturbing it once a week to change the borax. The tail was fully dried after a month, but due to work I wasn't able to get around to finishing the project until this weekend. The tail was well dried and had no fish smell to it. There was no deterioration of the scales, and there was no curling of the tail fin. The color though had obviously faded and needed to be brought back to make it look realistic. My plan was to mount the tail on a board as if it was sticking out the water with some spartina grass coming up from the surface, recreating the scene when I first spotted the fish in the marsh back in October. I started by spraying the dried tail with clear gloss enamel to seal it and then pilfered my wife's acrylic paints. I used some dry brush techniques to paint the tail back to the live look of it. I highlighted with some metallic copper and gold, gave it a blue tinge, then resprayed with clear gloss enamel to finish it and give the appearance of being wet. The base is a wooden log section picked up from Michael's. I liked the rustic look with the bark. I painted the top surface of the base to mimic the muddy brown water I am used to fishing in and then added some blades of grass from some artificial plants, again from Michael's. I cut the tail to the proper angle and glued the tail onto the board. Thick UV resin worked well to provide the look of glassy water. Once the surface was dry, I decided to finish it off by tying the same type of fly that the fish was caught on but adding a short wire stand to the fly. A hole was drilled into the base for the wire stand and the fly positioned in front of the tail, just above the surface of the "water". This was a fun project, very low cost, and provides an end product that really brings the memory back of this fish with the tail, grass, and fly. The best part is that you still get to eat the fish!

Squishenille Redfish Slider Hook: FTD Big Game ST5500, #1/0 Thread: Uni-Thread, 6/0, tan Tail: Select Craft Fur, tan Flash: Krystal Flash, copper Collar: Saddle Hackle, barred orange/barred tan Head: Squishenille, medium, tan Eyes: Lead Dumbell, medium, red/black pupil I have been exploring the possibilities of squishenille and think that it can be a good substitute for spun deer hair, especially on patterns where you do not require the buoyancy of deer hair. It provides a bulky profile that is able to be trimmed in a manner similar to spun deer hair.

Got mine as well. A great set of flies. The bluegills will not be happy as quite a few are the perfect size for them.

We have wild trout, they just have fangs and a bad attitude...😉

Squish Shrimp, tan Hook: Mustad Long Shank 92611, #1 Thread: Uni-Thread, 6/0, tan Tail: Grizzly marabou, tan/black bar Rear body: Squishenille, medium, tan Forward body: Squishenille, large, tan Back: Thin Skin, Clear/black speckled Rib: Copper wire, 0.3mm, dark copper Eyes: Mono dumb bells, X-Large, black

Woven Little Yellow Stonefly Nymph Hook: 3x curved, #14 Thread: Uni-Thread, 6/0, Camel Bead: Nymph Head Evolution, Stonefly/small/gold Underbody: Lead Wire, 0.015 Tails: Biot, yellow Body: FTD Bug Legs, Tan and Bright Yellow (woven) Thorax: FTD Kracken Dubbing, Tan Flesh (dubbing loop and picked) Back: Turkey tail, coated in UV Resin

Hollow Popper Hook: O'Shaughnessy salt, #1/0 Thread: Uni-Thread, 6/0, Orange Tail: Congo Hair, Minnow Belly/Sand/Brown Trout Body: Craft foam, 2mm, Gold Eyes: Stick-On Prismatic, 3/8", Red Markings: Copic Markers, Red

I placed an order today, now I just have to make sure I can intercept it in the mail on delivery day before my wife gets home from work...

I was going to suggest the same thing. Using simple embroidery yarn and plastic or aluminum forms you can create a wide variety of profiles. Woven Body Stonefly: Woven Body Dragonfly Nymph:

On the way to you. Should be there Monday 11/20/23. USPS 9534 6161 5607 3320 6231 18

On the way to you. Should be there Monday 11/20/23 USPS 6500116156073320623079

On the way to you. Should be there Tuesday 11/21/23. USPS 9500 1161 5607 3320 6230 93

Got it. They will be in the mail tomorrow. Thank you.

Can anyone send me a PM with the correct address to ship to? I have an address for the SM from a previous swap, but wanted to make sure I have the right one. I am hoping to get these put in the mail tomorrow along with the Christmas Swap flies.

I have a flock of caddis ready to head out. I will be heading to the post office on Wednesday with them and the Christmas Swap flies. Is your address still the same from previous swaps?

I'm in with a krystal bugger.

I'd rather be a dentist...but i'll try being an elf.

Of all the illegal fish to make the news and it is a single 4" yellowtail snapper? Head out to the jetties or piers on any given day and you'll find people that throw everything in a cooler, no matter the species or size. That article is a bit dramatic...must be a very slow news day for Floridaman.

Definitely. I look forward to both sending and receiving exceptional flies each year.

Next challenge fly: A dry fly pattern (mayfly, caddis, stonefly, or midge), but every material must be synthetic, nothing natural.