arkfisher

Are there any tickets left???

I think I'll do a dry fly....not sure exactally on the pattern yet, but I'm thinking about doing a fluorescent colored one.

I just got a HUGE ebay order in and it has 5 of the grade 1 collins hackles in it. I just wanted to say that if you haven't seen these hackles, they look great! The lot of materials that I got in came in 3 boxes with a combined weight of about 50 lbs! I'm gonna be set for a while now. I think I'll have to dedicate a whole room to my tying stuff!! It's nice being a single grad student hahaha :hyst:

In the winter issue of Fly Tyer (I think, may have been fall issue) There was a fly where the tyer put some heavy mono on before the head and let the other materials fall over it. You can then glue the eyes to the clear mono and they kinda "float" in place, but are attached to the more ridgid mono rather than the loose material. I think it may have been a squid pattern that it was used on...not sure.

I've only been spinning hair a short time ( couple months ) and I can say from experience, the DVD's are great, but unless you sit down with someone and tie with them, you'll not get the whole jist of it. I recently took a deer hair class at the local fly shop. It only cost me 35$ for 3 nights (3 hours per night) and I learned a LOT!!! I'm actually a little embarrased about the deer hair bugs I sent in for the swap a few weeks ago! The main thing with deer hair, however, is don't get discouraged, have patience, and practice practice practice. Dave Whitlock has an awesome video with a lot of good techniques, but like I said, the best is to sit down with someone. Richard

Oops! Here are the pics

I posted these pics a while back, but thought this was the right thread for them again. Here is what I did over my christmas break. It's a little messier now, but my camera is broken so I can't take a new pic right now!! <a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a230/riot007kayaker/100_2166.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a> <a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a230/riot007kayaker/100_2173.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a> <a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a230/riot007kayaker/100_2175.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

Sounds cool man! I'm in! Not sure what I'll tie yet, I'll let you know when I know! Richard

:yahoo: I'm excited about geting to fish these...the season is upon us!

I'm in the market for a new 8 WT and a Lamson reel. I was looking on this site and the prices seem pretty reasonable. Has anyone ordered from them before? What do we know about them? Thanks guys Richard

I was looking on here to show a friend a few of the flies from this years contest, but I can't find the link. Anyone know how to get to it?

Cool lookin' flies guys. I have a pretty cool wooly bugger variation that I came up with. It really tears up the smallies here in Arkansas. As soon as I get access to a digital cam, I'll post a pic. Mine is broken right now! Richard

I use the thread method, also I made a tool out of a needle and a piece of mono with some epoxy...it works pretty well to pull the legs through. I mainly do deer hair bugs, but when using foam or styrofoam, I always heat my bodkin and push it through first. Then use my tool/thread to pull the legs through. I don't put my glue on until I get my legs in there...then you can put a small drop on either side and pull the legs back and forth to distribute the glue better. I use Zap-a-gap..it dries really fast, so you have to be quick, and it holds well also. I guess on the painting it would depend on your method of painting. If using an airbrush, I would use an "paint hook" that I would put the body on and paint it then take the body and move it to the clean hook. The ones that I've done have been painted with a brush or marker, so I painted them after putting them on the hook. When I use a hackle between the tail and body I usually just grab one of the larger ones from my necks or a strung hackle. I'd say it depends on the bug what size I use, but I would generally use one about 3/4 the hook gap and then tie it back a little bit. I have also started using a single bunch of spun deer hair using the tips and trimming the butts up a little...it produces a nice effect. Hope this helps! Happy tying!

My first fly was a wooly bugger as is for a lot of tyers. I'm not sure what happened to my first one, but if I found it, I'd probably have a good chuckle, then I'd hang on to it. It's always interesting to look back and see your progress.

Congrats guys! :yahoo: These are some sweet lookin flies...I voted for many of these. Keep up the good work :headbang:

Are you looking for big burly bass flies?

looks pretty good man. I like that size. those eyes look great

I have read all of these posts and find this topic pretty fascinating. I know that where I grew up (Northeast Arkansas) people shoot redtail hawks all the time. You can pretty much pull up under any telephone pole and find a carcass. I've wondered about these feathers also...I was thinking that the next time I went home I'd see about finding one of these carcasses...but I think I've changed my mind now. Thanks for the information guys. Richard

3% peroxide won't work well, and it is difficult to get a hold of 40%...(unless you're a chemist ) As always you want to be very cautious when mixing household chemicals. Ammonia is relatively easy to come by at the local walmart in the cleaning supplies and it's relatively concentrated. The reason that Ammonia is used is because it is basic or alkaline and causes the "scales" on the hair to open up and accept the peroxide better which results in a more thorough bleaching. I would think that 10% peroxide would work, it would just take longer. You can probably get it at the local pharmacy..they may even have more concentrated that that. You also want to take into account that peroxide starts to decompose into water and oxygen and therefore loses it's potency after being exposed to the air for a while. So I'd try it overnight and if it's not good enough, change out the solution and do it again. Hope this helps. Richard

DaUP, I got ya down for em. That finishes it off!

Awesome frame Matt!!! What is a good resource for tying instructions for these type of salmon flies?? I'm super interested!

I thought I'd post a couple pics from the hunt this weekend... Also, I think I have enough for 2 more people to get some flank...first 2 to respond gets it! ( I should have got the flank from all of these birds, but only got a few of them...was too worried about the meat!! ... They sure smell good in the oven right now though )

One of my friends is a taxidermist and I stopped by his place to drop off a pintail drake that I shot this weekend when he said, "I put something back for ya". He brought out a pretty good sized piece of buffalo hide that he had left over from a mount. It's pretty coarse and really thick. Has anyone ever used this for tying? What's it good for? Also, we killed a bunch of mallards this weekend. I have a lot of flank. I know it's easy to come by, but the first 5 that want some, post on here and I'll get you my address. Send a SASE and it's yours! Richard

I spent last night organizing this thing, and I'll be finishing it tonight. I'll definately post some pics when I get it all lined out.