cornmuse

Find a copy of the book "Bug Making" by C. Boyd Pfeiffer. It's a 1993 Lyons and Burford publication, ISBN 1-55821-414-3. Tight lines. Joe C.

Count me in! I'll tie an Alexandria. Joe C.

I've finished my set of flies. I tied a very effective "guide fly" - the cdc and shoeshow hare emerger. All packed up and ready to go. I'll hit the post office this afternoon. I'll try to photograph and post the pattern to the database later this week. Joe C.

Three down, seven more to go! It's a bummer that there is a dry and streamer category for smallmouth and for largemouth, but no category for nymphs. For smallmouths at least, this is an important segment of flies (actually I consider crayfish flies designed to be "high sticked" more of a nymph than a streamer based on HOW they're fished. A Skip's Dad is definitely not a streamer). I certainly understand the problems with TOO many categories, however. That said, I narrowed my selection down to the flies I considered to be most challenging to tie rather than most productive on the water (though my entries are certainly fishing flies and not ultra-realistic "show" flies). Joe C.

I assumed by "streamers" that you were referring to traditional Maine streamers. They can be challenging. I am really surprised that you didn't include spun deer hair as a voting category. Most folks I know hate spinning hair. I'd say my personal weakness is in tying married quill wings (or any quill wings for that matter). I don't do it enough to be proficient, so when I DO try I end up with something that looks like the fly I posted in the Warm Water forum Joe C.

QUOTE My all round favorite to out fish most bait or spinner fishermen is one I call No Regrets Is that pattern in the data base? Its a cool looking fly - very perch-like. I'm sure its deadly in northern waters. QUOTE see if your local library has a copy of Ray Bergmans "Freshwater Bass", he lists lot's of wet fly patterns in there, Thanks for the heads-up. I'll check for that one. Please do list some of your favs from the text. Joe C.

Folks; On a recent business trip I found the time to visit an outstanding used bookstore that had an excellent selection of books on fishing. One of the volumes I picked up was Night Fishing For Trout by Jim Bashline. A quick read and a slim volume, but very, very interesting. One of the techniques Mr. Bashline advocates is the swinging of large (size 6 and 8) wet flies for after-dark brown trout in PA. The gears kicked in... I wondered what kind of wet flies would work on smallmouth bass? While I've taken plenty of bronze on soft-hackles (an excellent techique in late May), I've not really fished the traditional down-and-across with a pair of wetflies for smallmouth. Considering this is the technique used by the pioneers of the sport I can only assume it can be as effective today as it was 100 years ago. Great! Now I've got a whole new reason to buy *another* fly box, tie three dozen flies, get unobtainable material to tie those flies, and look for a good tree to lose them in! So here is the topic... What flies should I tie for this project? How can I refine the look of these flies to keep a traditional proportion while making them true fish harvesting machines? Any wet fly fisherman out there who'd care to chime on in? Here are the first four patterns I played around with. From the top, a varation on a Professor using a palmered hackle and tied on a Gamakatsu red size 6 hook. Mid level left, a poorly tied leadwing coachman (I've got to work on my quill wings, I haven't tied those in two dogs ages), and right is an Alexandria. Bottom is a Royal Coachman tied with arctic fox wing. Which flies would you add to a final selection of, say, six to eight patterns? How would you modify them for smallmouth bass fishing? Tight lines! Joe C.

Well I wasn't going to enter the FTOY contest, but now.... I wish work would stop interfering with my fishing-related activities! I can see now that my ThanksGiving weekend will be spent (partly) at the vice! Tight lines and good luck to my fellow tiers! Joe C.

I'll play! Pattern TBD. Joe C.

Very nice idea. I have used microjigs for a long time, but I've not tied a caddis pattern on them. Usually I tie a Fox Squirrel nymph or micro-bugger type thing. Great tie, thanks for sharing! Joe C.

QUOTE (SmallieHunter @ Nov 15 2004, 01:56 PM) Love the patterns Joe. I need to get into some dries and smaller stuff for Smallmouth. My mindset continues to be "go big" so no matter the conditions I find myself throwing big streamers. I'm sure there are times when smaller offerings will be the ticket. There are times, indeed. Think Mother's Day and think caddis. Smallies in the post-spawn/spawn period look for maximum calories at minimum effort. They will line up and take caddis for hours at a time - I've seen this pattern everywhere from Minnesota to Pennsylvania. Once had a 50 fish day without moving my feet on the East Fork of the Little Miami River using a size 12 Royal Coachman wet - an amazing day with fish up to 17" on a 4wt and 5x tippet! Smallies are quite insectivorous during the early season. Joe C.

QUOTE (SmallieHunter @ Nov 15 2004, 11:12 AM) Got the other one deleted for you Joe Nice looking bug man.....where are you fishing a white fly hatch? I haven't seen a hatch in any of the water I fish in SE Indiana. I run into the whites in Minnesota and Michigan, of course. They also hatch sporadically on the upper Great Miami River system including the Stillwater tributary. Thanks for fixing my post! Joe C.

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by cornmuse: BiVisible

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by cornmuse: White Miller Dry Fly

QUOTE (fishinlk @ Nov 10 2004, 07:13 PM) I'll be tying lots of old stand-by's for the most part but it looks like I need to learn a quick yet quality crayfish pattern as well as some other bass and carp flies for late spring. Gotta give em' what they want, after all it is Ohio and I need to keep people interested all year long! The best crayfish fly I've ever fished is the Clouser Foxee Red. Its in the data base, and its easy and quick to tie. Don't let the fact that it doesn't look like a crayfish TO US slow you down. Smallmouth love it, had my best season ever with it! Joe C.

You ROCK, dude! Excellent idea. I'll be tying these this weekend! Joe C.

I'm good for a CF3305N Joe C. (who is now officially broke )

Take a piece of the .080" lawn weed-wacker mono and cut it about 3/16" long with a sharp razor blade. Both ends need to be square and cleanly cut. Then use some Zap-A-Gap or Future Glue and glue the moving pupil hollow doll eyes to the ends. I use this technique to make floating clousers that fish just below the surface (neutral density). Joe C.

Okay, now you're just messin' with me! I wrote a review of the C&F waterproof boxes a couple years ago. I'll dig it up and post it here. Awesome product, among my all-time my favs. I guess I didn't commit to enough with the hooks? Let me review my hook needs (got to refine my original estimates based on an acutal inventory) and see if I need to add a box or two to the order as well. The good side to this is there will be lot's of time for fishing next year when the wife tosses me out of the house, fly rods and sleeping bag in tow! Tight lines.. Joe C.

C51SBLN is a new product. Saw it on the Mustad web site. These circle hooks now come in sizes down to a 16! I don't like the saltwater circles simply because the wire is too thick and makes an unnecessarily heavy fly. Also, it requires a bit more umph to set the hook when it is that thick. Hence my interest in the new circle hooks designed for freshwater work. BTW, I have been using Gamakatsu circles that I get from the Bass Pro in the soft plastics area. They are great for nose-hooking soft plastics - or for tying fresh water streamers. A little short in shank length, but they look very nice with a flat wing streamer (Ken Abrahms style) or a sheep shad. And if you haven't tried them, the Gama "mosquito" hooks make very interesting irons for streamer and wet fly projects. Ultra sharp and very nice, thin wire. Joe C.

I'm in! Here is what I am looking at, maybe this will help to get this group purchase to an achievable level: C53S - Size 6, 10, 14 $10.80 CK74SSS - Size 2/0, 1, 4 $13.55 3665a - Size 2,6 $17.90 36890 - Size 1/0 $12.05 79580 - Size 8, 12 $21.80 94842 - Size 12, 14 $8.80 9672 - Size 8, 12 $20.60 9674 - Size 6 $9.90 Lead Eyes, Plain - (1) Midget, (1) Micro, (2) Mini, (1) Extra Small, (2) Small, (2) Medium, (1) Large, (1) Extra Large $16.50 Cyclops Bead Eyes, Black 5/64, Black 1/8, Copper 5/64, Copper 1/8, Olive Brown 5/64, Olive Brown 1/8 $12.00 Total so far... $143.90 Also, I am looking for C51SBLN in sizes 1/0, 2 and maybe a 6. Can you get these too?

QUOTE (feathers @ Nov 8 2004, 08:27 PM) I'm looking for a hellgrammite recipe...I've looked thru my books and came up emptied handed... One of the best hellgrammite patterns I've used is the Murray's Strymph. The way it moves through the water, the cohesiveness of the ostrich herl, and the profile are excellent for imitating this bug. My own experiences indicate that many hellgrammite imitations are tied in too dark a shade. I've seen alder fly larva which are black, and smaller hellgrammites which are very dark, but the larger specimens I have seigned were all a dirty olive in color. Here is the pattern I suggest: Hook: 3xl nymph hook Thread: black 6/0 Weight: ten or so wraps of .030 lead wire or lead substitute. Tail: 25 or so ostrich herls in a dark olive/brown, black, or very dark dun color. Body: Rabbit fur to match tail color. Use a dubbing loop and place the rabbit fur in the loop - twist the loop to make a rabbit fur chenille - wrap the chenille up to the eye and tie off. Make a whip finish and cut the tying thread. Trim the rabbit fur body to a tapered tube - almost conical in profile. Re-attach thread at the head and tie in the hackle. Hackle: Dark olive mottled hen neck or a similar feather from a pheasant or other upland bird. Strip one side of the hackle. Wrap two wraps to make a soft hackle collar - sparse. The hackles should reach to about half-way to the hook point. Head: black Fish it deep on the bottom. I like to "high stick" using a type V sink tip line. Fish it right below riffles and in deep, rocky runs where hellgrammites are found. Tight lines. Joe C.

Count me in. What do you need - a list of styles and sizes? Are you going to publish a "menu" we can select from?

While my sights often turn towards Ohio River wipers and stripers, I still fish smallies up till late December. Regarding where to look, look downstream from your best areas in the summer! Look for deep water and bigger pools - something over 4' deep with good cover and a break from the current. Undercut ledges on the outsides of creek bends are ideal. Then use a Troth Bullhead in size 2 to 6 and fish it on a type V sink tip using a 2' florocarbon leader. Cast upstream and let the fly tumble on a tight line back downstream. Hits will be soft. Another good fly to use is a small white clouser - size 6 or even 8. I like to use arctic fox. Good imitation of a shiner. Same technique. Another cold water pattern that works for me is a casual dress in sizes from 4 to 8 - a good imiation of a cranefly larva. Dead drifted is mandatory with this imitation. Right now the smallies are still pretty active. Two weeks ago I had a wonderful day fishing topwaters. The fish were in the tail-outs of pools holding in 2 to 3 feet of water. The bite started at 11 and from 11 till 2PM we landed 15 or so smallies to 16". All came to Dalbergs (red head, white rabbit strip tail) fished VERY fast! Even in December I can get some good action on a sunny day. So long as the water is in the 50's and not the 40's . 48 and below it gets tough and the fish don't fight as well - my sites turn to cold water species like white bass, wipers, stripers and Mad River trout. Joe C.

You can count me in for this one. Size 6, 6xl ro 8xl featherwing streamers. Not sure what I'll tie, though I have a beautiful silver badger neck that is just begging for me to fire off a dozen light spruce flies. Or maybe something else....??? I'll have to ponder. Either way, this is a swap I'm definitely up for - especially since its "buggerless"! Joe C.