First flies, tying from Afghanistan

[Phil Richmond 0]

Need some feedback. Learning to tie flies in what little spare time I get. Supposed to go to Diego Garcia after this so want to tie some bonefish flies. The three on the left I tied based off crazy charlie patterns. The two on the left I purchased for an example to see proportion, etc. The middle fly on the left is wrapped with sparkle braid, didn't show up well.

 

Please let me know if these will work for bones and how to improve them, thanks.

[utyer 0]

Those will all fish well. I have only fished for bones in Mexico, but the flies are the same all over. The patterns are fine. You may want to put a few strands of crystal flash in the wings of some of them, and tie a few with cree hackle feathers in the tail, on the sides of the hair. Splay the hackle out to the sides, and keep them shorter (just a tad) than the hair. The shrimp these are supposed to imitate, try to blend into the sand bottom, so that will influence their color. If the sand is dark, you want a darker tan pattern, if the sand is white coral, then lighter flies. Pinks are fine too.

 

I think one of your purchased flies has a body wrapped with v rib or something similar. This is used for durability, the cryastal braid is good too. Several coats of head cement, or nail polish will help keep them together.

 

Stay save, hope you find some Indian Ocean bones.

[feathers5 0]

Hi: I know nothing about bonefish flies. I just want to thank you and all those deployed that I recognize and appreciate the sacrifice of you and all of our troops. Stay very safe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those will all fish well. I have only fished for bones in Mexico, but the flies are the same all over. The patterns are fine. You may want to put a few strands of crystal flash in the wings of some of them, and tie a few with cree hackle feathers in the tail, on the sides of the hair. Splay the hackle out to the sides, and keep them shorter (just a tad) than the hair. The shrimp these are supposed to imitate, try to blend into the sand bottom, so that will influence their color. If the sand is dark, you want a darker tan pattern, if the sand is white coral, then lighter flies. Pinks are fine too.

 

I think one of your purchased flies has a body wrapped with v rib or something similar. This is used for durability, the cryastal braid is good too. Several coats of head cement, or nail polish will help keep them together.

 

Stay save, hope you find some Indian Ocean bones.

 

[day5 0]

First off I need to second what feathers5 said! and be sure that we are praying for you and your brothers over seas daily.

 

Second what kind of hook are you using? brand? Im only asking because the hook points look rather blunt. It could be the camera angle. but with bigger hooks size 2+ I am never afraid to sharpen them

[Phil Richmond 0]

These are Mustad size 6's. I have some Gamakatsu's as well, but figure by the time I use the Mustad's up, the flies should be decent enough quality to not waste the Gamakatsu's. Here are the flies I tied shrunk in a smaller format. Hopefully makes it easier to view.

 

What is cree hackle feathers and how to I put them in the tail?

[utyer 0]

These are Mustad size 6's. I have some Gamakatsu's as well, but figure by the time I use the Mustad's up, the flies should be decent enough quality to not waste the Gamakatsu's. Here are the flies I tied shrunk in a smaller format. Hopefully makes it easier to view.

 

What is cree hackle feathers and how to I put them in the tail?

 

 

Cree is another name for Ginger variant hackle. Its a mottled color similar to a grizzly but with more ginger, or light brown. I'm not sure what materiails you have. When you tie in the hair for the tails, use a little less hair, and then measure a feather for each side from the tip. Strip off the rest of the feather. Tie one in on each side of the tail. Bind the feather butts down along with the hair up to behind the eye. Feathers should be tied in with the brighter side facing out, and would mostly hide the hair.

 

I'll dig up a picture.

 

Your sacrafice is appreciated here too.

 

Second edit: the first picture is not my tie, I didn't want to make you wait for an example. The last three are some I just whipped up. You could tie feathers, flash, or just hair in the wings and or tail. I agree with Trout Bum, it matters more that you get something in front of them that acts like food. Different retrieves or hopping the fly once or twice as the fish approaches is more important. Whip out more of what you have going there, and you should be fine.

[day5 0]

Cree is a Spanish sub species of chicken. It has a spotted look the feathers are barred brown tan/ginger black and some times white. True cree is harder to find and can be costly. Breed cree (grizzly and brown barred chickens cross breeds) works just as well I do not think a fish could tell the difference.

 

Mustad hooks in larger sizes are notorious for there dullness. I love mustad 3366s but they could not hook a hot stick of butter out of the pack. After sharpening them they do hold a decent point.

[silverbullet32 0]

thanks for being over there. it means alot to be in a free country.

 

those flies look good, just think, if there is a lure in the water, there's hope!

[day5 0]

UT tht is one cool lookin charlie!!! :headbang:

[Guest]

Phil,

 

Your flies will fish well as they are. Bonefish are strange critters, they will eat anything that looks like food as long as it is moving the way their food moves. So you will have to experiment with different retrieves. Not knowing Indian Ocean Bones, I would tie from size 8 up to 1. Pm me your address I have some left over flies from my last trip to the Keys, see if they work for you.

 

 

[Arkansas Mike 0]

Phil, I know absolutely nothing about bonefish flies, but really appreciate what you are doing. I may have to ask for help from some of the others, but if you need any materials, hooks, etc. while you are over there, PM me and I'll do what I can. Don't want to speak for the others, but I'm sure there'd be some other folks willing to help out.

 

 

Mike

[bowlover 0]

From my limited experience a pink crazy charlie with lead eyes has produced.

 

I too would like to thank you for your service to our country. Have a good day!

 

bowlover

[Phil Richmond 0]

Hi all. Thanks for the kind words. Really no thanks needed, after 14 years in the military just doing my job like anyone else does.

 

I really love wrapping rods, but since I didn't really want to try to deal with the hassle of shipping parts here and dealing with the dust, decided to try wrapping flies instead. So I ordered some things from J. Stockard (by coincidence) and have been tying between missions and after work for about a month and a half now.

 

I got some feedback from a friend that my tails may be too long, I was kind of thinking the same. Those are some cool looking crazy charlie variants, may have to order some feathers. I pretty much only have calf tail, braid, eyes, hooks, flash, and thread. What else should I order?

 

Thanks for the advice.

Phil

[utyer 0]

I think you can do fine with the existing materials. Shorten the tails and wings just a little, tie more of what your doing. I can send you some feathers if you want to try tieing some with feathers in the wing and or tails. PM me you addy, and I can get some stuff out. You could also use pink and white feathers, and some rubber legs. Tie in rubber legs (usually brownish orange,) crosswise just behind eyes. What you end up with are called bone fish bitters.

 

Take Trout Bum up on his offer of some flies, he will have the "right stuff."

 

 

[Futzer 0]

Thank you for what you do, Phil. I tie some charlies down to a size 10 and very lightly dressed on all sizes. They are not particularly choosy about the fly, but a bad cast will send them rocketing to deep water. so practice throwing a minimum of 50 feet with a gentle landing. I do mine in tan, white, light blue, pink and light grey. Also if you need any materials, I would be happy share anything I have. And I am better stocked than most shops. Just pm me an addy, will the military mail let you send hooks?

 

Cheers, Jeff, aka Futzer.