Can I see your surface bugs please?

[tidewaterfly 0]

Thanks for the comments! I tied most of them. There's a few in there I didn't tie. The chartreuse & black deer hair bug I didn't tie. I think I got that one in a swap. The bullet head stonefly below it was also a swap fly I think. Some of the foam flies I didn't tie either and again I believe they would be swap flies. Swaps are always a good way to accumulate some flies.

 

Frankly, I've been fishing only once this year so far and that was with a spinning rod. I haven't done much tying either. The flies in the pics are some that I've had for awhile, or simply pics I've had.

 

 

I'm relocating now from MD to SC. Once that's completed I hope to get to do some fishing & get back to tying also.

 

I have plenty of flies in my boxes to fish with. When I had spare time I spent plenty of it tying, so I have a good supply. When I took vacation time at work I usually tied some flies ahead because my vacations almost always included some fishing opportunities. I might tie 4 or 5 dozen flies for vacations.

 

For my move to SC, I've left a job I had for 19 years as a tractor trailer driver. I would also take a tying kit with me on the road & tie when I had lay-overs or downtime just to have something to do. Usually would tie at least 6 flies, and sometimes more in about 2 hours, then I would sleep. That job took up most of my time otherwise, but at least I could add some flies to my fly boxes even while out on the road. It's really not difficult to build a stock pile of flies, even only tying a little at a time. I also always had patterns in mind so I would take only the materials needed & wasn't spending a lot of time trying to decide what to tie.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Here's a few from the salt or brackish portion of the Everglades..

[Li'lDave 0]

Very nice Capt.

 

Targeting reds with those?

[Philly 0]

Here's a few of mine. Some salt, some fresh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Reds, snook, small tarpon (and occasionally, when you least expect it -a really big tarpon on a light rod -no, it doesn't last long...), speckled trout, ladyfish, macks, blues, mangrove snapper, etc. In the 'Glades everything is hungry so it's much more about the conditions than the flies in use. At dawn and dusk when the wind is laid down surface and slightly sub-surface bugs get a lot of attention. Here's a surprise -lots of nice sized spanish mackeral will attack popping bugs when they're around...

[Li'lDave 0]

Cheers mate. They definite do.

[Saltybum 0]

Here's a few of my deer hair sliders. I don't get the variety that Capt. Bob does ( mostly trout and reds ) but I love sight casting the flats with these in knee deep water. Nothing more exciting than surface explosions. The trout pictured is my best yet at 28" and very fat. She was only about 20' away when she slammed it.

 

 

 

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

those are great mullet flies -they'd work just fine on more than what's in front of you where you are....

[bobStash 0]

I am new here. Here's a modified Amy's Ant that I like. I took it out this evening and did well. Posting from CO.

 

http://imgur.com/a/7RBV4

http://imgur.com/a/AWCIA

 

I think I 7 landed rainbows in the 12-16" range, at least 4 pounces that missed, and 2-3 that got off. I was fishing the ant with a 2 foot dropper soft hackle pheasant tail.

The main difference between the Amy's Ant is that I don't palmer the belly, I just dub it with green and gray ice dubbing and I cut the bottom foam nose into pointers. The bug in the pics is chewed up.

In all honesty, I think I could have thrown a cigarette butt tonight and caught fish tonight but this guy serves as a buoyant indicator.

D.

[Big Fly Bob 0]

Here's a few of mine.

[Bruce Derington 0]

A Cohen pattern I tied up, Great for many species!

[mikechell 0]

You actually fish the Merganser Duck (I think that's what he called it)? I can imagine Pike tearing it up ... maybe a big bass.

But if I spent the time to tie up something that looks like that, I don't know if I'd ever tie it on a line and get it wet.

 

Fantastic looking fly, though, Bruce.

[flytyer56 0]

Here's a sz. 14 Goddard Caddis I did awhile back.

 

[fshrmanms 0]

here is a pic of my surface fly box.

 

[ditz2 0]

I'm with you Mike.....I would probably never throw it. Even if I had a rod that could. That is a brute