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Fly Tying

Eusebius

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About Eusebius

  • Rank
    Beginner

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  • Favorite Species
    snook
  • Security
    2010
  1. Gentlemen... Thank you all. The suggestions and advice are appreciated. I tie the brown on the bottom, not out of forethought but because I use a good grade brown saddle and then a shorter grizzly neck hackle. Just seems easier to put the larger heavier hackle on the bottom. I've tossed a good half dozen in the waste bin to get two that I would consider fishable. A drop of Zapagap seems to stiffen up the post. I'm staying with wrapping counterclockwise. Progress, not perfection at this point! Tight Lines,
  2. Rockworm, Thank you for the quick reply and advice. I'll give your suggestions a go. Do you find it best to wrap and tie both hackles (Adams) together or wrap and tie each in turn? Cheers,
  3. I have for years bought parachute flies rather than tie them. Recently I decided to really tackle the technique. My bible for tying is Dave Hughes Essential Trout Flies. Per his advice I'm using moose body hair for the tail rather than hackle, one size oversize for hackle (#12 hackle on a #14 hook for stability), and cut poly for posts. My problem (I guess it's common) comes at tying the hackle off. I wrap the hacklecounterclockwise (4 wraps) around the post flush with the dubbed body. His instructions say to apply pressure on the hackle pliers on the far side of the hook and tie off away from you. What I'm ending up with is the tag end of the hackle always covering the eye. Is my problem simply not leaving enough room for the head? I'm trying to get the tag end tied off so it is not always overlying the eye and still have a uniform consistent spread of hackle 360 degrees around the post. Can it be done (of course it can)? I'm ending up with no (or little) hackle in front of the post. Any suggestions most welcomed. Cheers,
  4. One of the principal goals of my tying efforts is to become better over time, for my own personal satisfaction. At my age this generally means to tie NEAT and SMALL, a goal not always met and getting harder each season. I greatly enjoy my time in front of the vice. I compete against the last fly I tied. So I will spend whatever time it takes to become proficient in my own mind, not for some gallery. It's all about learning. The personal satisfaction that comes from fooling a fish at his own game in his ballpark is it's own reward. Time per fly has nothing to due with fly tying, for me at least. I don't think about how much time it took to tie the fly as I pluck it out of Mr. Trout's lip. ADD Free, Eusebius
  5. I really stepped in it on that one..... Gentlemen, thank you for the correction and please accept my apology for my hasty response. Hopefully the point of my opinion made it across. "The bearing on the thread..." would that be "nylon" thread or horsehair? Tight Lines...
  6. No, just traditional-lite. Hmmm. Words are the medium. G.K. Chesterton once said if we can't debate words, we can't debate anything. Immortal is a bit of a stretch for me from traditional. Just my opinion, the flys mentioned have been repeatedly offered by local fly shops, guides, friends, etc etc for MUCH longer than many of the other "types" I previously alluded to. And again, just an opinion, they will continue to be, as THEY CATCH FISH..... Subjective.... now there's another word that may fit...... Tight Lines,
  7. I'm of the opinion that "traditional" in fly terms means "Fly's That Catch Fish". What has remained constant for 30 million years are the "bugs" or baitfish we attempt to imitate. The tradition becomes those means and methods that do that job the best over time. Hooks, lines, materials and hardware all evolve parallel to the tradition of imitation of those bugs and baitfish. I imagine if one were to take the 12 fly's from Dame Julianna Burners 1496 work that most, if not all, attempt to imitate the mayfly. The "tradition" has been the chase of trout with a mayfly imitiation. Hornberg's, Mickey Finns, Adams, Quill Gordon, Royal Coachman et al have all stood the test of time. Personally I believe such fly's as the Humpy, Stimulator, Lefty's Deceiver, Irresistable, Griffith's Gnat, Hare's Ear, Pheasant Tail and others are destined for immorality with future generations of fly fishers. Because they catch fish they will become "traditional" flys. There must be 1000's of patterns that have fallen off the radar screen over the decades because they were too hard to tye, too hard to find materials for, were just a spin off of someone else's fly or simply didn't catch fish. But hey... they look really cool and are a bitch to tie. I will politley disagree with the tyer who earlier stated "traditional" meant fly's tied for show. I'm of the opinion of just the opposite. Traditional are those fly's, methods and practices that truly add to more tight lines on the water through the ages. I have also come to noticed a stiking correlation between definitions of "traditional" and the age of the persons defining it. But that noticing took some time. Tight Lines, Eusebius
  8. My personal experience and opinion is any pattern under #18 is a better candidate for soft hackle (hen) than partridge. To get good #18 partridge you may be well served to buy a whole partridge skin. Size #18 hackle can be found right up on the next to the neck and head area. Usually a single wrap on a #18 or often a #16 is all it takes. Starling is another material that can be used, although getting down under #18 becomes difficult too. Flymphs call for wrapping the hackle (partridge) down from the eye to the center of the hook over spikely dubbing, tying off and winding tying medium back to the eye to whip finish. Under #18 I find a herl and hackle (starling or hen) fishes well. Adding a bead leaves little room for anyting else on a hook #16 and under. Just my opinion. I'm almost always going to have a few March Brown and Light Cahill Flymphs in #16 and #18 on the steream. For me at least, these will cover the vast majority of situations where I fish an emerger or crippled dun UNDER the surface activity of a mayfly hatch. Tight Lines, Eusebius
  9. Great thread. I just this week received my purchased copy of Dave Hughe's "Wet flies". Over the years I have developed a great deal of respect for Mr. Hughe's knowledge and writing. He writes he "underweights" his wets, meaning he will use a lighter or smaller wrap of lead. If he needs to get down he can add shot. His reasoning is the lighter weight will give the wet (or nymph or flymph) more action as it bounces off the bottom. If he wishes to fish just under the surface film (where wets can be VERY effective) he just gives the line and fly a good pull once it has landed to pull it under the surface film. Good advice. Not a single illustration, picture or drawing in his book shows any wet with a bead head. Not sure why as bead heads were/are quite popular as of the copyright date of the book 1995. It appears to be a dileberate ommission. BTW, I highly recommend the book. He, as always, gives credit where credit is due. It's a great collection of various flies, methods and history of the under appreciated wet fly. It got me to pull out my copy of "Caddisflies" by Gary LaFontaine and reread it, again. Mr. LaFontaine advises using lead for his Deep Sparkle Pupa and not using lead for his Emergent Sparkle Pupa. Mr. Hughe's writes of this in his book yet mentions he breaks that advice as a general rule. Just a few more opinions I guess. Tight Lines, Eusebius
  10. I'm fortunate that my tying bench is in my home office where I have both a computer and my old Marantz 2270 and Sansui speakers. I stream Sirrius online into my stereo as I work. I listen to Classic Vinyl (Channel #14) and Classic Rewind (Channel #15) cause under the button down image is an old hippie that can still get fired up listening to Led Zepplin's "Over The Hills and Far Away". Tight Lines, Eusebius
  11. Base metal prices (as well as the popularity of flyfishing) have moved prices of quality hooks to VERY lofty levels the past few years. I don't think we will see a return to the $8 box of 100 hooks. Hook and Hackle is in the process of blowing out there Mustad line with a 40% sale. Might say something about tyers preferences. I buy Orvis hooks, I believe they are Fulling Mills hooks, but i could be wrong about that. I know their flies are tied in Kenya. I recently bought a few #16 and #18 caddis pupa and greenworm flies from them, as my fingers and eyes don't get down that small at 55, (yet I continue to try). The workmanship was superb. I certainly cannot tie as good as some of those smaller legged pupa patterns I received to use as models for caddis pupa patterns along with my hooks. Tight Lines, Eusebius
  12. Having only the good fortune to fish the Deschutes in Oregon the past 25 years, at least away from salt water, I would have to cast a vote for the late May stonefly hatch there. Have fished the hatch perhaps 10 of the past 23 years. Going again this spring for a few days on our way to the FL Gulf Coast (grandkids!!, and great snook fishing from the beach!). Good Lord willin I'll get the last decade or two of my fly fishing travels on some of the rivers and hatches of America. Looking forward to it. Thanks for this thread! Cheers, Eusebius
  13. There is a pinned link above from back in 04 that has a link to a new Hatch Chart by state that was started. Perhaps I'm going to come across as simple minded, but for the life of me I cannot locate the chart or a listing of states. Was it taken down? Did I miss something? I'm slowly building my retirement database and this link sounded like something I would be interested in reading. Cheers, Eusebius
  14. Eusebius, James has personally answered my questions whenever I've called or e-mailed J. Stockard. He and the rest of the crew are super nice and helpful. Mike Mike, Thanks! I will give them a go next time I'm looking for quality hackle by mail order. Nice Blog and nice tying BTW! Cheers, Eusebius
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