terrymiller1973

I was not in Vietnam but I have witnessed my share of aircraft mishaps. I have been an Air Traffic Controller for the past 20 years, so you could say I dont really work just get paid to sit around and talk. Spent 14 years in the Navy then decided I got paid more on the outside. I have been working as a civilian controller for the past 6 years and now I work for the Army in SE Germany.

If you are worried about transporting the items in you baggage then ship it to yourself if you can. All of my fly tying stuff has been delivered by the USPS/MPS without problems. I just shipped all of my stuff 5 days ago to myself from my previous location to my new location in Germany. The post office did not even look at it funny and I spoke with the customs guy prior to shipping it and he said it would not be a problem. But unfortunately with the USPS, MPS and Customs the rules are up to the interpretation of the person processing the items so there is never a guarantee.

I am sorry I was not trying to be vague about it with asking for help. I dont know what it should look like is all. I have yet to be able to try fly fishing so I dont know the effects of the different materials have on the fly (ie.. sparse, heavily dressed). I have read a lot and also watched tons of videos but not sure if they are close to something to catch fish or not. I always read or hear on the videos use about a pencil sized bunch or a bunch the size of a matchstick but what is that really. Are they talking about compressed that size or with it being relaxed. I appreciate all the information on the site and help that everyone always gives I am just not sure what I am looking for with things since I cannot really test them.

This is the first fly I have tied in a while any suggestions on how to improve it some will be greatly appreciated. It is the same fly different background with different lighting any suggestions for the photos would be great also

My list so far with hopefully a lot more to do Ohio North Carolina South Carolina Florida Georgia Texas Alabama Virginia Puerto Rico Cuba St Thomas Brazil Future trips hopefully soon Macedonia Germany Greece Brazil

Some questions to make the answers easier to give. What type boat, flats, open water, skiff? What type of fishing are you wanting to do, Tarpon, bonefish, snook. What else are you wanting to do on the trip besides fish. Have you ever ran your own boat in the Keys. Key West offers the most for the family to do unless you stay in the Upper Keys and run up to the Lower Miami area. As far as hotels with a boat most of the Hotels in Key West do not really have a lot of parking for a vehicle with a boat. There are a few when you first enter Key West on the North end but the closer you get to downtown the less room you have. All of islands have good fishing of some type, but it depends on the type boat and where you can get. Some of the Islands have better access to shallow water while others have better access to deeper water. I have never ran my own boat out of the Upper Keys only Marathon down. The upper Keys have some snook, redfish and bonefish I would say Islamorada and North up into Biscayne Bay area. The lower keys are more Tarpon, permit and depending on the time of year Cobia but these can all be found in the upper Keys also.

Welcome to the site Vitor. You live in a beautiful area that I hope to fish one day. There is plenty of information on the site about the Snook fly's but not much on the Peacock bass. I would recommend looking at some of the Pike fly's that are posted for ideas for the Peacock Bass

I know this question is going to be a lot of individual preference but with the Merkins style fly is there a general idea of how wide the body should be. Like do you try to shape the body so that each side is about the gap of the hook. I have watched a lot of videos on this style but can never get a feel for the width of the fly.

This Squimpish fly is tied with Ostrich that was soaked but looking at my Rhea it could be used much the same way. Since the stem is much thinner then the ostrich

Here is a link that someone posted a while back with some good info on the kool-aid dying process http://www.dyeyouryarn.com/kool-aid.html

I was thinking about an idea and not sure if you had considered this before but having an area on the forum where people could list their location. I am thinking that it would be easier for people to find others in their local area or where they are traveling. Maybe have main areas like NE, SE, SW, NW and then other areas around the world as needed after that people could start a post with individual states in those areas. I am not thinking all personal data just Name and City, State they are located. Then somebody in that area or other areas can contact them through the IM service to make contact. Of course this would all be optional for those who wanted to post there info just thought it would be easier then going through each individual persons profile to find out if it is even included on it.

I really think this has to be divided up into a couple different categories. Fishing in a lake or flats with a semi solid bottom no problem. The ladder is no different then standing on the bottom. In the surf it is a totally different situation. I would not be on a ladder with waves crashing against it. I have been knocked on my but many times fishing by waves without being on a ladder.

I have never fished them on fly but have caught many on conventional gear. The colors that worked best for me were blue/yellow, white/pink and blue/white. I would tie up some streamers in the 6 inch range. As far as the hooks I would use 4/0 - 6/0 when you buy any pre-rigged bait it is always in that range. Like was said earlier if you get on on keep it in the water till another can be hooked. Make sure you have plenty of backing on your reel they run a lot but I always used 30# mono with no real problems.

I guess I am another one who started making my fly's first, I have yet to swing a fly line and have been tying for about a year now. I hope sometime in the next 3 months to get out and try my luck though. I may have to try to set up a trip with some of our local experts to teach me or annoy them at least.

I have not looked at them in a long time but for children if they are still made you cannot beat the Ugly Stik by Shakespeare. They are pretty much indestructible then match that with a mid line Shimano or other reel of choice. I used the Ugly Stik for years before I started building my own and never had a problem. This is just my opinion but they have very good action and I never had one break even with the kids putting them through a lot of abuse.