phishtales

Congrats on number 5. I like the name theme you have going. While the suggestions so far have been good, consider expanding the possibilities to something a little more unusual. Its not without precedent. http://articles.latimes.com/1994-03-14/new...h-trout-america Phishtales

Got a nice surprise in the mail yesterday. Thanks to all for some great flies. Very impressive!! Looking forward to using them this spring and summer. Phishtales

Put the flies in the mail at lunch today. Size 10 clodhopper. Here's a link to a youtube video where I found the tying instructions I used light green instead of yellow dubbing. I also added back legs for a more hopperish look. Phishtales

Doh, last one. Between work, taxes (grr) and a couple of kids with new weekend commitments (swimming lessons), time has been short. I have started on the flies and I'll get them finished asap. Phishtales

Just got back from the post office - flies have been put in the mail Phishtales

Received mine in the mail. GREAT looking flies people. I can't wait for the weather to warm up. Phishtales

I knotted a bunch of biots sitting in front of mindless tv one night. After a couple of different methods, I settle on one that worked the best for me. I used a toothpick and a knit picker. The knit picker came from our sewing kit. It's a tool for pulling fraying threads on a sweater or similar woven material. The same tool (w/ a larger handle) is sold as a fly tying tool, but I forget its name. Basically its a long, skinny piece of metal with a curve on the end. There is a straight piece of metal that moves and if lifted up it closes the curve at the top. (I know, bad description). After cutting the biots off the quill, I placed the wide end of the biot on a round toothpick and rolled it down the toothpick a couple of times between my fingers. This gave the biot some curve to it. I then made a circle with the biot, stuck my knit picker through the hole and grabbed the short end of the biot and pulled through. Ta-Da knotted biot. Phishtales

Im in. Elk hair caddis, probably size 16. Phishtales

Sounds fun I'm in. I'll tie a clodhopper. Phishtales

Will, PM sent. Same problem as others have already mentioned. I open the verify page and no thumbnail pics are there. Phishtales

Thanks for the comments. Any suggestions on making the pictures easier to see? I'm sure part of the problem is the camera and a bigger part of the problem is me. I'm using a canon powershot A580 on the macro setting. I taped white paper to the bottom of a large, shallow box and turned the box on its side. I had a lamp w/ one of the energy efficient spiral bulbs on the table and two flashlights on either side of the camera pointed at the vice/fly. I took 3x the number of pics posted. Many were out of focus or too far away or etc. Day5 - absolutely. I'll bring a couple of the crickets on wednesday. Phishtales

Flies were placed in the mail today. Phishtales

Step-by-step has been posted. http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=40995 Phishtales

This is variation of some on a couple of cricket patterns I've run across. I wanted something that floats and had more of a body than other patterns I've seen. Recipe: 1. Dry fly hook size 12 - I used Mustad 94840 2. 6/0 black thread 3. 2mm foam cut the width of the hook gap 4. black ice dubbing 5. black deer hair 6. turkey wing feather - flexament the wide side and use biots from the other I prepped the feathers a couple of days before I tied a batch of these flies. Sitting in front of the TV, I knotted a bunch of the biots into leg segments. After trimming the biots off, I went to the garage and put a coat of flexament on the wide side of the feather. 1. Put the hook in the vice and wrap thread down to the bend of the hook. Place the 2mm foam extending past the bend of the hook so that the end of the foam strip is roughly 2/3 to the eye along the shank. Tie in the foam and wrap forward then back to the bend. Fold the foam over toward the eye of the hook. Wrap the folded over foam and trim even with the first layer. Wrap thread back to the bend of the hook. The goal here is to get two layers of foam on the hook. This alone will cause the hook to float (I checked). The foam won't be visible so style points don't count. 2. Tie in two biots in a V shape with the bottom point of the V where the bend of the hook. The biots should extend about 2/3 the length of the shank (about the length of the foam). This step is just style points. I haven't seen this step on other cricket patterns. Crickets do have these appendages on this end. Do a quick google image search. 3. Using black ice dubbing, wrap to cover the foam body. 4. Cut and stack black deer hair. Extend the thin end of the deer hair over the bend of the hook as far out as the biots extend. Pinch wrap the hair in the middle of the dubbed foam body and loosely wrap the thread forward to the eye. Wrap the thread back and apply tension just before you get to the dubbed foam body and then a couple of tight wraps on the body. The loose wraps in the beginning keep the hair from flaring. 5. Wings. Cut a strip of the turkey wing that had the flexament applied. The strip should be as wide as the dubbed foam body. Cut two small pieces from the strip about as long as the dubbed foam body and tie one to each side of the dubbed foam body making the first wrap about 1/3 from the front of the body and wrap toward the eye. Avoid wrapping past the dubbed foam body. 6. Time for the legs. Tie a knotted biot over each of the wings you just tied. 7. Forming the head. Wrap the thread forward to just behind the eye and wrap tightly. Wrap the thread back to the dubbed foam body. Gather the hair that extends over the eye, pull up and back. Wrap the thread tightly over the hair about 8-10 times. Cut the hair about 1/2 way back the length of the dubbed foam body. 8. Finish. Put a couple of thread wraps just behind the eye and tie the thread off. Phishtales