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Fly Tying

osprey

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About osprey

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    Beginner

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  • Location
    Indiana - smallie streams
  1. Thanks, and I think the Krystal Flash (rainbow?) would be a nice addition. Tied in a bit longer than the marabou, as in a Clouser, perhaps. I plan to tie up some of these for the next wiper adventure, which, alas, will not be for some months now. That show just closed down here for the summer. In the meantime, your pattern should work well for smallies, also. I have had the most success on wipers with the tan over white Clousers. For wipers, I may tie up some of your pattern with some tan marabou on top, under the herl of course. What do you think about that? -- Paul Bloomington, Indiana
  2. Is this pattern all marabou (except the herl and the body)? -- Paul
  3. Accuracy being so important in fishing for largemouth, I've never given much thought to being able to cast a bass bug for a long distance. If one can stay just outside their circle of fear, then that is far enough. Of course, if one is in a float tube, for instance, their circle of fear is a lot smaller than if one is in a Ranger bass boat. At least that's my opinion. -- Paul
  4. Big Daddy you sure stumped me on that one. A WF-DT line is sort of mind boggling and must throw a bug a country mile, and mend well too. --Paul
  5. Toni -- This seems like a pretty expensive toy. A nice toy, but expensive. I would think it might be worth the money for someone who is real serious about designing flies, but perhaps not so much for someone (like me) who almost exclusively ties flies that others have designed. For instance, I can't see myself spending $200 to watch the behaviour of a clouser minnow or a bugger I've just tied. Another notion that strikes me is that many underwater flies, streamers as well as nymphs, are mostly fished dead drift, and the running water of this gadget would be far different from the fly dead-drifting along with the current (in a column of water, sort of like a hot air balloon in column of air) so in effect it is not moving "through" the water. Maybe a sink or bathtub of agitated water would be a better test of how the fly looks in dead drift. Is the hackle too stiff on the bugger, is there enough marabou, for instance. I've never really thought about this sort of testing before, so my reaction may be off the mark. -- Paul
  6. Why is it that folks commonly use charteuse as a smallmouth color for Clousers, yet I've never seen anyone use or recommend (check the above postings, unless I missed something) chartreuse as a color for buggers? Nor have I ever seen any chartreuse buggers in a fly shop. Both Clousers and buggers are critter patterns and both are subsurface, so a good color for one should be a good color for both -- there are no more live chartreuse minnows in the water than there are live chartreuse leeches. I'm planning to tie up some Chartreuse buggers and have a go this season. -- Paul
  7. Cracked hands? Best bet, better than Bag Balm, is Montana Wool Wax, a product manufactured for human hands in bitter cold weather. --Paul
  8. smalliehunter: You said "my stream in Indiana." Why did I think you are located in Canada? --Paul Arnold Bloomington, Indiana
  9. Thanks for the kind words, SmallieHunter. They make a fellow feel good. And thanks for sending to the ad for my book. Makes me feel at home. It's good to be here. Comfortable. -- Paul
  10. Back in the late '90s I wrote a book, "Wisdom of the Guides: Rocky Mountain Trout Guides Talk Fly Fishing." It is a series of interviews of guides and photos I took of them. I interviewed about 30 guides for the book (only 11 made the final cut) and it was one of the wonderful experiences of my life. Among the notables were Gary LaFontaine, Al Troth (inventor of the Elk Hair Caddis) and Mike Lawson. I'm a Midwesterner but I lived in Dillon, Montana, when the book came out and I was there for seven years. Al Troth became a friend of mine, and I had several sessions of watching his production fly tying. Amazing to watch a master at work. The minimum order Al would accept was $500, payment in advance. Way, way out of my league. I have some Elk Hair Caddis he tied (I bought them at a TU banquet in Butte) and they fish all day. I don't know how he does it. I'm a fairly mediocre fisherman but I'm a helluva lot better one for having done those interviews. It was like 30 fishing & tying seminars of two or three hours each with heavy hitters. And darned nice guys. Gary Lafontaine sat in his living room and tied up a nymph to demonstrate a tying technique he was talking about. -- Paul
  11. Nick, I'd be interested and happy to accept your offer if the sizes weren't so large. Commercial tier size. When I get some I'd like a few colors. I need to find a smaller size. Thank, though. -- Paul
  12. I've been reading on this forum about Polar Aire. I'd like to try it. I can't find anyone who sells it. Cabela carries a product called "Polar Fibers." Somebody else sells "Polar Fibres." Are these all the same product, and if not which is the best and where can I buy it? I'm interested in using the material (primarily) on Clouser Minnows. -- Paul
  13. A friend who is an experienced smallie fisherman suggested tying a puff of red marabou at the throat of Clouser Minnows. I tied up a few, with puffs of varying sizes, and they look pretty neat in the water (in my kitchen sink). Truly, there appears to be blood coming from the minnow. As for catching fish, I have no idea. Is this an accepted variation on the Clouser Minnow pattern, or has my friend come up with something entirely new? And does anyone have any thoughts on its effectiveness with smallies? My friend claims that the red is a trigger for them. -- Paul
  14. osprey

    Desk Control

    Here's a trash control method that I learned from watching Al Troth tie. He puts a towel on his lap. The towel collects the tying scraps. He gets rid of the scraps by shaking the towel outside. That's what I do too now, having gone to school on Al. -- Paul
  15. Jim Hester: You say you tie a Clouser Minnow using ostrich herl. Do you add it to the pattern, or do you substitute if for either the top or bottom pinch of bucktail? (Top, here, means the part when the fly is riding hook-upward) -- Paul
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