RexW

Nice tie.

Happy Fourth of July! "American Flag" Salmon fly (more or less ) Hook: Alec Jackson size 1.5 Tag: Silver small and red silk Tail: Red Am. Pheasant crest Butt: White ostrich herl Body: Blue silk Ribs: Silver med and white silk Throat: Red and white hackle Wings: Red and white goose Cheeks: Blue guinea and Jungle fowl This one exceeded my current skill level, but I'm still proud of it and what it stands for. 🙂

I may be the only person who finds this interesting, but I'm amazed at the colors and quality of today's hackle. Here's a quick comparison of a couple of Cree saddles. One was inherited from another tier. It is a Metz grade 2. I have no idea how old this saddle is, but the retail price was only $8.00. It's been a long time since since you could buy a Cree saddle for only $8. The other is a current generation Whiting Herbert Miner series Pro grade Cree saddle. I got it through the shear dumb luck of being at my local shop when it arrived. Two major differences are color and length. The colors of the new saddle are much brighter with very distinct separation of each color. By itself, the old one looks good, but along side the new one, the colors are more muted and blurred. The first photo shows the old Metz on the left and the new Whiting on the right. The barring appearance on the Whiting is much more defined. The second photo shows the length difference. The Whiting is twice the length of the older Metz. A Metz cape of similar generation (but, I think it is newer than the saddle) is also included for comparison. Anyway, I was just surprised at how much difference there is between these two saddles. Wow! The quality of the hackles that we have available today is significantly better than previous fly tier's had to work with. Life is good.

For Memorial Day

Thanks Guys

"March Brown" Salmon Fly - Round two Second attempt at this pattern. I completely misjudged the body color produced by silver monkey and "rusty orange" seal fur dubbing. Fortunately, Mark had an example of the real thing. Thanks for the help! I still don't have any either of these materials, but it is shedding season and the color looks pretty close... I still need to work on my feather wing technique, but I'm much happier with this one than the first attempt. Per Kelson's recipe: Tag: Gold oval tinsel Tail: GP topping Body: Weimaraner (Yep, Chuck stood still too long... ) Rib: Gold oval tinsel Throat: Partridge hackle Wings: Mottled Turkey

Very nice!

Mark, thank you. This is extremely useful. The recipe was taken from Frodin's book: "Body: Silver monkey's fur and a little dirty-orange seal's fur, mixed together". Based on that description, I was expecting more of gray-brown color, but your example is very tan colored. Thanks again for the help.

Thanks Flytire. I have another version of this pattern's recipe that uses Hare's Ear for the body and the tag goes from the barb to the point. I may try that version next. It has been both fascinating and frustrating how a seemingly subtle change such as using medium size tinsel instead of small size makes a big difference in the final "look" of the fly. I have a lot of respect for the folks that are good at this style of tying. But these flies are fun to tie.

Thanks Guys, these are fun flies to learn to tie, but humbling to photograph and enlarge.

"March Brown" Salmon Fly - more or less This Salmon pattern has been around since the 18th century. OK, my fly has a lot of problems, but I tried several new techniques and materials. The Tag would look better at twice the length. The Tail is way too long and at a weird angle (had trouble with the tag kicking it up). The wing is too short. This is widest all-turkey wing that I've done and it "shrunk" more than I expected when tied in. The rib spacing has issues, especially the 4th and 5th. First time to use partridge for a throat and it would look better with one less wrap, But, wow, it was easy to make throat with partridge. I need to work with it more. I'm sure there are other issues that I've missed. But, I'm still having fun tying them. Per Kelson's recipe: Tag: Gold oval tinsel Tail: GP topping Body: Well... Kelson used a mixture of monkey and seal fur, but I don't have either of those. So, I just used some synthetic dubbing that I do have. Rib: Gold oval tinsel Throat: Partridge hackle Wings: Mottled Turkey

Wow! There were some good flies posted today. The "Garcia's Mini Hot", the "Quill Gordon", and everything Kimo posts are really nice today. Mark, those baitfish patterns are nice. That is a tying style that I do not know how to do. Well done.

I usually give these away, but I tied this one for my own hat. "Claret & Black" (sort of...) Hook: Hat pin style Tag: Oval gold tinsel and red floss, sub'ed for claret Tail: Indian Crow sub Butt: Black ostrich Rib: Oval gold tinsel Body: Red floss and red dubbing, sub'ed for claret Body hackle: Black Throat: Supposed to be widgeon, but the bag wasn't labeled, so, who knows... Wing: Black goose Cheek: Jungle Cock feather

Some nice flies arrived today. Thanks everyone!

Thanks, I agree completely. The black went on OK, it's the under body that needs work. This one started as a practice for building a tapered under body with the intention of cutting it off and never finishing the fly. Instead, I ended up finishing the fly. Since I wasn't planning to finish a fly, I was too sloppy making the under body smooth. I am glad that I did finish the fly because I learned a lot more by tying the full fly. Next time, in addition to making the under body smoother and more even, I have a low spot in front of the tail, and I need to move the thickest portion of the body further away from the eye (the front taper on this one gets hidden by the wing and throat). My original goal was an "Oatman" style body shape. That is one thing I love about fly tying, there is always a new technique or pattern learn. Of course, learning how to do the technique is just the start, then you have to learn how to make it look good.

"Blue Lady" First attempt at a tapered, "cigar shaped" body. Need to smooth it out more, but overall, not too bad for a first attempt. Tag: Oval silver tinsel Tail: Yellow hackle Rib: Oval silver tinsel Body: Black silk Throat: Kingfisher blue hackle Wing: Blue dyed grey squirrel tail Cheeks: Jungle-cock feather

My flies are in the mail.

Found time today to finish the "Rusty Rats" for the Steelhead swap.

The "Rusty Rats" are ready. I'll get to the post office in a few days.

For bass bug tails, Whiting's 4B capes and saddles are less expensive. The feathers are similar, but shorter and softer than the American series. I have not found a lot of variation of price for American capes. But, occasionally, I have found certain colors on sale. Just have to check multiple fly shop web pages to find them. The last ones I bought on sale were from J Stockard. Good luck.

"Rusty Rat"

Here's an example of the fly I'll tie for the swap, but the next ones will use larger tinsel. "Rusty Rat"

If a "Rusty Rat" is acceptable, I'll tie it.

I will join with a TBD. I will post a pattern soon. Due date is May 1, right? Not sure if I will be able to go to a post office before late April. Wow, this is the first time I've ever been worried about when I will be able to mail something for a swap.

Haven’t been tying much recently and it shows in the head, but I like the colors in this pattern. “Night Rider” - a Scandinavian pattern by Jan Furuly Tag: Silver oval tinsel and red silk Tail: Yellow silk Body: Black silk Rib: Red oval tinsel Throat: Green hackle Wing: Underwing of purple synthetic hair & Black squirrel Cheeks: Jungle cock