Sagittarius62

I have never been in a swap here at FTF, but I have been in a few at FAOL. I would like to get in in this one if I could.

Got my copy today, and may I say congratulations to all involved on a job well done. The in depth discussion of the why's and hows of tying flies is very entertaining and informative.

As another option you can tie off the thread behind the cone, jam the cone back tight against the body, reattach the thread in front of the cone, and build a tapered thread head.

Anvil Ice for lefties! :headbang:

I had the good fortune to place an order from Mr. Helm a few months back. Along with my order I got a nice patch of his natural deer hair, and a solid thirty minute tutorial over the phone (We talked about every concept discussed in the interview regarding deer hair tying). People like him are what make the fly tying, and fly fishing community as great as it is.

When people ask me how I got started tying, I credit two main resources, that really got me kick started. Al Campbell's series at FAOL, and Fly Tying: The Angler's Art shows available online. Nothing like actually seeing someone demonstrate a new technique. Hope you enjoy them.

Here is one.

Serendipity

Here is another

Serendipity

There is also a video available here. Bottom of the page.

Fly Tying: The Angler's Art

 

Google is a wonderful thing.

 

Scott Seymour in his book From Field To Fly, recommends white gasoline AKA camp fuel, as a degreaser. I have only used it on fresh skins, but maybe if you soaked this skin in soapy water a bit to soften it, then scraped it a bit after it softens to get rid of the larger grease globs. Next submerge it in the camp fuel for no more than 5 minutes, squeeze out the excess, and rinse in cool soapy water and redry it. Might work.

Nice looking fly, and I really dig the soundtrack. :yahoo:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Russell Blessing tied the original Wooly Bugger in black to imitate a hellgrammite, to catch Pennsylvannia smallmouth. So even before the Bugger permutated into the hundreds of variations that it has, it was catching bass, and still does. Speaking of variations, look up the Bow River Bugger, smallies love 'em.

Congratulations Will. I'll be waiting by the mailbox!

I carry two must haves for smallie fishing here in northern NY. Harry Murray's Strymph in olive and black, and Clousers in black/chartreuse/white. In fact, other than a few other occasional patterns, that is about all I use.

I have read Geirach's writing about grayling fishing in high elevation western mountain lakes. He seems to have somewhat of a thing for them. The fish he wrote about seemed to be long forgotten ancestors of planted fish as I remember. They aren't native to the mountain west are they?

Sally's Beauty Supply sells the double edged blades. Also industrial strength hair bleach that will turn almost any fur blonde. Great for dyeing dark fur lighter colors.

TU Brook Trout Page Here is some info regarding efforts to improve the plight of our little speckled friends.

I did find one Lake Ontario steelhead fisherman's website were he included the Fall Favorite as one of his go to flies, so I feel good about including it in this swap. Tying it "down" sounds like good advice. I think using this hook will do the job.

This is only my fourth season fly fishing. Like many others I spent countless hours of my youth flinging bait and lures at warmwater fish. Girls, college and work got in the way for many years. then I just thought I would give the fly rod a try. Started tying just this past winter. My spinning rods collect dust now. Recently my wife expressed and interest in fly fishing, she was a dedicated worm fisher until then. Now, I am spending most of my time helping her learn. Boy is she starting with a handicap.

Actually this will be my first atempt at a steelhead fly. It will be for a swap on another board. That being said, I am definitely not a display caliber tyer. I plan to take my first shot at steelhead this fall on the Salmon River here in NY, which can be to my understanding anything from very low and clear to cafe au lait, and surging depending on the fall rains. My plan is to target a couple of the Salmon river tribs to stay away from the crowds on the main river. The strategy as I see it will be to watch the weather, and wait for a good November rain, to raise the water levels in the tribs. This apparently causes the fish to push up into the smaller tributaries temporarily. I live about 3 to 4 hours away, so a quick over night trip to react to the conditions is doable. To make a long story short, maybe the schlappen is the way to go. The prevailing flies used by most steelheaders here on the Great Lakes seem to be eggs, green rockworms, or various flashy buggers, but the other swappers beat me to those types pf patterns, so I thought this fly might bring a little variety to the swap.

As I said, the eyes and legs are optional, though I believe rubber legs are a good feature of many warmwater flies. If you are strapped for cash, or far from a fly shop, two conditions I mostly always am, the rubber strands that are the meat and potatoes of most bungee straps make excellent leg material. Some have flat rubber in them, so look at the end that is exposed at the knot that secures the hook at the business end of the bungee strap. Dollar store ones usually fit the bill. You will usually find white and black round rubber, though other colors sometimes are found. of course some Sharpie work will make the white ones any color you want. Fabric stores like Joanns sell small packs of doll eyes for about 59 cents.

HairyMara Slider Uses marabou, and deer hair. If you have a bungee cord laying around you have enough rubber leg material to tie a thousand of them. The eyes and legs are optional anyway. Though I believe in rubber legs!

Thanks again. I will look at those two options.

Howard,

 

Thank you for your reply. I don't have any red hackle, but I am going to buy some. Not wanting to invest a ton of $ in a hackle I will not use very often, I was looking at less expensive options. Would the dyed strung saddle hackle be sufficient for a fly of this size?

When tying something like the Fall Favorite, in say a size 2 or 4, would schlappen be as good or better than saddle hackle?

Brassie Hair Packer Scroll down the page a bit.

Yes, the live classes here look great. Unfortunately I haven't been able to catch one yet.