flytyinfreak

Glad to have you guys in! Its nice that you aren't intimidated by my hogwash and feel up to the task of putting together a great set of flies.

I've been gone for a while with personal issues and upon returning Im trying to get back in touch with a few friends, One of them is Old Hat. The man is a great tyer and solid individual in the community and I just found out that his mail box is full. Is there anyone here that knows him personally? Id really like to get in touch with him, I feel pretty stupid for not reaching out farther and making it more then just a friendship here.

Ive got 4 spots left in my swap and I was hoping this might get the exposure I need to fill it up with 4 top notch thread and feather wrappers.

4 spots left! Come on people,

Lets not forget wind speed/direction, solar positioning, and the environmental factor, There's a reason the single handed spey cast techniques are becoming must have weapons in a fly fisherman's repertoire.

BUMP!!!

I just restarted my blog late this year: http://www.shouldbefishin.com . I decided to get back to writing based on the movie I was in filmed earlier this year. Check out the trailer here: http://www.silofour.com and if you get a chance to go to the International fly fishing film festival hosted at your local cabella's DO IT!

Don't pigeon hole your fishin'. The spot to stand is where the best presentation is achieved. If it requires you to kneel behind a rock and roll cast down and across cac- handed then by all means do so. I was using the last scenario for example only, I didn't have to cakhand the cast, but I did have to roll cast kneeling behind a medium sized rock to get the fish I was after. The point is presentation presentation presentation. I normally fish some fairly technical water in Eastern Idaho/Yellowstone and I've learned first hand its not as simple as being upstream or down, its about being where you need to be to get the fly to the fish so that he will eat it. whats the use of a good drift if the fish won't eat the fly? MY biggest gripe with the upstream casting mindset is that the fish get a look at my fly line and or tippet before they see my fly. This is all based on dry fly fishing. If you want to talk streamers or nymphing that's a different story, fopr a different post.

I noticed the points doohickey under my avatar in a post recently and under that I saw "warning points" under my points and NOT under anybody elses, Whats the story?

Right on! Glad to have you on board Bob, and with one of Polly's patterns no less. He's a legend in my book, a PNW demigod of tying and fishing. awesome.

WOW! I guess there's no love here anymore. bummer

After a bit of an introspective hiatus last year, a couple of days ago I was invited to join a swap by Eastern fly and have decided that I really like you guys and the fun I had in this forum in the past. I had to stop and re-assess my situation here in Eastern Idaho after burying my mother late last year. You guys know how it is, time to look back and look inside, figure out whats worth what and just where and how I need to go and get where I want to be. Heck I still am reeling from the blow the economy dealt me when I found out that carpenters weren't needed anymore! Just when things couldn't get any foggier, my mother ups and dies and throws my whole thought process into a tail spin. Its taken most of twenty 12 to get a grip and get my little grubbies back on the pulse of my passion. Late this summer I was blessed to be included in the making of a fly fishing based film with the blogger "The Fishing Poet", Matt Smythe, and his highly talented photographer friend Grant Taylor. Go to http://silofour.com/ to see the trailer. I met the two through FB a few years ago and when they came out to fish a couple of years a go and reassess their own personal situations, a friendship was cemented and an idea was born. Check out the trailer, its a quality piece of film, and fly fishing/tying is really just the backstory. Its really about much much morre than just fishing, and yet when it comes down to it its all about why we fish.and tye. Its got amazing cinematography even if the joker in the cowboy hat ( me ) screws it all up. There's also a few quick shots of me at the vice tying up a tasty pmd softhackle. The film is a feature at the IF4, International Fly Fishing Film Festival: http://flyfilmfest.com/IF4/ . ITs being shown at a number of Cabella's stores so look for it online and in a cebellas near you in 2013. Th real reason I'm posting this is to let you guys know I am hosting a salmonfly dry swap over in the swaps forum and am looking for a few of my old tying friends to join me. Its good being back and lets see if I can start populating my FTFCurrent , and the new features Will has added in my absence. Its going to be an epic year my friends, and I got a GoPro to record the awesomeness ahead!

Ok here we go, been out of the loop but I figured If'n i was coming back I better go big or not at all! First for the disclaimer: What you are about to read may offend you, Its not vulgar nor foul mouthed. It is straight forward and in all seriousness the way I run my swaps. Some are offended by my direct nature, well bummer, Deal with it. I don't like candy dancin' around what needs to be said and don;t expect others to put up with it out of me. so with that: Big flies catch big fish my friends, and the Salmonflies of the Pacific northwest are about as big and meaty as they come! Anybody who has experienced the hatch knows what I am talking about, I've been on the Henry's fork and heard one of these 6 legged buzzards comin' in on a Kamikaze run over 150 feet away, and the sight of thee bugs stood out like a fighter plane on a suicide run. The fish lose all sanity and become glutinous fiends I once watched a cutty shoot out from under a log to pounce on a fallen salmonfly turn to saunter back under his log , only to turn and attack my fly like a sailor on shore leave. When I finally landed this 18" fish besides the fly I removed this pig had the one in his mouth and 2 YES TWO other full grown Salmonflies still in his throat! His belly felt like he had a load of crayons in his gullet. below is a link to the nymph just to show the size of the bug http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/Pvd3sche/Pteronarcyscalifornica2.jpg RULES: look at the name of my fly and you'll get the idea, nothing smaller than a 3x sz 4 ! Foam and synthetic or feather and fur, heck, whatever you want but make it big make and make it float! First 7 are in, due date will be April One and that ain't no joke! Lets start the New year off with big gnarly bang, This swap will be featured in my blog ( www.shouldbefishin.com when I write about the Salmonfly hatches of Eastern Idaho. Being that this swap IS going in my blog with full credit given to each and every tyer and the forum here, I expect tyes of quality, this ain't no beginners swap, so no half ass-ed attempts or crap will be accepted. Cherny's and such should be in variant form, please nothin plain and simple, NO GUIDE FLIES! The way I see it I tye with integrity and skill so expect others too also. All flies will be photographed in high def beauty shots, so make em purdy people! as Mill's Lane sez, " Lets get it on!" THIS SWAP IS CLOSED!!! 1. Flytyinfreak The big nasty. 2. Piker20 The Goldenrod 3. FishingBobNelson Dark Stone Wet size 4. 4. Gpd4 Somethin big and beefy 5. Jimboha! Hair Wing Tripledecker 6. Eastern fly Whatever he darn well pleases! 7. riffleriversteelheadslayer something cool 8. Jaydub rogue-ish stone

Man! How come nobody tapped my shoulder? I woulda killed it!

Dont need to jam or tie anything to the mono on a tube, tie the tippet to the hook, jam the hook eye up in the hole and swing away! then again on second thought I do recall someone talkin about using a toothpick jammed into the tub end to let the hook ride farther back.

Dont need to jam or tie anything to the mono on a tube, tie the tippet to the hook, jam the hook eye up in the hole and swing away!

Looky what Santa trout brought me for Christmas!!!! Now I can start doin some real tying videos! You tube here I come!

as per the list posted earlier: E. Generally those Intruders tied without weighted eyes swim in a more horizontal plane and exhibit more movement of the fly. If eyes are desired the use of plastic eyes especially Dolls eyes I'm going to use FTD's fisch eyes or maybe mini doll eyes or maybe jungle cock, or perhaps nothin,

I agree, I thought I was missing some steps or something major but I think some of the atricles were including time for heating, straightening the hook, snipping and filing the cut end smooth. This is the first time I have looked at this sort of style so didn't want to be missing some crucial step. @Jam, good links to some flies there. I prefer wadington shanks or Senyo's articulated shanks through Flymen fishing company for my intruders, the wadington shanks are heavier than a nipped hook so i don't HAVE to use chain eyes. I usually just soak the fly to load the fur/wool and start swingin. You know I think I might try an articulated intruder! Yah, that dog'll hunt fer sure. and I'm thinkin probably blue and black with a touch of purple, hmmmm, I guess ya'll will see 'em when you see 'em

One and a half hours a fly for an intruder? WOH! No offense but what you been smokin Willis? I guess if you really were painstaking about how you placed your materials on the shank it might take you tha amount of time. But they really aren't that complicated. OK here is a short concise readers digest version of how to tie an intruder. Start with a shank, attach a 1- 11/2 inch doubled up length of fire wire or bite tippet which supports an appropriate size circle/octopus hook. now for the shank, from back to front: dubbing ball of UV or other "hot spot" 2-3 wraps of saddle hackle or schlappen, then some longer hackle like emu or ostrich9 like 4-6 feathers, Now an accent hackle of some kind, not dry fly length maybe a bit longer, wrap the shank with some flash cover up an inch or so, palmer the shortish hackle forward and tie off. now the head another dubbing ball. this ball is to help the forward ostrich/emu to stand up and out. I then use spey hackle and or a single sided marabou feather then a good hank of fur. over that another schlappen feather wrapped 2-3 times a couple of accent euro hackle feathers tied in long. now some chain eyes cover with a good thick head of fur and or dubbing and BAM! fish on! Sorry if I'm harshin your groove piker didn't mean to , To me intruders are great becasue the look big without actually being dense. and heck once you figure them out they really are pretty simple. dont get me wrong you can make them quite complicated but I just dont think that Ed Ward or the other steelheaders had that in mind when they invented the fly. Here's a simplified diagram I scribbled out to show the anatomy of an intruder

I do believe I'll stick with a good winter combo and do a black and purple.

Thanks for the welcome, And you sir are one of the reasons I decide to participate. In the past I've received some suspect tyes, but I believe You and the other tyers here have a high standard where flies are concerned. Let the fur/feather fly my friends. Besides I can't turn my good tyin friend Kevin, that guy is awesome!

Alrighty then! Kevin has pulled me back in from the dark recess' of my east Idaho tying room to get in on some 'truders, I'm in and will sendin' in one of my freakstyle specials. I'm hopin' you gents bring your A game cuz I definitely will be bringin' mine!

Don't know why the pic wont show up, but here's the gang all ready to go