utyer

Put me on the list.

I remember the "Old Days" as Hairstacker put it, there were no synthetic dubbings. We had furs, hides, hairs feathers, tinsel, wire, thread, and hooks. Wool yarn (sheep fur) was commonly used right off the skein. As most of the old standard patterns were developed, these natural hairs, feathers, and furs were used in the recipes. So when a pattern called for some grey body material, muskrat was a good choice. Patterns calling for urine stained fox needed just that naturally occurring shade of pink in them. In the really old days, you had to gather your own muskrat, fox, etc before tying. Many patterns called for hair or fur from domestic animals. This would have been combed from the animals. We are fortunate in this day and age to have many options for dubbing. Not only do we have a much wider range of colors available, but there are natural fur dubbings synthetic dubbings, and blended dubbing to meet our tying needs. Natural fur and blended dubbings containing guard hairs, are most commonly used for wet flies, and nymph patterns. Synthetic dubbings come with various amounts of sparkle in the blend from no sparkle to all sparkle. They also come in degrees of texture from very course to extremely fine. Some have oils blended in to make them float better. When you’re tying for your self, it makes little difference what you use; you are trying to match the essence of a pattern, not the exact materials used at the time a given pattern was created. It’s always nice to lean on the proven patterns, most have lasted the test of time because they produce. They work not because of the materials used, but because they present an effective enough representation to the fish of FOOD. There are no fish out there that know or care what the fly is tied from, they only get the impression that it looks good enough to eat. It doesn't matter if you trekked across the frozen tundra for three days to comb the fur from the butt of a yak with a bladder condition, or if you bought some pink baby yarn a mixed it with a little rabbit. If the fish hit your fly, it’s working. That’s ALL that matters. I don't give a rat’s ass (another hard to find material) where the dubbing came from, if the fish like the fly, you win. Much of the natural stuff fly tiers have been so fond of using is becoming scarce, or endangered, more expensive, or protected anyway, so feel free to use what ever commonly available substitutes you want. Don’t get all hung up on what materials some patterns call for. The goal is to tie flies that fish will hit. Anything you find that works is good. Feel free to tweak any pattern you want in any way you want. Create your own patterns, if they work for you tie more, if they don’t try new ones. Be inventive, and have fun. There are NO rules, only guidelines.

Not really sure, but I think a 12 light wire hook. I just picked one up from my box of unsorted hooks.

Western nymph collection could include, Copper John, Prince, StoneFly, Brassie, Sparkle caddis, damsel nymph, Dry flies for the west, could include Western Green Drake, Pale Morning Dun. H & L variant, Adams, Royal Wulff, Stimulater, Hopper. Eastern dries could include a Green Drake, (these are MUCH different than the Western Green Drakes,) Sulphurs. Blue Quill, Hendricksons. March Browns (both dry and wet,) Light Cahill. A good theme display would be a life cycle display of all the different stages of one insect. Nypmh, emerger, dun spinner, cripple. There are many different patterns for just the dun stage of just a Pale Morning Dun for instance. Light cahill patterns are used across the country in different sizes for matching entirely different hatches, Try a display of just Cahills. They come in creams, yellows, pinks orange, and really light olives. By that I mean the basic color of the body is altered by just a little bit of these different colors. Western patterns would use a hair wing, while Eastern patterns would use wood duck or mallard wings. Try a dry fly display of just one Fly, in all the different ways the wings could be tied. Hackle tips, hair wing, loop wing, cut wing rolled wings etc.

Here is another one. Only peacock herl and thread this time. Kind of a tellico nymph.

I have an entry a couple of them but one per post right? First is a brassie tied with copper wire as the thread, and peacock herl all from the same eyed tail feather. Just three flues were used. It's on a size 20 Tiemco 2488 hook. A little UV glue will turn the head into a fine bead.

I got mine last year the day after Christmas at half price. Don't wait any longer than that, the stores start getting rid of the left over stuff pretty quickly.

I have two of the origional bobbins made when Gudebrod first started making these threads. I have exactly ONE spool of thread. If you want one or both of my Gudebrod bobbins, PM me and we can work something out to cover shipping. I'll even throw in the 3/0 Olive thread.

I have used them for flies, a shop I worked for stocked a couple of dry fly styies. Extreamly sharp, and I like them They are hard to find.Feather-Craft, and Netcraft both have them online. Cabelas only sells a few saltwater models. I keep hoping they get better distribution in fly shops.

I thought I had added a reply last year, but I didn't find it, so here goes. I first discovered my dads fly tying stuff in 1955. He had a bunch of feathers and hair that looked like they were for tying up bass and shad flies. There was also a Herters Catalog. He must have given me some kind of instruction, but I don't remember much. I do remember making floatant by melting parafin wax into something like naptha or cleaning fluid and dipping flies into that. I tied up some pretty weird stuff back then, don't have any of those flies, but I still tie up some pretty weird stuff now and then. I started tying in earnest in 1965 after spending my first summer working in Jackson Hole and buying flies. They were all of .50 back then. My only instructions were from the Wise Fisherman's Encyclopedia. By the next summer, I was tying all of my own flies, and selling flies to my co-workers. I got a book on Flies (Leonards,) the next summer for my birthday. I still have that book, and about 130 more. I have been tying steadily since, so that makes over 50 years, but really 48 steady years of tying.

These should all work, but I do see a few things you could work on. The tail on your humphy could be a little sparcer. Try about half as much hair, and try moose body for the tail. That makes it easier to seperate the tail from the hump back. Your red spinner looks like you used the but ends of some hair for the wing. I agree that some of your bodies are a little long, so work on that. The wooly bugger could use a fuller tail. Your hairs ear, would be better tied on a 1 or 2 extra long hook. Work on a thinner abdomen on this, and a fuller thorax.

For the money, its pretty hard to beat the Griffin vises. Check the web site http://www.griffinenterprisesinc.com/vises.html for a look at other models. The Superior has a pedistal option, and is also a rotational vise. The Montana Pro kit includes all the basic tools, and comes with a pedistal, for less than $130.00. Its NOT a rotating vise, but that may not be a feature you will need. Griffins are some of the best vises out there in their price range. No, I am not affiliated in any way, but I have tied on them, and sold them in the past. Never had a complaint.

Uniontown, here. I fish Fayette and Somerset Counties, and the Erie tribs when I fish instate. Im from Utah, and head back out west two or three times a year. I have friends and relatives in Utah to stay with, and from there we head for Idaho, or Wyoming.

There isn't a single feather on a Ringneck that can't be used on some fly. Aftershafts, fluff (maraboo) Church window neck for soft hackles, Tails obviously, wings, coverts, rump every feather can be put to use. I even use the neck ring feathers. I am lucky enough to know a few guys that hunt, and can usually trade a full skin or two every year for a few dozen flies. Jack Gartside has tons of patterns tied just from pheasants. Look up his web site.

I got my copy of Fly Tyer in the mail today, and the winners and places were posted. The only picture was of the tie breaker fly done by the winner. A full article will appear in the spring issue. I won't steal their thunder, you can read for your self.

First of all, why are you tying flies? Are you tying flies to fish with, or do you want to craft and display fancy flies? Of course, there is no reason you can't do both, but there is a difference in fishing flies, and display flies. Flies that you fish with, tend to get damaged and lost pretty quickly. For that reason, fishing flies should be quick to tie, and use relativly inexpensive materials. You want to be able to tie up a "day's worth" the night before you go fishing, and may of these will be lost or destroyed before you get back. Display flies on the other hand ususally require more expensive materials, and more time to tie. The search for just the right feathers may take some time and can run up some serious money. Even if you plan on tying fishing flies, display flies are great for skill building. There are just so many directions you could go with display flies, you may never learn everything there is to know. Since you listed an Adams and Griffith Gnat as "basics," I would assume that your planning to fish with your flies. If that is the case, then you need to tie more basic patterns for the fish in your area. Some of the more basic and very usefull paterns in most areas are: Pheasant Tails nymphs, Gold Ribbed Hare's Ears, Wooly Buggers (black, brown, olive,) Tie up some Copper Johns, and midge nymphs. Prince nymphs, stonefly nymphs, and caddis larva are also good to learn. As for more dry flies, learn a good simple elk hair caddis pattern, the adams type of fly tied with different body and hackle colors (green, tan, cream, black, brown) will take you a long way and catch you plenty of fish. The whole Wuff series of flies are good in the west as is the Goofus Bug. Learn a PMD (Pale Morning Dun) pattern. These flies are common in most trout streams, but they come in a variety of shades of olive from light creamy olive, to golden olive, to dark green. My favorite type of pattern for matching the hatches is the Compara dun. This pattern uses some hackle fibers for a tail, almost any color of dubbing for a body, and deer hair for the wings. There is no expensive (dry fly) hackle used. They are quick to tie, and can be tied in any color or size to match most any mayfly. You can substitued some "zlon" for the tail to create what is known as a sparkle dun. The zlon mimics the trailing nymph shuck on a hatching insect so it presents a "struggling cripple" to the fish. Find a good fly shop, and pickup the basic materials to tie up the above mentioned flies. You would need nymph dubbing, and dry fly dubbing in an assortment of colors, Chenille in black olive and brown. Maraboo in the same colors. Some inexpensive saddle capes in Grizzly Black Brown Olive. You have Grizzly and Brown dry fly hackle (your tying Adams, and Griffiths.) Add to that a dry fly neck in Dun gray, and Ginger. Deer body hair for comparaduns, and elk hair caddis. Get a Pheasant tails and some peacock herl. you can salvage copper wire from a lot of different electrical cords. Look for multi strand cords. PM me your addy, and I will send you some copper, I have plenty of fine and heavier wires. Last bit of advise, get thee to a Library. They have plenty of books on fly tying, and with inter-library loan programs, you can find almost any book you want. There is plenty of material out there, you'll never run out of good books.

No matter what hooks you end up buying, you need to pay attention to the characteristics of the specific models you are getting. ALL brands of hooks sell fine, standard, and heavier wire hooks. Look for these designations on the hook description, 1xf = 1 extra fine wire. Good for floating flies. 1xh = 1 extra heavy wire. Used mostly on hooks for sinking flies. 2xh = 2 extra heavy wire. Used on sinking flies for larger fish like salmon and steelhead. If you look hard enough, you can also find some 4 xh hooks (from Mustad Signature hooks.) This link is to a page of descriptions of Eagle Claw fly tying hooks. Read the descriptions and you will see the wire sizes. Look at the L055 and L056 hooks. Same shape, but one is stronger than the other. Both are sold in 100 packs. Eagle Claw fly hooks When you are done looking at the Eagle Claw hooks browse through the descriptions for other brands. When you see designations like 1xf or 1xh or 1xl (long) 2xl (long) that means the wire is the same as the wire from the next size hook up or down, or in the case of long hooks, the shank is equal to a hook one, two three or four sizes longer. Reading over the hooks descriptions, you will quicky learn, that there are plenty of different models to choose from, each different is some way.

Years ago, I replace the jaws on my Tompson Pro with a midge set. I had to drill out the rivit, and I just used a 16 or 8 penny nail from then on so I could easily switch the jaws. I ground the nail down to about an inch and a half, and protruding end made a good materail hanger. I just passed this vise down to my nephew, and its still working fine.

Really getting it down to the essentials, all of these last set of flies from you are very nice. Economical use of time and materials. I would think the fish will respond well to all these. Great stuff.

Don't forget to tie some Griffith Gnats. Sizes 18 to 24, and some Syl's Midges in size 16, 18, and 20. The Griffiths is my most successful midge pattern, followed by the brassy. I never head to the stream without these two patterns.

You have posted a BUNCH of really nice patterns in just a few days. All different and very origional flies to be sure. Well tied they all look like fish getters, keep em coming. These are all great.

Whats in a name, take a light cahill for instance. This pattern can be used to represent several different mayflies of different sizes, and they hatch at different times. As adults, they will all be some shade of light cream, and will all be called some sort of cahill. These mayfiles have different hatching behaviors, some will hatch at the surface, and some will emerge subsurface or near the bottom. Different nymphs and ways of fishing those nymphs will be necessary. Knowing the genus and species is the only way for an angler to cut through the confusing array of insects called cahills. It pays you to know the scientific name and properly identify just what insect you’re imitating. Even scientific names are confusing. Biologists are now using DNA to re classify many insects. Insects are being assigned to new or different genera, and in some cases species names are changing. The Ephemerella infrequens (the PMD in the West) and Ephemerella dorothea (Sulfur in the east) are now both classified as Ephemerella dorothea. The sub-species infrequens is used on the PMD, and a second dorothea designation is given to the Sulfur. In some cases, what we may know as different species, are now classified as the same species. What we once knew as Stenonema fuscum and Stenonema vicarium, are both now classified Maccaffertium vicarium. Here is a link to updated taxonomic information. http://www.flyfishingentomology.com/Update...atches%20II.htm Many of your older books that make scientific designation will need to be updated with these new designations.

Most of my lake flies are mohair leaches. Works well for me on cutts and rainbows. Rarely use anything else.

Those look like turkey flats. The center section of the tips would make fan wings. The rest of the tip would make good throat hackle, and the marabou for what ever you would use marabou in.

A pheasant tail is a pretty good nymph for the Baetis species (BWO.) Other genera (types) of mayflies are also called the same thing by fishermen. A hares ear will be a good nymph for some of these. These are both must have nymphs. As they are "close enough" to imitate many nymphs. Pheasant tail nymphs will have a slimmer and darker overall profile, and the hares ear will be thicker and lighter. Both materials can be found died in different colors so by tying just these two patterns in different colors, you can imitate a wide variety of nymphs. If you do a little stream sampling, you will find that many nymphs show a much lighter color on the under side than the top. When your fishing nymphs right on the bottom, you would want to use an imitation that would match the top of the natural. When your fishing a rising nymph, or just under the surface, you would want to imitate the under side color. Emergers should be tied to show the under side color of the nymph. I use both a hares ear (fur) nymph and the pheasant tail to imitate the Baetis species. One for fishing deep, and one for just under or in the surface film.