utyer

Now for a favorite still water leach I have had plenty of success with. Thread NYMO 3/0, Tail and body, is a synthetic brushed out yarn long ago discontinued, can't even remember the name of it. I have 2 colors and they will outlast me. Brush it out after tying and it looks like hell. but after a little soak it looks much better.

Mill Creek That stone fly is a great looking fly. I will have to tie a few before I go to Idaho next spring. Thanks for the fly offer, but I am still in tying mode. I too give more flies away than I use any more. I have given up fishing the inshore lagoons around the Cape, and now fish either the surf, or the St John River for the winter Shad run. January and February are the only months that I get to wade in a river or stream around here,

Another alternative material. This one came imported from Chili. First the flies I used the material on. The material. For those of you who don't do the grocery shopping, this is the bag my Oranges came in.

I think the problem is not understanding the jaw adjustment properly. All Dyna-King vises have a detent in the lever that pops into place as the lever is rotated up to close on the hook. You need to learn you to preset your collar to leave just a little gap. When you have it right the jaws hold tight as the detent pops in. I got a Dyna-King Sidewinder about 25 years ago, and the forcing cone had been damages by the previous owner. He was trying to tighten the forcing cone before closing the lever. Dyna-King sent me a new cone at no charge, and the vise has worked fine ever since. I traded a Regal for it.

I have been doing a lot of tying lately, but not much posting of these flies. I don't hunt, and fishing will wait until it cools off some. There is always something getting in my way., like lawn mowing, or should I say weed mowing.

MillCreek, you have already gotten the ONLY answer you need from the Sea Run Cuts. I agree with niveker, that your patterns do have a lot of movement. What others say here matters very little. What the fish say is the important thing.

The Mustad hook S70-3399 has these specifications: Sproat bend, down eye, 2X strong wire, micro barb, bronzed; Uses: nymph. Equivalent to Mustad Classic 3399 hook. It is a heavy hook 2X strong indicates a hook that used a wire 2 times heavier than a standard hook. If your tying foam bugs, then this hook can work since the foam will float it. The standard Mustad dry fly hook is the R50-94840 with these specifications: Round bend, down eye, micro barb, bronzed; Uses: Classic dry fly. Equivalent to Mustad Classic 94840 hook. Notice the lack of information about wire size. That means this is a standard wire hook. The Mustad R30-94833 is a dry fly hook with these specifications. Round bend, down eye, 2X fine wire, micro barb, bronzed; Uses: light dry fly. Equivalent to Mustad Classic 94833 hook. The 2X fine wire means this hook uses a wire that is 2 times lighter than standard. The best way to find equivalent hooks from other brands it to compare the specifications of the hooks. Most good shops that sell hooks will give a good set of specification for each hook. The closest hook to your Mustad S70-3399 from Daiichi would be either the 1530 or 1560.. The 1530 is the 2XHeavy, and has a slightly shorter shank length. The 1560 is their standard nymph hook and is a 1XLong. and 1XHeavy. This Tiemco Hook catalogTMCFlyHooksCatalog_EN.pdf will show you most of their hook with a list of features and uses. When you look at comparison chart, there are many hooks including the S70-3399 that won't be found on a lot of charts.

For about 45 years, I tied on tables that were about 27 to 29" high. I built an enclosed tying table in a 90" closet and that too was at 27. There were 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood that gave me a base, and then and extending slide out tying area. Then I started painting watercolors, and needed a higher table for that. I put 9" rise from the base, and put the tying shelf on that. Currently my vise goes on at a level of 33." The Norvise then rotates at 40" and tying is fairly comfortable with just a standard office chair. If your starting at 40 for the table, you will end up higher at the tying level. An adjustable stool would let you work with a comfortable approach to the vise.

DerrillP: The gills are White Gutermann Bulky Nylon. It folded into 4 pieces and pulled through the bead with a loop of 4# mono, then the tags are tied down under the thoraxes.

Made a few midge patterns for an upcoming trip this fall. Had to stop using my Regal vise. The opening lever caused my right hand fingers to cramp up. The red ones, use a "secret" material that I harvest out of old earbud cords. Lost of very fine red, brass, and other colored wire in them. The wire is even finer than my thread. I think the ones with blue ribs will be a match for the Blue Ridge midge. but that's not where I am going.

All these patterns will catch plenty of fish: and while these and many more are tied without legs, there are some patterns that MUST have legs like A Pat's Rubber Leg,. Or a Brooks Stonefly Nymph. In general very small nymphs can be effective without legs. Large nymph will work better with legs. Fish can't count at least not yet. On a dry fly, you wrap hackle which may appear as legs to the fish, but the real purpose of the hackle is to float the fly on or in the surface with the spread of hackle. There is only one surefire way to know, and that is to put your flies past the fish in a natural way, and see if they like them.

I see this question asked a lot. Several years ago, I compiled a spreadsheet with all the everything a novice would need to get started. I have now updated the spreadsheet with current prices. I started with a $50.00 import Regal knock-off vise, and 2 pairs of scissors, Whip finisher, 2 ceramic bobbins, a hair stacker and 2 Hackle Pliers. total came to $100.63 The hooks I used were Umpqua U series in 8 models. There were 800 hooks in 2 sizes of each style of hook. Total was $119.10 Thread, wire, tinsel, beads, and 21 other materials came to $178.40 Grand total was $398.13. This assortment of hooks and materials was designed to tie 800 assorted flies, and the cost per fly came out to $0.50. If anyone is interested, in seeing this spreadsheet, send me a PM, and I will share. if you would review and give me feedback and comments about the contents. I set it up so that it is focused on Trout fly tying, and covers all the supplies and materials for my course.

Nice couple of nymphs niveker. I am getting ready for a fall trip to Utah. So I have been tying some trout flies. There should be some caddis flies in their homes for the winter by then.

I didn't mean to imply that the Standard SHHAN isn't the best, just that SH has "caught on" and created more expensive products to sell to fly tiers.

I notice that Sally Hansen has "caught on," and is now selling "Dries Instantly topcoat" for $4.99 for the same .45 oz. bottle. Still a very good option.

I use dollar store nail polish, and Rod Dancer water based rod varnish, I don't like messing with CA or UV glues at all.

If the jaws are touching the hook before closing, you may have the jaws adjusted too tight. There is a detent in the closing lever that should pop into place as you close the jaws, and I never have the jaws touching the hook before closing. Check that your adjusting the jaws so the detent pops into place as you close.

OK, a "virtual swap" is a good idea. I will play. I have had to give up on fishing the Indian River flats since they became so dirty, but this was a pattern that I used with good results. It works not only in the flats but in the Surf and fresh water as well. I tie it in all kinds of colors and sizes. The bodies on these are built up with layers of yarn or flattened heavy monofilament into the minnow shape. Then I use Sulky Hollowshimmer to add the tail fibers, and wrap the body. Stick on eyes, and coat with 3 coats of rod varnish. They are tied on the longest hooks I can find. So far, I have caught 8 different species of fish with them. All the common flats fish in FL including Tarpon, Reds, Snook, Sea Trout, and Lady fish.

When I lived on Long Island, we had a hurricane that brought 5 large tree limbs down on and around the house. Minimal damage to the house, but the cleanup took days. That was before 1957 when we moved west. Same thing 2 or 3 years ago in Florida, limbs falling all around us, clean up took almost a week. We have been lucky, and have had 5 trees removed, and major trimming done on the 2 that are left. Lately, no real problems from tropical storms, or hurricanes. Yes, stay safe Norm. Hope you have no troubles.

I have copies of both these books, and Leisenring-Hidy book is by far the better of the two. I still have the receipt for The Art of Tying the Wet Fly & Fishing the Flymph. With my employee discount, I paid $3.60 for it in 1975. I learned more from this small book than any of the other books I had purchased.

This is an old thread, but it explains why I don't use any wire from "fly tying" outlets. I get all my wire from old electrical wiring, and electronics cables I have a lifetime supply of 38 gauged copper that I got from an electrical supply store 40 years ago. I still have 2/3rds of it left.

I have not fished up in Erie since 2009, but when I was up there, egg patterns or sucker spawn patterns were popular. I have used sucker spawn, both in Eria, and on the Pere Marquette for Steelhead and Salmon. I would think that pink and white egg yarns would be the material to start with.

I use a formula for leaders I got out of Flyfisherman Magazine about 40 years ago. I made a spread sheet to make the calculations easy. I use Berkley Big game for my first several sections and switch to Fluorocarbon for the last 2. I get good turnover from these, and they are seriously cheap. Even with Fluorocarbon sections my total cost in a 9' leader is less than 40 cents. If anyone is instrested, I can share that spreadsheet.

Very nice little stream, and an even nicer net. Good work.

Mine is a Sage RPLX that I built from a blank 2 days before I went to Mexico for my first Salt Water flats fishing adventure in 1989. In a hurry, I coated the guide wraps with 5 minute epoxy rather than Flex Coat. The rod performed perfectly well on the trip to Mexico and l landed a 14# Snook with it, along with almost 100 other fish. Since it was holding up well, I used it for the next 29 years. Fished it for landlocked Kings in Michigan, Steelhead in PA, trout in Idaho, Wyoming and Utah, finally started fishing the Saltwater flats again in 2013, and it was still going strong. In 2018, I was setting up for another day with it, and notices a lot of cracked coating on the guides. One dropped off (which I couldn't find.) I had a second rod that I used that day, and after fishing stopped by Mud Hole on the way back home. They had the matching Ti Gold replacement guide I needed. At home I looked through the threads I still had, and I had just 2 spools of the 'rainbow' Herters thread left. Rewrapped the whole rod, and its set for another 29 years.