SnagmasterQueedo

Hey Guys, I thought of something. When/if someone catches a fish on another's fly wouldn't it be great if they posted the pic on here or at least told about it? As soon as I can go fishing i'll take the flies and see what I can do and then post on here.

I would wet the tip of the marabou so that it comes to a nice point then tie that in to the shank. You can then wind it forward while strokeing it back for hackle. Since marabou so quickly turns into a thick stem in this way you won't get into the thick stem part any further than you have to. You might also try splitting the marabou stem so that your only dealing with a 1/2 stem and one side of the marabou so it won't be so thick.

Not bad at all Fishaholic. Finishing the heads are pretty difficult since the hackle is all up in the way. I've learned to tie them off one handed. What I do is hold back the hackle with my left hand then take an older bodkin I have which has a 1/2 hitch tool on the other (a plastic hollow tube) if you don't have one a drinking straw,the head of a fountain pen in which you enlarge the hole a little etc will do. W While holding back the hackle with your left hand hold the 1/2 hitch tool against the thread with your right then twist your wrist so that the thread wraps around the tube. Put the hole at the end of the tube over the eye and with a finger coax the loop off the tube and over and around the eye and cinch tight.Do this four or five times and your whip finish is done.

Ummm... ok,here's another confession. Once while at the Smoky mountains I took the kids to a pay per pound Cherokee ran trout pond.These fish were used to corn and I had a hard time with my flyrod. Luckily I had a yellow sally wet fly and used that and things went much better.....wait,the yellow sally is a real fly.Whew,Oh Lord.... for a second I thought I had stooped to your level :hyst: :hyst: Lol,hey,it's still a fly and you matched the hatch! :headbang: :headbang:

Hi everyone, I went to the post office..... and THERE IT WAS! I couldn't wait to open it and opened it while still at the post office. An awesome set of flies. :headbang: :headbang: I was really immpressed with some of the unique patterns that were tied and can't wait to try them. Not only trout some of them look like they will be deadly on bream as well. Thanks to everyone,this was a fun swap and I can't wait to join another one. RRSS,thanks for sending the fly box back but you could have kept it. Oh,and how does it traditionally work in fly swaps?Do I owe you some postage for mailing the flies back?

Yesssssss! I've been looking forward to this day.I can't wait to see what everyone has done! :yahoo:

Great pictures,I wish I could take pictures like that.And your kids are beautiful.Hahaha,I can tell,your son will be putting shaving cream on your face then tickleing your nose while your asleep when he gets a little older.You can just tell he loves to have fun.

not bad for a first attempt. Were you trying to tie any particular pattern or did you go with one of your own?

Lol Chris, This was my first swap so I didn't know. I was thinking that since we all knew what the others were contributeing it wasn't needed.I didn't know they did that every time.I will next time though. And RRSS... thanks for takeing up my slack! :headbang: I can't wait to check out everyone else's stuff.As many years as i've tied and as many flies as i've tied it's been only rarely that i've seen other peoples work other than in books or pictures because of where I live so this will be a treat.And then all i've seen is the overseas stuff fly shops have in what few shops i've been in.

Hi Everyone, Yesterday I got a new fly box....the black walnut wheatly box from Orvis... name engraved on it and everything..... sweeeett! Best of all my wife never saw me get it hehe... Anyway,I was looking form some new stuff to fill it with for this spring and came across the pattern for this nymph. It's called the Universal nymph and I think it will live up to it's name,it's a killer looking bug. Here's the link to check it out.. Universal nymph

Hey Fishaholic, I was about to fill a new fly box with some flies for spring and was searching for new ideas.I came across this fly that's called the Universal fly because it's a general imitation of a lot of different nymphs and it uses hare's ear. I really like the look of this fly and i'm gonna give it a try. Here's a link... http://globalflyfisher.com/patterns/universal/

Sorry RRSS, I didn't do it cause I didn't tie any toes on them :hyst: I didn't know you did that with every swap,I thought it was only when specified. I'll remember next time.

That's a great looking fly.Would you mind provideing the recipe for it? It looks like a real fish getter.

Freddy, I just thought of something else... poly yarn... you can pick it up at any walmart makes pretty good calf sub as well esp for wings.

Thanks slate,many of those are ones I do carry but some I don't and i'll make some up and add to the box.I also looked up a hatch chart for the smokies that should help.

Calf tail is easy to get and cheap (about $2 each) but some good subs for it that come to mind are arctic fox hair,dyed squrriel tail though it will be mottled instead of a solid color, and my dog's tail hair (he's a eskimo spitz) though it's a little straighter than calf tail :hyst:

Thanks Sal, I think your right,bugs are basically the same. Within a couple of sizes and with base colors of white,yellow,tan,olive,brown and black. And as long as I have a nymph,emerger, and spinner pattern i'll be ok. I guess I was asking which flies seem to be the most productive in that area of the country.The smokies aren't known for large hatches... but I suppose that's a plus since that also means the fish are more opprotunistic. Hmmmm... then my lack of catching fish is probably more due to my lack of exsperience in fishing for them..... dang.. why can't an answer be simple? Maybe I should invest in a fly fishing video or three.

Different parts of the mask have different types of hair.. 1) Cheeks and chin,mostly soft and fuzzy,good dubbing for smaller flies 2) Base of the ears,short spiky,good for nymphs,emergers and wets 3) Between the eyes,long and spikey and darker,good for larger nymphs,legs on nymphs and larger wets For the hares ear I use a blend of 2 parts ear base hair to 1 part cheek fuzz for the body but for the thorax which needs to have guard hairs picked out for the legs of the nymph I go to between the eyes and use wax on my thread and make a twisted dubbing loop to trap the long guard hairs on the thread with.When this is twisted it locks them into place and when it's wound onto the thorax it produces long spikes great for legs.

Hi guys, I've been fly tying and fly fishing for about 25 years now. And I love to fly fish as well as tie... especially for trout. My problem is that all that time I lived in Florida and during a time when flyfishing was just a baby there so had no access to info.In fact,i've never seen someone else tie a fly in my life and have only seen a few other peoples flies in person during rare visits to flyshops. It has been through books and some on the phone conversations and perserverence that I managed to learn the art pretty well and in fact sold to a lot of fly shops to help pay my way through school and still occasionally take orders. My problem is trout fishing.The only time I get to go is when we go to the smoky mountains once a year.Even though now I live in TN i'm on the far west side which makes that a seven hour drive. My question is,for those of you who have a lot of exsperience with East coast trout fishing... and in particular with smokey mountain trout fishing what dozen flies would you pick as your "go-to" flies? These would be flies you would pick if you only had about a dozen to choose from.... but top 15 is ok as well And could you suggest these to cover streamers or dace,nymphs,dries,emergers,caddis etc? Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

3906-B mustad hook size 10 to 14 thread:black but any color will work rear hackle: grizzley hen or soft rooster hackle wrapped as a wet fly collar body: red or green floss.... i think green does better ribbing: fine or medium oval tinsel front hackle: grizzley hen or soft rooster hackly again wound as a wet fly collar You have a collar at the rear and at the front.I've used this pattern for many years for bass and panfish,and crappy and it's great for those. I've caught bass up to five pounds with it. P.S. If the ribbing seems a bit hard you can leave it off.I can send pictures of the fly if you like

I would like to join if there is room, if not keep me in mind for the next one please

Thanks guys,I just hope they work. I went to go mail the flies off this morning but when I got to the postoffice noone was home. Doh! I had forgotten... Presidents day! :wallbash: I'll mail them tomorrow RRSS

Thanks,but I knew it would happen lol. They picked parachutes and i'm weak in those.I usually tie classic dries lol.I just hope it drifts right and more importantly that the fish like it. If it catches someone something i'll enter the recipe in the new fly database the forum has here.

That's amazing how you realistic guys are able to create such realistic bugs. It's a shame they take so long or they would be awesome to fish with. But.... a great job,i'm impressed!I don't know how you guys manage it.

Hi Jim, Welcome to all of the worlds,flytying,flyfishing, and here in the forum. As has been said ask away and the someone in here is almost certain to be able to help. I've been tying for years and learn something new all the time and ask questions in here all the time.The people here are great and we have fun fly swaps and virtual fly tying classes and everything needed for someone to get started all the way to tips even exsperts can use. You sound a lot better set up than when I first started and I think with what you have and with this forum you'll be having the time of your life in these hobbies. Look forward to seeing your flies. And don't be shy about posting pictures, people seeing them is the best way to get tips and every one of us started out with less than perfect flies. In fact,as long as i've been tying mine are still butt ugly :hyst: And my first fly was just a bunch of squirrel tail tied on a bait hook with my mom's sewing thread lol