Futzer

Before collapse of the Communism the Central/East European fly fishers had to be very inventive, as there was very little supply of fly tying materials available. Condoms were regularily used for back cover of Czech/Polish nymphs :thumbsup: Did they come in different sizes Be careful with the condom usage explanations, or else we will see a fly db post call the "Coney Island Whitefish" from Day5 :hyst: Also Brian, who started this thread is 12, and a fine young impressionable tyer. Cheers, Futzer

Good snag Brian, the little tiny tail feathers make killer Matuka streamers. Cheers, Futzer

Yessir whole skins, on 7/0 tandem hooks, for fish with big nasty bitin' teeth, just watch that back cast, its a killer. Cheers Futzer. Oh and for faster fish, a black sharpie thick point pen and a thick paper mask for even lines works fine on a smaller scale. I really like lighter olive rabbit and dark green sharpie for pike.

Thanks for the invite. I can sure stop in and say hi. Between running the fly shop, guiding and it being opening weekend of fishing I won't be able to hang out to much. Might catch up to you guys towards evening though Have to keep in touch. What shop do you work? PM me, Jeff

They lay a jig over the fur, like a big comb and airbrush the black die onto it, more often than not it is a strip vs the whole rabbit skin. Cheers, Futzer.

Anyone interested in going in as a group to purchase Stony's stuff PM me? Futzer

Red Head, NICE. Cheers, Futzer.

Happy to help, I am full of useless information, :-) Jeff.

I use small dental rubber bands used for braces, make a loop in my line and using my hemos wrap the rubber band 3 times over the hemo tips, open the hemos wide to put the rubber band over the loop, then I find a dried leaf stream side and put the stem in the loop and pull tight. You can easily change depth that way and the leaf never spooks fish, just change it once in a while as it starts to sink. You can never be too sneaky. you can find the dental rubber bands online, or PM me as I bought more that I can ever use, and would trade for something. Cheers, Futzer.

For Bass try tying tandem small flies on a larger hook, for example a double humpy, the bigger hook will help you land more bass. This works for trout too. When my dad got a little older and his eye sight started to go, I would tie 3 or 4 small bugs tandem on 3xl hooks, so he could see them more easily. Cheers, Futzer.

I use griff's thin, but any thin cement will work, and I only put it under the biot on the thread base. So wrap the biot over the wet cement. I try not to put cement over top of things on flies I fish, I don't think it helps catch more fish. Cheers, Futzer.

Also try tying in a piece of un-flavored dental tape a couple inches long with the first Peacock herl, use it to even the body diameter the same size as the wing post tie point, I tie the wing post facing the tail of the fly. For the same reason Jeff uses white thread. Cheers Futzer.

Cool photo, great bug. Cheers Futzer

Tiemco 518s are sized in 28, 30, 32, and readily available online, I know Feather-craft.com has them instock now. Cheers, Futzer.

ROFLMAO, you should hear what Day5 and I call a few of our bugs. I think it was innocently sweet and a really nice tubie. Cheers, Futzer.

yes it is.Finger nail polish wouldnt work? shane p.s. i ve a brand new set of epoxy in the box the 2 tube but i have never used it before.any tips never in my life have i used epoxy for any thing was asking, any do's an donts on working with epoxy thanx again shane futzer thank u so much i cant believe i made this fly,it is a giant step in my tying career and you were right the epoxy was allot easier than i thought to work with and i didn't need to color it, the thread color showed through so brilliantly, it was not needed..thank you so much shane p.s. creating veins on sillafanr wings,any suggestions,i know i should probably leave it alone but i want that vein look. any way to make veins on cigarette sillafane with a type of marking pen? :yahoo: sharpie seems to big. shane work small, you can always add more, but removing is a pain. A razor blade can slice it back. It seeks its own level so as it dries keep it moving so it does not settle in a bad drip. Where you are working on such a tiny area of a small bug, I would practice on something similar but less valuable to start. it is not hard to work with. Hi Shane unfortunately Wings need to be segmented before they are small. Ok here goes. I get overhead projector printer sheets, clear plastic. Then I draw or copy a picture of my wings to Microsoft word or Photoshop, if using a picture I them magnify them and print them on photo paper, and use a fine sharpie to doctor the segments on the now Godzilla sized wing, think one pair on a piece of paper, then I minify them on my computer to life size and print them on the clear film OH projector sheets, cut them out and leave a little tie in triangle or notch. And there you have it. It sounds more complicated than it is. The OH projector sheets are expensive, so printing and duplicating them on photo paper or good quality regular paper, so you can copy say 30 to 50 wing pairs to one OH projector sheet is worth the added effort. With the cellophane wings, you can take one of the printed paper wing sets and trace the segments to the Cellophane sheet, just use an artists ink pen, at good drafting or art stores, then are not cheap but superfine tipped, just don't get tempted to fish them as the ink is not waterproof. And congrats on your labor of love. Cheers Futzer.

Fred H too!!! Futzer.

Between Day5 and Claudia, Salmon may hit the endangered list real soon. Next time I can get my hands on some wild Sockeye, look out. Thanks, for the great additions. Futzer.

yes it is.Finger nail polish wouldnt work? shane p.s. i ve a brand new set of epoxy in the box the 2 tube but i have never used it before.any tips never in my life have i used epoxy for any thing was asking, any do's an donts on working with epoxy thanx again shane work small, you can always add more, but removing is a pain. A razor blade can slice it back. It seeks its own level so as it dries keep it moving so it does not settle in a bad drip. Where you are working on such a tiny area of a small bug, I would practice on something similar but less valuable to start. it is not hard to work with.

Well the reason they look un proportioned is one of the hooks is a small on(yours) and the other is size six(bruces) I meant that in a practice makes perfect way, and not based on your photos. The ties are good, and just to keep that up. Cheers, Futzer.

yes it is.Finger nail polish wouldnt work? shane p.s. i ve a brand new set of epoxy in the box the 2 tube but i have never used it before.any tips Fingernail polish would probably work, I have never used it. I like how the Loon takes permanent marker, or the epoxy. I thin my epoxy slightly when I mix it and use a tooth pick or small modeling brush to apply it. The warmer it is the faster it sets. So I typically use 5 min and thinned it takes longer to dry. Good Luck. Jeff

It depends on the color needed, but maybe Loon Hardhead, or thinned epoxy to fill and permanent marker to color. I'd ask for a picture, but I am sure this is one of your competition flies. Cheers, Futzer.

You're off to a darn good start Brian. Keep practicing to make identical proportions on each fly. For a twelve year old, those are great, and will catch lots of fish. Cheers, Futzer

I think the DB gods just wanted to keep it secret for themselves, nice tie!!! Futzer.

On EHC that I fish, I don't leave the little hair stump head, for me it just gets in the way of tying it to the leader, and I don't think it adds to the fishability. What I do, do that is a little different than Oldhat, Saltydog, or Brian, is I cut the wing to exact lenght, take a tiny drop of thin cement to the base fibers of the wing, and tie in just like old hat. I like it to make the fly as durable as possible, and I hate changing flies when they are on anything topwater. Also clipping a wing that is tied in makes the tie in bigger and always the danger of clipping your thread while clipping the excess. Cheers, Futzer.