hairwing

The only "wet fly" that I use. Marabou Winged Royal Coachman.......

I prefer dull, not because I think I'd be invisible to a fish, but you'd have to beat me with an "Ugly-Stick" to get me to wear this.....

It's a 94840 #28. A ridiculous fly....I call it the "Red-Ickulus". The fly will catch trout in the middle of January with water temps at 33*. Seal-Ex and red thread that's it. Sharpen the hook!

Two for him and one for you, I'll bet.....bummer

I'll be honest Jam...never used the breast feather. Was doin' some shopping myself for Amherst tails and ran across the GP and thought it might be something for you to sub. Have no idea what you are using the feathers for. Price seemed right @ $6.95. No Salmon in my next of the woods, unless it's Kokanee. They are caught with a trolled Super Duper on a lead core rig.

Possible sub...........http://www.jsflyfishing.com/cgi-bin/item/NM-790177-0000/73000/Hareline-Golden-Pheasant-Skin-without-Tail.html

Ah!....you have bought the term "rotary fly vise" to another meaning. I got vertigo about mid video and had to look away.

If you're gonna wear Grandpa's "smokin" hat" you better get one of these............. Or it just ain't right.

The wing is mallard secondary flight feather. The ones with the white tips. Commonly known as "McGinty" feathers.

K's 22.........

I don't know where the "less light is better" idea came from,................. POACHERS !!!!!!!!!

It happened to me. I had an Orvis 8 1/2 ft bamboo rod the fly shop I bought it from recommended a "C" weight line. The rod was labeled HDH so I put a six on it. I fought that rod for a couple of years and hated it. That was a long time ago. A few years back I uncapped the case and took it to the yard for some ole times sakes memories and decided to cast it with the 4 weight I had available. What a difference! It cast the way I thought the rod should have cast. I've got the Fenwick GFF 806 for 6 weight and it will perform much better for me with a 5 or 4. There seems to be lots of confusion between generations as to the lines required for our rods. I guess we really have to figure it out ourselves. Best thing I did was get a range of fly lines from 3-9. That way I can pick the line for the rod I have. BTW , my selection of SA lines cost me about $11 bucks a piece not $70 or $100 a piece. My suggestion is to put some tape over the rod rating and fish the rod to your hearts content with the 5.

Funny how we all seem to see the material list of a fly pattern differently. Even with the exact materials of a pattern, the same fly tied by two tiers are always different. I guess those glitches in style are what eventually evolve the fly patterns from one generation to the next. The original tyers intent always lost in translation and his flies never look like the first ones to hit the street. There is a whole lotta history revolving around this fly....more than I could have imagined. I started a little research and I now have a stack of books next to the night stand to wade through. I had always thought of the Algoma as a top water fly, and I think that way because it was the preferred method Sturgis like to fish, so I always tied the fly to float, especially since it had a spun deer hair body. Ooops...the fly I guess was intended to be fished as a bucktail streamer. I kept trying to shorten things up for my concept of the wet/dry fly. I'll have to reevaluate the way I think of the fly. Or...maybe not..the fly can be fished using all three methods, so I guess it's fly fisher's choice. Anyways about 1912 Emerson Hough and Fred Peet worked on a fly they found the Indians using in north Ontario. The original "Emerson Hough" started like the Indian version with spun bucktail but they soon started spinning deer body hair for the body. Spun deer hair flies and bucktail wings run all through the fly fishing imitations of today, form fresh water, warm water and salt. Put the dark hackle collar on the "Emerson Hough" and it becomes an "Algoma"!

Post it !

The "Algoma" from Sturgis "Fly-Tying".

I've been following the story on the news. Feel for you guys, but things will return to normal eventually. You can never tell when Ma Nature will decide to show you she's boss. We can use some of that rain down here in Colorado. The whole state smells like campfire smoke. Be well

Leader formula for you Peterjay.........

Sure LeBo......... Thread: 6/0 black Hook: 3xl ring eye sz 2-8 Tail: 2 small brown hackle tips a hook gape in length ... V-8 wraps to spread them Rib: .015 mono magic markered black Body: brown mohair yarn (I use it also to taper the under body before I wrap the body of the fly) try to make a cigar shape tapered at both ends. Wrap the body and then the rib to the 75% point, cut the rib but leave the mohair to finish the body before wrapping the collar Collar: attach a dark schlappen hackle from a brown saddle 2 gapes wide and a ginger ostrich herl at the 75% point and finish wrapping the mohair body to short of the eye by at least one eye length Wrap the hackle and herl forward to one eye length from the hook eye with a couple of turns, tie off and wrap a small head . Whip finish and cement the head. FYI: the fly is my take on a Charles Brooks Montana Stone fly if you'd like to do some further research. It will imitate Pteronarcys California and most of the dark brown stone flies.

Dad, my brother and I were on a boat dock in 1953. Rich and I told Dad to catch the fish we saw close to the bank. He whipped an ole 3 piece bamboo fly rod that was given to him by a friend, it had an auto fly reel... back and forth it went. One , two, three casts and Dad had the range. He dropped the fly and the fish erupted and grabbed the fly. Holy Mackerel...it was a catfish. We cheered, my brother and I. My first fly fishing experience. Fish (the cat) had a big mouth!

but...but...but...Mike, you are using tapers unless you are using a level fly line. The taper is in the fly line. Sorry to studder on you....we're still buds aren't we.

I said I make the leaders (butt and mid section) 5-6 feet long. I use 24 or so inches of tippet. You can read more about the advantages and disadvantages here: http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/readerscast/rc185.php Sorry Switch...I communicated badly about the 5-6 ft tippets. It was not directed at you but it's something I read on all the forums. By "user" I meant the guys who use the leader.

FFJ, For what it's worth, the body is dubbed nylon just the way it comes off the skein, the gills are black rabbit from a hare's mask, the wing is two separate loops of nylon, one a medium olive and a loop of white as it comes off the skein. I variegate the wing with a black and dark olive marker. The tail is some natural nylon and some cheap (because it bleeds) hot orange floss. I tie the fly with white 6/0 thread and let the colors do what they want.The head took a hit of marker and is cemented with fingernail polish. Did you notice my "canyon loops"? I came up with the idea in 1977. I incorporate a couple of mono loops when I start the fly and finally build a wing like a parachute post. Then pull the wing through the loops. The wing will not foul. The technique will tame the finest materials, fur , feathers or synthetics. Hadn't heard of "mike's meat ticket" so I googled http://steelheadalleyflytying.blogspot.com/2010/03/mikes-meal-ticket.html and watched an underwater vid of the fly in action. I was impressed!

I'm not for or against, but when I took a look at the concept I thought the idea was redundant when combined with a tapered fly line. I could be dead wrong, but isn't the idea of the fly line front taper to decelerate the speed of the forward cast for a delicate presentation of the fly? To me the furled leader adds more weight back to the equation and speeds up the turnover or doesn't slow it down as is intended with the design of the tapered fly line. Anyways...I would definitely be inclined to use one if the end of my fly line was level without a taper, a level line. A level fly line now having a front taper with a furled transition. I've never tried it but, The user claim of fishing a 5-6 foot tippet with the furled leader just didn't compute. A dry fly on 6x tippet that long I see all over the place. I'd have to see the claims in action to be convinced. As far as sinking leaders....not for me, I want them to float. I need that design to make my casting easier, specifically the pick-up. I also use the leader as my tell when nymphing (no Indicator). I don't watch the end of my fly line , I watch the point the leader enters the water. If I just watched the end of the fly line I'm afraid I would only catch the fish that hooked itself. I actually grease the butts of my leaders when fishing.

"I also like the sound of the nylon - sinking right away...does that material in the link come in long strands? Hard to tell from the picture. Do you have an example of a fly tied with it?" todvan, It's roving...the hunk of material is continuous. You can cut any length you want. Here is a pic, one on the left is very fine stuff and on the right something a little thicker. Here's a fly:

Fly proportions are best measured to the hook shank and gape. Economy of thread wraps, as in two wraps of thread will hold a lot of stuff. Prudent use of head cement for a more durable fly. Angling the waste cut of materials to form a tapered body instead of a direct crosscut and building an under-body for large flies saves 50 wraps around the hook shank. Sharpen thy hooks! There's many more but we'd have to write a book..........