hairwing

My opinion .....there is absolutely no magic in fur and hair. I just wouldn't use the stuff if it bothered me. Go with feathers and synthetics. One of my best flies is a poly winged paradun with a body of flyrite dubbing. Here's some ideas and there are prolly too many to list, so go on a search......... https://www.google.com/search?q=poly+wing+caddis+pattern&rlz=1C1GGIE_enUS320US325&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zrCrUab3LeKYyAHQh4D4AQ&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=677 https://www.google.com/search?q=poly+wing+parachute+pattern&rlz=1C1GGIE_enUS320US325&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=K7GrUYGmGOW-yQH8oIDYAw&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=677 https://www.google.com/search?q=cdc+winged+fly+patterns&rlz=1C1GGIE_enUS320US325&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=qLGrUafQFYf4yAHLsYGQAg&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=677

THEY BITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OUCH.

While we are on the creel subject...I was visiting a local fly shop in town a while back, MW Reynolds, and rolled the price tag over on one of these pretty creels. My eyes went wide and I gulped. I rolled the tag back over. A customer caught my reaction and asked "What do ya think"?......... I smiled. http://www.mwreynolds.com/HTML/anglingCREELS.html

If you are interested or have any questions about Arcticreel or accessories they are made here in Denver at "Denver Tent and Awning". http://www.denvertent.com/arcticreels_and_accessories.html

Here is a little dry I use, #24 (94840). I call it a Grizzly and Black. It will catch fish in January when temps get as low as -10 deg. F, as long as the midge will hatch and the fish rise. It will catch 'em when it's hot as hell too !

Great Fish !! Caught in Norway? We're all licking our chops....show us the # 17 Comparadun. stramme linjer.

Is it a nymph...an emerger...a spinner...could be all three. So...I roamed the internet and found some pictures that really surprised me. To be honest I have never seen a Baetis Imago or Spinner underwater when I was poking around the streams I fish, but here is one I found that is a photo by Ralph Cutter.http://www.flickr.com/photos/gwibernant/3256096956/sizes/l/in/photostream/ The baetis is underwater! This image is from a Denver Post article by Karl licis http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_14320662 and I see similarities. The fly was tied by Rim. What do you guys think?

Of course the only one who can truly answer that question would be Rim. I'll give my opinion though and say with a lot of confidence....a nymph. 35 to 40 years ago the term "emerger" was not on the tongue of the typical fly fisher around here in Colorado. Just about everybody was fishing either the top or the bottom, dry fly or nymph. There were a few wet fly guys, they seemed few and far between and the thought of a fly struggling in the meniscus trying to emerge or swimming under the surface took some out of the box thinking for the "wet fly" method of the '30s and '40s. I'm sure the fly can be fished as an emerger up in the film but I've never seen Rim fish a fly without some weight on his leader. He scraped the bottom, where the fish hung out, just like the rest of us. I did give some thought to his fly years later after I personally had more experience and book study and came to the thought that his fly would be a great imitation of the baetis spinner. Considering the way in which she lays her eggs, the idea made sense to me. That tuft of wing bud he tied always had me a little confused but I thought about the spinner crawling under the water and depositing her eggs and the form she might take submerged. I considered the RS2...... two rather long split tails, a slim body,and the crumpled folded wings....sounded to me like a spent spinner underwater !

Rim and I go back a long ways. We go back further than when the RS2 he was fishing was given it's name. The fly he was using at that time was constructed all with beaver. The tails were two split guard hairs, the body was underfur and the wing tuft was a small clump of the fur. Rim would do some stomach autopsies on a few fish he planned on taking home for dinner and always present was the Baetis nymph common in the South Platte River around Deckers. The nymphs were unmistakable, long and slender, small, having a olive color. Size wise the flies were #20 and smaller if you wanted a match. "These what I use" Rim would point out his little nymph in his at that time broken English and we'd compare flies. If you were to sit down with Rim and have a conversation, I think he would admit a strong influence in his tying and knowledge came from Swisher and Richards book "Selective Trout". Rim was a one fly man. He also had a very intimate relationship with the trout around Deckers and the Canyon and probably gave them names. He put a lot of time on the water. Two schools of nymph fishing were emerging in the early days, one fished with what we called the "cheater" (an indicator) and the other just the bare leader. Rim still fishes without the indicator today. The method used to fish our nymphs was recognizable; I called it "the flip flop" before somebody came along and tagged it "short line nymphing". The flip and the flop was necessary because we used weight to bottom the flies in the current where the fish were. The flies were not false cast. Most guys were using Twistons wrapped right above the tippet knot. Rim had this compulsive habit of rolling the wraps he applied to his leader on the top of his fly box until it was a smooth slender hunk of lead. He thought it made a difference. Today I think he uses tungsten putty. 6x tippet and a 9 ft.-12 ft. leader was the favorite rig around those parts. Rim is one of the "good guys". If you want to fish as well as he, you'll have to put in the time on the river just like he did. Here's a vid. You'll see the "flip flop"or "short line technique" in action. He's fishing Lone Rock on the Platte where he first wet his RS2. Let me point out that neither Rim nor I had anything to do with inventing this nymphing technique, it's just the way anybody who was catching fish fished around Deckers and the Canyon in those days, and we all watched the guys catching the fish and learned. Guys moved on taking the technique with them and writers came to town and tried to give the method a name, so call it what you will and fish the fly as you will.

I should add that these pt's by Sawyer are tied with only two materials, pheasant tail and copper wire. You can find copper wire in all sorts of things. Motor windings will give you the smallest diameter, but if you strip a multistranded appliance cord you might find something suitable. I'm surprised Hans Weilenmann didn't jump in on this thread, but I'll give you his youtube version ..... It's a great fly! Tie some up.

Don't know if this will help you but here is a vid of the flies originator Frank Sawyer in action..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=416Os9V84n8. You should also try reading his book, a classic, "Nymphs and the Trout". You'll get incites on fly design and presentation techniques and more.

Those flies look good to me! Wyoming, Pennsylvania, all parts in between, and now Florida, you must have quite a selection of rods. Have you picked a stick that will handle your frogs?

phishy, A few things for you to consider: Don't be afraid of the latin names. The latin name will help you to gather information as to the whole life cycle of the fly, nymph, adult, spinner. Once you can identify one stage of the insect you can study the insects habits as it goes from egg to death and know how to fish each stage. Get to know the body parts of the insects. Tails,antennae,eyes,wings, thorax, abdomen,gills,legs,etc.. You'll need to describe these parts for identification purposes. Learn to measure in both metric and inch scale sizes. This will relate to identification and a hook/fly size. Size is most important. Note the date of the fly you observe emerging. Come back in 365 days and chances are the very same exact fly will be hatching. I.E.: in my neck of the woods, April 1st. I can count on Baetis hatching in size #20 at 10:00 AM in the morning. Get the timing down for one bug and you'll be set for the rest of your fly fishing life with that insect. What type of water was the bug in? Fast, slow, river, lake, riffle, shore, deep, shallow for instance. Note the bottom structure, ie. mud, rocks, gravel etc. and try to note the weeds and plant growth. It's part of the puzzle. Make a kick screen, carry a small aquarium net, and use a stomach pump,for bug collecting. Take home some samples in some tubes or jars for further study, and take photos of whatever you can for reference. Here is website for you to chew on. Look around it for a while and you will soon have your hatch matching skills under control.http://www.flyfishingentomology.com/....realize that there is no one book, video, or experience that will answer every fly fishing question so prepare yourself for a lifetime learning experience. Don't be afraid.....the more you learn the more you enjoy and the easier fly fishing becomes.(but it never is really easy!).

James, Watch your videos in a mirror. A right hand image on your screen will turn "left-hand" in the mirror. Works best if you go full screen. The image will be perfect of a right hander doing it left handed.

Mikechell... Cool fly...I didn't think you had it in you . Well done! I like the flexible legs.

An option: Try skating your fly. I like to use a Trude style downwing fly. Position yourself slightly across and upstream from where you want to fish the fly too. Increase the angle, moving yourself upstream, if you are crossing a faster current and fishing the slower water on the other side. Lay a nice straight cast too your target..no slack line.....and flip the rod tip to make the fly dance immediately when it hits the surface. Make it skate by flipping several short little bursts and then let the fly drift drag free with the current for a foot or two. Repeat... mending to get the straight line relationship...and skate the fly moving it upstream in short bursts and then drifting again. Keep it going till you can't get drag free drift while allowing the fly to pause. The fish will hit on the drift. The more you can skate and drift the better you will do. Good luck.

Hey... whenever I need a big-gulp of humility I check out one of my young neighbors up in Fort Collins Co.. What kills me is that I prolly have socks that are older than he has been wrapping flies. He's right here on FTF's The Streamer and Classic Wet Fly site. Notice that there is no vise, no bobbin...http://www.classicflytying.com/index.php?s=013c72338f9480ac8bae94cba06e7dba&showtopic=48897 He has more vids there and his presentation is top of the line. Check him out. I'm a fan!

So I did a little googling....fast forward from the 60's to the late 80's and I found this article by Robert H Boyle http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1068423/index.htm.He must have heard the gossip in Folkerts. Years later he writes a book:http://books.google.com/books?id=ZagWZ_6NZPkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=robert+h+boyle+fly+tying&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jROSUfCxN8TlygGy7oDQAw&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=robert h boyle fly tying&f=false I first learned of Robert Boyle when he co-authored "The Fly-Tyers Almanac" with Dave Whitlock in 1975. His fly pattern the Glass Shrimp featured on the book's cover was what made me buy the book. It's a good fly tying book for those interested. Boyle was also part of the '60's environmental movement, at once being founder and president of Riverkeeper. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverkeeper. In the '60's we all had a sense that our water and environment needed some repair and maintenance work. Disclaimer: I am not trying to encourage you to take up "Dapping", but I thought you might like to read a little history I dug up

Alexander Grant was a really good fiddle player. He made fishing rods that were harmonically and frequency tuned and tapered with the wood he used for the rod. He could thump his "vibration rod" out there. I'd say he fished by "ear". He fished to the sound of music. Myself, I fish in the key of C. At least I think I do .

When I first looked at the vise I thought that it looked like a bird sculptured in steel with a fly in the jaws of the vise. It looked to my eye like a bird that had just captured an insect. It was a misinterpretation on my part. I wandered onto Borger's website and found that it was a seal. Cool. Be that as it may, I was wondering if Faruk could tap me out some jaws for my Thompson Model A. I'd be willing to pay more than half the price I payed for my vise.Let's call that $7 bucks. ...but then again I really don't need new jaws. Carry on!

Frank and I fished the Esopus back in the '60's. We made the trip up to the Catskills in his '59 Edsel, a car which had plenty of room for fishing tackle and then some! Gas was cheap back then and $5 bucks would let you wonder all through those hills. It was my introduction to the sports soul. Lot's of tradition in them hills and valleys! One of our regular stops was Folkerts Bros. in Phoenicia so that we could listen to the gossip and plan the next day's outing. We heard tell of "the frenchmen" and how they were doing quite well and put them on our "check them out list". We sat up on the roadside in the Edsel and had a great view of the river and got to watch the frenchmen in action. Their method was certainly something different from what we'd normally seen. The rods they used were white and looked to be fiberglass, amazing long, and I'll guess they were 15 ft..The reel was small and looked to be taped to the blank. No fly line (mono). The butt of the rig was anchored in what I thought was a boat rod harness. They fished with a bobber. The technique looked simple enough, lift the rod, swing the rig and plop the offering upstream and follow the drift. Frank commented, "it ain't fly fishin' ". I nodded ..... Nowadays it reminds me of a cross between Spey and Tenkara. Have you ever seen "the frenchman" fish? Ever see this style of fishing other than on the Esopus?

um-pah...uff da...depends how you like your cabbage rolls. My mind was infected a few moonsets ago by the Judge. I've never been to the U.P. but I've been there. It's a great tune to tap your soul too! Testament of a Fisherman I fish because I love to; because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly; because of all the television commercials, cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape; because, in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion; because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience; because I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time, and I for one don't want to waste the trip; because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters; because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness; because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better out there; because maybe one day I will catch a mermaid; and, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant - and not nearly so much fun. -John Voelker (Robert Traver ) Of course you have heard it before, or maybe some haven't.......

I listen to Myron Floren... When he does "The Beer Barrel Polka" all I can picture are "Champagne Bubbles". I throw the rod and reel well up into the the bank and play the "Air Squeeze Box" with both hands. Makes a fishless day seem like a Bobby Burgess jig with Mary Lou ! .....a one and a two and a three.

I missed something in my first post that might also be worthwhile and give a second thought, that is, that scuds prefer a particular type of water, and in these lakes, rivers and streams is where you will do the most good with a scud fly pattern. Look for water that has a high alkaline content and a high ph value. This is the kind of water chemistry the scuds thrive in. You may well catch fish on a scud imitation in acid water type chemistry but chances are your fly is taken for something other than a scud, probably a caddis. The best way to know if the scuds might be there is to kick sample the water..or if you can stomach sample a fish you catch and find one in the contents. You can also try finding the makeup of the water you fish and it will give you clues to the type of bugs in it. As an example I'll point out the South Platte river system in Colorado as prime scud habitat having a high ph value and a high alkalinity, but you will find a different chemistry in the Arkansas system that is not so supportive of the scud. A local fly shop should also be able to tell you if there are scuds in the water you want to fish. Fish the scud where the scuds are is my point.