Ridleyffo

Given that you are in Wind Gap, I would focus on flies for the smallies. You have a nice stretch of the Delaware up that way. My kayak fishing club has been hitting that section for the past three years now. Love that trip!!! One bit of advice I would offer as well is that ugly or simple flies probably catch more fish than perfect or complicated flies..... (unless you're fishing for those wild browns). One other thing if you're focusing on trout... keep your flys in the water and improve your drag free drift rather than changing flies every ten minutes.

All swap packages were mailed today. Enjoy boys and girls and get out there and use them!!!!!!

I just mailed a package to the Netherlands and it was only $3.15 US. Small BWOs though $3-4 should cover any postage costs. PS, the USPS just changed their customs declaration. Looks like the same info but in three parts now!!! :wallbash:

I Mailed mine today. You should have them by Wednesday or Thursday. I also used arctic fox for the back tail as I think it has some of the best underwater movement. I hope you all like them. Although I designed it (after seeing Dhise's nymphomaniac in a gift fully loaded Orivs vest) for fishing flats down in the keys and Caribbean, I havent used it for that yet. I can vouch that it caught a monster rainbow in the Lehigh River and and many smallmouth on the Frankstown branch of the little J, both here in PA. Tight Lines Bob

We used to fish the crieks off of the Delaware River for catfish using stale peeps. They were the goto bait!!!

Patent smatten Mel. Its probably been around longer than you . Wait till you see how simple it is to tie. Its really not much more than a bugger variant. Im excited about this swap too. Looks like we have some real talent signing up as well

Flys are sorted and will be sent out tomorrow. Im glad I waited until after Easter dinner to package everything as my Mom gave us an Easter present with some nice pale green ribbon. (My wife says that it is Toule??) Looks similar to the organza I use for trico spinner wings but is woven a bit tighter and doesn't separate into strands as easy as the organza. Looks like it would be great for burnt wings and can be used as spinner wings with some separating. Anyway, I cut it up and will send each of you a piece. Now for the Prize winners. After careful and a very difficult decision (this really is a nice set of bugs) and without any pandering to the ladies, I have chosen our two Lady Tyers as the winners. Fly Girl wins for a dam good looking and meticulously tied fly. I think it is the best of the bunch. Congratulations Bev Cheri wins the newbie prize for her unique pupa emerger??? I think it should fish like a soft hackle subsurface and I am very excited to try it this week. Nice ty Cheri. For the prize you have a choice of feathers, fur, foam or other finery(all inclusive category). Just pm me what you could use and I try to put something together for you. If I dont hear from you before I hit the post I will send some ????feathers???? Thanks to everyone for participating. Thanks for all of the extras and special tys that were included, I am certainly grateful for those!!! I kept the flys that were tied for fishtastic and included and extra tie from me, to round out an even dozen to everyone. I hope everyone enjoyed the swap and catches many bandies and big boys with this sweet collection. Tight Lines. Bob

No problem Steve, they were certainly worth the wait.

You're a sweetheart bruce.

Those church pane pheasant feathers can be hardened with varnish or clear spray paint, folded and made into nice hopper wings. Check out the Gartside Pheasant hopper for details on that wing formation. Looks like a nice skin.

Great pics Nav I stole the sunset for my new desktop background.

Mel I would like to join this swap and see some of the "originals" that get submitted. I will contribute my Schlappen Sculpin. I "developed" this fly for the picky wild trout in my Valley Creek where you see tons of dark brown and black sculpin shooting around in the puddles and shallows. I wanted something that was an easy tie and could also be a multi purpose fly imitating several things and for multiple species. I havent tried it on Valley yet but it was certainly deadly on Friday in the Ridley dhffo section. I showed up around 3 and saw a few TU buddies who had no luck all day. Third cast for me......bam nice 14" rainbow. maybe my twelfth cast cast got me a 16" brown with a budding kipped jaw. Likely one of the private hatchery fish our TU stocked in November. One more 11" bow that chased the bug on the retrieve (well after the swing) and nailed it and turned downstream about 6 or 7 feet from me. The three fish in about an hour and a half was great but not nearly as great as the look of envy on everyone's face. Needless to say the five I had in my box went to my salivating TU compatriots. I think its a winner and wait to you see its movement in the water. Bob

Vette Thanks for the invite. As you have always been a great tyer in some of my swaps I will gladly join this swap to fill it up. I will contribute an apple caddis pupae on an antique Mustad 37160 curved hook. Certainly something odd! Tight Lines Bob

Received Steve's (Fly Tryer) flys yestersday. Nice little paraloop emergers. I will divvy them up today and post them on Monday. No flys or recent responses from Fishtastic. I will tie up an extra fly for everybody to replace Fishtastic's no show flys. Something simple as I have to get to Easter dinner at my sister's home in a couple of hours and will likely be very very sleepy later. Thanks to everyone for participating. Sorry for the delays and hopefully everyone can still get in some BWO fishing this spring. And remember stockies really can't tell the difference anyway. I also made a promise for two prizes. Most Unique/Most Effort and a Best Newbie prize. I will judge while I separate the flys and post the winners later or tomorrow. Thanks again and tight lines to everyone. Bob

Havent seen the flies from the One you Turn to Swap either. I will wait until monday's mail and mail the swap out on Tuesday

Great stuff terje. Now what are going to do with all of those streamer hackles. I know they wont be making onto the end of your tippet.

That was great! It is so bent, I dont even know what to say!!

Nice job thinking outside the box. I have a friend who uses the standard yellow foam ear plugs as popper heads. They're not real pretty but certainly effective.

i pm'd fishtastic, but I see what you mean Mike. His profile indicated he hasnt been on the site since 3/17. He requested an addy on 3/14 which I sent within a day or so. I will mail them out as soon as I get fly tryer's. (Nothing today) I will tie up some real simple "go to" midge patterns so everyone will get a full set. Instant Karma has a way of getting back at you. Maybe a year of skunk will befall he who fs with my swap.

I got Professori's fine flys on Saturday but havent seen the ones mailed by Fly Tryer yet. Getting a bit worried over those as its been over a week now. Professori's got here from Canada in just a couple of days.. I will email Fishtastic to follow up for his today!!!

Shane I think you may be missing the cross wrap that you use to tighten the egg. The wrap should be on top of the shank around the bend side of the egg around to the eye side of the egg and then one more wrap around the shank. I was tying some eggs this weekend and still had to rethink how to tie these ridiculously easy flys....... I still think that the bottoms of the eggs looked better and rounder the last time I tied them. I just sort of fluff them down to round the bottom. Ive seen some recipes that tie the second half on the underside. One other thing I found is to tie them sparser with less yarn and they will sink better.

Hey Wet. Welcome. I had to check where Marlin was located in PA and do all of you guys realize this guy lives in the back yard of the US's oldest and likely one of its best breweries, Yuengling. I dont know if you can get it all across the country but they certainly make some of best lager and porter beers Ive had without those boutique prices. Im originally a surf rat and have been chasing trout only for a few years. I live just south of PHiladelphia and live on the beach as much as possible during the fall. I cant necessarily say that it is because of allllllllllll the fish I catch on the NJ shores but the chase keeps me busy. I go fully loaded with all gear and tackle so I have the best opportunity to get at least one. As you have to be actively fishing at night, Ive even been known to dunk some clams at night while trying to keep at least an ear :sleep1: open for the rangers truck in my beach chair. :whistle: You dont have to drive to NJ just yet as big cow stripers are in the Mighty D until late april usually. The river by me is real big and we fish it just south of the salt line. it is tough on a fly without a motor boat to search out their lazin lounges. Ive tried doing chum slicks from off the banks but have only got some big and prehistoric looking white perch in the 2-3 lb? and 18-20 inch range and a couple of cats on the fly. further North in Bucks County the river is much smaller and more conducive to the long rod and there are always plenty of resident little guys up that way, as well as the smallies and wallys. I usually dont hit the NJ beaches in the spring, but my bud did better last spring than last fall. Im going to spend some serious time in the Mansquan river and basin this spring to see what I can get on long rod. Maybe we can get some linesiders together some time Tight Lines Bob

I especially like the cheek on this one. It looks like a nice scale pattern and sort of abstracts and blends all of the materials. Reel... interesting!

I hope that fly is part of eastern fly's articulated swap!!!! Like those multi bait flys!!!

:hyst: :hyst: :hyst: I lost a little chameleon in my house as a kid. Still think that he is behind the baseboards of my parents house