big_fish

well I have been kind of out of flyrodding and tying for about 2 years (bass fishing with conventional tackle)but have found a new interest and got the vise back out and back to spinning deer hair I love tying bass bugs also working on some crawdad patterns cant wait for the water to warm alittle and clear up anyways I'm very excitded to get back into it Tight lines big_fish

correct on Chris Helm he is the micheal angelo of tying with hair his knowlage of the subject is outstanding and as some one said earlier find anything he has done and watch it read it or listen to it that is the correct name of his shop it is in toledo ohio and great prices on everything and gel spun is the way to go for thread and practice as much as possable if you dont like the finished pice take a razor and cut it off and tie another keep us posted thank

well my thinking is that most of what a fish eats has eyes so I try to tie them with eyes or glue eyes on I don't tie realistic flies i like to ty what I use and use what I tie

Ok this may have been discused in the past but what are your feelings on eyes on your flies I have been trying to keep track of this while fishing over the past three years and I have to tell you according to my records it seems the fish tend to consentrate on my flies with eyes producing more strikes( notice I said strikes because I still tend to over react on the strike and loose fish) but the largest largemouth bass I caught was on a laminated foam popper with no eyes but the water looked like chocolate milk (didn't watch the weather)but I drove aways to get there so I figured what the heck a little casting practice at the very least. I managed 2 large mouth the largest was 22 in and the smaller was 19 no other fish that day and I know they couldn't see the popper so what do you tie eyes or no eyes

fishing for muskies are ya dont forget top water I like divers and sliders red and white are always a good combo as for streamers well the Gen-x bunny leach is a good choice again in red with a white tail ad some flash to seems to add that little extra to get the strike I wish I had some pics for you maybe one of the other guys has some as for smallies hands down clousers are my all time best producing fly for me (and about a couple hundred thousand others)I am a fan of chart over white ,brown over orange(craw fish colors) and gray over white and again add flash but remember with clousers when tying them less is more not to much hair Bob Clouser him self has said the best ones he has ever used has been very sparce in hair and the flash a little longer than the hair everyone wants to tie them to bulky this is all my 2 cents but I have a fish or two under my belt good luck and be careful bring us some pics

I remember my first ties it was like I can still see them ---all yeah i can because they looked like shit and didn't catch any thing so they are still in one of my boxes those look pretty good but the guys are right hang on to some just for future reference keep tying

looking good I have been tying bass bugs for a few yrs and shaping them is a little tuff a good pair of curved sissors is a God sent and flex. razor blades help .with your collar was you trying to get one like on a dalburgh when i cut my collars in I take the top of my hair stacker and shove the whole fly (before you cut any hair off) like your trying to hide it into it to where I would like my collar to end(the rear of the collar)then just go around and cut down with a razor to the color you want to see on the rear of the collar I'll try to get a pic up stacking hair is tuff work the smaller the fly the harder it is but like I said earlier it looks good and will catch fish warm water fish are attracted to rubber legs like moths to the light. tight lines

I have never used wool for tying but have a few I would like to try is it spun just like deer hair? I don't even have any yet I'll make a trip to gander or cabelas after the christmas return season is over thanks in advance for the info big_fish

this site is a good one in you want tab music http://www.guitartabs.cc/ it has all kind of music here is another good site if you like hot country http://tinpan.fortunecity.com/melody/73/tab.html# and another good one is http://www.guitartabs.com/ what color is your strat I am thinking of buying on my self I like the fender squire m 80 anyways hope those sites help you in you need more let me know later big_fish :headbang:

just a question for you all do any of you use the traditional creel any more I think they are made of bamboo or wicker I am some what over come with tradition but I'm guessing we all have the bug or we probably wouldn't be flyfishing any ways I'm lookimg for one not that big a deal but was wonderingg I release all I catch but thought I could carry gear in it

well for me it's that time of year to dig through the vest and boxes to see what I have collected over this yr and to see what needs replaced to my suprise my go to fly the clouser didn't really produce well for some reason I had a lot of luck with the skip morris pan fish(smpf) basicaly a micro clouser but I usually do better had some luck with the coveted bugger my # 2 got to did ok with top water bass bugs also balsa poppers well maybe next yr good tying and stay warm later big_fish

thanks guys any info I get is very helpful and I never mind after all this is what this place is for to help each other out thanks again big_fish

hey guys I got a real easy way to make poppers this method may already be out there so I don't want to claim it for my own but anyways I took 4 small sheets of craft foam(got it at walmart for .33)glue them together and set them aside (i used super glue ) put a hook in the vise I put marabou then palmered a saddle hackel up about 1/8 in real heavy maybe 10 wraps and wrap the rest of the hook with thread and whip finish the whole shank should be covered then I took a 357 casing (knock the primer out so you can poke something through to get the foam out )put the foam on a piece of wood set the casing on it and uced a small hammer to punch through the foam take the foam out of the casing I take my bobkin and push through the foam so it will go over the eye of the hook I then put supper glue on the thread pretty heavy and push the foam over the eye and down the shank leaving the eye exposed and there you got it a foam popper I wish I could post some pics but not sure how to use this cam yet tightlines big_fish

beautiful Mark the story reminded me that I don't fish with dad enough it's funny how as you get older the people and places you used to spend time with and go just seem to not get the attention that they used to for some reason or not any ways keep up the great work big_fish

thanks guys great info thats what i was looking for

I read a book by John Garach and he stated that in the early 1900s there was a book published that had a history of flies as far back as 1850 and he had 2500 patterns listed in his book the old saying rings true there is nothing new under the sun my personal opinion is that as much as we would like to think we have something new it's just a variation of something old tightlines big_fish

when I was turning rocks in the creek the other day I found some caddis fly larva it was green with a black head about 1/2 in long does any one know what color the adult will be because after some investigation I maybe more lost now than when I started thanks by the way I live in eastern ohio and the stream is basicaly sand stone bottom big_fish

looks great kinda perch like tightlines big_fish

I went on my first outing to my favorite stream today for some under water exploration it was warm here (eastern ohio) 58 but the water sure wasn't I'm guessing about 45 ish any ways the water was a little high and slightly clouded maybe 1ft vis. but I managed to find a brown stone fly (unknown species) abd what I thought was a very small hellgramite but after some investagation thanks to troutnut.com it turns out to be caddis larva I seen them on many rocks but only one stonefly but like I said the water was a little high anyways I was pretty excited tightlines big_fish

here is a great site for warmwater flyfishing countless articles patterns great information http://www.ultimateflytying.com/WarmWater.htm

tie some bread flies and have lunch ha ha

the saddel is natural with a little red and a little orange i tied something similer to what you posted last night with lead dumbells for eyes and one with glue on bubble eyes I'm a sucker for eyes on everything anyways tightlines bigfish

went to the local cabelas today picked up some micro bunny strips white and olive also got a #1 saddel it's like a grizzlie furnace some what any ways it was 12.95 anyways I was also looking to find some patterns for the bunnie strips thanks big_fish

you might want to get a few nymphs (dragonfly damsel fly black stones ect) I personaly don't leave home w/out a few creyfish crawdad mudbug what ever you call them in your neck of the woods patterns sometimes you can get away with just buggers they pretty much imitate all your basics minnows,creyfish,sculpins, madtoms just have a variety of colors my personal favs are clousers in diff colors and sizes anyways tightlines big_fish

good luck buddie I dont smoke but my buddie told me it's not hard to quit he quits everyday for at least a hour one time he quit for 30 days he was in the county jail and all he could see out his little window was a billboard with a malboro add said he wanted to tear it down when he got out I guess that he get for bustin the back window out of a cruiser lol