notenuftoys

Isn't this the sign of a true, authentic fly fisherman? I caught a small largemouth bass on a black woolly bugger I tied. It's a standard, run of the mill bugger, but I tied it, and the fish liked it. Sorry I don't have a picture, but I had to share this. Being new at this tying "thing", it's very satisfying.

This tying business (I'm new to it) is a lot of fun; I started because I can't fish every day. But I'd rather be fishing.

I appreciate the feedback and suggestions. I'll try it again and not pull quite so tight. I'm brand new at this tying business, so Titan, I still have to learn my thread! I'll also pick up some heavier thread as backup. After doing a figure-8 wrap on the eyes, I come back under and around several times to help stabilize them. Then a touch of glue before the first set of bucktail is tied in. I found a very good video on YouTube and that's what I used as my guide. Unfortunately, I didn't bookmark it, so I'm not sure which one it was!

I picked up some gray 6/0 Uni thread yesterday to tie my clousers, but it keeps breaking! :wallbash: I have both a cheap flared tip bobbin and ceramic bobbin, and the thread breaks on both. It's happening when I try to cinch down the thread. I can't get the thread tight enough on the front and back of the dumbell eyes without it breaking. Is this the right thread? Should I use something else? I don't have this problem with my white 240 thread. Or am I simply pulling too tight? Thanks...

duplicate. sorry.

Thanks for the feedback and compliments, guys. It's interesting how taking a picture of a fly gives a different perspective. The tail on the bugger didn't look too long when I tied it, but when I downloaded the picture I noticed it was a little long. I'm using Gamakatsu hooks for the clousers and TMC 5263 for the woolly bugger. Is that the right bugger hook? I'll play around with different ones for the clousers. I'm really enjoying the challenge of tying and looking forward to trying different combinations. For white bass the clouser will be my go-to fly (when it gets a little warmer), so it will be fun to tie different color combinations and see which catch fish better.

I just picked up my first vise, a Griffin Odyssey Spider. I've tied maybe a dozen flies tonight on it, clousers and woolly buggers. Super nice vise for the money!

I picked up a Griffin Odyssey Spider today, and here's the resulting clouser minnows and woolly bugger. I really like this vise! It's super easy to set up and holds the hooks better than expected. Feel free to critique, comment, and offer suggestions. I'm brand new at this, but it's a lot of fun so far.

Thanks for the replies. I like the Danvise and Anvil vises, so I'll probably flip a coin. The price point on these aren't too bad for starting out.

Technically, I'm not even new to fly tying since I haven't started yet. So I guess I'm an almost newbie. I know some of the basic tools I need, but I'm trying to decide on a vise. I don't want to spend a bunch of money, since I'm not sure yet how much of this tying business I'll do. I want to get started with an inexpensive vise, and upgrade later. Mostly I'll be tying bass flies, larger poppers, clousers, deceivers, and anything thing else I can make up or copy. So I need a rotating vise that will accept 2/0 and 3/0 hooks (and smaller). I've looked at Cabela's Super II vise, but it doesn't look like it works for that big of hook. Any other recommendations? And is there anyone that sells packaged material for specific flies? Like a material pack with everything needed for a clouser?

Hello from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area of the great state of Texas! I got started fly fishing back in the spring, and it has become my mid-life crisis mistress. My wife is starting to think I'm obsessed. I'm not sure that's a problem, though. After spending a lot of time on local waters with a buddy, he finally talked me into trying the whippy stick. He's fly fished for many years, and helped me get set up with a couple rods, basic reels and taught me how to cast. I've gotten quite confident in my casting, although catching fish still needs some work. So far, I've fly fished in the Durango Colorado area (where we went for family vacation in August) and on the Watauga River in Tennessee, as well as the Blue River in Oklahoma a couple hours north from my house. Watching a trout rise up to sip a small dry fly is the most wonderful feeling in the world! It's so peaceful wading in the river where the only sounds are the water rushing over the rocks and the birds chirping in the trees. Everything else, all the worries and stress of life, just disappear. I've bought a good base of flies, everything from size 24 disco midges to 2/0 clouser minnows. But fly tying is really starting to interest me. I've been reading a lot over the past week, and watching YouTube videos, and am ready to take the plunge. So please be patient with some dumb questions. I'm about to buy an 8wt rod and get serious about catching largemouth bass so I can permanently retire my spinning reel and baitcaster. So most of what I'll be tying are flies for bass, like poppers and clousers. Unfortunately trout fishing is more limited for us Texans, and I already have a pretty well stocked fly box of nymphs and drys. I look forward to learning the basics and then experimenting with new designs that bass just won't be able to resist!