TheCream

Whoops.

Pretty simple recipe, actually. Do the deer hair head first, you'll see why in a sec. Hook - Firehole 811 (size 10 here) Thread 1 - 100den or (I prefer) 200den GSP Head - Deer hair, 1 large clump (solid color or you can blend multiple colors in a stacker) Flare the hair, tie off behind the hook eye, and cut the thread. Cut/trim the head to a rough square a little larger than you want the end result to be. Then, put a lighter under it and burn it. Blow out the flame to control how large the head will be. I rotate it in the vise on each burn, usually a bottom-top-bottom sequence for where I start the fire. Once the head is round and the size you want, brush it vigorously with a stiff bristled brush to remove the char. You can also add a few drops of liquid CA glue or any thin, penetrating glue to the back end of the body now. It can help keep the head from rotating. Thread 2 - your choice, I usually use 8/0 Tail - Cohen's Creature frog legs sized to the bug (color with markers if you want) Collar - Diamond Dub in a dubbing loop (I used a combo of Cream and Copper Olive in this one), then picked out with a bodkin Legs - small centipede barred legs Eyes - 3D eyes glued on with gel CA (3mm eyes on this bug)

Definitely not my idea. I have seen this on YouTube a while back, I believe it was for smoothing a hair body on a caddis dry fly.

Set it on fire. Seriously. I flare a large clump of hair at the front of the hook, use a blade to cut it to a rough cube a little larger than the round head should be, then use a lighter to burn it. As it burns it will take a round shape. Once it's the size you want, hit it with a brush or scrape with your finger to knock the charred stuff off.

Cohen's Creature paddle tail.

If you want them solid color just for weight, powder painting works great. It's what I did on these last night: If you want actual "eyeballs" on them, I have had decent success powder painting the base coat (yellow, white, orange, etc...) then dotting the pupil with some black liquid paint of your choice and sealing with Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails. They'll chip eventually but they hold up OK that way.

Hoping for some carp fishing soon.

Well, Davie McPhail has a YouTube page and has authored no books... Honestly/obviously, there's value in both videos and books. Some things, in my humble opinion, can be better explained in a video than a still image. There's also this crazy concept of skipping around the video that I, personally, do a lot. I don't need to watch the 15 minute video if I just want to see how the wings are tied on that proverbial fly. Just a thought. And if you've never watched a Kelly Galloup video on YouTube, do yourself a favor and watch one. Yes, he'll take 45 minutes to tie a fly he can tie in 15...but he teaches constantly all along the way. You get a lot more knowledge from his videos than just how to tie the fly. As for another bit of poor advice, again only my opinion: anything speed-related to get you to tie a fly faster. Especially for a newbie, I think it's a lot more important to do something right than to do it fast. Focus on the getting it right part. Not putting down your scissors or prepping your material beforehand don't matter if the end result is not right or poorly done.

Deer body hair on the top/back, white magnum zonker strip across the bottom to form a white belly.

Had to try adding a weed guard to the balanced minnow.

I dig that extended body trick with the tubing. I might need to borrow that thought for some sulphur patterns to use on TN tailwaters.

Balanced minnow on a new fly tying tool I finished last night. Half hitch/packer on one end, dubbing rake (Velcro) and brush tip on the other end.

I can, for sure.

There's more than one way to achieve a long fly with a short shanked hook. It doesn't have to be a tube. Multiple companies these days make fly tying shanks, or you can bend your own, or buy cheap hooks and cut them up. You have a long shank, or series of shanks, with a short-shanked hook as your lone hook. You still get a longer fly, you still have a hook with better holding power. I, personally, just don't like tube fly components. I've tied a few tube flies, it's not something I stuck with.

Channeling some SBPatt. I'm excited to feed these to shallow bluegill this spring. "Sexy Shad" balanced minnow.