biginjapan

just wondering what you guys use to store your poppers, bass bugs and big flies? i usually just use a plug box. It's not ideal but it's pretty hard to find a good flyshop in japan marty

not something i've ever done, I can throw a six 30yards pretty accuratley and if i was using fours it's be short range so i never saw the need. I have occasionally over lined for fishing with big flies or when i had to load up really quickly. martyn

if you want hayabusas you can get them form rutland fishing- a really nice little company in ENgland who have always proved very helpful and are incredibly pleasant (will give trade or bulk prices usually no problem) i think the website is www.rutlandfishing.com

yeah it looks good, full of coptions and it looks even better tin real life than the video- tie some!!

Davie is an absolute gentleman, i've been lucky enough to tie and fish with him in the past and can honestly say he's one of the nicest people i know. He's also the only tier i 've seen who's flies i would happilt use instead of my own. marty

nice video steve, tied a couple up, and a big crawfish style one too. they look deadly thanks for posting it. tmatt, i've seen the backstabber video but havent used them yet. Like you i tied them with rabbit strip instead of marabou (bahama mama style) martyn

how about when you add more than one layer? i always use flat lead, i feel that 2-4 layers is much slimmer with flat lead than round wire marty

I picked pantone and other, i really like pantones as the colour range is great, however i only have a few left and they're very difficult to get in japan so i'm gradually swinging to copic markers, they're also pretty good especially for marking pvc and other surfaces that dont take ink well. they also have a blending pen for mixing colours should you want to. My only gripe is that the copics ahve only 2 tips, they dont have the really fine poins that the pantones have. martyn

remember though, it can be a real pain spooling wire onto small bobbins for using tying. you should try davie's winter bug or his hoglouse too, davie and i used to do really well on them when i lived back home, he probably still does well on them

tryi going to an armature winder i used to get loads off of my local workshop before the guys retired

Really? I find much more control with a rotary over a static fly vice. maybe the rotary vice you used didn't have the correct tension to keep the fly steady and it rotated due to thread pressure. How do you see what is going on the back side? When i am being extra precise I use the half wrap, rotate and wrap technique to make sure that my wraps are exact and evenly spaced. Otherwise it really is a crap shoot. The only way to be absolutley sure your wraps on the right side of the fly are the same is to stand up and peak over the fly or tilt the pedestal toward you to look at the right side of the fly. Heck I tye a lot of my streamer and nymph flies upside down, I mean the trout look at that profile as much as if not more so than the top of the fly. i think you have misunderstood me, I use the rotary function for turning and tying in etc, although not as much as some people (thinking mostly cheeks and jc eyes here) but beards legs and veilings then yeah i turn the vise. What i never doe is rotate the hook to craeta a wrap. i.e holding chenille for example and turning the hook so that the chenile winds up the body, i much prefer to lay each wrap and be able to manipulate it with my materials hand. marty

a small touch of hard as nails on the 3mm or so of thread reight at the head before you whip finish for me, it's not like a fully laquered head but is nnice and secure

thanks guys-i'll get tying thia week, tokyo is just starting to heat up this time of year so i've got a couple of weeks bto get ready. marty

too much is never enough- that's my policy. I'm in the happy position of re cgenerating a stock of tying gear as i sold all my other stuff before cmoving to japan last may- i love buying feathers me martyn

anyone going for carp? I'm thinking about itthis year, but not sure what to tie for them? also what kind of techniques are you using? thanks marty

they're good hooks. i've tied on thousands of them and have no complaints martyn

[the footballer is a good pattern, one of the early midge petterns to appear in the uk, great for grey midges i tie them as follows 10-20 kamazan b100 or b110 (any curved grub or scud hook will do) primrose 8/0 underbody silver holo g ( this isnt in the original but it shines thrugh the hair very nicely creating a lovely translucency, you can wrap touching or open turns to vary the effect) body, one black and one white horse hair wound parallel to each other thorax, mole with some uv pearl flash blended in marty

dyna king baracudda junior trekker (rotary) one thing i would say is, i never use the rotary action for wrapping materials, too liitle control over what's happenng martyn

tasty biscuits

just got a copy of pops flyees today, and it's a great read, one fly i'm curious about though is the schoolie, it's basically 2-5 mini surf candies tied on one big keel hoook. now, i had never heard of it but then saltwater flyfishing in the UK is not as popular as over the pond. the thing is it strikes me as a bit gimmiky (possibly why it isnt as commonly known as the surcandy or ultra shrimp?) I was just wondering what you guys think, do any of you use it? martyn

thanks, it's looking like i'll be ordering from outside Jp anyhow . marty

yeah, i've seen charters, but not for fly fishing i'll probably go on a few this summer, and possibly head to okinawa for the mahi mahi. i did some jigging for squid last year which was fun. marty

I have 2set ups here12wt amd 10wt, just not river trout material. i dont really use the 12 here, it's there just incase i pop down to fiji or somewhere with mahimahi and/or GTs i just ordered an 8 for carp too-back home iused 4-6 weights for my river work. martry

definitely be trying them. i'll be heading out t o iberaki and chiba coastal areas this year, aparently there're some good bass (floaty crab) spots to be found and the chance of some yellowtail (more floaty crab) ar even some footbal tuna. Also going to have a crack at the carp with leechy jobbies. wouldnt mind a go on the trout streams but it'd mean getting a whole new set up.....

been out a couple of times for smallies and black bass, but i didnt really enjoy it, it was just too crowded. it's much easier to get a bit of peace at the sea. there are some nice areas for freshwater fishing but i dont own a car here (no where to put one) so dont have much chance to go to them. marty