JoeBillingsley

This is just my opinion, but I think a nymph looks better (at least in the vise and the fly box) with a shorter 1/2 shank-length or gap-length tail vs. the longer full shank-length one. Just my opinion. Not sure what the fish think. Joe

Randy, They both do basically the same thing - get the fibers off of a CDC feather stem (or other feathers, too) and have them bunched and lined up. I have both tools and I can't say that one is easier or harder to manipulate than the other. You can also tear the fibers off the stem a few at a time, like Davie McPhail does, but that's not as much fun as using a tool and you don't get to spend more money and accumulate more tying stuff! I'm sure some tiers definitely prefer one over the other. Joe

Steve, Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu930ivb_sI It takes a while for the video to get to the tool, but it eventually gets there. Joe

I bought a package of the UV2 pheasant tail feathers a few months ago. I don't know about the effectiveness of them yet so I can't comment on that part of the discussion, but I will say that the feathers are quite a bit lighter in color and the fibers are lot more fragile and less dense than the non-treated feathers I've been buying for years. Could be I just got a poor individual package, I guess. Don't know. Joe

One of the most effective still water flies I use is a #10 or #12 Pheasant Tail, so don't forget about the bigger ones when you get more comfortable tying the smaller sizes. I have more success with a couple of wraps of a CDC feather as a collar instead of the pheasant barb legs, too. Joe

I kind of use both methods. I'll put a couple of semi-loose wraps on the bundle then pull it tight and immediately make some hard wraps around the bundle until it stops spinning around the hook. I then know it's secure. Joe

Hi, Bruce. I have mostly used it in warm water, although I have tried it a couple of times in mountain lakes and caught some trout, which is what it was designed for, I think. It is the best fly I have ever used for bass, bream, crappie, sand bass, pretty much anything that eats. I've also put a bead on it to get it a little deeper quicker. Joe

The Stayner Ducktail. Joe

Will, I fish the Cimarron, Costilla, Red, lower Hondo, Comanche and a few other streams there several weeks a year and you can't be without the caddis arsenal - EHC, CDC & Elk, and your favorite pupae and larva patterns. Adults in tan and olive, larva and pupa in bright green and a few in tan. Copper Johns, PT's, Hare's Ears, and simple midge nymphs in black or gray will cover the rest. Beautiful place to fish. Joe

The Yong Special. Very effective. Just use a darker sewing thread for the head without dubbing. Joe

I believe the flyfishing-store link is Wishes and Fishes.

Try www.theflyfishing-store.com. $3.50 per 25.

What are your favorite patterns/recipes for this fly? Thanks, Joe

Here's a good tutorial for the Woolly Bugger. Just eliminate the steps about the materials you may not have. http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/de...cfm?parentID=41 Joe

I'll second the grizzly, brown, and dun saddles. Then maybe ginger and some different shades of dun. For the post colors (I use Widow's Web poly yarn material. It's the best I've found), along with white, chartreuse, and yellow, pink is also very easy to see and black is the best when there is a bad glare on the water. So much depends on what colors you personally can see better. I have a fishing buddy who is a little bit color blind and chartreuse and yellow are virtually invisible to him on the water. Joe

Amen on the "tricky to cut" part, Hans, but I think you understated it a little. It's darn near impossible, at least for me, to get a clean cut with GSP, if I can cut it at all. Joe

I have had, like everyone else, good and bad experiences. But I will say that if JStockard had a bigger inventory I wouldn't shop at too many other mail order suppliers. I always look there first and, if they don't have it, then I move on and look at other places. Joe

I agree that different types of polypro are better for some things than others. Widow's Web is the best for parachute posts (and strike indicators, etc.) that I have found. It's very crinkly and if you brush it out or use a fine toothed comb on it after you have completed the fly it flares out even more. Here's an excellent review of it on Peter Frailey's terrific website, Fishing with Flies: http://www.fishingwithflies.com/Article-Fa...b/WidowsWeb.htm Joe

One of the reasons (among many) that I like parachute patterns is because I can see them better on the water. When dry, antron is fine, but when it gets wet it soaks up water and tends to mat together more than some other materials and loses some of its visibility, whereas poly yarn, for example, stays more "fluffy", or at least will get that way again after a false cast or two. I just think that there are better alternatives for post material than antron. Joe

Great! Thanks! Joe

What is disco yarn and where do you get it? Nice looking flies, by the way! Joe

troutbum421, Stripping the hackle off one side of the stem will create a more sparsley (sp.?) hackled fly, which is very important on many soft hackles. Tying it in by the tip will let you: (1) use the smaller barbs at the tip of the feather for smaller flies; and, (2) use the thinner part of the stem that on many soft hackle feathers (partridge, for one) tends to get quite thick at the base of the feather. But neither tying the feather in by the tip nor stripping the barbs off one side are hard and fast rules for all soft hackles. Like Letumgo said, much depends on what you want the finished fly to look like. Joe

I think that hen hackle tip wings are the prettiest and most realistic, but I agree with Redwings1 that they are probably a lot prettier to me than to the fish. They are, at least for me, the trickiest to tie in, although A.K. Best's method does make them fairly easy. I use Widow's Web (a poly yarn material) for most of my wings now and for all parachute posts. It's extremely easy to work with and comes in many colors. Joe

Din, They look good. John Barr's instructions seem overly meticulous (exact number of wraps, etc.), but the proportions will turn out perfect if they are followed. After all, he invented it - he does know what he's talking about! Keep up the good work, they'll catch fish. Joe

Here's the link for tying the Copper John from John Barr himself: http://www.flyfisherman.com/ftb/jbbarrflies/index5.html Joe