ashley

Fantasic, one of your skins appears to have escaped and can be seen looking in from the wall outside!

I have no preverance, I just tie some nymphs with beads and without. It all depends on the weight that I want in the fly.

Good ideas, offically but the one that I mostly use is an untidy pile on the tying bench :-)

Thinking about it, I like the tradition of the hair seeing as though I have tons of it (I use deer) but like the look of the foam Humpies I'm tying at the moment as they seem slimmer and more mayfly like.

I would use the rabbit fur more than the dog, simply because it dubs better. Dog fur is likely to be better for winging small wet flies and streamers. Comb the animals because it might be noticed if you cut bits off.

Thanks for posting this. Enjoyed watching it, Jack was one of my biggest influences on my tying..still is.

I have a small note book on the tying bench to write new patterns/colour combinations of flies because I have a brain like a seive. I will write other stuff like dye mixes, etc. For fishing I have a blog, which also has my flies patterns on (the ones that work!).

When I started tying I used Chinese and Indian capes and still get them when I get the chance but only when I can pick through a bin of them so I can pick out the ones that suit my needs. I use them for Streamer wings but mostly for Irish wets and Salmon flies.

Well I'll be a suck egg mule. Only two days and you filled the quota.

 

Just missed getting in. Post the line up when they are all in so we can see the results.

Yeap, I just missed out as well. Don't check the swap section out much but really kicking myself for missing this one....first saltwater swap I've seen in a while.

Hopefully get to see pictures of the flies.

Please count me in if you have space.

Yeap, you got an international tyer but I will be doing a fly for the east coast Striped Bass, a bait fish pattern.

I normally send cash and an addressed envelope for return as this works easiest for me.

I like the idea of a photo with a fish caught on the fly but I don't take a camera with me when saltwater fishing unless its in a boat :-(

I have one that started last Christmas, I haven't added as much as I would like and have some more articles I need to write.

shoestringflyfisher.blogspot.com/

I follow a few others which have already been mentioned.

Please can I suggest that this thread is made a sticky so it can be used as a link point for evryones blog?

I love the idea of a saltwater swap, I've done one or two saltwater but the most common swap is for trout. If this goes ahead please bear me in mind.

I agree that it can be annoying when people disappear or something goes wrong. I've been doing swap for a long time and only had it happen a couple of times.

The only materials that I wash are the ones that are given to me by shooting friends and roadkill. Possibly bucktails that I buy because they are often smelly.

I use washing up liquid in a small dose with some fabric condition as well.

built this this weekend, betting it won't stay this clean for long

 

<img src="http://www.flytyingforum.com/images/Galleries/Benches/img4fe901faaec60.jpg">

 

 

 

View the full article

 

Nice desk. Better move that fan though.

 

Dave

I think he has, why'd you think there is nothing on the table

For parachute wings as well as upright wings I find congo hair very good, if not the best. It lasts longer than CDC on a fish per fly ratio.

Yes, I tie and fish them. Although at the moment its for larger mayflies. I have a pattern that I tie which started with a deer hair body but as now progressed to a foam body tied on a needle because I think it looks much better.

Beautiful, lovely fly although I would personally have a heavier wing for fishing, its just what I am used to in my Irish flies.

I have NEVER had a problem with humidity, and I live on the Golden Gulf Coast of Texas, where, if the humidity drops below 33%, the girls shrivel up like prunes! The secret is to tack the hide to a piece of plywood, and then prop the whole thing UP! NEVER lay it out horizontally! By propping it up, the excess moisture drains out, and does NOT pool or puddle on the hide; which can, and DOES, lead to problems!

 

CAUTION NOTE: DO NOT PROP IT UP NEAR A LAWN OR DESIRABLE SHRUBBERY. SALT KILLS SUCH THINGS!

Good point about propping the board up and is something not mentioned else where. But doesn't the salt fall off apart from what is rubbed in?

Hey guys, can I summarise then that birds and thin skinned stuff daily salt till salt stops getting 'sweaty' and for deer rabbit badger etc borax. Is the borax daily too or just a heap on and leave somewhere cool for the 2-3 weeks?

Most would say, like what as been already been replied, that its the other way round. However, I use borax for both has I have found that salt is absorbant of water in the air so I tend not to use it. I have had far to many skins ruined my continued dampness due to the salt problem. if the air is dry it will be fine but where I live its a case of it not being practical.

Beautiful fly, I am going to have to get some of those hooks for my Irish wets because they appear to make the fly 'just right', the eye of the hook also looks better than the standard down eyed hook.

thanks for the replies. I was not trying to say that micro flies are pure fashion cause I know that at times we need to match the hatch to size and form but it has just amazed me that here in UK micro flies seem to be a rare thing and in USA they have been an established form of fishing for a while. Living in scotland midges and small flies can often be the only hatch of a trip but there are very very few flies you can find if you look at traditional scottish patterns.

Hi Piker20,

I'm from the UK and small flies certainly aren't a rare thing on my line. I fish the streams around Salisbury and find I catch more on the micro flies because thats the size of fly that is hatching. In Scotland as well in Ireland the traditional patterns don't seem to imitate that closely the small stuff, I think it may be due to what they had available.

and the occasional oddball bird.

All the other birds are very useful but this one is beyond me.

Being in the UK I don't see the ones (apart from the pheasant and woodcock) very often but just this week I got offered some woodcock.

I personally prefer using just borax as I have had better results. With salt I have had problems including the salt appearing to absorb moisture from the air and the skin becomes rotten and useless. With borax the skin will be perfect. Since using Borax I have also had no problems with infestation, apparently bugs don't like it.

Dafunk5446 & ALL. I'm interested in trying this kool aid dying. From what feathers would I strip the quills to dye.

 

Thanks,

Bruce

 

 

The quills I use are the large hackle from a Chinese or Indian neck which are perfect for dying.

 

For quill bodies I tend to use pentone pens (light olive on a medium red game hackle)because I don't know of any dyes to match the mayflies in the UK.

 

 

Hi Ashley. Do they have to be white Chinese or Indian Hen Necks?

Bruce

Hi Bruce,

Simple anser is no, for my BWO I use the red game as already mentioned. Yellow on white works (I forgot I had done that one) for small mayflies.

I use cock hackles not hen for my quill bodies.

Ashley