SilverCreek

Different laws BUT even if the flies are legal in Canada, they are not legal in the USA. So if you travel to the USA to fish, leave the flies tied with polar bear home. How do I know? I know because when I went fishing in Canada about many years ago and came back to the USA, the agents looked at my fly boxes for flies tied with polar bear.

I would advise you not to try to take flies with polar bear into the USA. https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-64?language=en_US "You cannot import skins or You cannot import skins or items made from, or trimmed with, the fur of these animals. Furs from seals, polar bears, and sea otters are also prohibited."

I would say that the flies are rather large for dry flies on a small lake. Have you seen trout eating off the surface. How large are the naturals that they are taking? Have you seen trout taking grasshoppers or other food that large off the surface?

You asked: "What should I add or change to make these dry flys even more effective" Before one can answer your question, you need to tell us what species of fish are you targeting and what kind of water are you going to fish?

I use the shuttle weave. In the shuttle weave, the threads interlock as they cross, and there is no need to tie a knot for every thread crossing. So it is much faster. It is also easier especially as the flies get smaller. The shuttle weave using bobbins can be seen in the video by Aaron Jasper. One key is to keep tension on the floss, and to pull away from you toward the woven areas so the next weave is tight against the previous. I use regular 6 strand embroidery floss I buy at Joannes or Michaels craft store. At about 3/$1 it is cheaper than fly tying floss. Unravel the floss into 2 or 3 strands depending on fly size and wind onto plastic sewing machine spools. Buy spools with [i[rounded[/i] side edges sos they dons bite into your fingers as you apply tension,You will thank me later. Wind the floss onto the spools by using a portable drill. Place the eraser end of a sharpened pencil into the drill chuck. Force fit the plastic bobbin into the tapered end of the pencil end and wind away. I use Matarelli mini bobbins made for sewing machine spools. Here's Aaron Jasper performing the shuttle weave. Since there are no knots in the shuttle weave, you can easily tell if a woven fly is tied using the overhand weave or the shuttle weave. The shuttle weave has a smoother body.

I have The Master Fly Weaver (copy 1413 of 1950) and Montana Trout Flies (copy 461 of 1950), both by George F. Grant. Both books are excellent for woven flies.

Landon Meyer's Chubby Damsel looks like Gary Borger's Damsel fly in that it uses a braided monofilament body. Landon's pattern from Fly Fisherman Magazine is below. https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/damselflies-strategies/468223 "Chubby Damsel Fly Recipe SEE PHOTO GALLERY Mayer's Chubby Damsel. HOOK: #14-16 Umpqua XT050 BN5X Stubby T 10. THREAD: Black/blue 8/0 UNI-Thread. BODY: Kingfisher Blue/ Olive, Ice Dub under FOAM: Blue/Olive 2mm Fly Foam. TAIL FLASH: One strand of black/Olive krystal flash folded over three times TAIL: Blue/olive Hareline Adult Damsel Body, barred with black Copic marker, tipped with clear resin. SIGHTER: White poly yarn. WINGS: Clear UV Pearl Hareline Grizzly Flutter Legs and Chicone’s Barred Regular Crusher Legs. BACK LEGS: Black Span Flex. Gary Borger's Pattern is below: https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/fishing/2010/03/tietalk-braided-butt-damsel Most fly tiers like Landon have used foam to modify the pattern to guarantee a floating fly I mentioned this to Gary and he asked me whether the tiers had thought he had not considered foam. According to Gary, the trout can concentrate on the drowned damsels and the foam pattern cannot imitate drowned damsels because they always float. So tie the standard pattern first and add a few foam ones if you want. Compare the Borger damsel with other damsel patterns and you will note how realistic the braided butt pattern looks compared to foam, dyed deer hair, or dubbed abdomen patterns. None of these can match the thin abdomen of the natural insect. The Borger damsel is the most effective damsel patterns I have fished. And use a strong tippet. The vicious take can often break you off. Another point is that the stage before the mature blue damsel is the brown teneral phase. You can use a brown color marker to match the mono to tie up a few teneral patterns. The brown teneral patterns will also match brown dragon flies. Cortland braided mono comes in 30 and 50 lb strengths. Get the 50 if you can. You can use the braided mono for making braided loops and the 50 lb is stronger. The video below shows how damsels are vulnerable when they are under the water and how they get trapped in the film. A foam damsel pattern can't get that trapped in the film appearance.

I've seen trout take hovering damsels on Hebgen Lake just like in the video below. You can take them using floss blow line fishing. https://vimeo.com/85147880 "Blow line fishing" is a technique described by both Gary LaFontaine and Gary Borger. Gary Borger wrote about it in his book, Presentation pg 286. In Gary Borger's technique you use untwisted polypropylene yarn that is flatten and ironed to straighten the fibers. Then you form a "kite" out of it by whipping finishing a loop into it and attaching it to the end of your fly line and then attaching 2 feet of 2x or 3x mono to the "kite". The heavy tippet material is to prevent break offs. The strikes are vicious. When there is enough wind blowing from off shore, you raise your fly rod and the use the wind to make the fly hover and dap the water surface just like a hovering damsel fly. You can read Gary LaFontaine's article below: http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/lakes/part81.php I use a pattern that will sink. Damsel crawl under water to lay their eggs and they drown. Drowned damsels are rarely fished and the trout are not shy about taking them. Here's what Jason Borger has to say about damsel patterns: "One question that I/we often get about this fly (inspired by a pattern that my father saw in New Zealand back in the 1980s) is, “Why don’t you use foam for the post, it floats better?” The answer is based on years of observing damselfly hatches and is fairly simple: because sometimes we want the fly to sink. If that sounds odd, keep in mind that “dry flies” (or perhaps more accurately “dry insects”) sometimes aren’t so dry…." I wrote about this previously in this post about how it is used for hovering damsel flies: http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/entomology/346050-damsel-distress.html#post788631

Instead of navigating by clicking on the "Browse" tab and then on the various "forum tabs" in the forum window below: I click on the "Activity Tab" to take me to the latests posts. If I want to see the earlier posts, I click on "Load More Activity" at the bottom of the screen.

There are copies available on the Auction Site E***

Here is a link to a thread that shows how I tie off Parachute Hackle on the bottom of the parachute post. I hope it helps you. https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/index.php?threads/parachute-dry-fly-question.361100/#post727858

Dyeing material is not only about color. You also need consistency from batch to batch. That means you need a way to control both color and color saturation.

The "buckskin nymph" in the video usually imitates a caddis larva. However, there is a different version of the "buckskin" that imitates an aquatic worm or even an earthworm. I had a fly fisher next to me that tied a length of chamois onto a ook with an overhand knot and began catching trout. The knot imitates the clitellum of the worm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitellum On the San Juan, there are aquatic annelids that look exactly like earthworms. https://www.ecospark.ca/aquatic-earthworm https://www.jungledragon.com/image/84005/aquatic_worm_-_oligochaeta.html

I have 32 gigs of memory and a 1 TB SSD.

There is a great documentary on Joe Brooks titled Finding Joe Brooks. Not many fly fishers know that he was the one of the first, if not the very first fly fish in saltwater. He was the person who introduced Lefty Kreh to saltwater fly fishing. https://www.joebrooksdocumentary.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECZMKc8chm0

Is the answer to the test 1 trillion, 111 billion, 111 million, 111 thousand, 111?

Yes. You have to wash the waders BUT you need to use the right soap that does not leave a residue. Use https://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/products/Cleaning/tech-wash/ https://youtu.be/gWsHRRU3CZU

DFoster is referring to the phenomena of "Wet Out." I made this post many years ago and I hope the links still work. "I wash waders to prevent "wet out" which occurs when the DWR coating no longer works and the "breathable" waders can no longer breath. ALL breathable waders will eventually need to be washed and have the DWR renewed. If you don't the water coats the outside of the waders and the film of water prevents water vapor that is INSIDE the waders form passing through the waders to the outside. Some of you may not realize the with a functioning DWR, breathable waders can actually "breath" underwater when the outside of the wader is colder than the inside which is usually the case when fishing for trout. "That’s what any breathable fabric does: it acts as a one-way door for water vapor. Even better, it continues to work under water, so long as the exterior liquid is substantially cooler than the body temperature of the wearer." https://midcurrent.com/gear/breathing-underwater/ What happens is the Durable Water Repellency (DWR) coating on the exterior fabric of waders gets dirty, impeding the DWR that causes water to bead up. Why does a breathable fabric need water repellency? Because when a Gortex garment is coated with water, the water vapor that passes through the Gortex membrane is trapped from escaping to the outside air. So the garment cannot breath. The garment acts just like a solid sheet of plastic and your perspiration is trapped and condenses on the inside of the garment and on your clothing. This is a phenomenon called "wet out". "DWR (durable water repellent): This substance is applied to the exterior of the face fabric. It causes water to bead up and fall off rather than absorb. A high-quality DWR keeps the face fabric from wetting out and maintains breathability. Worn-out or low-quality DWR coatings are the primary reason that waterproof garments fail. A “wetted out” waterproof garment cannot breathe." https://thetrek.co/waterproof-fabrics/ Read what Gortex says. https://www.gore-tex.com/restoring-water-repellency "You can restore the garment’s water repellency by applying a topical water repellency restorative (DWR treatment) for outdoor fabrics, available at your local outdoor retailer. We do not recommend wash-in treatments, as they can hinder your garment's breathability." Here is a primer on how to care for breathable garments by REI. Rainwear: Durable Water Repellent (DWR) Care I use Nikwax TX.Direct. It has performed well for me. The product you use to wash your waders is important. It should be a powder and not a liquid, and it should be unscented. That is to prevent any detergent residues that would interfere with the DWR application or seal the Gortex pores. I use Ivory Snow unscented powder. Alternatively, you can use a residue free product like Sport-Wash. To use the Nikwax TX.Direct, wash your wader or rainwear and rinse well. Hang it up outside and allow the water to drip off. While still damp, spray the wader or garment with Nikwax TX.Direct and cover all areas. Then put in your dryer and dry on the "Permanent Press Low Heat Cycle." Put the suspenders of the waders into a sock to protect them while the DWR sets. Follow the manufacturer's direction if you use another DWR. The way a DWR works is to form molecular chains which project outward from the fabric surface. This causes the water to "bead" on the surface because of the surface tension of water.*This is the same way that a lotus leaf *repels water."

Since he lives in Wisconsin, he sells at several of the fly fishing and tying events like the Badger Fly Fishers Spring Opener. I have bought from him at these events. I never buy hackle I can't examine.

I use a 22 caliber bore cleaning brush as a dubbing brush. I carry one in my fly tying kit and one in my fishing vest to rough up my nymphs to make them look "buggy" before fishing them.

I see several potential problems with the vise. The length of the jaws is unusually long and will put more of stress on the jaws. Secondly the jaws seem to tighten with a knob rather than with a lever action. This limits the ability to tighten the jaws and the ability of the vise to hold hooks. I suggest you test the vise by putting both a small hook like a size 20 and then a larger hook like a size 2 into the jaws and see if the fise holds the hooks adequately.

I guess Danville vise jaws are poorly made. Previous post about problems with the jaws. https://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?/topic/80612-danvise-very-frustrated-with-jaws/ https://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?/topic/42645-replacement-danvise-jaws/ https://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?/topic/36228-problems-with-danvise/

We think alike. It's about time for another go-around. I wrote about them back in this post in Oct 2021 https://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?/topic/97552-peak-rotary-or-griffin-odyssey-spider-vise-for-beginner/&tab=comments#comment-815601 Managing tying thread spools. If you have some manuals from meetings and conferences that are bound together by plastic binding combs, you can cut sections from the combs to keep tying thread from unwinding. My hospital has a print shop so I was able to get binding combs in all sizes. Cut sections from the combs and use them to on your thread spools. I don't use a Norvise but I do use their bobbins. I keep the bobbin spools organize in spool cases. The comb sections keeps the thread on the spools. I use the Norvise bobbin cases as organizers to hold 10 spools each.

One of my good friend heads the Project Healing Waters for wounded marines in the Wounded Warriors Program at Fort Belvoir. I am donating 12 dozen flies to his program. He wrote me back. "Everything we get goes to our Project Healing Waters programs. We would put them in fly boxes and distribute them to the soldiers and marines. My friend, Marty Laksbergs, the Program Lead for the Quantico Program, also helps me out by attending our Fort Belvoir meetings. Marty and I share everything we get and we do joint trips to save money." You can read about their programs at https://www.facebook.com/BelvoirPHW https://www.facebook.com/QuanticoPHW Reply to this post if you want to know how to donate flies. I will PM you with his private email to contact him.