MuskyFlyGuy

My primary rod is an 8

That is a beautiful set of flies Norm! Whoever gets these should go buy a lottery ticket.

Thanks to all who replied. Your comments and patterns were very helpful. The quality of helpful comments is why this website is so effective. Tom

Does anyone use Super Hair in their tying of large flies? It is 11 inches long and I bought some years ago and have not used it yet. I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks, Tom

This pool is too deep to miss. I'm in too.

BB, Congratulations on the upcoming retirement. I turn 71 this summer and can attest that the retirement years go quickly and you are in better shape now than you will be in 10 years. Fully immerse yourself in the retirement and enjoy each and every day. You will find you can be as busy as you want. Tom

Mike, The flies arrived today and they could not have come at a better time. Lake Minnetonka still has 28" of ice on it and we are expecting over the next two days: rain, sleet, and an accumulation of snow. Thanks for running a great swap and the extra flies and materials. All are appreciated. Like Vicrider said, your deer hair flies might be hanging on my desk to be used as tying goals for the summer. Thanks to EKucolonel17 for the foam panfish fly and Rich Mc for his collection of panfish and bass flies. Rich, they look great and will fill some gaps that I have in my panfish and bass boxes. In my mailer, there was also the listing for the flies tied by EKucolonel17 If the recipient of his flies wants the names of the flies, PM me and I will get the names to you. Have an outstanding fishing season! Tom

Wow Someone is going to have a lot of fun this summer! Great work on the rods Steve!!

Thanks Mike I have been admiring your flies for years and am excited to having won it. I hope to be able to report my results with it later in the summer. Right now it's snowing again, so it's going to be a while. Thanks also to fshng2 for choosing 7 and forcing me to pick 5. Thanks for hosting a great swap. Tom

Great fly I pick 5 Tom

Thanks for posting. Terrific job on the video: clear, concise, and well paced. Tom

A variant of the Murdich Minnow for smallies.

You all have had a great and inspiring month of tying!

Thanks to all who participated in the Musky Swap this year. All swappers get an amazing bunch of flies. I am appreciative of your participation and would like to acknowledge all of you for your help in improving my tying. The first fly comes from Vicrider. He did not participate in the swap, but sent a fly for all participants. What a tremendously generous act and when he comes to the Land of Mosquitoes this summer, I will get him on the water. The second fly comes from Eastern Fly. He provides wonderful leadership for this Board with the diverse swaps he hosts. He does an amazing job of mixing materials and inspires me with how he is able to develop subtleties of color and texture with the materials. I hope he can get to the Allegheny River this year and catch a big one. This third fly is from Flat Rock Native. He has done a great job as one of the co-mods and is an active swap participant. His fly is articulated and the colors will work well in the tannic/colored waters he and I fish. The fourth fly comes from Andrew from Tennessee. This is his favorite fly for his waters and looking at the colors and action, you can see why. I hope Andrew keeps posting fish for all of us to see. The fifth fly comes from Crackleback. He is another one of those creative guys, who is an active swapper and inspires all of us with his efforts. This fly is articulated, with great colors and action. The collar of this fly is reversed tied, with multiple colors on top and a solid color on the bottom.. Using the multiple colors on top really creates an amazing texture of color. I will be trying that technique in the near future. The final fly comes from Muskyflyguy. I had been thinking about a pattern for tannic water and tied this last year. It worked and the resultant picture is at the top of the post. It was a thick beast and ultimately wrenched my shoulder on the hold. The surgery took care of that this winter and I am looking forward to throwing it again this year. Thanks again to all the swappers for their skills and creativity! Tom

+1 if is root beer Tom

Flies have been sorted and mailed. Please let me know when they arrive. It will take a day or two to get the photos posted. Thanks to everyone for participating.

Andrew - great looking fly. I like the colors. You said this is your go to Fly. We have a great selection in this swap. All flies are in. I will photograph them and get them in the mail on Monday.

Got FRN's flies today. They look great and will have a lot of action. Waiting on the last set to arrive.

Nick, I had some eyes that fit and I glued them in. Thanks, but we are good. Tom

Crackleback - Thanks for the info. Turns out I asked the wrong question. The questions shoud have been about the collar behind the head where you mix blue and purple bucktail. Is that reverse on the first and stacked on subsequent ones? Vicente - When all flies arrive, I will post pictures. I can take good pictures with my SLR camera or ones not quite as good on my iphone. The problem for me is posting. The photos are too large to post, so i use the iphone at the mid quality range and have no idea if they will come rightside up. Eastern Fly - Your flies arrived today. They are beautifully tied streamers. You are an artist how you can integrate and blend the materials together. Do you count the amount or eyeball it? Thanks for the materials. I have been experimenting, trying to tie sucker patterns. I think these colors will work very well in the next patterns. Tom

Crackleback's flies arrived today. They are beautiful, articulated Flies, that will push water and have exceptional action. I really like how he is able to combine colors and textures. On the head, do you reverse tie several clumps of hair to get it to blend together so well? That blue/purple combination is also a favorite combination of mine for SMB. Thanks for the extra! That will be a perfect fly for the perch-based systems I fish. I will work hard to catch a fish and post it this year on your flies.

My first example of tying with a disc on the front of the fly. I used a white one from a carton of half and half. I struggled to get the disc squared up on the hook. Ultimately I tried a hollow bead on the front with final adjustments made via thread between the bead and the disk. Would a thread dam work as well as the bead? I am looking forward to the season opening, so I can see how it looks in the water. Thanks for any suggestions. Tom

I don't tie 24s anymore, but tied enough of them years ago to have real respect for your work.

Vicrider, Your flies arrived today. Thanks for the donation to the swap. In four months, I will be able to use it on the water. We are guaranteed to have ice out by then. I am looking forward to seeing them in the water. I will look and see if I can complete the eyes. A reminder that everyone's flies are due to me in 9 days. Tom

Mike Flies are done. I will go to Michaels tomorrow and get the box and then mail them on Tuesday. Please send me the address. Thanks for hosting, Tom