njsimonson

Salt or borax them - both work fine. Stick them in the garage for a few nights in the teens or below zero, no need to wrap. Did a number of them this fall to get ready for my spring fishing course, using the freezer and the garage. Less salt/borax in the freezer when I use the garage, too! Also managed a partridge (a rarity around here these days) and got a great barred/rust skin out of it, salt and freeze and it's good to go! Nothing beats a pheasant skin for versatility. You'll have a full winter ahead of you!

I am tying up some large treble hooks for muskie fishing and have so far enjoyed doing bucktail trebles. However I tend to get a bit short when I need a double-hook rig. I was wondering, in your travels through fly tying, if any of you have found a more supple, breatheable replacement for bucktail? Any good synthetics? Also, if anyone knows where I can get magnum flashabou for under $5 a pack? Thanks.

Hey, if you don't have McFly foam, go get some! It is the COOLEST egg material out there!!! It's $4 at Gander or wherever for a multi-colored pack and it makes about 50-75 eggs (less if you'rea newbie like me). Here's some of the patterns I learned this year in prep for steelie fishing on Lake Superior. Enjoy! http://www.nicksimonson.com//index.php?opt...78&Itemid=1

Yesterday I spilled 1/2 oz of head cement on the floor under my desk. I had to abandon the room and open the window...the fumes were awful. I did finish my last bucktail though before I was overcome. LOL. Your desk looks semi-clean, LOL!

Now if only we could evolve from the gas-powered engine, LOL. Trout opener is just 8 DAYS away! I hope most of the snow is gone by next Friday for Saturday's big moment, and with temps in the 50s this and next week - it should be! I am hoping for my first brookie! (Just moved to NE MN...so its all soooo new and exciting!)

Church window feathers make for great soft-hackle - try doing a church window Carey Special wet. Simple, fun, dynamite fly!

Same as above. But I know there have been times where I've stuck with a lure or fly when my buddy is whacking them on something else. Is it a matter of pride? Heck I dunno, maybe too much reliance on "confidence baits" but I think there's this stigma that comes with fly fishing too about looking down the nose at spin/baitcaster fishing. I know I do it with the "hook and bobber crowd" more so for their catch-n-kill mentality, as opposed to their gear, and even then, I probably shouldn't. Because, the base of it is, we're all anglers. And agreed, hopefully doing it legally.

snboggs - I can get you one at the end of April. I recently moved from Valley City, ND to Eveleth, MN, and my stockpile is in my old room at my folks' place. I will be returning the last weekend of the month for smallie fishing, I will grab you a clump of tail feathers then, and see if I can scrounge up some rump patches too (iffy). PM me your mailer, and I'll get them out to you!

Just wondering where anglers "draw the line" and why. Some are dry fly only, some don't use "non-fly" flies, like the SJ Worm. Kudos to those who stick to their guns, even at the cost of lower catch rates, especially when the fish are biting on something else they could easily tie or use.

So would you fish a plain SJ worm? A green vernille EZ inchworm? What about sili-skin baitfish flies? Clouser minnows? Woolly Buggers? Adamses? Poly-wing tricos?

So would you fish a plain SJ worm?

I have collected scuds in Devils Lake, ND that were up to 3/4" in length, I don't know what hook size that would be, but size 10 wouldn't be out of the question. They are the basis for a very productive fishery there.

For those of us who live (or in my case now, lived) in pheasant country, feathers are as easy to get as going out after work during the season and shooting a roodie or two. I have years of material stockpiled. LOL. But it isn't that expensive, in my experiences, to get a tail clump for tying. PM me next fall, I can get you a good group of pheasant feathers to tie with: churchwindows and greentrims from the back and rump for softhackles and streamers too!

Question: By the end of the sessions, how long did it take you to complete one fly?

Mini clousers in: Pink/white Chart/white Grey/white Small buggers in white, green or silvery estaz. DYN-O-MITE! The bigger crappies eat small minnows...try to replicate baitfish colors for success!

I have a quick Chernobyl story. Last year, just after bass opener at our family's place in Detroit Lakes, MN, I was fishing a big Chernobyl where the creek flows into the lake, and there was this amazing school of about 15 one- to two- pound largemouth all huddled up right where the creek flow dispersed into the lake, and the fish were right on the edge of the sandy delta. The water was still gin clear, as it is in spring, and you could watch EVERY fish in that herd charge after the C-Ant when it splashed on the surface. I brought my fiance over and said "here...try fly fishing." I held her arm and helped with the cast, and we PLOPPED the fly right next to the school. A 14" fish smashed it and she said, NOW I SEE WHY YOU DO THIS! I can recall the emerald/black sides of the fish on the bronze sand with sun all around us, it is one of my favorite fishing memories! Chernobyls are fun flies to tie, and great to fish, especially for LMB, SMB and bluegill. The google/yahoo avenue is probably the best way to find a step-by-step.

Spring is a great time to get yourself a space set up...though a difficult time to chain yourself to the desk and actually tie, what with the fish coming alive after winter slumber, at least in these parts. The reason why spring is so good is that many towns and cities have "clean up week" where old furniture (ie: desks) hit the side of the road for dumpster-diving consumers to snatch up (or be taken to the landfill). Try to grab one. I use an old computer desk my old boss was getting rid of from her house, and it has AMPLE storage. I have a 12x15 room in my new house that is ALL MINE. I will try to post pictures in the near future, but I have hung all my fishing photos and outdoors prints in there, and it has really come alive, it is quiet and very conducive to tying. I've been cranking them out as of late!

Even, *Gasp* Gander Mtn. had some in their steelheader section this week, and they've discontinued tying materials around here.

Thanks guys! Stony - I went to eBay first...didn't see what I wanted, did see that auction though. Thanks for the effort.

Greetings all. Been a while since I checked in, but I figured you all would know the answer. Where can I get a big bottle or bucket of tying beads (glass, for size 10-16 hooks) on the web? I know some fly tying/craft companies sell them in one big container with about 10-15 different colors. Any idea where I can get them? Thanks.

Skunked, what are you tying? Have you tried the FAOL beginner's tutorial? It'll have you tying easy, effective and good looking flies in under 15 minutes. If anything, a wooly bugger shouldn't take you too long to get down. What, may I ask, are you tying now?

That's the kind of stuff you'd rarely find at the big chains. Kudos to Alphorn! Enjoy this resource, Skunked!

Empty beer can, coffee mug, shopping bag

Hywel... You don't have to wait til you're dead to take a break. Go USE the flies somewhere! As a new tier, and quickly becoming a busy guy all around I love time at the vise. I slept through tying time this morning though. I forgot my alarm and woke up with 25 minutes to get ready for work and walk the pup. Good thing he was sleeping nearby and woke me up, or I'da been late for work. Maybe get some midges in over lunch...gotta make up for lost time! I'm looking forward to stimulators next week, but I have some other patterns to work on first. I guess being young in my tying years, I've not experienced this "rut" you talk about. I hope I never do.

Welcome Dr. Bluedun! Glad to see you here!