TerryLee

Sorry I'm so late getting in for this. I haven't been around much lately. That said, and if I'm not too late, I'll take two XXXL shirts, one charcoal and one prairie dust. Thanks, Terry

Sorry for any confusion, but make mine a XXXL, just in case. In fact, put me down for two, I never have enough T-shirts. :dunno:

Steve I called him up and ordered some stuff a couple of weeks back. I got my stuff in a day or two. He's a really nice guy. I didn't get the video, just upgraded some of my tools (bobbin, scissors, thread). He sent me copies of some of the articles he has written, and all of that together has helped me quite a bit. Good luck, Terry

I'm in, as long as you got fat guy sizes (XXL or better)

What are you using for the tails of the two on the left? Looks like bucktail or untrimmed hair from the bug's body. Sweet flies, by the way.

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I have a related question. Do you weight the double bunny or not? If so, how? I was thinking lead/dumbbell eyes, but I'm not sure. Some of the ones posted look unweighted. Thanks, Terry

Bubba applied for an engineering position at a Lake Charles refinery. A Yankee applied for the same job and both applicants having the same qualifications were asked to take a test by the manager. Upon completion of the test, both men only missed one of the questions. The manager went to Bubba and said: "Thank you for your interest, but we've decided to give the Yankee the job." Bubba asked: "And why are you giving him the job? We both got nine questions correct. This being Louisiana, and me being a Southern boy, I should get the job!" The manager said: "We have made our decision not on the correct answers, but rather on the one question that you both missed." Bubba then asked: "And just how would one incorrect answer be better than the other?" The manager replied: "Bubba, its like this. On question #4 the Yankee put down; "I don't know." You put down, "Neither do I."

If you came up with it, it's yours, in my opinion. Heck, if it catches fish and I come up with it, I'm gonna take credit for it until somebody tells me different. Then, when they walk away, it will magically become my creation all over again. Seriously, though, good job, especially since it catches fish.

Thank you so much !!!!!! That cleared it up completely for me. I've been wanting to learn how to make these for sometime now, so I really appreciate it. Thanks again :yahoo: , Terry :headbang:

Granddad caught a bluegill once with a honeysuckle blossom, so, yeah, it'll probably work . Only one way to find out for sure, though: Go Fish!! Terry

Too cool!! I'm a little confused about what to do with the needle though. You said not to wrap the thread around the needle, but if you don't what is it there for? I'll warn you now, I am an idiot when it comes to these things, so keep it simple and be gentle, please . Thanks, Terry

:hyst: I'm gettin' close to a c. Hook a brother up!!! :hyst: :hyst: :hyst:

I think that, up to a point (no pun intended, but it was good huh? ), the sureness and the depth of the hookset has more to do with keeping the fish on the line than the barb does, with the emphasis on depth, particularly having the bend of the hook being the part of the hook that is pulling against the fish. To that point (God, I kill me ), provided the angler keeps the necessary pressure on the fish, as stated in the second part of the quote above, strictly considering fighting the fish the barb vs no barb conversation doesn't come into play. However, it is the initial penetration coupled with the pressure put and maintained on the fish that counts. Like has been said many times in this thread, a thinner, barbless hook will penetrate easier than one with a barb, or even a larger diameter barbless hook. Think about it, when you go to the doctor to get a shot, which one hurts more the big needle or the little one? I caught my biggest fish ever on a barbless hook and I will try to post a pic when I get home of it, along with the story. The key point, though, is I never let the pressure off of her, which enabled me to keep her on the hook(well, that and a lot of luck, but I digress).

Yeah, what he said. I am definitely interested in doing less damage to the fish and as you said Day5, I can release 'gills (and other fish) much more quickly, but I have to be honest and say that my biggest initial motivation was that the hooksets are much easier. I can't speak to a size 24 though. I've never used anything smaller than a 20. If I were to make an educated guess I'd think that since using such a small fly requires a small tippet, a hookset that requires less force could be a very good thing! Same here, or at least that's why I used to fish barbless exclusively, including for bass. Most of the time now I don't because I'm lazy, the hooks I've been using lately have barbs that don't have much of a barb, and the hooks are very sharp so penetration hasn't really been a problem. I don't know about small hooks; I don't generally use smaller than a #12.

If you don't drive a lot and you like to have a new car every couple of years and you don't mind not owning your vehicle leasing may be ok for you. I tried it once and it was a mistake for me. I ran my mileage way up the first part of my lease (unexpectedly) and, rather than pay the overmileage penalty, like I should have, I decided to buy the vehicle outright. Don't ever do that!!! :wallbash: Lot's of people lease, and enjoy it, and it seems like if you fit the criteria in the first sentence you would be fine doing it. I'd just be very careful when considering how many miles you drive against what the lease allows. One more thing to consider is that most leases require you to have a pretty hefty insurance policy on the vehicle, so don't forgot to figure that into the cost. Good luck, Terry

Found out the hard way today that so-called "stick on" eyes don't stick on very long. What do you guys use to stick them on? I'm thinking Krazy Glue or Loon Hard Head or something like it. Anybody have any suggestions? Thanks, Terry

Fishy, check your PM

I'm trying to arrange a trip to a pond I haven't fished in a couple of years for this weekend. I'll try 'em out and let the fish decide . I appreciate you giving your opinion. Thanks, Terry

Yeah, I'm digging the head shape too. Good looking bugs!!

Here are some I have been working with. This black one is tied with a cross cut strip. This grey one is tied with a regular strip palmered for the body. It looks funky in the water, kind of like the squirrel on the movie Ice Age. This grey one is tied with two regular strips, glued together like a double bunny but with a longer tail. The eyes should make it ride point up. I'm going to work more with this one to make sure I get fur in front of the eyes and I'll probably add weedguards to all of them. These are experimentals right now. All of them are tied on size 1 stinger hooks.

When I got my first fly rod, the shop owner took me behind the shop and showed me how to make a regular over head cast. Once I had sort of gotten the hang of that (about 10 minutes worth) he asked me how much fishing I'd done. I told him lots and he said that I knew what I needed to know then. I asked something about how to fish with the flies vs bait, and he said "I showed you how to cast, the rest is just fishin, and fishin is fishin." He turned around, walked back in the store, and the only other thing he said to me was "Your total is......Thank you, have a good day". Point being, fishin' is fishin' my man, no matter if you have a cane pole or a big downrigger. It's all the same when you boil it down to its base. The same concepts you learned spin fishing still apply in fly fishing, in some cases you just have to adjust how you apply them. Will, I tried this and mine looks really funky/creepy in the water. Could you post a picture of some you have tied? Thanks, Terry

I believe I will. Thanks. Terry

All right, where can I get my hands on those videos? Do they come in DVD format? I don't have a vcr anymore, so anything else doesn't help.

Damn right Matt! Thanks for the kind words, too. Raider Nation Forever!!!!

Some of what I have tied this weekend. I haven't put the eyes on them yet, but other than that they're through. They are going to a good friend for his birthday at the end of the month. Comments/critiques welcome, as always. Terry