deeky

Nice tie. I once spent an afternoon sitting on a raft on East Battle Lake swatting horse flies and throwing them to the sunnies. They went crazy for them while they buzzed around on the surface. I wonder about wings of antron and maybe foam instead of the swiss straw to hold it at the surface a little better. Love the eyes and the nice fuzzy body on yours. Deeky

I'll also add - use the body material if you can to protect the stem. Depending on the body material, make sure you wrap the hackle the same direction as you wrap the body material. The stem may sink in between the wraps of the body material and stay a little more hidden from danger. And then counter-wrap with wire. Deeky

Y'all are cracking me up. Send me whatever, I'll send the dog after it when it gets here and keep the kids back. Just remember, if you send me something alive, you are probably getting the baggy of dog poo. Good luck getting that to stay on the hook. Maybe some of the grass that comes with it will work as legs. It's gonna be a good one, keep it coming. Deeky

Converting fractions (1/100) to decimal (.24) is easy. In decimal form, the first digit after the decimal is tenths. the second digit is hundredths. So you want 1/100's, but the second digit is a 2, so you have 2/100's, plus 4/1000's (the third digit after the decimal is thousandths), or a total of 24 one-thousandths. Hope that makes sense. Deeky

SJO - I think we can work that out. Part of the excitement is where the flies come from. Let me think on it and I'll send you a message. Deeky That's not the case Deeky. I'm referring to the Old Continent and in my case i.e. The Netherlands. If you can take me we must work something out as a compensation for your costs paying twice for postage to the Netherlands. We can do Paypal, or I send you some extra flies or materials or whatever. Please let me know if I can still partcipate in your swap and how I can compensate you for your costs. Sjo

Sorry professori, missed you by one. If something happens and we need a Brett Favre to "sweep in and save the day", you're first on the list. Deeky

For some reason I have avoided balsa poppers so far in my tying. But I guess I've either been inspired lately or just not been inspired by anything else, so I decided to give it a try. And then I went looking for balsa dowels. I hit the couple of big box hobby stores in town as well as the two hobby shops that specialize in model aircraft. Not only did they not carry them, but I got a bit of a cross-eyed look at the idea of anything other than square stock in balsa. So any ideas where I might find a piece around town? I'm stuck, and not looking to double or triple the cost of one dowel by having to pay shipping - not that desperate for something different to tie. Thanks. Deeky

Actually 13 swappers. I know mine are there but there's no pic of it, and ChuckingFluff was a no show. That's off the top of my head. Deeky

NJ - You got it. Sjo - by continental, I'm assuming you are refering to North America outside of the US. Shouldn't be a problem, just remember I can't send your returns from here using Canadian postage. Deeky

Chase - I don't think it's necessary to list your swap material, but you can if you want. With the swap being open to any style, even if we do double up on materials, two tyers will most likely apply the material differently. Plus, take it as a challenge to come up with a material no one else will think of. Good question. Deeky

SWAP IS FULL. No dancing involved in this one. Step one - Send in a 'non-standard' tying material to the meister. This could be something from around the house, craft store, dollar store - something you could but wouldn't normally think of for tying. This material will then be passed on to another tyer in the swap. Step two - Tie your swap flies using the material you received in the first part of the swap and send them to the meister as in a normal swap. Each step MUST HAVE self addressed and stamped envelope for your return. Swap material is your choice, but make it interesting, not impossible. Style of fly is tyer's choice, probably depending on what material they receive in the first part of the swap. First step of the swap - materials - are due to me no later than September 10th. Twelve tyers, twelve flies. Let's roll! ........................................Materials............Flies 1. Deeky..........................Got It................Done 2. Chase Creek................Received............Dropped 3. gpd4............................Received............Received 4. professori.....................Received...........Received 5. fishingbobnelson...........Received............Received 6. NJ All Day....................Received............Received 7. Sjo..............................Received............Received 8. salmonid......................Received............Received 9. NJL..............................Received............Received 10. Old Hat.......................Received...........Received 11. riffleriver....................Received...........Received 12. jacktjl........................Received............Received

I spent 5 years in Alex. Much better fishing there than here, but none the less, it is good to be home. Deeky

This was probably more of a concept fly in the body than looking for a fly to fish in a specific situation. It's a little putsy to tie and a little garish, but I wanted to try the sparkle braid over the body. In person and in real size, the body actually blends together much more than in the photo, giving it a nice look. A little wild, but I think I like the concept. Enjoy. Deeky

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by deeky: Cat's Eye

I'm assuming you are in the deep south. If you can, find some bird hunters. They can't legally sell any feathers from wild game, but most hunters simply skin a bird and throw the feathers in the trash. I came across a turkey hunter that didn't want to waste the feathers of two turkeys, so the plucked feathers have sat in a box and I am picking up all kinds of stuff. Also talked to a duck hunter that knows to pluck flanks for me this fall too. They are generally just happy to see the stuff get used. Pheasants, partridge, geese, they can all be used. I'd like to get my hands of a dove skin and chukar skin myself. Our daycare lady has a Chesapeake. You should have a pretty limitless supply of dubbing there. I know there was even discussion of a tyer with a slowly dissolving couch in their tying room. The yarn from the upholstery was just right for a particular pattern that worked well for him. Materials are all over the place. Deeky

That would be a sucker - different from a carp. A little hard to see the sides, but maybe a Redhorse? Musky - where are you from in Minnesota? Deeky

Morrish or not, that mouse has a MULLET!!!! :punk:

Dustin - my understanding is that seals are one of those protected species here that we cannot import or harvest. If there is some for sale, I believe that it has been in the US since before the ban was put in place. I may be wrong, but I certainly haven't seen it anywhere myself. Maybe someone else with definite information on it. Not sure CITES applies as seal isn't a bird, but understood this was the case. Deeky

If you have ever looked close, you will understand why tyers have been drawn to seal's fur dubbing for flies - great translucency. But being unable to get it here in the US, I have to say, Angora dubbing is a good second. The photo doesn't really do it justice. It is a little stiffer than other dubbings to work with, and I do cut up the fibers out of the package before using as they are quite long. But I think it is well worth it. Enjoy. Deeky

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by deeky: Nugget

Uhhhhhh, not sure what happened there. Take a look at the second picture in the pattern page - much different profile than the side. Should give it some nice wobble in the water. I used a light wire hook to help it suspend better. Enjoy. Deeky

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by deeky: Sea Sick Roach

I need to try GSP, but just haven't gotten any yet. Otherwise I'll either use Uni 6/0 or kevlar (just don't pull too tight), but have done it with Uni 8/0 on Irresistables. Uni if I'm doing Muddlers or something of the like. I'll jump to kevlar for the big bass poppers/divers. Deeky

I would make two suggestions - First, too much material. In the vast majority of fly tying, less is more. It will be easier to work with, will cast better, hold less water, so on and so forth. Relative to what you have in the picture, cut your tail and wing material by at least half. Second, it looks like you are using a fairly small hook here. I suggest tying on a size 10 dry fly hook to start, especially when you have that complicated 3-part body to put together. Even if you only use one hook and take a razor to it after every try, tying larger will make it easier to see what you are doing and get each piece of the puzzle correct. Then, as you get the rhythm of the pattern, work your way down in size until you have the size you want. Plus, you can put less emphasis on a minimum number of thread wraps that you need on a smaller size and put that extra focus into, for example, getting the wings in the correct location and position. Really focus on one aspect at a time and then put the pieces together. That's why all of the football teams in training camp right now aren't just worrying about playing football, they are focused on running, blocking, tackling, passing, conditioning, and all of the other small pieces (as they will throughout the year). Looking at this fly, I would see six individual parts to focus on. As an exercize (a little fly tying training camp), break down the fly and see if you can pick out six different parts of the fly to work on. The Wulff is certainly an agressive pattern for a first. If you are tackling that, work the steps and you will get there quickly. Deeky

I hadn't paid any attention to the nails until I looked at the picture, but you're right. Hope I don't ever need to pull it up. Gotta love fixing other people's work. The lamp stand is actually the base of a fan. I've got two fans going down there constantly, so I'm not surprised there's a feather or two on the floor. I had a few loose feathers laying on my desk when the water hit and I had to move the desk.