RodL

Great place to order from! Fast shipping, great prices, placed 2 orders during the 35% off sale, can't believe how much stuff I received in those 2 orders compared to the price I paid. I would highly recommend them

Can't wait to see what arrives in the mail, thank you for hosting the swap!!

Rodney

Vicente, thanks for allowing me to join the fun. This is my first swap on this site but I have done a few on some other sites, I made sure to read the rules before I committed to join the swap, if any questions pop up I will let you know

Rodney

I'll take the last spot if its still available

Rodney

I have the standard and the midge jaws, the standard jaws will hold 12-16's without any issues, I only use the midge jaws when tying 20's and smaller.

Rodney

I have a friend who is a duck/goose hunter, I have tried goose and duck CDC, goose CDC is pretty much the same as duck and the goose feathers are slightly larger in overall size

Rodney

J Stockhard has the Atlas on sale for $129 right now, fits most of your requirments other than the price range

Rodney

I really like tying and fishing soft hackles, I have a friend who likes to hunt and he gives me all the bird skins after he cleans them which gives me access to many feathers. Like others have said you only need 2 or 3 materials to make a soft hackled fly. To me the hardest part of tying them is finding the correct sized feather to use, I have tried many different tying techniques but still like tying the feather in by the tip and wrapping it like normal hackle which means you need to find a correct sized feather for that size hook.

Rodney

I have those hackle pliers, work very well for me but still have some of the same issues as other pliers. I mostly used the electrical testers and rotary style when tying parachutes. I'm wouldn't say anything negative about them but I really don't see any difference between them and the other styles I use but that is just my opinion.

Rodney

My Regal has 1 groove in the standard jaws, it is about 20 years old, I bought a set of midge jaws 5 years ago and it doesn't have the groove. Most of my streamers are size 6 & 8 and I dont' seat the hook in the groove

Rodney

Most of the people I know that fish streamers in that area use white with a small amount of flash material.

Rodney

Kevin, I fish the yough lake and there are a ton of alewives(not sure if that spelling is correct) in the lake, it could be possible for them to be in the river as well. I fish the river around the confluence area and haven't noticed the minnows in that section of river

Rodney

I use Black when the water is off color, I have tried white and other bright colors but seem to have better luck with black.

Rodney

I do the same as Cheech, and have also used ostrich herl as tails on my buggers, just trim a bunch off and tie them in like marabou, I pinch and tear them to length instead of cutting with scissors so it doesn't make such a straight cut, this also works with marabou

Rodney

COMike: I use both rotary and regular hackle pliers on standard and parachute patterns, I prefer the rotary pliers on the parachute flies but don't really see any advantage to using them just a personal preference for me when tying that style of fly. They do help me when wrapping a hackle horizontally around the wing post but it can be done with regular hackle pliers without any problems.

Chase Creek: Thanks for the tip on changing out the rubber piece on the end of the hackle pliers, unfortunately I tried that when they first started having slippage issue and they still slip, no problems with breaking the hackle tips just slippage.

Rodney

Thanks guys I will give the method mentioned a try , if that doesn't work then I'll have to get a new set. I tie a ton of parachute flys and for me the rotary pliers work the best.

Rodney

I'm beginning to have some issues with my rotating hackle pliers, it seems like every time I attach them to the tip of the hackle and begin to wrap the hackle slips out of the pliers. Looking at the tips of the pliers everything appears to be normal, the tips are coming together with no gaps, one of the tips has a piece of rubber on it and I have changed the little piece of rubber many times and I'm still having the same problem. The pliers are several years old and I'm thinking about getting a new pair if this problem cannot be resolved, any suggestions on what I can do to try and fix this problem would be appreciated as would some opinions on what everyone is using and the pros/cons of each. My pliers are made by Tiemco.

Rodney

I don't think you could have went wrong with any of the choices you mentioned, each vise has its followers and what might work wonders for one person doesn't do much for someone else. Congrats on your purchase and let us know how things turn out with the Regal.

Rodney

Actually, if you read what is on the website under service-warranty it states that you should always use eye protection when using A fly tying vise, which to me would mean that they recommend eye protection while using ANY fly tying vise. I'm sure that with almost any vise made there is a way to insert the hook in the vise and have it come out of the vise at a high rate of speed.

Rodney

I have used both and I prefer the Regal, I like the concept with the Regal, just squeeze the handle and insert the hook and let go of the handle, no tension adjustments needed. The only drawback with the Regal is when you insert the hook make sure you put it in properly or it will spit it out and chip the jaws. I have the standard and midge jaws but if I was doing it again I would get the stainless jaws, looks like they would give you more working room when tying smaller flies.

Rodney

I use the Dr. Slick arrow tip scissors and I feel they cut pretty darn close.

Rodney

I agree with Steve, caribou will flare out way to much for the usual.

Rodney

When this cold weather breaks maybe we can do some fishing together.

Rodney

Thanks for the warning Kevin!! Lots of crazy hicks from the sticks around here but there is no other place I would rather live...

Hi Troutbum, I live in Frostburg and grew up in Garrett County, give me a shout and we can talk about the local waters.

Rodney