Jimr1961

So, does it hurt more with the eye bent up, down or no bend? Just askin'

Sunny So. Cal. It should be in the low 60's today, upper 40's in the evening. I'll still be tying tonight. Some crystal schminnows are on the menu.

They look like nice, well proportioned flies to me. Good Job.

Moving from beginner to intermediate, I think, is a function of becoming familiar with the mechanics of the process. You become comfortable with material handling, placement, techniques, etc. and begin to understand some of the reasons why some things work and why they don't. When a tyer looks back at a new fly and is happy with the results, they can see improvement, a straight fly that is reasonably proportioned. They start to "get the hang of it". The one who feels they are getting the hang of it and have started feeling some pride in their creation will start considering themselves to be at an intermediate level. An intermediate level is as far as anybody needs to go to create and enjoy tying functional flies. Any category after that becomes increasingly subjective.

Possom in a half shell, yum

Sorry, I stuttered.

One of the first flatwings I tied was a sparse Threadfin shad imitation with three wings. I used a very small clump of some olive pseudo hair fibers (maybe z-lon) and it looked good, but fouled terribly. On the water, I bit the stuff out and there was no more fouling with that fly. When I got home, I snipped off the point at the bend and now use it as a practice fly. I tied this one about 3 months ago with the idea of suggesting a stocked rainbow trout. I haven't had the chance to fish it yet. Maybe before the end of the year. Big Stripers and LMB love stockers!

O.K., my first Swamp Rabbits I completed them down to the first coat of crazy glue on the head, then realized I forgot a very important step. I forgot to start off the tail with a sparse bundle of bucktail, so the rabbit strip was hanging low against the bend of the hook. After some thought, I ran the point of the hook through a latex glove, pulling the material forward, toward the eye and carefully tied on the bucktail, then teased the zonker strip tail through and added a couple of thread turns and a spot of CG. I think it will be anti-fouling now.

Cool Thanks for the kudo's. I was pretty sure I nailed them. I almost took the razor blade to the flatwing, but decided to sleep on it. Just because it wasn't quite what I had in mind doesn't mean it won't catch fish. Doesn't hurt to try. The next one won't be so anemic around the mid-section. My next effort will be Tarpon Bunnies, whenever I get around to picking up the zonker and cross-cut strips in the colors I want. I'm no pro, just interested, observant and a little obsessed. I tied some crappy trout flies for a couple of years in jr. high school, then put it down until last spring. I'm having a lot of fun with it, so far.

I wanted to tie up some flies for Tarpon, etc. for an upcoming trip this spring and one of our members pointed me in this direction. I hope I did them justice. And I'm not sure about this one. I wanted a flatwing with bead chain eyes, but should have added some bucktail to the collar ,eyes, then more bucktail instead of tying on the eyes first. It sort of looks like a flatwing / clouser cross. It looks cool, but I'm not sure.

A man and woman that adored hot peppers and ate them every day had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about. For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but One day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $95,000. He asked her about the contents. 'When we were to be married,' she said, ' my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to eat a lot of hot peppers and never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll.' The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness. 'Honey,' he said, 'that explains the doll, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?' 'Oh,' she said, 'that's the money I made from selling the dolls.'

It's not so much, to me, about guilt until you prove yourself innocent. It's more to me like an absolute defense. You basically have to admit your commitment of the act before you can argue you committed an act under a legal exception. Just like the taking of a human life. In order to claim self defense, you have to admit you took the life. In order to claim you possess feathers legally, you have to admit your possession. Prosecution's job is done with that respect. They don't have to prove you committed an act you admit to. You do, however need to defend your admission and convince that the commission was done under a legal exception.

Spiced Ham?

My first entry into "flies from the vice". The Castaic Killah. I wanted a rainbow trout pattern for Nov. when the lake starts stocking trout again. Something colorful like a heddon Super Spook, so I tied this one up last night.

LOL, thanks all. Actually, it's been 38 years, but I try not to think about it too much. I tied a lot of dry flies when I was 13 years old, but never learned to fly fish. At 51, it was time to learn. Actually, my 13 year old son asked me to teach him to fly fish and tie flies. I needed to step up my game. In 2008, I started teaching myself to fly fish, but now, I've really kicked it up a few notches. And, BTW, having loads of fun. Next week, I'm going to run the flatwings for landlocked stripers and LMB.

Another crappy pic, but my first size 28's

Well, she buys "comfortable shoes" and we don't drink, so she's off to Hawaii for a week. But it all works out. I'm going fly fishing for Tarpon in FLA in April. BTW, my heads are much cleaner now. These flies (except the flatwings) were all tied a few months ago. It is amazing how a bit of macro photography will show all of your weak points. Considering most of the flies are size 14 and 16, I guess I mind more than the fish.

They sure have changed. Now I have a wife scrutinizing my spending habits.

Deleted. Files way too large. sigh

I learned it from this and other sites, but I found this to be a good page for Kool-aid color mixing. I'm not so sure I'd skip the vinegar though. Better to have a bit more acidity than needed than to have the colors wash out.

I dyed a small handful of white strung hackle in Ice Blue the other night and they came out pretty well. Looking for an olive mix brought me to this very useful page. http://www.dyeyouryarn.com/kool-aid.html

My wife accuses me of being obsessive with everything I do. Imagine that. She just doesn't understand that anything worth doing is worth doing well. Go big or go home.

Looks like you're moving along very nicely. I assume you have no cats due to the way the pheasant tail is stored, and no spouse, due to the way your material collection has grown I got back into tying after a 35 year hiatus. I showed my son some of the flies I tied when I was his age (15) and he asked me to teach him to tie flies and fly fish. The obsession was immediately re-born. Now, my wife keeps a constant eye on my buying habits. I've yet to post any pics of my flies. Not because of how they look (they look and fish pretty well), but my camera sucks wind. I've recently gotten into flatwings because I live within an hours drive from a world class bass lake that also supports numerous stripers. It will fill my need between trout outings, which are much farther and fewer. What I've found most frustrating is that my list of flies I want to tie have grown so quickly that I cannot keep up and no matter how much material I buy, I never seem to have what I need for the newest flies on the list. Or, for most flies on the list, for that matter. I keep reminding myself that I have a lifetime to tie, but at over 50, that's not as long as it may appear By the way, I blame this site and Davey McPhail for unleashing the monster Keep up the good work!

Very nice! I'm going to try it in a silver/grey to emulate left coast sand crabs for corbina

Dubbing loop tool from a large paperclip, rubber band and empty ball point pen Dubbing needle from a mechanical pencil and a needle of appropriate size Dubbing brush from velcro and Popsicle stick Hair compactor/half-hitch tool from an empty ball point pen. Also works well to push hackle back to hold with your fingers to fashion the head. Hair comb from a small comb cut in half and all but an inch of teeth removed Oh yeah, a bobbin threader from picture wire and a wooden dowel pin