mikechell

I was following the advice of the locals for striped bass ... standard green over white Clouser with red eyes and black flashaboo lateral line.

Went out along the Delta ... Whiskey Slough and Empire Cut, for those of you who know the area. Caught one bass, around 4 pounds. No other hits at all. I am thinking of hitting Lake Amador tomorrow.

I like the algae ... now you've got some fish and some color. THAT'S a good looking tank.

I like that, if ... Will that much rubber material float that hook? For my fishing locations, a drowned but floating worm would be outstanding.

Are you going to do a photo spread of all the entries? I know what mine looks like but, I'd really like to see all the entries that don't stand a chance.

Nice bunch of bugs.

I've been using duster material for a little while now ... nothing like what you're producing. But I have a question ... With all the flies you are tying from dusters ... can you see anything in the house, or is it all covered with dust?

Colton, welcome to the site. 16? I wish I'd have known then what I know now. I envy you for your early introduction to fly tying. I learned to fly fish at a young age, but never tied until much later in life. I started fishing for sunfish and bass, and never went to the trout side ... still love catching a bluegill or redear. It's good to see young blood getting into the game ... hope to see some innovative new patterns in the near future!

Beautiful - Beautiful !!!

Hey Coach ... I like the "Variant 1, Variant 2" idea ... but keep it simpler. Any fly tied on a #14 or smaller hook would be the "Bob's Tiny F*#(ing fly 1, 2, etc." Any fly tied on a 4/0 or larger hook would be a "Bob's Giant F*#(ing fly 1, 2, etc" and son on and so forth.

Can't ... been stuck in the gutter for a year or 50.

I never realized !!! Here I thought I was messing up when my line piled up and didn't stretch out like I (thought I) wanted. Turns out I was just pile or puddle casting. I am so much more better than I thinked I was !!!

The owls look like burrowing owls, like we have in the southwest. Nice shots of the monkey and pool/waterfall.

I am sitting here, trying to poke out my "minds eye" to remove the picture of you two holding on to each other.

You'd fish this like any other live bait, because Sergio just puts a hook through a real bug, takes a picture and says he tied a realistic fly. If you look closely, you can even see it's little antenna moving !!! That's truly an amazing bug.

Avoid the names, "fish killer" or "gut hooker" ... "Gill ripper" ... etc. I would also avoid the names, "no-catch-um", "no-hook-set" or any other "no" type names. I am not sure if there are any "copy write" protected fly names, but that would be the only real restriction to naming yours. I know this isn't any help ... I just have nothing else to do at this time in the morning.

That's a really cool picture. The others are good, but I really like this one. (It's the center picture)

As I understand it, Spey casting is all about getting great distances in front of you, without needing great distances behind you for the back cast. It looks like an interesting way to fish deep center/shallow shore rivers where you need to get out beyond wading depths, but avoid trees and high banks behind you. I believe "shadow casting" is a spoof of spey casting ... am I wrong? Some of you seem to be taking this as a real form of fly fishing. I am starting to get confused ... is everyone being facetious ... sarcastic ... or is this a real area of fishing interest for some of you?

I am not sure if I am understanding your problem correctly. But I used to have a problem with slack line (still do when I get distracted). If you use the rod to "play" the fly, you'll end up with the fly rod out of position. When you set the hook, the rod ends up behind you and you can't strip line quick enough to keep pressure on the fish. Use the fly line to work the fly, keeping the rod pointed directly at the fly and as much in a straight line as possible. This way, when you feel the strike, you can strip some line and raise the rod to set the hook, and still have the rod in position to put pressure on the fish.

Nicely done! Now I know how to use my dubbing loop spinner. Thank you.

I had a brother-n-law try to string my recurve. He twisted the bow and split the lamination. I gave up all my bow hunting equipment shortly after that. All I have now is a compound with a fishing spool that I use to diminish the numbers of carp and gar.

Pretty green bugs.

I agree with the general opinion here ... a razor blade. When cutting spun and stacked deer hair, use a regular double edged blade, nothing is sharper. For cleaning off hooks, you aren't concerned with the final looks, so a single edged razor blade is stronger and safer, just not as sharp. If you are into gadgets and have good ventilation, you can use a hot wire knife. I used to make my own arrows, and I had one for cutting the fletchings. Having said that, I haven't seen one is years, so I don't even know if they are still available.

I think I felt a shift in the planet's rotation. Congratulations, both of you.