m_grieb

heres another idea that I use. take strips of wood(I used 1x4's) and drill 1/4 inch holes down the whole board, about 1/16 of an inch deep. then take .22 or .22 magnum shells and epoxy them in the recessed holes, walla! I love the one I made. Matt

in my experience, whip finishes are less bulky and smoother. I only use them on classy flies. as for the generic trout fly, I do 3 or 4 half hitches and then head cement. Matt

sent them yesterday!!! Matt

I need an address please. these flies are gunna be good, I hope you guys like them! Matt

yep deffinately an ammo problem. happens all the time with reloads.. you were just lucky enough to get a brand new dud.

Wow man nice gills

woot woot!!!!!! thank you so much BFR!!!!

there are 3 flies that I use every time I fish and have failed to not catch anything. 1. Roberts drake (varying sizes) 2. borchers drake(varying sizes) 3.elk hair caddis(also in varying sizes) Matt

nice one!!! ive been hunting for a while in Michigan myself!!

yes that is a largemouth.

i have been thinking about tying some too, where do I get actual pins from?

yeah I don't really think it matters... they make the same looking fly to me.

I cut out a little socket with my scissors and then put just a dab of gorilla glue to hold the adhesive eye in place. matt

got my gift yesterday!!! thanks!!

haha good idea.

these are all great! just a question, has anyone ever tried making one that is at least water resistant? I like the ones with rubber gaskets around the outside, but I was wondering if anyone had a way to make one with this? matt

either a Roberts drake or a borchers drake. both are amazing patterns and you can tie them to imitate any mayfly hatch Matt

I completely agree with flytire. Another point is, why must you pick up a tool to tie a half hitch? I can tie a half hitch in less than a second with one/two finger/s(depending on the location on the hook in which the half hitch is being tied). if you are that worried about saving time and being more efficient, I think you should spend more time focusing on other elements of your tying. Matt

another problem could be you are wrapping too long of wraps, I find that the shorter the wrap, the less fibers get caught. Matt

no. I never said that.

i'm not a fly shop worker nor do i need a fly shop workers advise in buying fly tying supplies buying a full skin will give you a wider range of feathers to choose from. the gray barred feathers are not the only feathers that are usable for fly tying. the tail feathers, wing feathers, micro marabou feathers etc can all be used in tying flies. packaged feathers do not contain these feathers. most packaged feathers may contain a generous amount of usable feathers but more often thann not the ratio of usable vs non-usable feathers are usually stacked on the non-usable side of the equation. theres no other options in a package of feathers. your stuck with what the the distributor packaged. if you think a fly shop owner is bagging up the prime feathers for $1.95 a bag, i have some ocean front property in arizona i'd like to sell you. i stick with my advice and buy the whole skin in whichever grade and price range. youll end up saving in the long run all im saying is that you get decent feathers for what you pay for and you can get multiple colors. Simple jack is cleary on a budget, looking at his other threads(no offense, kudos for keeping with the budget). the most sound advice for him would be to buy some feathers for 1.95 a bag and maybe get a couple bags in varying colors. maybe you would rather spend the money for a whole skin, that's fine. I just think for what the question is, the cheaper alternatives are a better choice. and the fact that youll end up saving is obvious. but its like saying don't buy a used car for 15,ooo, buy a brand new car for 40k+ because less things will go wrong with it.

that's hilarious

talk to Bryon Anderson. he seems to know a lot and is a member of this site.

if I notice a lot of leader disturbance on the water, I increase my tippet length. it really depends on the water and weather conditions for me. Matt

this is awesome I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!! matt