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Assasin, Welcome! I just started fly fishing and tying my own flies is tremendous fun and is very relaxing! Welcome to the site and ask away if you have any questions!! Mike

Welcome Abomb! I started fly tying a couple months ago and I absolutely LOVE it! I had to take a break for a couple of weeks with house issues (leaky pipe, car repairs, spring clean up) but I am back at the bench tying again! There are tons of resources out there to use! This site is a primary one for me! Best of luck and WELCOME again from another Colorado guy! Mike

Hi Everyone! Coming from the barbed hook realm in saltwater and Bass fishing for decades, I recently adopted the barbless hook dogma and am STICKING TO IT! Everyone I have learned from over the past several months advocates crimping the barbs down or going barbless. For me that was a bit of a paradigm shift as I grew up with barbed hooks. Over the past couple of weeks I have found a new respect for barbless hooks! These are MY opinions but perhaps they will help some other folks starting out: 1. It is MUCH easier to "catch and release" a fish. I had the opportunity last month to go with Healing Waters to a private trout fishing area and landed 18 trout! It was SOOOOOO easy to release the fish without having to deal with a barb! 2. If using a net the barb does NOT get snagged in the netting material at all! 3. I just started casting classes and we are using a simple yarn fly (NO HOOK). I can't tell you just how much I realized how close the fly comes to one's person!!! I am learning so actually seeing this chartreuse "fly" buzz by my head at times got me pretty spooked! Having a barbed hook hit my ear, shoulder, back end...LOL, could have been a royal pain in the arse! 4. The most IMPORTANT thing I learned happened to me last week.... I was tidying up my fly tying area and felt a STING in my small toe. I wasn't certain just what it was but it turned out I dropped several of my size 18 hooks onto the carpet. My carpet is light brown so I did not see the hooks on the floor. Turned out I pushed one of those suckers into my toe and it was in pretty deep for a small hook. Thankfully I make it a practice of crimping the barbs down whenever I take a hook out of the pack or put it in the vise. Pulled it out without even a flinch! had it been a barbed hook I would have been at the doctor's office as it was pushing right at my bone and pulling it out would have been quite a mess! Just some observations from a new fly fisherman......I am BARBLESS all the way!!! Cheers, Mike PS...no "toes" were killed or maimed in this post!

THANK YOU to all of you that saw this and said a prayer or two for Julie. She passed this morning but my friend was able to spend a week and a half with his daughter. She is in a better place, I believe that!!! Thank you all for your support and your prayers for her. Mike

So see this from my HOME!!!! We made a life.....this song makes it personal!!!!!!!! Glad I am fishing in Colorado! My brothers willl still fish of the coast!!!!! Mike

THANK YOU ALL!! Julie awakened and is in a wheel chair! She actually moved her arms from what I was told! Keep the prayers and thoughts for her PLEASE!

WOW.... There are tons of books out there.... I really wished I picked up Charlie Cravens book;........ WOW!

If you are used to fishing with Lures (rattle traps, spinner baits, Jig 'n' pigs, etc) you should concentrate on TOP water plugs in the AM...... I will tell you to talk to "Mike Chell" He is in your region and is a great guy for fishing what you want to do!!!!\\

+1 OKAY so Utyer what is your best knot? \ The blood knot is something that NO FISHERMAN would be without......... Please tell me how this is "BETTER"? Mike... The blood knot is an OUTSTANDING knot that Fly Fisherman don't tie.......THE knot is a seamless transition...... Comments?

So the clinch not is the approved solution????

Matt, Have you practiced with your setup? Can you make good loops with it? Until you tell us this we cant help! Mike

You are probably gone but I will make an observation...... Tie a floater and just back from it about 18" to 20" and put a midge on.......let the floater (your choice but make certain it FLOATS.......have brown tailings from your floater)......... Put a 18" to 20", depending on the water you are fishing.....and use the "floater/indicator"....determine what you want to fish! At this time you will maximize yoiur strikes.......... Mike Cheers!

Nice Job!!!!

If you are in a PINCH and want to take the "curls" out.... 1. Take the line from the FLY LIN#E and hold your hand out and STRETCH it........ 2. Follow down from when you took the last point.....STRETCH it...... 3. Keep Stretching it down to the fly! Your leader will be straight! TRUST ME it works....takes the "memory" out of the line and you can cast!

Outstanding question!!!! As a fisherman from 35 years ago there are GOOD hooks and Chitty hooks! I discovered this in my bass fishing tournament days.. As a NEW GUY I have to say........ 1. FInds a mentor in your area...... 2. Look at what they fish for 3. ASK FOR help!!!!! If you are looking for Bulk hooks GO FOR IT! You might find that fisheman in the "riffle" can save you a few bucks! It all depends on what you are fishing for.... Mike

It is a good topic!!!!! For folks that have to survive on a very LIMITED budget, there is a solution to "head cement" Take a look at "Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails"......TONS of the fly fishers here in CO use it...... It simply works! Take a few minutes to put it in your fly boxes but it WORKS! Just my 2.5 cents...... Mike P.S. DO NOT RAID YOUR WIFE'S makeup cabinet.....I found this out the HARD way! Ask your wife to take you to Wallmart or Wallgreens/CVS......It will save your marriage!

From a frugal standpoint.... Are you looking for copper wire that is colored? You can save a few dollars by taking wires from extension cords (larger ones have more width, smaller ones have good wires) and take a sharpie to them..... Mike P.S. I purchased some "colored wire" and found that with a slight "scrape" with my fingernails the color was gone! Cheers, Mike

From today...they are not free at this point.... Thanks Silver for posting this..... BTW....ALL folks should snag these when they happen..... EVEN if you don't live in the areas or DONT fish for these species there is tons of information to learn from.

Thanks everyone! I don't ask for much but prayers and thoughts are very helpful........ Julie is in a "chair" right now and is OK for today..... I THANK every one of you for the thoughts and prayers but we need more! Cancer is a "BITCH" and it is a killer........please keep your thoughts/prayers at your dinner table for Julie......PLEASE! Cheers, Mike

Steel, I have had MANY salt water reef tanks, planted tanks, and breeding tanks over the years. Your tank with the Cichlids is beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing! Mike

Hi Everyone, I don't ask for help or reach out at times but I feel that I need to right now. My mentor (a great man) who taught me how to build my first Fly Rod in Project Healing Waters is going through a rough time. His daughter Julie is VERY sick with cancer and is going down hill rapidly. Whether you are religious or not...I would appreciate it if you could say a prayer for his daughter Julie. Thank you all.... Mike

Hey Piker! If you are still following this it seems that your solution WORKED! Thanks Mate! Cheers, Mike

If you want others to see JUST WHAT YOU ARE SEEING........get a head mount. I film thing for my racing stuff and have a Mobius for head cam things (cheap)....GO PRO on the suction mount in the car. Just depends on what you want to do. I would NIX the chest mount. As others have stated, you will have your hands in the way.....Just my 2.5 cents

I like the hole idea. The shop vac might create too much noise where you are working but would make QUICK work of all the wire/spent herls/dubbing that lays around. Personally I think I will just make a hole. Removable from the top of the desk. It will take a bit for me to get used to it but I feel it will work and keep my wife happy (that is unless I vacuum the room every session ... LOL ) Mike

Hi Everyone, Well it is finally time for me to start practicing FLY to TIPPET knots! I practice tying the blood knot every day (yes I needed to learn it) and have scraps of mono laying all over the house! I went fishing last week and saw TONS of knots tied to attach a fly to tippet and was overwhelmed with all of the different techniques and knots folks tied. Many didn't know the names of them but just "I tie them because they work"...... When I was fishing over the years I got really good at tying the Palomar knot. Works very well and I have never had a fish "leave me" because of this knot. What I am confused about is NO ONE tied it at all when I was fishing last week. Granted the Loop has to be passed through the eye and on tiny hooks it might be next to impossible but I will try unless there is another solution. So......can you tell me for trout fishing, just what knot do you like and why? I need to practice to make it second nature on the river/stream..... Thanks! Mike