COMike

Half, I am a beginner, however, I have spent the last thirty minutes trying to find your vise.... There are a few threads on it but to be perfectly honest.....I wouldn't touch it. You haven't stated your level of tying.... You haven't stated WHAT you are tying for (bass, trout, bluegill, tarpon) you get my point....... What do YOU actually need from a vise??????? Read this again...... What do YOU NEED from a vise? Are you looking for a rotary function, What are you trying to tie? Personally as a beginner I wouldn't go with the 720 but that is just me from a BRAND NEW guy to tying.....YMMV... Mike

WOW! What a PIG!!!! If you are talking about Pyramid Lake in NV I NEVER would have considered fishing it. We used the tiny island on the south end as a RADAR target just about every flight while there. Beautiful picture as well.....healthy, not fat (as in spawning)...VERY nice colors....I bet she/he was hard to hold onto (looks slick!) Mike

Very nice work No Slack! That fish will be HUGE once it get's some proper protein in it!!! Mike

Mike, WOW! The only word for it! I just sent you a PM..... Mike

Bryon, I just went back through the pictures and I was wondering .... How the heck did you manage to make the waterfall look like it was flowing water as you did? I have simply no idea how you created that picture.... Thanks ! Mike

The second shot is amazing to me Bryon! I can never get the sun with reflections in a shot. I really need to take lessons in photography. My little iPhone camera might be able to do some adjustments/tweaks but I am part of the ..... LEAD PENCIL CLUB....essentially I am the "pothole" on the information superhighway when it comes to tech stuff at times....LOL I think your second picture stand's on it's own! I noticed in the upper left of the picture (on the trestle) that you can actually see some really nice colors in there! Mike

Thanks everyone!!!! We do live in a great area of the country. I like being away from people when I am in the mountains. Not that I am anti-social but I just like imagining that I was the first person to ever experience the areas. As soon as my rod gets back from the Healing Water's contest I will be making a trek to do some fishing! I have a 7'6" 3wt my lovely wife got me in March but I really don't understand casting yet. I went fishing on a guided Healing Waters trip yesterday and had a ball but my casting skills are no where near good enough yet. Thankfully in May I will be taking lessons with Healing waters for 3 weeks. Well....I think it is time for me to get energized for some Gold Hare flies.....that is the next fly I want to become semi-proficient at! Mike

Thanks Everybody! I took the pictures with my iPhone. I have an old canon 5mp that I abandoned back in 2009 because I kept forgetting to charge it....LOL. I don't understand the editing tools so essentially I point the camera at the subject and take the picture by pressing the screen on the iPhone. I am not sure what post processing is so I suppose I don't do it. Thanks a ton for the compliments and critiques! Rolf, Bryon, Chase, and Mike.....thanks again for looking at them! Mike...thanks for the tips. I don't know anything about picture taking but would love to learn. Some day I would like to get a nice camera like my old Pentax K-1000 that I got from my dad in the early 80's. It was 35mm and I still have it somewhere. My neighbor takes wonderful photos and has a nice 35mm type digital camera she got last year. She is a photo buff and has taken many courses and has gone on some photography trips. It is roughly the same size as my old Pentax but it is digital and she can actually interchange lenses like the big ones for telephoto stuff. Sorry for my ignorance but I don't know anything about photography but would love to learn. Mike, the thing that I don't like about the iPhone camera is that the colors don't show up as I see them in nature. They are less vibrant..for lack of a better term...than I see with my eyes. Cheers! Mike

Excellent question! I went on my VERY FIRST fly fishing excursion yesterday and it was amazing! I had a guide/mentor with me the entire time and he had a "Ghost Net?"...it was rubber and I can tell you without a doubt I will be getting one in the future. Having used fabric/mesh nets in the past my hooks would always get tangled/snagged in the mesh. After eighteen fish yesterday I am SOLD on a rubber type net! Mike

Hi everyone..... I wish I could take photos that you all do but I have some camera phone pics that I simply love! Being a person that loves to "get away" I like to take forest roads and Jeep trails that are simply "less traveled"....... Few shots from a scouting trip for Elk......... Please be honest on your comments ...... I want to improve! Here is a beaver pond I came across..... Eagle coming down to see why we are there... Mike

The first picture illustrates that trout CAN thrive in little pools.....they may be small but they are there just the same..... The first pic led us to the mountain lake...... It was a "BITCH" of a hike in there.....total swamp from out access point from the fire roads....DON'T bring a car or TRUCK....seriously it was a HUGE endeavor to even make it there....... HOWEVER, Mt Lakes and streams are chock full of beautiful fish! Mike

Perhaps this thread should be closed????

Bryon.... If you haven't done so....take the RAW shots and archive them! Keep them in a separate folder. Make your "adjustments" in another folder......tweak them as necessary......but KEEP THE ORIGINALS!

Beautiful shot! Did you alter it?

Second shot is my Favorite one! Nice work Bryon!!! Mike

I have to say....I did not fish this stretch......we were scouting ELK. However, NO ONE fishes this stretch........SIMPLY NO ONE....most are scouting hunting spots..... Pristine waters that I find on my JEEP expeditions........ This IS my passion! Small trout and perhaps a larger one but the drives/hikes keep the Day Trippers away...... See the first pic and then watch the others..... Nice pool.....surprised after walking for 30 min or so to find them there..... Another alpine lake......Don't even ask how long the trek is for this.....it is VERY swampy....took a bit for the shot.... Next shot below is my DREAM for fishing.... One road in....one road out!!! Mike

Preach while I don't own one of the DVDs you might want to check out this video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcJ4c8vXGkM

Crackaig, Great explanation...thanks!!!!! Mike

Preach I am up for it!!!!

Bryon, Thanks for the advice!!!! I personally have an issue with the tying in of the wire. I simply can't get the hackle to stay "UP" for lack of a better term and it is killing me...LOL! Thanks for the tips on the bead head/cone I might try that here in the future! Thanks for the tips on buggers.....they are very popular here in CO and folks SWEAR by them. My Crazy buggers will be fished tomorrow!!!! We will see how they turn out. Mike

Christy, Another thing to note.....he does NOT need the best and MOST EXPENSIVE stuff for tying flys. I am on a budget as well and try to be frugal when I can. Something you may want to consider when folks are talking about things is that you can find suitable substitutes at the craft store and Wally World. I picked up some "Sally Hansens" hard as nails clear polish (?)....for two bucks and it does wonders for a substitute for head cement. You can also use chapstick for dubbing wax in a pinch. I have used saliva, water, and chapstick. These help for attaching materials to the thread. After doing this (dubbing attachment) for a couple weeks I got some dubbing wax from a shop...well under three dollars and it works much better but your son can get by without this. Just trying to keep things on a budget.. Mike

Kind of experimenting in my spare time......

THANK YOU BASS! Great article! I am inspired to start trying this in the next week or two! I have read some posts on the subject but your pictures and instructions made this VERY easy for me as a new person to understand! Keep up the great work! Mike

AMEN J!!! Customer service brings me back to shops that actually understand the concept! Another case in point: My wife was looking for a concealed carry pistol. We went to EVERY damn shop in our area and ONE shop stood out....they told my business partner and I to just "browse the shop" while my wife was treated as the ONLY customer there. After about 40 min or so (painful for us) she had found her choice...something I would not have chosen for her but it simply worked for her hands. I could have purchased this with my military sales discount online but the fact that she was taken care of and without MY bias was well worth the price we paid. BTW they are the ONLY shop I will go to now. Funny how that worked out! Soooo....I suppose I go back and forth on this issue.....being a small business owner (now retired from it) It is TOUGH to spend time with folks only to have them leave and purchase elsewhere.....it hurts both on the monetary sense but also on the relationship I was trying to build. It happens. My philosophy with regards to the newly found hobby/passion of fly fishing/tying is that I spread my funds around as much as possible. Both online AND locally! My wife, bless her heart, and I took a trip up to Denver on Easter Sunday. I was in search of some Turkey Quills for something I needed to tie for our class. We ended up at a "not so local to us" shop....45 min away. We were there 30 min prior to their opening time and relaxed for a bit. AS soon as we walked into the shop we were greeted by a young guy that I would hire in a heartbeat! He asked me what I was looking for and spent over an hour with us TEACHING me things I had not known. You know what???? Whenever I am up in Denver, I will make it a point to head to that shop SOLELY because this shop didn't push me into things I did not need/want. Sometimes I think that in the age of the internet folks take an approach to saving a few dollars. I am guilty of that as well but I also have no issues spending some funds at a local shop that actually takes the time to help me. Rant mode off....LOL Mike

Preach, I am excited to work with them! The dog's tails are SOOOO fishy looking for streamers/tails but not sure how to fish them yet in Colorado where I am at. Once I go through my course of Healing Waters Fly Tying I will be more comfortable seeing what I can do!