McFlyLures

The Gamechanger was originally created by Blane Chocklett and consists of multiple "spines" to make a moveable tail. The pattern has soon become a more "style" of flies rather than one specific pattern. People use feathers to make feathered gamechangers, You can make your own dubbing brush to create one with specific materials, or you can go with Chockletts own game changer chenille that he created to make tying these a little easier. I went with the latter for this fly, however you are welcome to experiment with different materials to make it your own design. Whatever material you use, the trick with this fly is making sure that it tapers correctly, so that way the tail moves fluidly in the water. They work great for just about any species of fish that target small baitfish. Bass, pike, predatory brown trout, and even some saltwater species like redfish and tarpon. Not only can you make a very realistic looking baitfish imitation with this style of fly, but you can also make a realistic swimming imitation. There are times where I will go out and throw everything in my box at bass or other weary fish and will get some followers, but none seem to want to commit. Then I throw one of these on, and the same bass that followed the other flies all the way up only to change their mind last minute will not hesitate to engulf the game changer. The combination of the amazing movement, and the great look of this fly usually will entice even the most shy fish.

The fly I am tying is my own version of the banana stand fly which hooked me a nice redfish last trip. But the fly I bought from the fly shop was tied on a thin wire hook which I’m sure it’s because they needed less weight to get it to swim hook point up. Anyway I bent the hook on the fish and lost it. I wanted to tie it on a more stout hook but I was having trouble getting it to ride hook point up. Anyway I’ve figured out how to do it without adding more weight, thanks for your help guys. I’ve tested it in water now and it works. I used deer belly hair.

Yeah I thought the same thing, just wanted to be sure. Thank you!

Which one floats better? I’m tying a fly that needs some float. Don’t need long fibers but just need better float. I’m guessing deer hair. This will not have floatant as it’s not a dry fly, but I’m using this part to keep a saltwater shrimp fly from having to tie super heavy dumbbells and still keep it hook point up.

Well again I was just starting so obviously there will be mistakes made when getting the hang of filming. :). I figured people liked coming along with me on my learning journey and they can learn with me, from both my mistakes and my wins. LOL. But yeah, for sure I was amateur when I first started. In fact I actually started the channel just for fun, and to get some constructive criticism on my flies. I had a buddy that was helping me learn to tie, and he lived kinda far, so I was sending him videos of me tying asking him what he though I could improve on. That was many many years ago. Then I stopped doing that for a while because of a job I took. Left the channel sitting for a while. Decided to start a new channel a little later because YouTube did something weird with the first one. Started doing the same thing with the new one in the very beginning, but after I had a few videos get really popular, I started making some advertising money from it, and then got some companies asking to sponsor me. After all that I decided to go full time on the channel and really hone in the quality of both tying and video. To be honest, making higher quality videos is not all that easy. The equipment is pricy, and time is much more than most would think. Now, I change the camera angles sometimes 30 times in a video. Then editing it all together and putting voice overs on top take a while also. I have spent 20+ hours on some videos. The gamechanger one comes to mind. So many steps and so much time just for one simple video. Granted it got over 100k views in the first month, but the income here definitely doesn't way in with the time. Its more of a labor of love than a way to earn money for sure. There are a few people that say I am doing this to make money and don't care about the sport but that simply isn't the case. The income from this is very very low in comparison to the work put in. I do enjoy making the videos and learning new patterns, and also showing what ive learned to others. In recent years Ive had 100's of people tell me they got into tying or fly fishing because of my videos, so that is mainly why I continue the channel. Always trying to improve. I thank you for noticing the improvement and telling me. It means a lot hearing from others. Also any suggestions on improvement are welcome also.

Thank you Fin. Keystone Cop? Sorry I am not familiar with the term. But yes my earlier videos were amateur for sure. I mean it takes time to learn the filming process, and over the years, and 10's of thousands of flies later, I also think ive improved my tying ability also. Anyway, thanks for watching.

The bully bluegill is one of my favorite flies to fish in still water situations. Fishing for species like bluegill or other sunfish, this fly seems to do the best. It also is one of my favorite Rio Cichlid fly as well. I have even caught a fair amount of bass and even catfish on this fly. The reason why this fly works so well is because of the weight towards the rear of the fly, which causes it to fall slowly with the legs fluttering above. It drives the sunfish crazy! It is also very versatile, and you can tie it in a number of sizes and colors. Its very simple as well to tie. I mean I can fill a box full in less than an hour. I have been known to tie 20 or more of these in less than an hour, and they are very durable as well. Personally I tie these barbless for my own fishing, but they can be tied on barbed hooks. Any nymph hook with a long shank will do.

That’s how I feel. I mean I sell flies, and quite a few, however I still only go through a spool every few days. It’s not a huge savings I don’t think. But really am interested if these threads are much better? Or At least similar quality.

Personally I don’t skimp on thread. I’ve used stuff other than fly tying specific thread and it all was fragile and broke really quickly and easily. Any pressure and it just snaps. Have you had that experience with the thread from wawak?

It really was, been dreaming of that spot at the end ever since. Planning another trip down there to just hit that spot next time.

Ive fished for bluegill tons. Well sunfish in general. Check out some of my other videos. Lots of small creek and lake fishing in south texas. For bass, bluegill, etc...

Yes it can. However lots of people wade here. Just gotta do the stingray shuffle. Still not fool proof though, and yes there is a small likelihood of getting hit by a stingray. However, the sharks are a different story, they are there. Same with alligators. So just gotta keep your eye out, and hope/pray for the best.

I finally hooked one of these amazingly powerful fish on the fly. It took off like crazy and ended up bending the hook I was fishing. Last week I put up a video that was on the previous day's fishing and I didnt catch much except a stingray, some skipjack and a bunker. And even though this day started out slow, and I only had a couple hours to fish, I finally ended up hooking into my target species, the redfish. The flats we found were absolutely picture perfect. The reds were chasing bait, and there were quite a few all around. They were tailing all over the place, and readily eating. Granted I found out that they did not want the fly to move too much and would get scared when I stripped near them. Johnny ended up hooking into a really nice red, pushing about 26 inches after slowing down his retrieve. I ended up finally hooking a spunky little red when I slowed down the retrieve also. It was an amazing day, and I cannot express how happy I am to finally hook into one of these fish. It took off so fast, that it gave my stripping finger line burn, and I bent the hook. It was amazing! If I had tied the fly myself, on a stronger hook, I would have brought that fish in. BTW, for any of you who think adding scent is cheating, I get that. However I don't really think its fully cheating. The reds have good noses and can smell anything off with the flies. So, when I am adding super glue or resin to keep the flies more durable, it alerts them to something being off about the fly. It doesn't smell like food to them, and they are more reluctant to bite. This scent is made to mimic shrimp, and both Jonny and I swear by it. It not only masks the glues, it adds the scent that reds are looking for in their food.

Yeah, I have heard stories of those stingray’s, seems very painful. The barb doesn’t want to come out due to the way it’s shaped. Little barbs angling rearward like a fish hook barb. A buddy of mine hooked a hard head catfish once and it went right through the center of his hand. Had to yank it out. I used to work as a deck hand on boats in the gulf and just about everyone there ended up with the flesh eating bacteria. We would all be on antibiotics regularly because of wounds starting to get infected. Very dangerous. Yeah I mentioned in the video I was wearing waders because of that. Even small mosquito bites can turn into something bad. For sure be careful!

I did end up cutting the leader actually. Lol! He took my fly with him. Hope he can get it off before it kills it.

Ok this time it worked. Not sure why it keeps not giving the full video option on my first posts.

Fly fishing anywhere has its risks, but fishing in the gulf has its own unique sets of safety challenges. Down in corpus there are alligators, sharks, flesh eating bacteria, heat exhaustion, and stingray's. Stingrays are everywhere, especially this time of year. You risk stepping on them which I almost did on this trip a few times, and their spike will go through any boot or waders. I didnt think about it when I tried to catch this stingray, but how do I take it off the hook without getting whipped by its tail? This trip really had a few other challenges. I got double booked on the hotel I reserved and being a holiday weekend, there just was nothing available anywhere near the coast. I also struggled most of the day with heat exhaustion as it was 100 degrees through most of the afternoon. I didnt catch a lot of fish, and none on the first day were any of my target species, redfish and speckled trout. But I did catch what I think was a baby jack crevalle, and a few skip jack. I also hooked into a speckled trout but lost it. Unfortunately I wasn't filming and it got off before the camera could turn on. However, the 2nd and final day of my trip to corpus, my luck changed. Johnny and I did finally get into our top target species, redfish. We found some beautiful water in the flats that held some tailing reds. I cannot wait to go back and fish that spot again soon. So check back next week for the conclusion of this trip, where Johnny and I get into some of those amazingly strong redfish. https://youtu.be/xn1zYoiyA00

Hasn’t worked for the past few weeks for me. Not sure why. Thanks Mike for trying.

Not sure why the link doesn't show up now any time I post. Can someone tell me why? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BePi7bUPVM

I created this fly a while back inspired by a few flies I saw on instagram. I took aspects of a couple different flies, mainly a few from "sand bar flies" and created my own pattern with some ideas I saw. Notably the chenille legs from one fly, and the mallard flank shell back from another. Originally I made a video on tying this fly, and I used a dubbing loop. I also used a flexible resin on the mallard flank feather as well. After tying these for a few years, I have now changed a few aspects of the fly, and am very happy with the ultimate result. I think this is now easier to tie, and also more durable. Sand crabs, or also called sand fleas, are a staple food source for many insure saltwater species. Surf Perch and Corbina in California, to pompano and redfish in the gulf of Texas, I find that these flies work great for all species willing to come close to the breaking waves in the surf. These little crabs occasionally get kicked up by heavy waves, and become an easy meal for hungry fish. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BePi7bUPVM

https://youtu.be/O-sIXQQaEUc This fly pattern is one a customer of mine asked me to tie for them. They sent a picture and I went from there. It was called the "baby blue crab" on the picture, but if any of you know the actual name then let me know. I did not come up with this pattern, and honestly I don't know if its tied exactly how the original was. I couldn't find any info on how to tie it online, but this is what I came up with. It's a crab with chenille claws. Seems like it will work really well though, and I figured I would show you how I tied this. Check out my video on making the mono eyes here - https://youtu.be/HQ8wWPmemGw

Why doesn't it ever work?! LOL. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrnnOqUG55s&feature=youtu.be

Not every day fishing is a spectacular day, however fishing is always fun! I don't always catch fish, and this was an example of a day that was less than productive. Granted I did catch a few small sunfish, and one small bass, but it wasn't a great day for catching. I did however enjoy the time I spent with Paul, and the outdoors. Getting exercise, sun and the sounds of nature made the trip still worth while. https://youtu.be/zrnnOqUG55s

Not heard of this one. If you type “half and half fly” into google the clouser/deceiver one is what comes up. It’s the only one I’ve heard of. But that’s pretty cool also. I’m sure that one works also.

Lol, thanks for the tip! That makes sense, I’ll try it next time