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Fly Tying

Frank G. Swarner III

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Posts posted by Frank G. Swarner III


  1. Here in PA I use Black, Grey, and White Z-Lon. The Grey seems to be more productive. A little bit of black and grey mixed works well also. I think the white reflects too much light for a shuck even though it works. The Black caddis in my area are on the small side, close to size 18 and maybe even 20.

     

    Good luck Shoe,

    Chip


  2. I like to use hair and fur to give the effect of legs rather than trying to tie knots in biots and other like material. I've never been much for rubber legs in trout or salmon flies. I know they work and many people swear by them, I just prefer to use other material. Estaz also works pretty well when you wrap it around the thorax and trim the top and bottom. Not much movement but alot of flash and transluscency.

     

    Chip


  3. I am a Project Manager / CAD Draftsmen for a small/medium sized Architectural firm that mainly deals with residential homes. I just started getting into the fly fishing biz on the side almost 2 yrs ago and so far so good. I teach Fly Tying and Fly Fishing on my own plus at an Orvis company store near my home and do some guiding in PA and NY as well.

     

    Chip


  4. Cool pictures Jason. There a big help for myself and others.

     

    The local streams around my area don't have very large or prolific hatches, but there is a little bit of everything depending on the stream. Just being able to see the colors and the proprtions of the flies helps me to tie imitations. The only variable is the size of the insects and that can be found out fairly quickly by trial and error. Keep up the great work and photography!!

     

    Thanks again,

    Chip


  5. Michael Radencich "Tying Classic Salmon Salmon Flies" is a wonderful book that has some great step by step photos. There are many other useful topics and photos i.e. making your own hooks, dyeing feathers, feather substitutes. If you like spey flies, Bob Veverka has a good book about tying them with top quality photographs by Michael Radencich. Poul's book "Salmon Flies" is also great. I got lucky at a fly show and picked one up for 5$.

     

    Good luck,

    Chip


  6. Very nice tie!!

     

    An all time favorite for those of us who fly fish for trout, salmon and steelhead. With a little change in material and/or color for the thorax, a different look can be achieved.

     

    I have had great success for trout by using Olive(BWO), Dark Brown, Black, Claret (Isonychia), or Amber/Orange (Sulphur) dubbing for the thorax instead of the traditional peacock herl. Brighter, sparkly colors seem to work well for steelhead and salmon.

     

    Time to go fishing,

    Chip


  7. They look great!! I'm not familiar with the White Miller so I don't want to constructively critisize your work. For me, the toughest part with spinning deer hair was keeping the butts seperated from the tips when I wanted to create a collar for flies like the wooly sculpin. A good video helped tremendously.

     

    Jimmy Nix has a great video about spinning deer hair with a lot of tips and tricks. He answers almost all the questions you could think of for spinning deer hair. The video is catered to bass fishing and bass flies but the same techniques can be applied to any type fly.

     

    Have a nice tie,

    Chip

     


  8. It sounds like your right on track, and you don't need both unless you have the money to spend. I like the mottled better, but have both types. I don't think the fish care but you will notice a difference in the outcome. I use hen back and hen feathers for nymph legs and soft hackle collars.

     

    Chip


  9. Crazy,

     

    Don't throw those flies out!! The flies might not be good but the hook is still good.

    Put the fly you don't like into the vise and shave the shank clean with a razor / utility blade.

     

    Its tough to help without a few pictures, but as far as your fly tying is concerned, less is better. Keep things sparse. For instance, select a clump of material that you would normally tie onto the hook and only use half of it. If your fly is still bulky, use half of that half, so on and so forth.

     

    Taking a Fly Tying class would be the best bet to help answer some questions.

     

    Keep Trying, don't give up,

     

    Chip


  10. I'm not exactly sure, but I would agree with you as far as it being a Starlight Leech. It could also be a variation of a Comet. Kelly Galloup ties a fly similar to this and its called a Spark Bug.

     

    Check out "The Fly Shop" website. They have a large selection of flies and I recall a fly similar to yours.

     

    Chip


  11. More about dubbing:

    I'm not sure what type of dubbing you are using, but the finer the hair the better. Of course this not true for all dry flies, but if you try using a "Dry Fly" Dubbing such as Beaver or Camel, even pure antron, it will help you in your quest for a nice, tight abdomen.

    Also, 8/0 thread or smaller is nice to use when tying dries. This may help you with your problem of seeing the thread in your abdomen after it is dubbed.

     

    Keep Tying,

    Chip


  12. The hook itself can be used to get the proportions correct. Use the length of the shank to measure the tail, the gap of the hook for your hackle length. The length of the eye can be a good reference when finishing the head, and the distance between the hook point and the barb can also be used as a referance.

     

    Hope this helps. There probably is a tool out there for proportions, but the only thing i've ever seen was used for dry fly hackle.

     

    Good luck,

    Chip


  13. I agree with you about barbed hooks playing a part in the mortality rate. I fish an area like you yourself fish and see the same thing. Trout without mouth parts missing and torn lips. I think it is especially important to use de-barbed hooks in streams where fingerlings are stocked. A barbed hook can really do some damage to them, and they don't grow those parts back.

     

    .02cents,

    Chip


  14. Had a few flies I've been meaning to post and finally got around to doing so. They are really for Steelhead, but if the colors and sizes are changed a bit, they should work for trout also. biggrin.gif

     

    Enjoy,

    Chip

     

    Bunnybou Spey - A variation of a great style of fly. A combo between a Matuka and a Marabou Spey. Some bucktail below the rabbit strip for support and additonal color.

     

    Black/Chartreuse

    user posted image

     

    Black/Kingfisher Blue

    user posted image

     

    Smaw Craw - a small crayfish pattern. Change the colors/materials for a natural look.

     

    Olive/Chartreuse

    user posted imageuser posted image

     

    Orange/Copper

    user posted imageuser posted image

     

    Steely Chic - A small wet fly with nice action

     

    Orange

    user posted image

     

     

     

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