FishnPhil

Is anyone else convinced that this is SilverCreek:

I am 100% sure of it and enjoy learning all of the information he shares. Thanks for posting all of the things you post, SilverCreek!

That's a fish catching tie right there Kimo, the Antero trout wouldn't know what to do other than eat it!

I have never tried articulated flies but that makes me want to try, I hear they wiggle nicely in the water. If you don't mind, what hook is that?

Not for everyone, but as usual I am going to completely take this in a new direction, well, because that's what I do with everything in life

These lyrics read like famous poets wrote them. Can't say I ever expected someone from this genre of music to produce something so amazingly intelligent in so many ways and musically engineered and fine tuned like the best Pink Floyd or NIN song. Maybe I just love the meticulousness of such artists and their rarity. This guy, he is gifted and emotionally on a different level.

If you think you're read, or for those into lyrics, this is phenomenal stuff:

http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/Sadistik_%26_Kid_Called_Computer:Save_Yourself

http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/Sadistik:Crown

Tjm, thing about the double surgeons join that I like is even in 50mph winds its a cinch.

Surgeons join is similar to the grapevine, twice through an overhand knot, but less work.

If your double surgeon join forms a kink or hindge, then I can help, and doing it the "right" way will greatly improve the knot strength. That is assuming you performed it the incorrect way.

Anyways...They rarely break in me now.

Instead of putting two butt sections together, making a loop, and sending those through the loop.

Lay the line paralel, create the loop, and use one butt end and the other longer end to send through the loop. You have to cut the length of tippet off of the spool before joining the lines.

It's a small difference that makes a massive change in the knot. Hope this helps you. It helped me.

And again, Kimo saying "just another nymph" is like Michelangelo saying, "just another chapel ceilinga. I get upa ina de mornin' ... I puta my pants on, justa like any other mana. I go to worka ana paint ceilingsa."

Could not have said it better myself!

Also like those rainbow flies McFly.

I bought this one for $10 on amazon (found it recommended on this forum) and it works great with Solarez

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016X0U6LS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Low water flows are making fishing tough in Colorado this year. If the flows were higher you could have hit some smaller creeks and caught brookies on dries all day, but with the current flows, as soon as your fly hits the water they spook for miles. That's my opinion.

In addition, Joe's point, some places are tougher to fish than others. Thinking about the Colorado river near Parshall, Hot springs, and that area, it gets pounded. Makes for more selective fish unless you time it right. The blue river is a tailwater (in a couple of places) and has colder water coming from the bottom of the lakes. But, as you might guess, being ~1 hour from Denver and many other streams running low, it's seeing its' share of pressure.

I'm bummed to hear you didn't catch anything. I've made big plans and trips only to be stuck with the skunk as well, it happens. Another way to put what Mike said...Just like going anywhere, Wyoming, Montana, even Alaska, if you go to the more tourist or popular areas the fish tend to get more pressure and likely require a bit more local knowledge. I think you are on the right track at looking into the NW area (but don't go too far Northwest or you are in Smallie and Pike territory).

Just for the record, learned two things about a fly I've tied a ton of. Thread trick for the tails and second is to use it for ribbing, at least when using dubbing. Also funny how we all have some preferences regarding one of the simplest patterns that I can think of.

This thread made me laugh when I needed it. I did not know about that thread trick for splitting tails and have tied 100 of these! So glad to see this and will be using that when tying up more in the near future (it's a pattern I use often).

Not sure why, but I rarely use dubbing, and tie these more like thread midges, using darlon (or zlon or one of those "-lon" materials) instead of CDC. Might have to pickup some CDC after all.

Are you looking for tying tips/ideas or video and camera tips/ideas?

The video is good quality and having no experience with that have no tips. The fly itself, well, I never get proportions correct so I'm not one to really talk, but I hate the shape of your fly even though it is more "cigar" shaped than the "cone" or spliff shaped fly that Kimo posted.

That midge emerger parachute is so flawless. Very cool!

Thanks for the response and examples flytire

Good to be reminded the pros break thread, make hackle size mistakes, and generally screw up occasionally. Well except Kimo, I'll never believe it, even with pics!!

Seriously nice flies from everyone. Hope I can tie again soon.

Can you guys throw up some ugly flies once in a while?

Seriously, opening this thread is like opening the art of fly tying book and seeing every little detail considered and perfected. An example of what I mean is in the very first picture (which I know a lot of you already know), the brown buck, that body is so freaking flawless and every single fiber in the herl is in the perfect position, the mosquito body is the same, perfectly pulled mohair...look no further than here. Just perfection!

Awesomeness everyone (and last month too because I did not chime in)! Every month there are some unbelievable flies and some days all I can do is marvel looking at them.

I used the door hangers that rstaight mentions. They work great and have stood the test of time, in use for over 10 years and hundreds of trips.

See my thread here for how I created my box and insert system:

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=87201

Funny conversation. I had picked up a few of these from a shop last minute prior to fishing high pressure tailwater. Only thing that worked were WD40s so I tied up a bunch later. I do prefer "finer" flies, sparse materials, etc. They do tie up super fast and you can thicken things up for heavier water or less selective trout. Definitely one I've added to the midge box (size 20 and smaller).

Olive is my favorite color to tie and rarely catches me fish, haha, but I keep on tying them!

I have two of these:

https://www.bigskyinflatables.com

Have had them for about 12 years. They came in a backpack for hiking short distances, made out of white water rafting material that has not broken down in the slightest, are extremely easy to row, very stable, and are rated for Class IV rapids. I love mine and they are great for rivers and small lakes.

In Colorado you cannot touch the river bottom while floating through private property, so being able to hold position using only the fins is a huge advantage over larger rafts. There are cons as well, such as...it takes a lot out of you to kick, row, and fish simlultaneously for an entire day. Big advantage over a belly boat is you are out of the water, advantage over pontoons is less prone to catching lots of wind because they have a low profile. Plus they pavk away very small with no frame.

They are a great option to have. I still shore fish, wade fish, and use a larger boat for other places...but it's a blast being pulled around the lake by a 5lb trout, haha!

Thank you everyone for the replies. Knew I would get good info as well as creative ideas here.

I will check these out, try some options, and report back.

rstaight, I cannot get the bead around the bend in the hook. It goes over the bark ok (could crimp it if needed) but that's as far as it goes.

chugbug27, that is what I suspected...there is a specific brand, type, style of bead that people use for these flies and I do not have it. Do you have any idea a brand that would work or what term I can use in Google to get the results?

I am trying to build flies like these: http://www.flytyingforum.com/pattern7807.html

The problem is, I cannot get the egg bead to go over the hook. Is there a trick? Are there specific beads (I have TroutBeads brand)? Should I be using a glue stick and glue gun to form the egg?

I am using 1/0, upturned eye, salmon fly hooks. Also have tried size 1, straight eye hooks but I prefer those upturned eyes for these. Have tried to use a nail to make the hole in the middle of the bead larger. Also tried to drill them out to a larger diameter. Both methods failed, leading to broken beads or still not getting past the hook bend.

To be clear, I am not interested in chenille or egg yarn methods. I know those methods work fine, might be better, fast, etc. but I want this specific look.

Here is a picture of what I mean in case you don't want to look at the article linked above:

Some very cool setups in this thread.

Here is mine. Finally moved from a mobile Oasis fly tying bench and into a more permanent area. Most of the materials fit into the drawers, somewhat organized haha.

I'm cheap so I built things to hold my hooks and tools. For tools, I did not like anything I saw and this was really, really simple:

Would have build a spool holder but found the one in the pic on sale plus had a 50% off coupon for Michael's, and the one pictured fits into the middle top drawaer so it's not sitting on my desk all of the time.

Fun thread, here's some of my more favorite pics from trips this year.

Cold morning on the stream

Healthy rainbows

Brown with a made up caddis larvae pattern in his mouth:

 

snigger......

 

I just cannot resist...

Also, to add something to the thread, I would not have thought to add more dubbing, peacock hurl, or something to make the body larger so that the hackle would match. So the tip isn't completely lost

Also, you guys that spin deer/elk hair are insane!! Awesome flies, very cool colors, impressive!! I'm lucky to get an Elk Hair Caddis to look correct

flytire's link is all you should need but can be overwhelming. There are a lot of knots!

Maybe focus on some of the ones that are more useful for fishing (this is only a list of knots I commonly use, not exhaustive).

For tying line to lures/flies:

Polomar

Perfection Loop

For joining lines, leaders, etc.:

Double (and Triple) Surgeons Join and Knot

Nail Knot

Albright

Double Uni

Perfection Loop (also can be used to make a loop used in loop to loop connections)

Honestly, for larger diameter line (4x or higher, aka >6lb test) and when using eyelets on #10 hooks or larger I find the polomar knot to be easier/faster to tie, stronger, ends up with a much smaller knot, and is more consistent than the improved clinch. If I'm using line >15lb I always use the polomar.

Looks like the other posters covered it, the public access areas are well known and generally very well marked. Also, if there isn't a fly shop in Granby there is a tackle shop there that should be able to provide some current lake and river information as well.

Given the low flows this year I would not plan on fishing the Colorado in RMNP. It's a smaller stream/creek and my guess is that by August it will be a trickle with stressed, spooky fish. Lower down should be a lot better, as Sandan said hot sulfur springs or below.

The good thing about that area is you have options. The lakes hold plenty of fish, generally they are bigger than in the streams, and if you catch a good hatch can be a blast, but if you are set on river/stream fishing then the middle Colorado river would be a good place to check out.

Guided trips are also another option that help take away a lot of the guesswork and can get you into private water that doesn't see quite the pressure the public places do. Some shops offer float trips that are about the same cost as wade trips...floating is a fun way to fish (though be sure to ask about spin fishing if your son doesn't want to fly fish). Some guides or maybe shops, I have no idea, only allow fly fishing according to others who have inquired.

Good luck! Let us know how you do.

Cool, thank you for taking the time to take and post pics!