DFoster

Generic stonefly pattern- GOLDEN STONEFLY HOOK: #8 CURVED NYMPH THREAD: 6/0 UNDER BODY: .20 WIRE TAIL: GOOSE BIOTS ABDOMEN/BODY: UTC VINYL RIB WING CASE: YELLOW MOTTLED WITH U.V. RESIN THORAX: HARELINE DUBBING LEGS: RUBBER. HEAD: U.V.RESIN

Here's a terrestrial attractor pattern of mine that I've been trying different combinations with. I had pretty good success in the late summer and early fall with these. THE TINY MONSTER HOOK: #12 1XS 2XL NYMPH THREAD: BLACK 6/0 EYE: 25LB TRILENE MONO- GREEN MELTED UNDER BODY: HARELINE DUBBING 50/50 MIX OF LIGHT OLIVE AND DARK OLIVE ABDOMEN: OLIVE HEN, PALMERED AND CLIPPED RIB: ULRA WIRE- RED THORAX: HARELINE DUBBING: LIGHT BROWN LEGS: (6) GOLDEN PHEASANT TAIL FIBERS: NATURAL, KNOTTED HEAD: HARELINE DUBBING: LIGHT BROWN

So simple- why didn’t I think of it?

I see and good point about the collectors. There are European brands that are virtually unknown in the U.S., perhaps L&H is one of those?

Rick, my favorite time to tie flies is during a snowstorm. I can't offer a logical reason why but to me there's something a little bit magical about tying with a storm raging outside. Usually our 2 dogs sleep next to me or under my tying desk and I can smell both the wood stove and what my wife is cooking. (she always plans a nice meal in front of a storm). It just makes for a pleasant and relaxing time to tie flies.

I found this discussion about L&H on the classic forum- It mentions Gierach. http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=157069

The restoration looks really nice, I'm happy for you. Your nets are works of art Byron- As a guy who is too lazy to hunt for tools, let me say peg board can be your friend.

Good for you Norm and enjoy! Here is my TV story- A few years back my wife got me a smart TV for our sunroom for Christmas. Our sunroom is essentially my man cave. We we're paying for 900 channels and between the two of us we watched like 8. I literally watched only the news, the History Channel and the World Fishing Network. I decided to stop watching any form of network News after their laughable coverage of Covid and the rest of 2020. I'm proud to say that these days I am network "journalist" free. Anyway my wife was HGTV, Cooking/Food Networks and few local networks. One day I received a notice that World Fishing Network was being removed as part of our package and replaced with the "Oprah Winfrey Movie network". Oh good, yeah that's a reasonable trade, I was thinking that I could use more emotional drama where men are to blame for everything wrong in the world. I mean while you guys are at it why not replace the History Channel with Lifetime or the soap network? It was time to cut the cord. We were paying $285 per month and we cancelled everything except for the internet. The local cable company made it a s painful as possible to do so but eventually we returned all our cable boxes and got our bill down to $85 a month. A Roku gives us access to youtube (the free ap) and from there we have more channels about the things my wife and I enjoy than we could possible watch. There are at least 2 other people in my office who are also doing the same thing. I'm sure cable providers are working hard, either through legislation or contracts to try to stop the bleeding but for right now this works for us.

Bruce that is exceptional! Nice work all!

Nice job- Your biot tails and legs are really well done and the copper wire looks smooth and tapered especially at the tail, exactly how it should be. As a beginner with U.V. try applying it in layers. A small drop spread with a bodkin and then cure, repeat, building layers until you get just the right amount. That will help avoid using too much. The most important thing to keep in mind is that your fly will catch fish, even if it isn't perfect. Some of my first flies were awful, but what looked awful to a trained fly tyer's eye, apparently looked like food to a trout. AND catching fish on flies that I tied was the main reason that I kept moving forward with learning to tie. I don't know what it is but there is something indefinable and special about catching a fish on a fly you tied. I hope that a few successful outings using your flies will inspire you to continue learning this craft. Fly tying is a challenging but very rewarding pursuit, enjoy! Happy New Year! Dean

We hate you Mark. 😉

3 weeks of fly fishing! A great day for me is when I can put together 4 hours without a call from the "fun police". Not too much snow lately, It's been mostly rain over the past 6 weeks and the rivers are getting back to a healthy flow. Happy New Year Steve!

Happy New Year all! Here's a review of my '24 season. First I'm a catch and release guy and for the past 10 years I fish barbless only. Why? Well, There is no ethical environmentalist doctrine with me- I simply don't care for how they taste. Now If trout tasted like lobster things would be different. Also Barbless not only come out of the fish easier but me as well. I'm ok with the elevated rate of fish lost that comes with using barbless hooks. I lose roughly 2 trout to every 1 landed. Most do to mistakes on my part but barbless flies don't help. . I don't keep a fishing log beyond a photo before releasing the fish. At the end of the season, just for fun I can count the photos and compare my tallies to years past. The '23 season was my personal best year for fish in the net, although I didn't look good in the beginning. I lost my first 11 fish that year. I started this season a little earlier than usual, with my first outings happening in February and I even managed to put a few sluggish winter trout in my net-a good sign for the coming spring. March through June was on fire, I had netted 3 times as many fish as I had to the same point in the 2023 season. In the hot summer months I like to focus more on Smallmouth fishing, swinging and stripping flies. I did so..... and that's when the drought started. Every succeeding week saw my Smallie river drop and within a month it was so low and slow that the deepest holes were less than 3' and not moving. Fish move to deeper water in times of drought but wherever that was, I couldn't find them. Tailwaters are a sensible choice during drought. Our local tailwater, the Swift River is only an hour drive away. With its constant dam-controlled flow and constantly cold temp it's been pretty drought proof over the years. The problem is that during drought it's the only flowing water around. The last time we had a significant drought the Swift attracted what seemed to be ever fly angler in the state and more than a few with spinning tackle. I made the mistake of fishing there on a Saturday and there were anglers every 20'. Dealing with fellow anglers is one thing but by late morning the Kayaks and Canoes full of college kids party floating and playing loud music ended it for me. I didn’t make that mistake this year. The only nearby option left was my local spring creek and its small natives or still water bass and bluegill fishing. I made the best I could out of both. I did all right with the spring creek until even that ceased to flow and I decided to leave its wild fish alone. The leaves began to fall and finally they covered almost all of the fishable surface. Without moving water, there, they remained for weeks. There just wasn't anywhere to put a fly- and still no rain. Finally in late November we got some actual accumulating rain. The local rivers now seem to be back to normal flow level. I have even had a few trout in the net and lost a nice Rainbow on December 30th after a brief fight (see barbless hooks comment). I’m really happy to have my streams back but I have to wonder how the ’24 season would have turned out fishing wise if we only had some rain? Anyway, that’s how my season went. How did yours go?

Nice combo- welcome to the site!