SalarMan

Thanks gentlemen...much obliged for you kind words. Haven't had the urge to tie at all lately...buy you inspire me to get back over the vise!!

You spotted them correctly. A little sloppy, but that's it. Thanks for looking!!

I haven't sat down at the vise in...I don't know...but it is at least a month. This morning I was going through some old fly photos and thought what the heck...I'll just post something from the past (September 2019) until I finish the "Childers" sitting in the jaws half done. I happen to like this pattern...the "Gordon"...and I hope you enjoy. Please feel free to comment. Cheers, George

To comment further...I totally agree with the plan to use material on hand at home to create the "gut" eyes for classic salmon flies. That follows the thinking about using substitute exotic materials in the flies as well...such as subs for very expensive Red Indian Crow, Toucan, Blue Chatterer, etc. Does it really matter? No of course not. Tie the flies, enjoy the process and forget being concerned about the authenticity of each and every part. It all boils down to having just plain fun!! Cheers, George

It is considered proper and traditional to tie the eye in place on the underside of the hook. When tying in hand that spot serves as a place to temporarily put the thread while prepping other parts of the fly yet to be tied in.

Location of the end of the body/beginning/end of throat and start of the head.

Interesting point about the super glue, but that has nothing to do with use of real gut simply because real gut needs none of the above processes that are required to make an artificial replica in order to tie Classic Atlantic Salmon Flies for show purposes...NOT FISHNG flies. Real gut need only be soaked in water for a few hours or more, then use the twister McPhail demonstrates and voila!! I use the Japanese silk gut manufactured after WWII, and all that stuff requires is 10 to 15 minutes in warm water, put the desired number of strands in a cordless drill chuck, the other end in the jaws of your vise with equal tension on all strands, then slowly twist the strands to get the desired look followed by letting this dry for a few hours or over night. When tied in place you can't tell it from the real thing. However it is NOT suitable for fishing. Japanese gut eye pictured below. As the old saying goes...there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Definite improvement...very nice.

Amazing variety of fish, circumstances, locations, etc. What makes the world of fly fishing so special. Great stuff guys!!!

I was on one of many trips to Quebec for Atlantic Salmon, and in 2010 I told my friend and guide Jason my Atlantic Salmon bucket list still needed a fish on a dry fly after 36 years chasing those fish...and while I'd been close I still needed to take a fish of 20+ pounds. Then on July 3rd I was fishing "The Falls" beat on the Dartmouth River. After taking and releasing a couple of grilse in the first 1 1/2 hours of the day he suggested I try a dry fly in the Spring Rock pool. It was about 45 minutes later a fish rose and took the size #2 Green Bomber and the battle was on. Approximately 15 minutes later Jason hand tailed the fish. It was 39.5 " long,...21.5 " around the girth and according to the Atlantic Salmon Federation's "Salmo Meter" the fish was 22 pounds plus. I'd accomplished both of those bucket list items with one fish. Needless to say I was one happy guy...and yes the fish was released unharmed and I was done fishing for the day.

Thank You !!!!!!

I was a moderator on a now defunct site, and when I saw what was obviously spam from someone who "joined" the site I immediately removed and blocked them from the site. Before long they disappeared and moved their garbage elsewhere. I must assume the admin and moderators have the same power here...or they should.

I hope the spammers below that have shown up here will soon be gone. I follow this part of the forum and these things showed up in my email this morning. PLEASE purge them from this site !!!!!!!!

Thanks Guys. The wings are just made up of what I had on hand that were sort of coordinated in color. They are a combo of Macaw Coverts, dyed Guinea Fowl, and Red Indian Crow sub. The body is the usual silk floss, some ostrich herl for the butt and thorax as well as the antennas. That's pretty much it and what comes out of my brain every now and again. I should have something new to post very soon...but more in line with the classics.

To steal a line from Monty Python's Flying Circus...and now for something completely different. This isn't my normal work, but a couple of years ago I decided to give this a go based on what I'd seen on a now defunct site. It was an interesting exercise to say the least. The one major faux pas is the triangular gap at the base of the wings...also know as a Toblerone Tunnel...just Google it and you will understand. Nevertheless I hope you get a bit of a charge out of something you might not normally expect from me.

Hmmm...... Subs for JC make it difficult to really duplicate "that look" of the enameled eye. The feathers from a starling with the white dot can be dyed light orange then you simply put on a very thin coat of head cement or flex-a-ment and you are in business. There are other options of course...but don't ever believe the plastic things will ever work...just awful!!! The other alternative is dependent on your budget followed by your patience. I just looked on ebay and there are a fair number of necks just listed. They are somewhat picked over and can be had at what could/should be a reasonable price depending on the bidders in the auction. The problem is the large number of split eyes, and this is where your patience comes in. The eyes can be repaired rather well using either a fabric glue or a hot glue gun. Simply get the fibers aligned, add the adhesive of choice to the back of the feather and allow to dry. Voila...you have the real thing and while not super grade AAA perfect they make for fine looking fishing flies. Good luck!!!

I just picked up on this thread...it surprised me as most fascinating. I have most of those shown here except the C&F and I use them all for different purposes. Just may have to try those C&F pliers though. They look super.

Hmmm...nope I disagree😁 Atlantics return to the sea rehab themselves after the travels and troubles of running up the river and spawning. Pacific salmon as...we all know...all die after spawning. They may appear the same on the outside but they are quite different animals.

My friend cphubert is right again. I will add comparing Pacific Salmon and Atlantic Salmon is the proverbial comparison of apple and oranges...not even close.

Absolutely spot on "CP". You nailed this on timing, location, sources of materials, etc, etc, etc. Well said indeed!!

Interesting question skeet3t. Atlantic Salmon have a reputation as extremely difficult to entice to take a fly...so over the years almost anything and everything has been tried to lure them to take. If you were to begin tying classic salmon flies among the first thing you'd buy in materials is red, orange, yellow, blue and green dyed goose, turkey or swan. Those 5 colors would cover you for about 90% or more of the patterns out there. Various colored seal's fur, silk floss, wool and other body materials. Exotic feathers like red Indian crow (sub), chatterer (sub), toucan (sub), golden pheasant, Amherst pheasant, etc, etc, etc...and that's just for the classics. You can add plenty more for the modern hairwing patterns too. So...is there a reason for this? I honestly don't know. They first fish I ever caught on a Muddler Minnow was a 10 pound Atlantic Salmon. Still haven't taken a trout on that fly. On a trip to the Tobique River in New Brunswick when it was still open and had a salmon run every fish I caught that week was on somewhat large various classic patterns. Go figure. Over the years I've taken them on drab patterns, tube flies, small flies, big flies. hairwings and classics of course. The bottom line to me...these fancy/flashy patterns are designed to catch fishermen. Yes they will catch fish, but they have to catch the fishermen and have them pay good money to buy your flies first. This should give you food for thought...and hopefully generate some conversation on the subject. George

Thanks for the kind words gentlemen.....

That is the whole tip of a peacock sword feather.

Will do when regarding Geert.

Things have been a little slow here so I dug into my photo files....... I have been lazy regarding the tying desk of late, but that is about to change. As I looked through some photos from the past for a little inspiration I looked at my rendition of a pattern called the Natalie Rebecca designed by Byron Bjerke. It falls into the modern somewhat artistic genre, but I couldn't resist tying it a couple of years ago and sending it to my friend Geert in Belgium...specifically for Nathalie his wife. Spelling of the name is a little different...but she loved it anyway and we shared a long distance toast together🍷🍷 Interesting pattern and fun to tie. Hope you enjoy