Gray Ghost

I have five (5) red squirrel tails which I would trade for tied flies. From species Tamiasciurus hudsonicus

Please note these are red squirrel tails not the more common gray squirrel.

Or I also have gray squirrel tails which I would also trade. Or some of each kind, if you desire.

Cured and dried, legally and ethically harvested.

I've engaged in several similar trades with Fly Tying Forum members, always to the satisfaction of my trading partner.

If you are interested in a trade please send a PM to me and then we can discuss terms.

Whenever I get a new hobby I always end up collecting related books. Anyway I got a copy of the Index of Orvis Fly Patterns (the older version with the three ring binder). My copy also includes Supplements I and II.

Is there a Supplement III in the three-ring binder style?

Thanks in advance.

OK! Thanks for the thoughts and experience. Given that I am a novice tyer maybe its better to learn tying on cheaper hooks. My average fish is a tiny bluegill anyway so I am not very worried about the hook breaking. Probably would break the tippet first like one poster noted.

I am a novice tier, as novice as can be. Working on building a tying kit. 

Acquired these hooks through Temu, which for those of you not familiar is a Chinese marketplace similar to Amazon. You can buy and pay in dollars with a card, and they ship your items by Chinese/US mail. Takes a few days longer than Amazon but cheaper.

So I purchased these hooks (see pic):

Quantity 50 size 12 nymph hooks "Goture" brand

Quantity 50 size 10 dry fly hooks "Goture" brand

Price for 100 hooks total was $4.27 including shipping (which was "free") and tax.

So that's cheaper than you can buy premium brand hooks in the USA, and even cheaper than no name hooks on Amazon.

My question is, in what way(s) would you predict the quality of these would fall below more expensive hooks?

J

On 8/28/2014 at 5:23 PM, FlaFly said:

I was kidding about the cost of buying flea collars, but at the cost of Frontline, etc., you could buy a ton of feathers, and high quality ones at that. Also those systemic flea poisons rely on the insect biting the dog and ingesting poisonous blood. Not sure it would have any effect just putting it on or near the feathers. Maybe we have a vet online.

agreed. Don't assume Frontline or similar products which are absorbed through your dog's skin would work as a feather pesticide

Try googling for coyote fly patterns?

On 1/19/2023 at 3:10 PM, richmce said:

wanted to order some willowcat plastic bodies. close to a goby  sculpin popular on the miss river

The popular spin casting imitation of a goby is a tube jig with a skirt in motor oil color, where I live (Door County, WI). This is a pretty close imitation if you are not fly fishing.

Question for anyone who fishes for smallmouth bass in waters infested with the invasive round goby. What fly(s) have you had success with? I have does some searches for goby patterns and so far not seeing anything which strikes me as remarkably realistic. Of course any sculpin pattern is likely to be pretty close, but I am looking to get closer than that. Particularly the near black color, shiny almost irridescent skin, relatively big head and eyes, and big pectoral fins that stick out sideways. Not to mention its behavior in the water which is bottom-loving and tends to dart upwards to feed.

thanks in advance

10 minutes ago, SilverCreek said:

I use a 22 caliber bore cleaning brush as a dubbing brush. I carry one in my fly tying kit and one in my fishing vest to rough up my nymphs to make them look "buggy" before fishing them.

Good idea, but I would carry .45 because it would have more stopping power lol

Thanks for the info. I am guessing also that #1 was intended as a dubbing brush

I am pleased to have found these forums, as I am a lifelong fly fisherman but have never tried tying. I am going to start tying. I have come into possession of various tying tools (or are they? that is the question in some cases). Thanks in advance for your help. 

1. Bottle with needle stopper: is this intended for head cement?

2. Wine corks: what is their purpose as a tool, or are they intended as popper raw material?
3. U-shaped brass wire with curved-hook ends?

4. Curved hemostat: I know how to use this as a hook removal tool when fishing. Does it have a purpose in tying?

5. Tiny metal twisted-wire brush with two different kinds of ends?

6. Toothbrush??

Is it a true rotating vise?

Someone is offering to to sell this vise to me and I cannot figure out the make and model. Can anyone identify it for me? Thanks in advance.

Obtained this Cabela's reel as a side item in a trade. Looks like it is a 3/4 weight. Other than the brand and the weight I cannot tell what it is.

Can anyone help me identify the model, and the year, of this reel?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I am a lifelong fisherman (born 1967) and I've always been a sort of occaisional fly fisherman, when I can. I've done it in quite a few places including saltwater in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos (caught my first bonefish at age 7, alas not on a fly), MT, WY, ID and my home territory of Door County, NE Wisconsin. Not really any trout stream fishing near me, but some good fishing in small lakes for bass and panfish and northern pike.

I am also an avid hunter of birds, small game and deer. I frequently bag geese, ducks, grouse, turkey, deer, squirrels, bunnies; you name it,  I probably have the opportunity to shoot it where I live. I have only recently realized the value of the materials that can be sourced from all those things and I have gotten better at saving tying materials from my game bag. My favorite thing to do is trade the natural tying materials that I have harvested for tied flies. I like to see what I get back for these trades -- it's fun to see what my trading partners can do.

I am just starting to get into tying for myself and so I am looking forward to learning from this forum.

As a novice tier and former backyard chicken farmer (at one point I had 140 chickens) I will provide some advice. When and if your in laws order some new baby chicks to replenish their flock, suggest to them that they order the mixed-sex combo rather than all-females. Your average backyard chicken enthusiast doesn't want roosters around because they are noisy, obnoxious, eat a ton, don't lay eggs, and (in the laying breeds) are not very good to eat. HOWEVER you could suggest to your in laws that some roosters be retained until approximate age of 8 months at which point you would be happy to skin them, keep the skin and provide the skinned carcass to your inlaws for their stock pot.

In retrospect some of the roosters that I had, possessed some very impressive capes. I have no idea if they would have been good for tying but I never tried, alas.