breambuster

Mine have come and it looks to me that there are more quills than biots, which is fine. An excellent set of flies. Thanks to all the swappers and thanks to Bob for hosting. When can I expect to receive my share of the powerball ticket? BB

Ok, everyone. Atxdiscgolfer has withdrawn from the swap, but Vicrider has asked to join. So, hopefully, this is going to be our final roster with Vicrider taking Atxdiscgolfer's place. That means that each swapper will send in 14 flies and you won't get one of your own back. But I'm going to do my very best to make this worthwhile for everyone. I have just about finished by Mr Rapidans but since we have so much time left, there is another pattern that I've been thinking about learning to tie and I have the materials and have made a couple of tries at it. Both of those tries will end up in my fly box since neither is good enough for the swap. But my plan is to submit 2 patterns. The Mr Rapidan and a mystery pattern that you have to be in the swap to find out what it is. The first time I saw it, I said, "I have GOT to learn to tie that one!" It was designed to be a trout pattern, but I've got a feeling that the Bream (bluegills & other related sunfish) are going to LOVE it! And I hope it will make it worth your while to tie up a couple of extra flies for this swap. Take care BB

Looks good to me and I would 100% fish it also. Nice work. BB

It would only be 14 because you don't get back one of your own. Think about it and let me know. BB

I hate to see you leave, atxdiscgolfer. I'm sure we can work things out. BB

You've got it mikechell. I'll get started right away! BB

Guys, I have made a big mistake. I'm usually more efficient than this. Sometime when I was dealing with my daughter's wreck, I welcomed Hazathor to the swap. He should have been added as swapper #11, right after Stilis, but I failed to get his name on the roster. I guess I was trying to handle too many things all at once, and dropped the ball. Therefore, we really need to have 15 swappers in the swap. I hope my mistake doesn't cause a hardship for anyone. I think there may be a set or two already in the mail. I'll do what I can to work that out. Most of all, I just want to apologize to everyone for my mistake. Take care Randall

Glad they got there, Bob. Hope they will catch some fish for somebody. Take care BB

Same address, GP Flyfisherman BB

OK, Guys, August 15 sounds like a LONG time to me, too. So here's what let's do. Let's leave the due date at August 15, for now, but let's ask EVERY SWAPPER in this swap to TRY, REALLY HARD, to have your flies to me by July 31. That's over 2 months from now, and if guys would tie 2 flies a week, they could get them done long before the end of July. I don't think 2 flies a day is asking too much. Just don't wait until the very last minute and then start tying. I know that summer is for vacation, and fishing and things like that. But let's ALL try to get them to me by the end of July. I've been working on mine and I still have a learning curve to get through. I'm tying a Mr Rapidan on a standard #14 dry fly hook. I'm getting the hang of the calf hair wings, and the Flyrite dubbing is a dream to work with. Awesome stuff. The hackle is where I run into some problems. I'm using saddle hackles out of Whiting 100's packs. One grizzly and one brown. I take 2 turns of each behind the wing and 2 turns of each in front of the wing, and even though the wing is positioned properly on the hook shank, I'm crowding the eye before I get through. I end up tying off with a half hitch tool. But if I move the wing any further back, it's going to be in the middle of the hook shank. So far I've made about 7 attempts. And now I have one fishable fly, but I made a mistake with the materials, so it's not going into the swap. I have MAYBE 2 that will pass for the swap, 3 that are doubtfuls, and one that I cut off the hook and started over. Having said that, I know that tying 2 flies in a week that are worthy of the swap may be the best we can expect. But if we will work at it steadily, the end of July sounds very reasonable to me at this point. Thanks, guys. BB

OK. Atxdiscgolfer, I'm going to assign you the RS2. It's not a difficult fly, but it does have a split microfibbetts tail. Here is a link to a video showing how to tie it. And here is a second video showing a number of techniques for working with microfibbetts. Play around with the string technique and the dubbing ball technique because they both achieve the same purpose, split microfibbetts tails. In addition to the video, you can tie on just 2 microfibbetts and use the loop of thread as in the video to split them. Of you can just leave an extra long tag when you tie on and cover the hook shank with tying thread. Stop at the rear of the hook, tie in your tails and then use the extra long tag to come back up the shank between the tails and hold the tag in place with a couple of thread wraps. If you don't like the RS2, let me know and I will come up with another pattern. In fact, any Dry Fly pattern could be tied with microfibbett tails. So if there's something else you want to try, let me know. Take care BB

OK. here's the next little problem, guys. While waiting to find out about signing up one swapper, 2 guys who I have talked to in the last few days have said that want to join. That means that instead of 13 swappers, we now have 14. I'm cutting off the swap right now. But each of you will need to tie 13 flies and you still won't get back one of your own. But since we've extended the due date, tying one more fly shouldn't be that much of a problem. I hope that is OK with everyone. Thanks BB

Guys, I have a question for all of you. I have had several people to say that they would join the swap, but the due date is too soon. Would anyone object if we moved the due date from June 30 to August 15? Let me know. BB

After re-reading a PM from Dorado, my understanding is that he is joining and will be tying a Black Ghost streamer. Welcome aboard, Dorado. I'm looking forward to seeing your tie. There is only 1 (ONE) spot left! Who wants it? BB

Looking good, GP Flyfisherman. I think you've got it! BB

Hazathor, I'm sorry. I missed your post about size. I think a #6 would be just fine. BB

Wow, GP Flyfisherman! Great work! That looks like you're a master of CDC. Tie 11 more and we'll call you the champion! BB

Dmanley, welcome to the swap and to the site. You have fallen in with a great group of guys (and a few gals). And, man, do I have the perfect fly for you, and it's one of my favorites. It is, are you ready for this. The Red Fox Squirrel Nymph! Here's a video that will give you a materials list and will show you how to tie the fly. And I'll tell you about some of the variations I make to this basic pattern. For trout, I would tie the fly pretty much as in the video, except that I've never used the ribbing that he uses. I would use either a fine gold wire or gold or pearl Krystal Flash. Probably 2 strands for a size #12 and larger and one strand for anything smaller. And my first choice for the hackle would be Hungarian Partridge but I would not hesitate to use the hen hackle as in the video. For warmwater flies, I would lose the lead wire and the hackle, throw on a bead head and finish the fly with rubber legs right where the abdomen and thorax meet. But since all the other flies, so far, are trout patterns, you might want to go with the trout version. I also use the SLF dubbing that you saw in the video, and only use the skin for the material for the tail. On the skin, the back of the squirrel is the color for the thorax and the belly of the squirrel is the color for the abdomen. So, if you don't mind picking out some of the guard hairs and dubbing with the under fur, mostly, all you need is the skin. Red Fox Squirrel skins aren't expensive and you can find them at most mail order sites (which is what I do) or you should be able to find them at any well-stocked fly tying materials shop. Take a look at the video and tell me what you think. And the most important thing is, if you have ANY questions, do NOT hesitate to ask. Since you're new to the Forum, you may not know about the PM feature. (Personal Message) If you will right click on my avatar, a new page will open and on the right side, middle of the screen there are several options including "Send Me A Message." Click on that, put in a Title and compose your message and send it. I will get an email that you have sent me a message and I usually look at emails several times a day. Welcome again, and have fun. Take care BB

Hazathor, it's really great to have you join us. If you want a hopper pattern, I think I'll assign you the "Dave's Hopper." That's the way this swap works. You name the problem and I assign the pattern. Let me know if that works for you. Here's a link. Take care BB

Wmw4, Yes, please, don't go searching for cow elk. Use deer hair. There isn't all that much difference between elk hair and deer hair, anyway, except the color and if you're using dyed hair, what's the difference? Elk hair may be a bit more course and it may not flair quite as much as deer hair, so you may need to watch for that. Otherwise, it shouldn't make any difference. Joeh, I am really glad that you've decided to join us. For this one, I think I'll ask you to do the Muddler for us. Before I say that for sure, what size will the Crease Fly be? Are we talking bass or saltwater sizes or trout sizes? Stilis, It's really good to have you join us also. I've admired your tying ability in the past and so I'm looking forward to seeing your work on this one. Since you admit to struggling with a Goddard Caddis, that's what we will go with for this one. It's time to make the fur fly! Only 3 slots left. Better grab one while you still can, guys. Take care BB

We've got 5 slots left and there are a couple of people thinking about one of those slots, so if you're on the bubble, don't stay there too long. Let me know that you're in the the type of fly you'd like to tie and I'll assign you something. Take care BB

Well, dflanagan, after looking at a lot of Parachutes, I am abundantly reminded that the Parachute Adams is, far and away, the most popular Parachute pattern. So, let me take back what I said earlier and assign you that pattern. Dflanagan, your assignment is the Parachute Adams. Good luck with it. Take care BB

Sounds good, Vicente. Red Hackle will work just fine. Take care BB

Jburge! Just the fellow I've been looking for. I was hoping someone would say "Spinning Deer Hair!" I've got just the thing for you. It's called the "Irresistible" or the "Rat Faced McDougal. Now with a name like that, how can you go wrong? Here's what you'll be tying. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha_M4Lsj6Kw. That ought to give you some experience with spinning deer hair. Not too tough, but getting enough deer hair packed on and then trimming that taper will give you some practice with deer hair. Glad to have you join us. BB

wmw4, It's amazing what us fly fishermen can come up with. I've got just the thing for you. It's a terrestrial pattern for trout called the Moodah Poodah! Take a look. It reminds me of the Preditor which is my go to bream (bluegill) fly. And it will give you some practice with foam. So that's your assignment. Enjoy, I'm sure the trout and bluegills both will. BB