Jump to content
Fly Tying

kschu

core_group_3
  • Content Count

    175
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by kschu

  1. I got my set on Saturday. I'm always torn up about whether or not to fish them. I have several from the last swap that I just could not bring myself to putting on the line. What if they got to close to a tree? I can live with losing a fly when a fish breaks it off. At least I got to feel that "tug" on the line. But when I lose it to a tree or get one stuck in the rocks, that just hurts. Maybe I need a bigger piece of water. Where the trees are not quite so close. Great stuff. Thanks to all. SmallieHunter, I'll be watching for the next one. Thanks again. Ken
  2. As the long absent stranger opens his mouth, we hear "I'm in". Put me down for a dozen Cactus Chennile Damsel flies. One of my favorites. I just love new smallie patterns. Hey Will, do you remember, is that what I sent in for the first annual smallmouth fly swap. I could do something different. It is good to be back. Ken S. p.s. That 16.5" April 2004 Smallie was caught on a 4 wt outfit and one of these damsel flies.
  3. Hi Scott, We tied an M&M Fly at our tying session last Monday night. It is a modification on a clouser, tied with Marabou. I had done these before. I got 4 nice bass on a #10 version of the M&M the prior week, all 17" or more. Three Smallies and one BucketMouth. I also got a 10" bluegill. I had never even seen one that big before. These are rare up here in Northern Illinois. I have never seen a Bluegill bend an 8 wt rod like that before. Since this has been the most successful pattern of this years pre spawn fishing, I tied up 13 of them this week. I just got a padded envelope for the swap flies to make their return trip. I'm packaging the flies and will slide the padded envelop in a USPO Priority mail (2 day) flat rate envelope tomorrow morning on the way to our club's casting clinic. Scott, you will have the flies on Monday. Two day delivery for under 4 bucks. I love those flat rate envelopes. I had already tied 8 standard variety clousers when I decided to switch to the M&M. I love this little fly and figured the whole idea behind a swap is to see new and different variations. I hope it does as well for the rest of you as it does in my local waters. I'll add a couple of those first flies in for you Scott. Call it a thank-you for your efforts. Sorry to cut it so close. My wife had surgery this week. I should just plan for the unexpected and tie earlier. This is only my fourth swap, so I guess I'm still learning. Tight lines, Ken S.
  4. And mine arrived today. I knew I should have come home for lunch. I took the afternoon off to go fishing. I spent 7 hours on the ponds at work. What a great way to spend the day. Now I wish I had some of these flies out there with me. Oh well, I'll have more for next time. There are some really sweet looking flies in this set. Not a bad one in the bunch. Got several Bluegills. Sometimes when you find them, the Smallies are right near by. One bluegill was so large I thought I had a bass on until I got it up near shore. It was 10 inches long. That had to be the largest bluegill I have ever brought in. And I got a 17" smallie as well. Both on a Red/White #12 M&M Fly Candy (like a clouser, tied with Marabou instead of bucktail). It was breezy (abt 10 MPH), not a cloud to be seen, temp about 60 degrees and the fishing action was very slow. But hey, any day fishing is better than time at work. Ken S.
  5. Congradulations guys. How neat to share a birthday. Although I wonder if Will went through a phase where he was wishing he had "his own" birthday. I envy you guys. I have always got the impression that you two are good together. My Dad and I get along great and I have nothing but the utmost respect for him. It was a sign of his love when he took me out at 10 years old in a small rowboat in Wisc. so I could go fishing with my cane pole. You see, my Dad does not swim and unless it is a beach where he can stand or a hot tub, he does not go near water too much. For him to take me out in that boat was quite a gift, although I did not see it at the time. I wish my Dad had more of an interest in fishing. But I would not trade him under any circumstances. Happy Birthday guys. May you enjoy many more years together, fishing or whatever it is that you do. Ken S.
  6. And I can't hardly object since I'm the one who suggested that this would be the time for Michael to join his first swap. Lucky 13 it is. Ken S.
  7. I can get a set of Clousers done by 4/31. Count me in. I'll send mail to a couple of my ISA buddies. I think at least one of them is ready for his first swap. Ken S.
  8. Thoughts and prayers going out for you Al. I had a cousin with the Rhuemetoid (sp?) arthritus. I know how much she went through. It is wonderful that they have a treatment that can help you. I pray that it all works out. Hold on tight to your enthusiasm. A positive outlook will help you get through the recovery. And Daryn is right that you should be careful about the pain killers. Blessings to you and yours, Ken S.
  9. BigBender, It is great that you are putting this kind of effort into this decision. It is very good that you are willing to spend the right amount of money to get something that you can use now and will last and/or hold it's value. You have obviously researched this as you have narrowed things down to four good choices. Now, I could tell you my opinion. But the thing you need to invest here is some time with each of these vises to make your own opinion. I am a huge fan of try before you buy. I recommend you go to the dealer and tie at least one fly with each vise on your list. I would put your list in order. I would save the one you are most likely to buy for last. I would do the same fly, a pattern you are comfortable with, on each vise. You will get a chance to form your own opinion as to what you like and what you don't like. Before you spend the money, spend some time. I lead a monthly fly tying session at the local fly shop. One guy swears by his peak vise. One guy is thinking of buying a dynaking to upgrade from his Thompson. Two of us have Travelers (including me) and love them dearly. Everyone has an opinion. You need to form your own. And I'll add that I don't understand what the problem with the O-ring is? It has been no problem for me. I've been tying with this vise for a year now. I have the screw type jaws, not the cam jaws. I have no problems or complaints. Best of luck. It will be interesting to hear how this works out for you. Not so much which one you decide on. I would enjoy hearing an update a month after you get whichever vise you pick. Ken S
  10. QUOTE (lanvaettir @ Feb 28 2005, 02:18 PM) Hey look ... a can of worms on a flytying site! Nicely done. Thanks, I needed that. Ken S
  11. Thanks Sawcat, This whole discussion started because I wanted to see how others determined the proper amount of material to use when tying a Clouser. I had been taught the "toothpick method". I did not know what others might be out there. Yours is the first method I've heard that measured the amount based on a size relative to the hook being used. I like using that kind of measurement. It seems that one of the basic rules (or maybe I should say goals) of fly tying is to make sure everything about the fly is proportional. Whenever I have a pattern that I would classify as "one I need to work on", it seems the work I need is getting proportions right. Now I have to try your measurement once and see how that compares to the proportions I have been using. I'm trying to picture how much hair I'll have when measured against the gape. This will be interesting. Ken S.
  12. I have a Renzetti Traveler. I use all the features. I bought mine about a year ago. It is not the latest cam style of clamp, but I do not have any problems with this clamp. In fact, I bought this vise after trying it and a Dyna-King. I liked this clamp better than the Dyna-king. And for my large paws, the Dyna-king just was not comfortable for me. The arm felt like it was getting in my way. I got to see the Nor-Vise in action at a fly show earlier this month. Norman was demonstrating his creation not far from the table we had set up for the ISA. I must say I was impressed with what he could do with that vise. I would not turn one down, but I can do what I need with my Traveler and don't see a need to add a Nor-vise as well. If I did decide to add a second vise, I would certainly consider the Nor-vise. One other thing I have not seen mentioned yet. Renzetti does make something called a "clouser arm" for their "true rotary" vises. You can check the Renzetti Clouser Traveler vise on the Renzetti web site for a picture and more details. One last comment: The name "True Rotary" is a Registered Trademark for Renzetti. I know that some have been using this as a generic description for any in-line rotary vise. I have done that myself, but I do use a Renzetti. Try visiting TrueRotary.com. This takes you to the Renzetti web site. More later, Ken S.
  13. I just got a note from the ISA officer who was tallying up the results of our Bronzeback Blowout. Each prize that was donated had a small box in front of it. Attendees bought raffle tickets for $1 each. Each ticket you dropped in a box by a prize gets you one chance to win that prize. We keep each box and the tally them up later to see what prizes draw the most raffle tickets. This helps us determine what sorts of prizes to solicite for next years events. The boxes of flies (that had 5 winners) brought in the most amount of $1 tickets at the fundraiser. Thanks again guys. Ken S
  14. Well folks this years blowout was a huge success. There were about 200 attendees. Lots of funds raised for continueing conservation and education efforts by the ISA. I posted the following on the ISA forum this evening: Thanks to all. There were 16 flies in each box. I really liked that this prize had several chances for folks to win. I don't know how many tickets were in that box, but I like having a five in ??? chance as opposed to a one in ???. And in the two years now that I have attended the blowout, winning one of these was the only prize I won. (And then I gave it away, go figure). I still have one more kit. We will raffle that off at a meeting or at a bassbuggers outing. More on that later. As a side note, I got more flies in the mail yesterday, while I was at the blowout already. One set was mailed on Feb 8th from Nova Scotia and apparently took a while to get through customs. These sets came from fly tying buddies of mine that I know through the 'FlyTyingForum.com'. We got contributions from six tiers (counting myself) from that forum. These are awesome guys who came through in support of the ISA. I will figure out how to add these latest donations to future prizes. I'll at least add one of each to the one remaining set. Those who donated flies for this prize are listed below. Each donated one set of six flies, unless otherwise noted. I've listed the screen names for the tiers from the "FlyTyingForum.com" (FTF) Dr. Rob Girder ( 4 sets ) (ISA?) Alan Sherman (ISA) Joseph "ATroutBum2" ( 2 sets )(FTF) Michael Taylor ( 2 sets ) (ISA) Ryan Van Duzer (of Fly & Field in Glen Ellyn) Bob "OSD" (FTF) Rick "TroutTraveler" (FTF) John Loebach (ISA) Keith Grady (ISA) Ken "kschu" Schumacher (ISA & FTF) Rich McEligot (ISA) Late arrivals: Darrin Smith (FTF) Mark "LuvinBluegills" ( 2 sets ) (FTF) Other's had offered, but did not get them in on time. I understand. Stuff happens. Thanks for thinking of us. Tie a few and set them aside for next time. I am sure that we will do this again. If I got anyone's name or affiliation wrong, please forgive me (and let me know) Thanks again. Ken S. -- Fly Fishing Coordinator - ISA
  15. QUOTE (luvinbluegills @ Feb 25 2005, 03:30 PM) YOU catch fish????? Part of me is laughing really hard but the other part of me is saying "let's be nice". My wife is looking at me funny because all she hears is the laughing. We had a guy named Craig in the ISA. He came up with a fly called the "M&M Fly Candy". It is somewhat similar to the 'Crappie Candy' pattern that McFly put up the link to. Craigs fly is quite a bit simpler. It is basically a clouser tied on a smaller hook, using bead chain eyes rather than lead dumbells and Marabou instead of bucktail. The fly is listed in the FFF pattern book with Craig's name on it and everything. Craig was one of the instructors at the very first fly tying class I ever attended and this was one of the flies we tied. I can't seem to find a picture of one. Ken S.
  16. QUOTE (fishyfranky @ Feb 25 2005, 08:19 AM) SH, here's a better pic fresh from tank testing. Its easier to see that the eyes are below the shank and because of the bend, the bite/point rides low: Thanks for posting the picture. I went back and looked at your previous posting. My bad. I read where you said "point rides low" and misunderstood thinking the point was down. I went back and looked at the picture again and see that the point is up, but I now understand what you meant when you said the point rides low. I should have looked more carefully the first time. It is a really good looking fly. When I first glanced at it, in the color you have tied I thought it could resemble a mouse. Do you buy the hooks bent or are you bending them yourself. Ken S.
  17. I found the link to a posting I had put up many months ago. We had a discussion then about fly boxes. That posting includes links to the Scientific Anglers fly box offerings. In that posting, I talked about their waterproof fly box being on my wish list. I have since gotten one of those boxes and I thnk it is wonderful. I think you will find it meets your needs nicely for carrying dry flies. At a fly show earlier this month I saw "Cliffs Bugger Barn". I bought one of these and have moved most of my woolly buggers, clousers and other streamers over to this box. It uses microslit foam similar to the stuff used in the Scientific Anglers streamer box, but it is bigger and the slits run the full length of the box. I can no carry most everything I need with just these two boxes. I am a Smallmouth fisherman primarily, so I use a lot more clousers, buggers and streamers than I do dries or nymphs. Flies for panfish and crappies fill out the rest of the SA Waterproof box. Ken S. P.S. I did not check the links in the linked posting. If any of them don't work, I would be happy to find the updated links and post them.
  18. I'm having trouble picturing this bent hook your are describing. Would you be able to put up a picture of the fly with the eye's tied to the hook but before the hair and stuff get's tied in. On the finished fly, I can't see the bend in the hook. I tie clousers on the Daiichi 1270 (multi-use curved hook, York bend, Straight-eye, 3X long) hooks. With the hook mounted normally (point down), I tie the barbell eyes on "top". Then when it is in the water the hook point is up and I don't hang up on the bottom as often as I do with say Woolly Buggers. I just can't picture how this bend changes the way the fly comes through the water. My mind is stuck on eyes riding down in the water. Now I'm thinking too hard. I am wondering why my damselfly with the bead-chain eyes on "top" does not ride upside down (like a clouser).
  19. Those really are great articles. But I'll admit I am itimidated by some of that stuff. I'm still somewhere between and beginner leaning toward intermediate tyer. No way I am ready to try one of those spiders. Besides, if I did tie one and it looked anything close to the picture, my wife would be calling my son. Whenever she sees a bug of any kind, she calls Kyle into the room and says "Be a boy, kill that". I'd be replacing crushed fly boxes all the time. Ken S.
  20. QUOTE (SmallieHunter @ Feb 24 2005, 08:55 PM) OK here is mine. I wanted to try something that I have done with a Clouser before and I thought it came out nice. Instead of white bucktail for the belly I used arctic fox which should give the fly alot more action in the water. Also instead of wrapping the fox down the hook, I tied it off behind the eyes. I used pearl diamond braid and wrapped it from the bend to just behind the eyes, this gives the fly a little sparkle in the mid section. To finish the fly I used Olive bucktail and topped that with 4 strands of peacock herl. Oh, I like it. The Peacock Herl is a very nice touch. I will have to try that once. And by the way, you really have to stop appologizing for pictures that are better than any I have ever posted. Ken S.
  21. I don't have cable. I'll have to ask my brother-in-law to tape it. Ken S.
  22. Mid April. Is your water still to hard to put a fly down? The ice was gone on our ponds last weekend. Granted there is a thin layer back today, but I should have my first Smallie of 2005 in a couple weeks. The 16 inch fish in my Avatar was caught April 16th 2004. That was about my third week of fishing last year. I was going after Green Sunfish in the shallows when that Smallie hit the sponge spider. It was great fun on the 4 wt outfit. Ken S.
  23. Thanks Will, I think it is a fine picture. I should try to get a picture of some of the donated flies we will be raffling off on Saturday. The guy who manages my local fly shop does some really nice clousers with three colors. His are rather different from yours. He binds two colors to the shank (in front and behind the eyes) and the third color is only bound in front of the eyes. They are really nice. We should add a reply and link to your picture from the discussion on how spares to tie a clouser. I very much like your proportions. I don't know if I have any black bucktail. Ken S.
  24. Just a short update. I have 17 different contributions sitting next to me here on the couch. I believe there is at least one more set that I left downstairs on the tying bench. I know that another officer from the ISA is dropping flies at my house tomorrow. And the store manager at the local fly shop said he was going to try to get me more flies as well. I need to stop by his shop Thus night to pick up the prize they are donating for the raffle. It looks like we will have at least 20 flies per box. I had a great idea for the next time we try something like this. Everyone is donating six flies to make up six fly boxes. Next year, I will raffle off five of those boxes at the fund raiser. The sixth set will be raffled amoung those submitting flies. If you submit one fly, you get one chance. If you submit 4 flies, you get four chances. If I get 24 flies donated, you get a 1 in 24 chance of winning a full set. 1 in 12 chance if you submitted two. You get the idea. So far, one ISA member donated four sets. Three tiers have donated two sets. More are on the way. I can't thank you guys enough. I'll post a list of what I have later. Right now, it is way past my bed time. :-) It is not to late to drop flies in the mail, but you might want to use one of those two day mail envelopes (less than $4 in the USA). If I do get any flies in too late for our fund raiser, I will use those to put together raffle prizes for other local area club meetings. More later, Ken S.
  25. I saw four different models of DayLight lamps at the fly show in Tinley Park, IL a couple weeks back. Those were pretty impressive. And their Compact Lamp at just $50 looked really good. It is small, but so is the space I have set up for tying flies. They have a page of lamps for Fly Fishing with several different styles at a variety of prices. Ken S. The Daylight Company Compact Lamp:
×
×
  • Create New...