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Hey Guy’s, I’ve recently learnt some really exciting methods with tying surf candys/epoxy baitfish patterns. Happy to share what I’ve learnt if anyone is interested. Picked up the techniques from outstanding fly tyer Giannidepace. How do you tie yours? All the best, Chris

I'll be headed down for the first time early April - never been but plan to try and fish while I'm there. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears (or, eyes?)... but I'll be on foot, no car, unless I can find a bike to rent. May to a 1/2 with a guide but I'm on the fence given the price. Any tips for flies to tie up, or walk-able areas would be so appreciated. I'll fish the canal we're staying on but who knows what'll be in there. My goal is to hook a Jack or Sea Trout, stretch goal is a Red or Snook. Really just trying to see any many species as I can! Company is always welcome, beer always tastes better with friends.

Been following this forum for years but never took the time to contribute. However, a recent experience to share might be useful to a lot our saltwater tyers. Using barbless hooks for your flies in freshwater is a no-brainer. The barbless products on the market today are great and more hook models are showing up all the time. My favorite is now the Firehole Stick line from Firehole Outdoors in Bozeman, Montana. They've probably got the best barbless streamer hooks on the market in the models 718, 811 and 839. The wide gap design really improves hooking and hook retention. Recently, I took a 10-day trip to the Sarasota-Tampa region where I have my Caribbean 12 Angler kayak stashed with a relative. Since barbless (pinched down) hooks are recommended for trout and snook to protect their tender mouths, I decided to try out some saltwater patterns tied on 718s and 811s. The hooks are not designed specifically for saltwater application, but the black nickel coating held up well on the flies I used during the trip. Indeed, on trout and snook the hooks held well and were easy to remove. I don't think I missed any more fish than usual using barbless hooks. I didn’t wash any of the flies after use during the trip and after ten days, there was no sign of corrosion, even though several flies went to battle with big 5-7 pound Bluefish and their gnashing teeth. The only fly type that I found the hooks unsuitable for were bend backs and bottom bouncers. 811s broke most of the time when bending and on both models the black nickel coating fractured if the bend was successful. So if you want to try tying your saltwater patterns on barbless hooks, you might want to give the Firehole Stick 718s and 811s a try. This is my "Identity Complex Seatrout fly on a #1 Model 811 Firehole Stick--Go to fly for Speckled Seatrout on sinktip in deep potholes. Here's a passel of saltwater patterns all tied on Firehole Sticks.

The Surf Candy was originally designed by Bob Popovics and has become a staple in many saltwater fishermans boxes. Like any good fly pattern, over the years there have been many variations made. This variation utilizes a dumbbell eye to keep the hook point up which will make it a bit more weedless. While not fool proof, it will snag much less easy on driftwood or other debris on the sea floor. That means you can fish it in some places that you normally could not fish the regular surf candy. I like adding the red sparkle type dubbing right behind the dumbbell eyes to mimic a gill or bleeding spot on the fish. However this is not required and you could leave that part out. Here is a list of all the materials I used today _________________________ Hook: Gamakatsu SC15 in size 1 1st Thread: Danville's 210 Flat Waxed in Red 2nd Thread: Danville's Fine Monofilament Thread Weight: Painted Medium Lead Dumbbell Eye Bleed Spot: Starburst Dubbing in red Bottom Fiber: Unique Hair in clear/white Top Fiber: Super Hair in light blue 1st Resin: Solarez "Thin Hard" UV curing resin 2nd Resin: Solarez "Thick Hard" UV curing resin 3rd Resin: Solarez "Bone Dry" UV curing resin

Ok. Piker20 requested a step by step for a prawn i put up in the saltwater fly thread. As expected the result is slightly different but you'll get the gist I think. MATERIALS: Hook: gamakatsu b10s #6 Thread: monofilament Egg sack: hot orange flat-waxed nylon Underbody and legs: white bms blend or SLF or in my case a 50/50 mix of fuzzle dub and micro-brite dubbing Eyes: burnt 20 or 40lb mono painted black with a little epoxy. Feelers: one strand of crystal flash. Ok. 1 and 2. Tie in your base of mono thread, followed by your egg sack. 3. Tie in your mono eyes on top of the hook shank. 4. Dub your under body 5. Add your first layer of uv resin, flash cure (5 or 10 seconds), theb double over your crystal flash so it forms your feelers. At this point you can whip finish and trim of your thread. 6. Then continue adding small amounts of uv resin to build the body. 7. When you're largely happy with the shape, its then time to tease out the dubbing. I like to use a velcro dot on an ice cream stick. 8. You may want to continue shaping your prawn by progressively adding small layers. But once you are happy trim your feelers and you're done. This is roughlyvwhat the finished product looks like. There are many of you here woth better skills than I, so i expect that some of your producta will simply be stunning.

So, I got hacked once again, sorry I am not able to put the link to this fly on my website, but thats because I cannot use my website anymore. So this fly will just be the youtube link with less info, sorry guys! This fly is really simple and easy to tie, but gives great results. Its very flashy, and will be seen even in murky water. You can tie many of these quickly due to only taking a few minutes each. The materials also don't hold much water, and therefor will be easy to cast. All of the materials I used today can be bought for very little money from fly tiers dungeon. With the exception of the adhesive, thread and hook, the materials cost less than $5, but will allow you to tie many many of these flies. Hook: Gamaktasu SS15 size 2 Thread: Ultra Thread 70 (brown/olive) Body Wrap: Tinsel Twist (olive) Tail Flash: Northern Lights (olive) and Pearl Web (hot white) Dubbing: Bull Frog (BWO) and Starburst (olive) mixed together Eyes: 3D eyes size 4mm Eye Adhesive: Fletch Tight Knot Adhesive: Hard as Hull

Okay guys, I've been a member of the forum for a while but have never posted anything. I'm not necessarily new to tying, but I definitely am an amateur compared to some of the things I've seen on this forum. So, here is my first question.. for baitfish patterns, what has produced more fish for you, EP Fibers or Farrar's Blend? All input is much appreciated and thank you in advance!

This is a great fly for saltwater applications, but also can be used for larger freshwater fish like bass, salmon, or pike. While they aren't the most easy to tie, they aren't difficult either, and they really do catch fish. They move so nicely in the water. This is a variation of the original that was tied by lefty kreh. Hook: Gamakatsu SS15 hook size 1/0, but any long shank saltwater hook will work. Tail: White saddle hackle Thread: Danville 210 waxed in blue Body: Pearl braid, or silver tinsel Wings: White and blue buck tail Gill: Red calf tail, or red crystal flash eyes: Stick on eyes, preferably flat, but I used 3D eyes which work as well. Epoxy: Solarez "Bone dry" UV curing resin.

Sorry guys and girls. swap cancelled. need to make a few other things a priority. And i don't want another repeat of no. 2. Where it has been nearly 2 months since the 'mail by date' and flies still haven't been seen by participants. sorry to disappoint.

staring at the vice with frustration, not sure if the patterns that i am tying look good or not. Playing around with EP anadromous brush. being that it is an ep brush, would I trim that like i would regular ep fibers?? I also find that the belly segment of the brush gets fouled around the hook bend sometimes,would i cut it right before it reaches the bend? 7. Opinions and insight?

Now that the flies from the first salty skills swap have started arriving at their new homes, and I've spent yet another day off the water.... what better time to kick off this one... Saltwater skill building swap number 2. DECEIVER - last date to be in the mail 31 March. Tie any version of the Deceiver. Whether it's a straight out replication of Lefty Kreh's original, or a bastardised synthetic tie, I want to see your deceivers. .. This is primarily a saltwater swap, so if we can make #4's the smallest that would be great. Mailing date will be 31 March 2016. This means I should get the ties around the 2nd week in April. I would like to see 10 participants plus me, with everyone tying 10 flies. You won't get yours back. If we can't get 10 we'll sort something out. Please remember, this isn't a swap club so there is no commitment to have to participate in all of these swaps. Otherwise, all the usual rules apply. SM - Li'lDave: tan over white, #1/0 DONE 1. jd1983 arrived 2. horseshoes arrived 3. add147 arrived 4. agn54 arrived 5. saltybum arrived 6. adam Saarinen arrived 7. PJ2 IN THE MAIL 8. Philly arrived 9. vicrider arrived 10. kramerj arrived Please respond with I'm in... everyone welcome.... standard rukes apply.

SWAP FULL!! RichMc has agreed to be a surrogate SM. When you're done with your flies, let us both know and We'll get his address to you. Means that postage is cheaper and easier for everyone involved. Thanks heaps Rich! OK. .. it's the evening of 2 January 2016... I've spent the day repairing my trailer instead of fishing.... what better time to kick off this one... Saltwater skill building swap number 1. CLOUSER MINNOW - last date to be in the mail 31 January. Tie any version of the clouser minnow. Whether it's a straight out replication of Bob Clouser's original, or an anorexic high tie for spooky fish on the flats. .. the choice is yours. This is primarily a saltwater swap, so if we can make #4's the smallest that would be great. Mailing date will be 31 January 2016. This means I should get the ties around the 2nd week in February. I would like to see 10 participants plus me, with everyone tying 10 flies. You won't get yours back. If we can't get 10 we'll sort something out. This isn't a swap club so there is no commitment to have to participate in all of these swaps. Otherwise, all the usual rules apply. SM - Li'lDave: high tie flats style peach clouser #1/0 (maybe something a little 'special' as well) - RECEIVED 1. Agn54 - RECEIVED 2. Josephcsilvia - shrimp clouser - RECEIVED 3. PJ2 - RECEIED 4. Philly - RECEIVED 5. Adam saarinen - upsidedown spring shrimp with salty balls - RECEIVED 6. Rexw - RECEIVED *7. RichMc - wool and satin clouser - DONE 8. Jmckaughan - regular clouser - RECEIVED 9. stabgnid - flashy clouser - RECEIVED 10. jd1983 - gotcha - RECEIVED Please respond with I'm in... everyone welcome. Those i have already added I hope that's OK. .. i just went by your responses in the original thread.

The Clouser minnow was originally created back in the mid 80's by Bob Clouser, a legendary fly tier, instructor and fisherman. Soon after the flies creation, fly fisherman around the world started realizing the flies versatility and potential to catch just about any species of fish that eat bait fish. It has the ability to catch many saltwater fish species, as well as freshwater species. I take this fly to every saltwater outing I go on, and also to every lake fly trip for bass, trout, and even pike. If tied on a small hook, you can even crappie fish with it. The fly is rather easy to tie, and can be quite durable, which means you can catch more fish without the fly shredding. You can use other materials than just buck tail, however buck tail is the original way it was tied. Synthetic fibers however can be very effective. I even know someone who ties this with craft fur, and it moves incredibly in the water. Hook: Mustad 3407 size 6-3/0 (I am using 1/0 for the video). You could also use any strong and long shank hook. I commonly use a Gamakatsu SS15 as well. Weight/Eye: Dumbbell Eyes in any size you want. The larger the eye, the faster it sinks, and the smaller the eye, the slower it will sink. I am using a 7/32" size (or 5.5MM), which is rather large. I like mine to sink fast. Body: Bucktail in chartreuse and white. Thread: Danville 210 waxed. Epoxy: Solarez "thin hard" uv curing epoxy. Music: "Happiness" & "Sunny" - Bensound.com https://youtu.be/XfcRwJ-RwlU

You blokes in the northern hemisphere must be out catching the last bit of the summer season.... Let me know when your tying season starts.

SWAP CLOSED Let's see... It must be time... yet y'all are just coming into Spring as we head into *cough*winter*cough*... I've been teaching myself and learning about crustacean patterns over the last 12 months and I'd love to swap a few with willing participants. Any pattern so long as it's a crustacean (PREFERABLY crabs, but yabbies/ nippers and shrimp will be accepted) and tied for the salt.... Given the effort crabby ties can take we we make it a 31 May deadline which would also mean that hopefully y'all get a chance to fish them before the season ends... We've got 5 tyers... plus myself, with everyone tying 10 flies so that we get 2 of pattern, and you won't get any of yours back SM - sexy crab variant #2 1. atxdiscgolfer - Fiddlesticks Crab - arrived 2. add147 - arrived 3. Vicrider - arrived 4. portlyjoe - Pettigrew shrimp - arrived 5. agn54 - toad - arrived Due date is 31 May on or close to my door. I accept USD or paypal for return postage. Have fun

Well, at this point I believe I have seen everything there is to see online about any kind of flats fishing in Nassau/Paradise Island. I need to hear from people on here who live there or with trip experiences they are willing to share. Like so many people you see asking this question, I will be staying at Atlantis with family for anywhere from 5 to 10 days August of next year. I know for a fact that there are bonefish in good numbers in some areas, and many areas with no opportunity of anything but being robbed by the many shady characters prowling the beaches. I have some places scoped out on google earth, but any recommendations would be accepted. I highly doubt that we will rent a car (here's hoping), so any places within walking distance of Atlantis would be ideal. Just so you know my search isn't just limited to bonefish. I love barracudas, jacks, and whatever other snappers, groupers, pompanos, or needlefish would be available. From what I know about everywhere in the Bahamas, these fish should be in Nassau, but I don't know good places to go after them. From what I have gathered there are Cudas everywhere in Nassau including the beaches near Atlantis, but the workers at the beaches don't like people fishing there and will send people out to tell you to stop. Small sharks are another fish I would love to catch on flies. Anyone know if they are plentiful on Paradise? I am willing to chum with chunks of any kind of small fish or needlefish I can catch for these if I have to. I will only go on a guided trip in Nassau if someone can suggest a guide other than "Bonefish Simon Bain mon". I have heard way to many bad experiences and the prices are really high for even what could be considered a good day of fishing in Nassau. I was looking at a few good guides but some retired to be taxi drivers or like Clint Kemp of Blackfly moved to better fishing islands. Andros is highly recommended as the real destination for anyone planning on fishing in Nassau. I am very interested in fishing there, of course, but need specific info on how to fly there from Nassau and book a guided trip accordingly. I personally don't mind sharing the plane with some livestock if the tickets are cheap, but the mother might. From what I hear, the planes all run island time, I'm guessing the guides at Andros do too, but I deffinately don't want to be stuck there after the only planes to Nassau have left for the day. I will run it by my traveling companions to stay at a fishing lodge (any suggestions?), but again, I doubt anything so wonderful will happen. I hope this discussion acually gets some responses, many that I saw on other forums didn't. Any info would be greatly appreciated! If you know anyone that might have some information please ask them to share. Thanks Dominic

SWAP CLOSED I know I'm going to regret this boys and girls.... But I've been teaching myself some stacking lately.... and I notice that there are a few members here with some skill.... So..... You know where this is going, don't you.. Stacked hair swap. You know you want to.... any pattern, salt or fresh, so long as there is a stacked hair component. I don't care what you stack with,... whether you use deer hair, moose, synthetics or whatever floats your boat. This will take some time, so.... due date JULY 31. International swappers as always are welcome, as are beginners through to experts. I want a max of 10 swappers and myself, but regardless we'll cap it so that we only tie one fly for each member (so if we only get 5 and me, then we'll only tie 5 flies each). Clear as mud? SM - deer hair and zonker mullet (FINISHED) 1. Joseph Russel - Dave's Hopper ARRIVED! 2. JasonV - Salmon bomber - ARRIVED (wow!) 3. Vicrider - Muddler - ARRIVED (woot) 4. Eastern fly - Beautiful sliders - ARRIVED (stunning ties) 5. Dorado - Goddard caddis - ARRIVED!! 6. Adam Saarinen - fire ass - ARRIVED (WOOT) Of course we need to consider return postage. The cost is usually about $10.50 australian, but can be more or less depending on weight. I can accept US dollars, and tend to use this in other swaps to cover return postage home, or if you have access, I also use paypal. For which I can send details when the time comes to sort postage.

Ladies and gents, Would love to see some pics of your attempts at surface ties. Probably ranging in size from your 'large' bluegill ties, bass ties, and anything you might use in the estuary. Many thanks.

Two big weekends coming up in my calendar. The first is this coming weekend, as we (the North Queensland Flyfishers) head to the Northern end of Hinchinbrook Channel for the weekend to fish the estuaries and flats iconic to the region. The second is the same time next month. This time we'll be based in the southern end of the Hinchinbrook Channel, for the 2015 Hinchinbrook Challenge. I think we have 16 teams competing this year, which is nice after a break last year. Two days chasing as many of 15 target species as we can find. Catch and release, photo based comp, and only three fish of each allowed per day. Super keen, and this year I've a few more forum ties in the box to see if they'll work......

I turned 40 in May.. and as it happens I managed to get an opportunity to fish for 3 days over the Queens Birthday Weekend (6 to 8 June) with one of (if not) the best saltwater fly guides in Australia (Dave Bradley from Australian Flyfishing Outfitters). We had met socially before and I have wanted to fish with him for a while. So when an opportunity came to share the costs of his boat with one other for the 3 days, I jumped at it. The tides were chosen by the other 'jack' because they were pretty good flats tides, as he is very one-eyed for permit (Trachinotus anak or T blochii in this instance). The weather played the game on day 1, and it was definitely an eye opener having never targeted these fish before. Between us we got quite a few shots at fish, but they were skittish, and after 8 hours on the water we had only managed 4 eats between us.... Thankfully, old mate eventually got what he came for, a beautiful, juvenile T anak. Despite not being able to get one myself, I know I saw enough to make me want to go back for more. The pick of the flies was a quite realistic, and heavy, tan crab. It was super important to get the fly down quick. Unfortunately, for the next two days we only managed a total of about 4 hours on the flats, either due to wind, cloud or rain... So we played around in the mangroves, sight casting to barramundi mostly. It was in one of the few good windows however that I had one of the best compliments ever paid to me, when Dave tied one of my tan merkin style crabs to the end of the fly line. With the weather being up and down the fish were never really happy for the last two days, but of course we persisted, and as a result we also managed some nice barramundi (pick of flies for this was definitely a 2/0 chartreuse double bunny). It didn't start well though... the first 10 fish we saw either ignored us or spooked.... It took a pretty cool cast on my part to break the skunk that morning... A small fish sitting just on the edge of a semi-submerged mangrove with his face pointed towards a small gap in the foliage... The cast needed to be a 1 percenter for it to succeed, and thankfully... right after the guide said 'he's not going to eat either' I slipped the cast into it's spot, stripped twice, and wooted as I watched the little fella attach, and felt him come tight. Next cast I gained some half interest from a bigger fella, but got an eat from a little fella hiding in a drain, before the next cast succeeding in getting the bigger boy.... Not a monster but at 66cm (26.5 inches) he is now a personal best on the wand. It wasn't all sight fishing, but we tried as hard as we could.... There were some super cool eats when we got casts right... One of the highlights was a 60cm model that decided he wanted my bunny just as it was about to be stripped over a branch. He didn't like being pulled over the top, and make quick time for the timber on my side. It took a heap of fancy rod work to keep him out of the timber and get him to the boat. The last ditch session of the three days was pretty darned cool too... just 10 minutes from the ramp.... Some nice timber and drains, I managed a few more. The highlight this time being a fish I didn't get to boat... He was a tad larger than the rest, and when he ate next to a submerged log I knew I was in trouble straight away. The choice I had was give him his head and lose him to the timber... or put the hurt on him and give myself a chance... Oh well you win some you lose some.. and my companions had a bit of a chuckle when I yelled profanities and stomped my feet after pulling the hook.... Oh yeah.. I nearly forgot... We couldn't find any of our aussie baby tarpon, but Monday morning while looking we both added a new species to our lists. Diamond trevally. Being juveniles the filaments on the fins were still intact, and as they swam away were absolutely stunning!

Went out with a few boys from the club today. Tough day out... worth every minute. personal best fly capture... 1m long queenfish on a 9wt and 20lb tippet...caught out of 45ft

Just received my first lot of squirrel.. Got some red and grey squirrel tail, as well as a red squirrel patch and a full red (fox) squirrel hide... Has anyone got any recommendations for ties? The squirrel tail looks awesome for shrimpy ties. .. Also got a bunch of deer belly hair.....

Due date 30 November 2014. Standard rules.... I'm Australian so postage is important.... paypal, GB pounds or US dollars accepted (to help me participate in future swaps). Please include toe tags (I'm a serial offender I know). 6 tiers including myself, and everyone ties 10 flies (so we all end up with 2 of everyone else's pattern)... You won't get your own back. The ties must be suitable for fishing on the flats. Target doesn't matter although I will ask you to specify what the primary target is for your tie. For something different please also provide a materials list for your tie, maybe with an explanation of any tricky bits. SM - Marabou shrimp (#1/0 SL12S, flatwaxed nylon thread (orange), medium lead eyes, pink marabou feathers, grizzle hackle, and glass beads melted onto 45lb schneider for the shrimp eyes) Targets: golden trevally and painted sweetlip/ blue bastard). READY TO FISH 2. Atxdiscgolfer - Mono Mullet -- ARRIVED 3. Mcgx2 - Docky's Shrimp -- ARRIVED 4. Agn54 - Glass Minnow -- As good as in the mail!! 5. Vicrider - Bonefish Bitters -- Arrived 6. Horseshoes - Red Flats Shrimp -- Arrived Giddy up!

Went out with a mate today... I only boated four pikey bream. . Missed abother half dozen and also missed out on a mangrove jack (snapper) and barramundi

It has been a passion for many a year to tie realistic shrimps i think that i'm getting close, what do you think? this one is a Polar Magic Shrimp V 2.0 thread: mono clear eyes : Magic shrimp eyes mouthparts: mallard horn: Polar bear dubbing: polar bear wool legs: oval silicone rubber 0.5mm schell: thinskin dotted light olive unterneath: Loon UV glue clear on top : Loon soft varnish you can see more ultralistic flies at www.seatroufisher.com or join my FB group seatroutfisher