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Greetings from Warren, Michigan. Looking to get back into fly tying, after a flooded basement destroyed my hooks, threads and lots of materials. I've been working in the auto industry for over 26 years, but I spent over 15 years working in retail fishing sales in my earlier years. Any suggestions on hooks, threads and miscellaneous materials will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I recently came up with a small jigging type of minnow pattern for someone who wanted a few tied up. After tying it, I realized it would be perfect for jigging for panfish. So I made it brighter and shinier and settled on this pattern. It jigs nicely, and also has some good movement when stripped through the water, and also jigged off the bottom. It rides hook point up, and therefor its more snag resistant. Materials I used on this fly Hook: Firehole sticks #516 in size 10 Bead: Slotted Silver Tusten bead size 2.8mm Weight: .010 sized lead wire Thread: Veevus 140 power thread in hot orange Tail: Hot pink ice dub Body: Chartreuse starburst dubbing Head: Red rabbit dubbing Eyes: 5mm 3D eyes 1st UV resin: Solarez "thin hard" 2nd UV resin: Solarez "ultra thin"

Breambuster is hosting a swap based on an ad that said every fly fisherman should have 13 basic flies in his box, and each tier picked one of those 13 patterns. I fish a lot of ponds for bluegill, and after consulting Breambuster, I'm stealing his concept with the twist being towards panfish. After extensive research (I googled Top Panfish Flies), a found an article from Fly Fisherman Magazine by Skip Morris (October 17, 2016), listing what he says are the best panfish flies. I tried to search the pattern database to make certain all the patterns were listed, but I had trouble getting results. There are a couple I'm not sure about, but we'll find the pattern if necessary. So, just like Breambuster's swap, each tier will pick one of the 10 patterns and tie nine of it. The first nine tiers to claim a pattern are in. All the usual rules apply: toetags, SASE, etc. I haven't hosted that many swaps, so let's keep this one to USA only. Deadline: I must receive them by February 28. The Ten Best Panfish Flies Are: Popper: djh262-Received Sponge Spider: vcrider-Received Predator: Breambuster-Received F-C Mackie Bug: dflanagan-Received J's Grinchworm: Colonel Mel-Completed SMP: bertgwen-Received Carrot Nymph: wmw4:Recieved Woolly Worm: vicente-Received Clouser Minnow: Kudu-Received 10 Fat Head Diver: Mike West-Received SWAP IS CLOSED If I missed anything, let me know. Colonel Mel

I have tied a few trout flies and understand the differences between dry fly and wet/streamer fly hooks. However, since I don't live close to trout fishing I would like to tie for panfish and bass. My question to you tying guru's is this - Do I really need to worry about the hook classification (wet vs. dry) for panfish and bass? Also, I am thinking about tying for bluegill and crappie so I am thinking about using hook sizes 10 - 6. Is that appropriate? Can I just go to my walmart and pick up some aberdeen style hooks to tie, or do I need to stick with the wet/dry fly hooks at the more expensive retailers for better results. I would prefer to spend the extra money if it does yield better results because that is what matters most to me. I just didn't know if it really mattered all that much. I appreciate any help I get from yall. Thanks in advance!