Closing out the year: what did you learn?

[ScienceGuy141 0]

I've found that I go through phases in my tying. Sometimes I'll tie most days for a month or two, then not tie for a couple of months, etc. Nonetheless, I felt like I was able to learn a good amount over the last year, and my articulated streamer tying improved quite a bit. 

Looking ahead to the upcoming year, I'm hoping to experiment with different sinking lines. Ive only fished floating lines, so I'm interested to see what I think of some sink tips/shovelhead style lines. 

What things did you learn or improve on over the last year?  What are you playing around with now or hoping to in the next year? 

[mikechell 0]

I'm a bit more boring than you, Guy.  I tie for my fishing.  Rarely, I'll try something new to see if the fish like it.  As long as the same ol' flies produce hits, I'm only at the vice when I need to replenish.  And on that note, I only carry 6 of a pattern with me, so no "boxful of flies" at a time.  6 flies when I get down to one.

Where I'm at, I very rarely see water deeper than 10 feet.  Going to a sinking line just doesn't make sense in such waters.  

Like a said, boring.  But I've learned that Wife and I are quite happy being a boring old couple.

[SBPatt 0]

Tying a lot of these Irish stillwater patterns, I’ve come to appreciate the bite of well-waxed Uni 8/0. With layer upon layer of feathers for hackle, collars, wings and cloaks, it does a great job binding the various materials (bronze mallard in particular) without too much buildup. I still can’t spin deer hair heads properly without popping it like Davie McPhail but for everything else it works great.

I got away from Uni thread for a while, using Danville and UTC for most of my tying; they’re still very useful in lots of applications but I’m glad I kept all that Uni I bought way back then. 
 

Regards,
Scott

[ScienceGuy141 0]

1 hour ago, mikechell said:

I'm a bit more boring than you, Guy.  I tie for my fishing.  Rarely, I'll try something new to see if the fish like it.  As long as the same ol' flies produce hits, I'm only at the vice when I need to replenish.  And on that note, I only carry 6 of a pattern with me, so no "boxful of flies" at a time.  6 flies when I get down to one.

Where I'm at, I very rarely see water deeper than 10 feet.  Going to a sinking line just doesn't make sense in such waters.  

Like a said, boring.  But I've learned that Wife and I are quite happy being a boring old couple.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it! 

[ScienceGuy141 0]

51 minutes ago, SBPatt said:

Tying a lot of these Irish stillwater patterns, I’ve come to appreciate the bite of well-waxed Uni 8/0. With layer upon layer of feathers for hackle, collars, wings and cloaks, it does a great job binding the various materials (bronze mallard in particular) without too much buildup. I still can’t spin deer hair heads properly without popping it like Davie McPhail but for everything else it works great.

I got away from Uni thread for a while, using Danville and UTC for most of my tying; they’re still very useful in lots of applications but I’m glad I kept all that Uni I bought way back then. 
 

Regards,
 

Thanks for sharing! I havent dabbled with different threads too much and use UTC for basically everything. I've found GSP to be really helpful for spinning deer hair heads though. 

 

Getting a better handle of the nuances of thread types might have to be added to my list of things to play around with. 

[richmce 0]

after spending many hours cleaning,rearranging boxes, going thru boxes i brought in from the boat... i have too much stuff  i need to stay on top of things and purge a bunch of unused lures and flies. will be dumping alot at a fishing flea market this spring.      i also need to change my jig boxes to ones that hold the jigs so they dont chip and get tangled .  

[skeet3t 0]

What did I learn? There is so much water and so little time!

[flytire 0]

nothing 😀

[WWKimba 0]

That I need to clean my house!

Kim

[Philly 0]

I did a lot of tying during the lock down.  So I have way too many flies.   Tried a couple of new warm water patterns.  Neither of them worked that well for me, so their boxes will be emptied and replace with a couple of new patterns.. Just recently I started hair jigs and marabou jigs, something I've never used before for my dark side fishing.  I'm downsizing them to 1/32 oz and 1/20 oz jigs to use with my fly rod.  I found my crayfish pattern worked very well for me.  I plan to tie some on my 1/4 oz jigs for the dark side.   I got better at making in-line spinners and plan to try and make a couple of spinner baits using my "swim bait" fly, aka the Calcasieu Pig Boat for the body.  I need to clean up my tying desk and do more inventory of my hooks and materials.  Never too old to learn.

[DFoster 0]

22 hours ago, SBPatt said:

 I still can’t spin deer hair heads properly without popping it like Davie McPhail but for everything else it works great.

Regards,
Scott

Sacrilege! There's something Mr. Patt can't do when it comes to deer hair?  That's like hearing their was a guitar that Eddie Van Halen couldn't play- Your deer hair work is THE standard for me sir. Happy New Year!

[DFoster 0]

I'm a dedicated small stream guy. I fish mostly for small wild trout which locally are much tougher to fool than the larger stocked fish.  This year was a personal best for me in terms of the number of wild trout I caught.  Soo.. there I was feeling pretty damn sure that my various well thought out and masterfully executed strategies and techniques were clearly the reason for a successful 2021 season.  The Bill Belichick of the local streams- BUT then my lovely wife reminded me that animal populations run in cycles and maybe this year there were just more trout in the water?  Ahhhh- I hate being married sometimes!   

So in 2022 I will humbly head back to my favorite streams in an attempt to validate to my wife and myself my fly fishing theories.  All part of the fun, but damnit this sport can be maddening.  Maybe I should take up something less frustrating like golf?

As for tying-  This winter I will fill the holes in my fly boxes with flies that are proven takers for me.   At the same time I really enjoy trying "new to me" patterns that require a "new to me" tying technique.  I usually tie a few examples.  If they catch fish I will spend the time necessary to really become proficient at the fly.  This week I've been working with knotted pheasant tail fibers.

[RickZieger 0]

That I need to tie more flies for Casting for Recovery and Reel Recovery as I have way more than I will ever use.

 

Rick 

[MuskyFlyGuy 0]

They are not in the net until they are in the net. 

[jamieofthenorth 0]

I learned not to put too much on my plate with work. I recently corrected that.