What have you been tying lately?

[Ufatz]

I assume it was tied barbless and thus slipped right out without much of a fuss.

Can't remember the last time I saw a fly with a barbed hook. Or a lure either.

So l8th Century! LOL

[gooty]

Sculpin helmet fly, hook was upside down(point side up)...reaching for a beverage up on my bench. It was pretty comical - Vise clamped to table, fly clamped in vise, and arm stuck on fly.

[gooty]

I assume it was tied barbless and thus slipped right out without much of a fuss.

Can't remember the last time I saw a fly with a barbed hook. Or a lure either.

So l8th Century! LOL

Well because I'm such a man, and dont feel or show emotions (especially pain) it wasn't a big deal. (yawn, arm stretch)

I love popping barbed hooks out of large fishes mouths. Nothing better!

[Ufatz]

Ahhhh yes. Somebody who has not learned yet.

Your time will come my friend....your time will come.

[ted4887]

Some pretty below average ties tonight. Haven't really done much tying lately, and finally had a little itch to scratch. Think those two on the right might trick a toothy critter into thinking they're sunfish?

Anyone ever tied a craft foam slider? Care to share the technique you use to form the head shape?

[mainbutter]

Dude if those are below average ties, you can send all your "junk" my way

[ted4887]

Dude if those are below average ties, you can send all your "junk" my way

Thanks, lol.

It's not like this junk won't fish, and I know that. The only reason I said below average is that I didn't add as much flash as I normally would. I also completely left krystal flash out of what would have been the best fly out of the batch.

My mind was thinking about the weekend already last night. Just didn't have the focus I needed.

[ted4887]

More practice with the deer hair. I'm definitely no Pat Cohen.

[Slabasaurus]

Ted... again nice ties.

On your craft foam slider deal, I have been putting that off until I pick up a dremel.

After this weekend I think I am going to be tryin it sooner than later.

I imagine with a little dremel and that airbrush you could whip out some pretty nice sliders.

here's a little crafish pattern I've been tinkerin with. I'll toss up an SBS when I am 100% with it.

Under the skirt... the schlappen helps the marabou puff out and stay in that "defensive crayfish" position. All puffy n whatnot.

[OnAFly]

Good looking crayfish fly.

Of of these days I'm going to start fishing again. Between work and household maintenance, I've been booked solid.

No fishing and no beer make OnAFly something something...

[Slabasaurus]

No fishing and no beer make OnAFly something something...

go crazy???

Don't mind if I do!

Man that's a really good episode.

[ted4887]

Man that's a really good episode.

One of the best!

The Sherri Bobbins one was an all-time great too.

[Pikestabber77]

A few for smallies and northerns

[ted4887]

Those dogs will hunt

[Wabamskee]

those will hunt indeed! i dig the orange on black pattern, immagine the bass will too.

i'm missing pike myself...and not in a good way. eff, i have to make it back to the driftless soon. so, in anticipation of those days i've started doing some streamers myself. here's the first batch, i need to work on the collars for sure. looking at ted and slabs, i'm thinking deer hair is a must.

i also need to invest in some clear cure goo...this nail polish hardner takes like 2 days to sculpt and dry per fly.

[ted4887]

There are a lot of options out there for UV drying epoxies. Probably the cheapest fly tying stuff, is the Loon Knot Sense. You can buy a 2oz bottle of it for like $20. I've heard mixed reviews on it as a fly epoxy. I do use it on leaders and fly line knots though, and the stuff is amazing!

Clear Cure Goo is my personal preference, as it's widely carried by almost every fly shop around. It dries quick and clear and has never given me fits. I started out by buying the intro pack that included a great light, and a thick and thin syringe. They both have their places, but I use the thick about 4:1 as much as the thin stuff. I also have a bottle of Hydro that I use to coat deer hair divers and sliders. The biggest downside to CCG is that it's a little more expensive than the other brands. But a syringe of CCG will last you a long time. I'm still not finished with either my thick or thin stuff, and I use it on everything I tied now.

Diamond Hard UV Resins and BugBond are two other brands that I know of that do what you want. Although I just don't know enough about these products to give you any decent input though.

[Wabamskee]

good tips, haven't even thought about using it to harden deer hair yet. i use head cement on foam quite a bit though, i like the shiny look for sure.

so you use hardener on your leaders, like the line itself, or am i confused again? its only an hour after party time, so you've gotta forgive me.

[Slabasaurus]

For what it's worth, that's a pretty darn good head knowing the mat's you used.

I have some of the loon UV stuff... it's not very good. I like CCG thick a lot better.

All the recent ties I've put up are with bucktail though... just the old hair, flash, feather routine, Bohen stylie. Basically they're all hangtime variants.

I may try a chupacabra tonight. Dunno, need some crack and maybe a mustache ride or two for the dirty fish day tomorrow.

[ted4887]

I may try a chupacabra tonight. Dunno, need some crack and maybe a mustache ride or two for the dirty fish day tomorrow.

That could really be taken the wrong way by someone who isn't a fly tier. Or... were you talking fly tying?

Bamskee - The Knot Sense that I'm talking about is used to coat your knots to help the lines hold. I mainly use it when I'm nail knotting fly lines, or on some of my big game leaders to give it a little extra strength. It also helps smooth out the knots. I'll throw some pictures up for you in a few minutes.

[ted4887]

Okay, here is a really poor example. I'd never, ever, actually use this on a surgeons knot but for this example it will suffice. Usually I use this stuff on nail knots connecting my leaders to fly lines, or for my backing to fly line knots on some of my heavier 9&10 wt rigs. If my stuff wasn't sitting out in my car right now, I'd go and get a 10wt reel and show you exactly what I mean. Unfortunately for you it is raining here and I'm feeling lazy so this is the best I'm going to do today.

1) Tie the knot

2) Apply the knot sense to the knot and zap it with the UV light.

3) Finished product

Like I said before though, this stuff is best used for knots that you want to smooth out. Nail knots that might pass through the guides fairly often are the best example. Makes the knots transition through the guides much more smooth, with very little chance of it hanging up if you take your time and apply it with a small taper around the knot.

My big game leaders where I'm using 80 or 100lb floro it works great for as well. It will lessen the amount of weeds that the leader catches on big time.

[ted4887]

Aside from tying up a dozen and a half caddis flies today, I just put this scrumptious piece of meat together that I'm hopeful a Missouri River tanker trout will devour.

[Ic3wind]

I have also created a special fly for the trip. It is so incredibly good that I dare not show a picture of it until we return for fear every person with a fly rod will be using it when we hit that river

[ted4887]

Is there any Elmers Glue used in it?

Montana in T-minus 4 days and counting.

[Ic3wind]

nope, had to use super glue. this is serious business

[OnAFly]

If fishing in MT is like it was last time I was there at this time of year, you will be dredging SJWs in bright pink under 10' of leader and a 1" thingamabobber.

If you get a chance, get up to some mountain streams and catch the brookies. It's a whole lot more fun that the Mo, just my opinion though.

[Ic3wind]

the hot pink Juan eh?

that's just fine, Ted Shamelessly lobs those things at everything that swims

[redneckdan]

Tied an Adams and stone fly knock off with some home grown hackle. Our silver Wyandotte rooster is a sucker for corn kernels. I was able to lure him in and snipped a couple saddle hackles from him while he was occupied. No such luck with the barred rock, he's not quite as dumb.

Not exactly Whiting sooper dooper grade triple a plus dam near ties it self twelve inch long saddles but still ties a decent fly I think.

[Slabasaurus]

Steelhead flyties

Soft Hackle PT

Eggs

x leg stonefly

[Slabasaurus]

one more streamer for the steelfish

[Slabasaurus]

Some more steelhead flies (some of these streamers have been used on pike and dogfish as well. Kinda fun)

(Recycled Image from Rough Fish section)

This one caught a dogfish

Stonefly

Saw one like this on another site and had to give it a crack. Might take this one out for a half hour tonight.