What have you been tying lately?

[ted4887 0]

Good ties MB!

Which vice did you end up getting? Any rotary will probably do. I love mine, and wouldn't trade it for the world.

[ted4887 0]

This midge pattern is one that I've used sporadically during this winter C&R season. When the hatch is on but the fish aren't rising much, this pattern has killed it.

Hook: Size 18 Tiemco 2487

Thread: 8/0 Black

Hackle: Partridge

Body: Goose Biot

Thorax: Dry Fly Dubbing Black

Wing: Clear Wing

Fly Originator: Shane Stalcup

[itchmesir 0]

I went with a Terra Rotary Vise.. it needed some tweaking(mainly just greasing up the rotary cylinder which was stiff).. but rotates smooth as silk now.. no other complains.. a lot better than the crappyy vise i got with my kit

[Ic3wind 0]

looking good Ted, I do love a gnarly buggy looking nymph

[mainbutter 0]

A sculpin helmet fly!

Jointed rabbit tail w/ wrapped crosscut rabbit, and fox squirrel tail fur for an attempt at a dorsal fin thingy:

[mainbutter 0]

Another sculpin helmet fly!

chenille body with feathers for caudal and pectoral fins:

[mainbutter 0]

Crayfish thingy with rabbit strip claws:

[mainbutter 0]

EP fiber fishy! I'm particularly happy with this one.

[mainbutter 0]

now a baby bass EP fiber fishy

[itchmesir 0]

[ted4887 0]

Speechless....

[Ic3wind 0]

Good Fly for Bowfin

[itchmesir 0]

yeah some of those artsy deer hair flies are just ridunkulous...

Finally my first successful-ish 20 Incher... had a lot of luck with this pattern in the past

[hookncook 0]

Just thought I'd peek here. I saw this thread on another thread and it got my curiosity.

You guys got some really nice flies there. Some day when I got patience, I'll pick up fly tieing. I saw a couple guys at the WI convention for TU tying flies a few weeks ago and was inspired.

Keep up the good work guys!

BTW loved the beagle fly. Was that tied or just taken from the web somewhere.

[itchmesir 0]

Just thought I'd peek here. I saw this thread on another thread and it got my curiosity.

You guys got some really nice flies there. Some day when I got patience, I'll pick up fly tieing. I saw a couple guys at the WI convention for TU tying flies a few weeks ago and was inspired.

Keep up the good work guys!

BTW loved the beagle fly. Was that tied or just taken from the web somewhere.

Taken from the web... Careful getting into fly tying its addictive! And your wallet and wife/gf may hate you lol! Jk... Start tying if you haven't yet!

[hookncook 0]

Sorry guys, I'll confess I don't tie flies and am a novice at fly fishing. When I was at the WI Council meeting tying Terrestials. Guy was inspiring, He used a lot of non traditional things to make the legs and wings including a cat toy and pieces of a rubber key ring for eyes. He also gave me a tip of using pipe cleaners for spider legs.

Took him like 2 minutes to zap out a critter... (would have taken me all day). Personally, I think it's an art that guys like me can admire from afar.

[Ic3wind 0]

To put this back on track...

Ya Ted I've been tying some czech nymph style flys in caddis larva colors. If the weather holds I may test them this weekend. I havent started stocking up on the Elk hair caddis but I will sometime in the coming weeks I think I still have a few in the dry box from last year anyway

[LHarris 0]

thanks 3wind.

[hookncook 0]

legitimate question here:

After looking at all the non tradtional items I mentioned above: have you guys ever tried cat or dog hair? I mean pets must provide what one can consider a seemingly unlimited supply of hair?

I also saw a you tube video where a guy made a fly out of his (soon to be) Ex Wife's wedding dress. Could it be safe to assume doylies and other household items would make good material?

[itchmesir 0]

legitimate question here:

After looking at all the non tradtional items I mentioned above: have you guys ever tried cat or dog hair? I mean pets must provide what one can consider a seemingly unlimited supply of hair?

I also saw a you tube video where a guy made a fly out of his (soon to be) Ex Wife's wedding dress. Could it be safe to assume doylies and other household items would make good material?

yes i use my dogs hair for tying nymphs.. works great! couple strokes of the brush and you got yourself a bundle of dubbing.. also any place that has a craft section.. or big box stores like hobby lobby and party central are great places to find fly tying materials

[ted4887 0]

To put this back on track...

Ya Ted I've been tying some czech nymph style flys in caddis larva colors. If the weather holds I may test them this weekend. I havent started stocking up on the Elk hair caddis but I will sometime in the coming weeks I think I still have a few in the dry box from last year anyway

Very nice. If you get a chance to get a picture of those, I'd love to see em.

Here's one of the few EHC's I tied up this week. I'll tie a few more caddis patterns tonight as well and get those up here. I also have been playing around with CDC but just can't get a fly tied up that I like. Would be nice if the caddis hatches would just show up already! It would make testing patterns much easier.

[ted4887 0]

I also want to add to anyone that is viewing this thread and would like to see a recipe, or even a step by step, please don't hesitate to ask.

[ted4887 0]

Here's the first pattern of the evening.

An Olive CDC Emerger. This little dog will hunt I think.

On a side note - Does anyone here dye their own CDC? What do you use? Kool-aid would work, but is there other stuff out there that you prefer?

[OnAFly 0]

What aren't you liking about your CDC caddis patterns? Are you using CDC oiler puffs?

That bubble back CDC looks like it will do just fine. I would go with the RIT dyes. You can probably find it at a fabrics store.

[ted4887 0]

No, I don't have the oiler puffs, just the regular feathers. I think I have a quality issue with my CDC as well. The stems are fairly large on them, and rather brittle. From what I've read about the oiler puffs, they seem to lack any type of discernible stem. That may be the ticket, even if they are a bit shorter. I've just been having a hard time finding any type of caddis pattern that I can get to look right (other than the CDC Elk Hair).

Edit - Thanks for the suggestion on the dye. I'll look around for it next time I am around a fabrics store.

[OnAFly 0]

There's a good CDC pattern I think called the Cornfed Caddis. It's just fine dubbed body with a puff of CDC and a little elk hair over the CDC. You wind up with a fly that sits in the film and is very easy to see. It's a good all around pattern. I'll get a pic up if I can find any in my boxes.

Oiler puffs are the only way to go. I got the other kind my first time trying CDC and it didn't go well either. If you ever make it up to the cities, The Fly Angler (attached to Thorne Bros) has a good selection of colors and they guys are pretty knowledgeable on tying.

[ted4887 0]

legitimate question here:

After looking at all the non tradtional items I mentioned above: have you guys ever tried cat or dog hair? I mean pets must provide what one can consider a seemingly unlimited supply of hair?

I also saw a you tube video where a guy made a fly out of his (soon to be) Ex Wife's wedding dress. Could it be safe to assume doylies and other household items would make good material?

Hook, sorry I missed your post earlier.

Yes, you can use pet fur. Some will work better than others. I've seen swaps on other boards where the main idea was using ones pet fur. I have a little bit of chocolate lab hair in a bag just in case I decide I want to use it sometime.

Another common dubbing is dryer lint. You can mix it up with about anything to get the color/texture that you want.

The only limit on fly tying is your imagination. Sadly, I lack on that front!

OnTheFly - Yeah, I'll probably spend the few bucks and get myself some CDC. I've never been much of a CDC fan, for whatever reason, but now that I'm looking into a few patterns I'll have to get the puffs. I might end up making another trip in to The Fly Angler when I come up for the Fly Fishing Film Tour in a few weeks. We'll see if I have enough time though.

[Ic3wind 0]

I've been known to chase my Lab around with a furminator looking for dubbing from time to time. I have a couple flys I tie that work pretty well with it

[itchmesir 0]

There is also a huge fly fishing tourny in Iowa. can't remember the name but you can only fish with flies tied from pet hair

[itchmesir 0]

I'm obsessed with red.. probably because it's been working well for me..

a couple experiments... the red and black one is made with dog hair... and the red pheasant tail has been killing it for me