THE fly fishing thread.

[maxxximus87]

I use to fly fish for snook on the beaches in the summer with an 8wt. Once you get one its hard to stop chasing them. The only thing that slowed me down was college. I'm just recently getting back into tying and hitting up the beaches again. Hell of a sport!

 

[xEchOx]

I'm getting the hang of spinning deer hair. I just need to get my hands on a wider variety of colors now. My last creation with deer hair -

I've also gotten into coloring/tying poppers. These are a little more visually pleasing than some of my first deer hair ties but to be fair they are a lot easier to tie.

And this popper is a little more complicated. I had to cut the shape out myself and sand it down once I had a rough shape. Then with a couple of sharpie markers and some two part epoxy it came together. The next one I tie will have to have a weed guard. Just can't fish frogs without a weed guard.

In other words, I have the tying bug.......

 

[xEchOx]

I went out to Turtle river again after work last night. The river is soooo low. I'm surprised the fish are still hanging in there. I had left all of my flies back at my parents place so the only flies I used were ones I had tied recently. I got some of the action on the go pro, but I only actually caught one fish. Normally, I'd be disappointed but in this case I was just happy to see so much action on flies that I tied myself. I was actually quite excited even though I missed 4 strikes. I love fly fishing, and I'm pretty hooked into tying now too. Just another aspect of the sport I've fallen for.

My latest deer hair. I call it "The Mini Muskrat".

And this one I've dubbed "The Flaming Squirrel" Lol.

The flaming squirrel was the only fly that landed a fish, but I got action on every fly I used. In fact the Mini Muskrat is now tail-less...

 

[fisher12889]

Those flies are lookin awesome man! It's so sweet catching fish on your own creations! I havent been in a few weeks...its been raining a lot and the rivers have been very muddy. I've also been busy getting ready for my first archery season!

 

[xEchOx]

Thanks boss. I ordered yet another batch of supplies from feather craft...... god I have no will power! I'll be tying some more deer hair flies and filling up the tackle box and then I'll start tying some smaller dry flies for out west. Still haven't made plans as to where we are going for sure but we need to narrow it down soon.

I've got a bow as well. Just bought it last year, got a turkey with it! Another awesome sport!

 

[xEchOx]

I think we've decided on Idaho for our trip this year. I'd love to come hang with you in CO some time fisher, but since my buddy is moving soon from Idaho we kind of decided to give it one last hurrah! - ya know? I'm excited. Plan on heading out there in the end of September. I'll tie some small dry flies, but I'm also going to work the streamers hard this year and go after some big boys. Any go to streamers I should be tying for big browns or bows? I think there are bull trout out there too. I know sculpin patters are popular out there...

Anyway I'm super pumped and I'm going to be buying a second Gopro here soon and I will take as many pics and as much footage as I can. Should be a good trip.

In the meantime - Uhh, god. I think I've got a problem. Even the three tier rubbermaid is running out of room for my fly tying materials... :lol:

My latest foam creation. I spent a good amount of time carving out the shape with a razor blade so that it would float right. I used it this weekend a bit and it looks great. Floats well, I could probably even stuff a rattler in the body, or maybe even a weight - every now and then the frog would land upside down, hook up but most of the time it floated the way I wanted. A small split shot or maybe some lead around the back of the hook shank would eliminate that error. All in all I was very happy with it. I only need to test its durability. I missed two strikes on it, so they are interested, but I'm not sure how strong the epoxy is and if it will hold up against a big toothy pike... I guess we'll see.

 

[fisher12889]

Well I think its safe to say you've caught the bug (pun intended lol). You've got some serious skills man, it looks like you've been tying for years!

And no worries about not coming to CO,I would love a shot at bull trout! I'm thinkin I'm gonna be busy with hunting anyway.
My go to streamers for trout are typically just different woolly bugger variations. Black, brown, and olive are all good bets, probably #2-6. I've had really good success with an all white version I tie...make a nice, thick white marabou tail, then use krystal flask chenille and white chenille for the body. White schlappen for hackle and really thin silver or copper wire to secure the hackle and rib the body. I only tie them on #2-4 hooks, with lots of lead wire and a silver or gold conehead. I'll try to whip one up soon to show you what they look like!

That frog is sweet lookin! I made one similar and the hardest part is getting it to land right every time. I see you put a weed guard on it, which is a great idea because I fish them on some nasty slop!

 

[xEchOx]

Thanks man, that means a lot coming from someone who actually has been tying for years.

I'll look at tying some wolly buggers next then. I have a bunch, but I would like to tie them myself. Quick question - I bought a pack of streamer cone heads, really big ones, maybe a 1/4 oz but I'm running into trouble getting them over the eye of the hook - and the hook shank is often bent too steeply to slide it from the hook point up because the head is so wide. I tied one sculpin type pattern and was pretty happy with it, but the hook is too small - a lot of the body is waay behind the hook. The next size up though doesn't accomodate the head size... Do I just need a different brand head?

 

[fisher12889]

Do you have a pic of the head and hook? Then I can see what's going on...sometimes the barb of the hook can get in the way, but a little extra pressure (watch your fingers, its easy to poke them lol) can pop it over the barb. If the head will fit over the eye of the hook, the head is too big.

 

[bookworm]

I love fly fishing!! went this weekend, but a gar took a fancy to my favorite dry fly, bit the puny sunfish/crappie leader in two, and took my fly.........AHHHHHHH!