I saw this and I have to say, I think it looks both good and pretty easy. I’m wondering if this is going to swim point up or down. I use a lot of UV cure stuff (Sorry MT, I use mostly the Loon stuff). I tend to use it on the back of the fly and see it as a keel. It is heavier than water and should add a little weight to the fly, so if you load that side of the fly with this stuff, shouldn’t it be on the bottom?
Flies
08
Jan 13
The Hook of Choice
Which is your favorite?
I’ve tied a fair number of bonefish flies in the last few years. In that time I’ve tied on many different brands of hooks. I’ve tied on whatever I’ve had available, really. I haven’t given much thought to the pluses and minuses of the hooks. It only mattered if they had a pointy end and an eye and were in the right size. So, when I asked on Facebook if people had a favorite brand/style of hook, I was surprised at the number of replies and the strong feelings people had.
I’d love to get more thoughts from you folks about what you like to tie on. Comment and let me know WHY you tie on what you do.
[poll id=”4″]
07
Jan 13
Tying up a storm
UPDATE: Cliff is going to throw me a Crab Shack box to fill up and give away to one of you lucky SOB’s.
Sometimes I just seem to need to tie. There are nights when I can’t get my mind on the task and I find myself having tied 4 flies in an hour of tinkering and waffling about materials and patterns. There are other nights when I set out hooks and then more hooks and then more hooks and I just seem to be in the flow. I know what flies I’m tying and with which materials and I tie those flies. Those are the nights I fill up my boxes.
I’ve had a few nights like that recently.
Yeah… that should work.
It isn’t about filling the boxes anymore, really. The boxes are kind of full. I’ll need to remove some flies to make room for the new ones. I only bring two boxes with me on my hip pack and I’ll bring a box of tarpon/cuda flies if I’m fishing from a boat. Any more than the two boxes (I use Bugger Barn boxes from Cliff Outdoors) and it just becomes a little hard to manage.
If I can convince Cliff to give me a box I’ll fill the box and we can do a give away here on the blog. I don’t really do many give aways, but I’m not opposed to it and this kind of thing would be kind of fun. If I can convince them to give two boxes I think we should make it a communal give away with flies contributed from all of you fine, fine people. Anyone know the Cliff guys? Let’s make it happen.
The bottom three rows are from the past couple nights.
06
Jan 13
Something new – Eyes-N-Tubes
In all likelihood it has all been done. When it comes to fly tying and especially for bonefish, it feels like every “new” pattern is mostly an old pattern with one new material thrown in and a name slapped on it for vanity.
I like to play around at the vice a bit and most of that experimenting doesn’t turn out so well. Other times I look at it and thing “hmmm…. that might work.”
Looking good.
I recently had a bunch of Eyes-n-tubes sent to me to play around with and they certainly do give a different look to my flies.
They look unweighted, but actually do have weight and they slide right on the hook, then to be anchored down. The eyes are on stalks which get them away from the body of the fly. Always funny looking to tie up a Peterson’s Spawning Shrimp and have the EP eyes right next to each other, no matter how I try to get them to separate. This solves that particular problem very well.
The more I tie with these new eyes the better I’m figuring out how to use them and I have to say… the flies are looking good and they have a very “new” look to them, almost like they are something new.
They are worth a look.
03
Jan 13
From last night at the vice
Did a little tying last night. Mostly, I tied up Gotchas and Hot Nosed Gotchas in a size 4. However, I couldn’t resist tying up a couple more of these…
The good ole reverse gotcha with rubber legs and love.
Now, I’m pretty sure the guides will select the regular gotchas, but man… I do love the look of these flies.
11
Oct 12
The Tying Season
Once the skies turn grey and the temps start to fall, many anglers start to think about re-stocking their fly boxes. Tis the season for fly tying (or steelheading, but let’s focus on fly tying).
Do you have a number in mind of flies you’d like to tie this winter? What is on your list?
I need to restock the following:
- #6-#4 Peterson Spawning Shrimp
- #6-#4 Tan Gotcha
- #2-#6 Glass Back Reverse Gotcha
- #3/0 Cuda Flies
- #2/0 light/tan Bunny Tarpon Flies
What do you need to resupply?
The desk.
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30
Aug 12
Prep
So… I have a few things going on these days. One of those things is that I’m getting hitched (re-hitched) really, really soon.
Wedding is at 6 PM, we get picked up at 4:00 AM to head to the airport. Once there we will partake in the miracle that is human flight and some hours (and a few planes) later we will end up toes-in-the-water at El Pescador in Belize.
Once there we’ll have ONE day of guided fishing. The new Mrs. Bonefish on the Brain will be with me and we should get into some fish. Along those lines, it occurred to me that I have some tying to do.
The desk. Wine Fly.
Pretty much, I’m looking forward to the adventure.
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22
Aug 12
Doug’s Conch Fritter
Doug Jeffries, a long-time reader of the blog, recently got a fly in Fly Fishing in Salt Waters (a magazine I subscribe to). My mag hasn’t arrived yet, so I found out about it through Scott Heywood’s blog Fly Paper.
It is, indeed, a fine looking fly (full tying instructions at the Fly Paper link above).
Yeah… that’s sweet.
That is a fly I’d like to have in my box, and exactly the kind of fly I probably won’t tie because I have yet to tie a fly that called for a dubbing loop. I should really stop by Doug’s and figure that out.
Doug… you around? How do you feel about teaching? You know, I’m an East Bay guy now.
Those of you who tie, what are the flies that you’d like to tie, but intimidate you a bit?
17
Aug 12
Wasted Creativity
There are a lot of bonefish patterns. Really, a whole lot of bonefish patterns. A hundred? Two hundred?
I love sitting down at the vice and playing around a bit, maybe putting in some fox instead of craft fur, maybe change the position of the eyes, put some rubber legs in, put some barring on the wing and on and on until you arrive at a new place and it looks good and you turn it around in the vice and you start to convince yourself that, were you a bonefish, you would certainly swim up to this fly and inhale it, it being surely shrimpy and undeniably delicious.
I have a small but vocal part of my subconscious nagging me. That part of me has been questioning the 100’s of patterns, suggesting that we maybe only need one fly, a fly that has been mentioned as the go-to-fly by most guides I know and the fly that, when my fly box full of inventiveness is open, is almost always selected instead… the tan gotcha.
How much do we need those other flies to “match the hatch” as opposed to just getting the presentation right (only half a rhetorical question)?
I’m sure there are patterns out there that really do make sense to put in your box in ADDITION to the tan gotcha, but really, how many patterns do you need?
The reverse with a little hot bunny tail. Is there a point to this?
http://youtu.be/VShmtsLhkQg
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