Recent comments

Hey you two schemers. Be sure to get another "podcast video" of tying this tidy morsel. I very much enjoyed the other video podcast and have been productive with the pattern recently... (approximately 50% of my fish taken off this pattern)

It would be a Great article, go for it.

Submitted by jason cartwright on

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were could i get a box of bass bugs like whats shone? how much?

Hello Jari,

I'm very sorry: my formulation was not right!
Yes, i mean the epoxy and NOT the thread!
Most of this problem appears on the top-part of the rod; the thin part!
Yesterday i first put a thin layer of epoxy and later another one....
The results where much better then before (with 1 layer)

Quite right: I need to practice :wink:

thanks a lot,

Nico

Submitted by Guillermo on

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iam from Argentina, i live in the Patagonia and i new in the flyfhishing, but this fly it's amazing... my congratulations to the warsmith! There is a seccition with tying videos y this page? thanks...

Submitted by gabi on

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i have the 1984 transkei fly fishing stamps 5 of them mounted in a frame, any idea what they worth, mint cond

Hey Nico.

If I understand you question right, it is not the thread that forms into "rugby balls", but rather the epoxy or varnish. It does take a bit of practice to get the epoxy, which I use, to flow evenly across the wrappings.
But try to use a smaller amount of epoxy and see if that isn't sufficient, you can always add a second layer afterwards, and the smaller the amount, the easier the epoxy will seem evenly applied.

If it really is the threads themselves that form into rugby balls, it could mean that you wrap the rod WAY too hard, so hard that it might damage the blank!! I usually tension the thread with my fingers and try to use the same force on the thread as i would holding a pencil, so not very much actually.

Hope that helps.

Jari

Submitted by Peter Gallon on

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Thanks for the info. I am a Trout, Sea Trout and Salmon angler fishing in the borders of Northumberland and Scotland. I am a Bonefish vigin. Hopefully by the time I return home from holiday I will have caught some Hawaiian Bonefish.
I have been in touch with Nervous Waters to book a guided session.

Thanks Ripley! It was definitely a great trip and thank you, Steve, Martin, Kim and Bill for showing Nina and I some beautiful Danish spring streams. :) It was too bad Nina and I only stayed for a day, we really enjoyed the bed and breakfast (and found out Martin can also cook!). That first evening, Bill and I returned to the bridge and found a bunch of fish rising in front of us. We managed to lost just about all our hook-ups. :cry:

Nina and I spent Saturday afternoon at Aqua, which was definitely well worth it. We then went up to Simested River and managed to connect with a few small brown trout. :)

Hopefully next summer we can repeat this again. ;)

Sure, article away.

Sometime when I can remember, I'll get some crayfish pictures. I was going to go today, but we just got a big dump of rain on my way home from work.

Submitted by G. A. Morresi on

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Daniel,

Don't worry about the "Extras" for now - focus instead on everything else, particularly the bolded items. As someone who certainly isn't an expert, but who was in your situation a couple of years ago (I've taken two fly tying courses offered by my local Trout Unlimited chapter) I must completely agree with the author. He has listed the most common fly tying materials - and you truly are better off buying them individually. Don't buy them all at once - pick a couple of patterns you wish to tie (such as an Adams dry fly and a Muddler Minnow streamer - the latter was recommended to me as THE ONE FLY to tie if one had to practice as it involves so many techniques) and the materials needed.

Books: either don't buy one (take a look at the section called "Beginner's Fly Tying" at www.flyanglersonline.com) or get the recently released "Benchside Introduction to Fly Tying" by Leeson and Schollmeyer. The book will help you with material selection, too.

Threads: I recommend Uni-Thread, especially if you're a lefty. It's stronger for its diameter than regular nylon thread.

Kits: stay away from them, or if you really must have one, get the materials-only kits. (I started with a materials-only kit in order to save money, but even then eventually I only used half to two-thirds of it, the rest was either too low-quality or not useful for tying trout flies.) By all means, do not get a kit/cheap vise - the only good vise under $100 is the Danvise (Danica vise;) I have seen friends' vises from kits become almost useless - and very frustrating - after a few dozen flies.

Good luck!

P.S. Don't get into fly tying if you think it's going to save you money in the long run - it won't.

Rybolov,

Thanks for posting that extensive piece about the Dad. How about turning that into a regular article? Everything is there, and I would be pleased to do the job.

Martin

This is Paul's first day ever with a flyrod, and once he can cast 10 feet and strip line, Skip's Dad gives him a good day on the river.

He'll be back.

[i:045099b6da]Photo by Rybolov[/i:045099b6da]

Reaction to Skip's Dad can be varied.

I've felt smallmouth nibble at it gently as they suck it up off the riverbottom. When I get gentle takes, I start fishing with a slow, long strip.

When I find that the fish are slamming the Dad hard, I start using quick 5-inch strips, just enough of a pop so that I see the end of my line jerk.

Sometimes I've cast and had large smallmouth take the fly on the very first strip. It's happened enough that I get the slack out of the line as fast as I can.

Don't forget to let the Dad hang below you in the current. Yuou'll catch bass when you let the fly hang and then give it a couple quick strips.

[i:5422245e64]
Photos by Melanie Smith[/i:5422245e64]

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