u/BrackishWaterDrinker

Forgot how much of a pain in the ass these were to tie. Thank God I can start tying up a few normal sized game changers now that I've got these out of the way. 6mm tail/regular shanks suck to work with.

This is only my second batch of feather changers, so any pointers and criticism is welcome. Focused a lot of attention to getting the body transition right. Still looking for a better technique to getting the eyes on other than getting them super glued to my hand occasionally.

I think I'm showing some improvement. Tied these up tonight in about an hour or so. Looking forward to getting out and fishing some of these on Saturday.

All critiques welcome!

First off, let me get it out of the way. I know this is definitely not the right hook for a clouser haha. I'm just trying to use up all these #6 FM22 20s trad streamer hooks that I have laying around and have been needing to tie some smaller ones up for bass and crappie. Also note that this one for whatever didn't have the eye bent down but the rest do.

Should I keep using this hook? Will these still ride okay with the hook point up? It did okay in the bathtub, but I'm still not 100% confident. Should I use more hair? I know it's often said that less is more when it comes to tying up these bad boys, have I accomplished this? Should I tie my eyes even further back to avoid my deer hair from fowling on the hook excessively?

Any advice on tying up clousers on long streamer hooks will be a big help to this somewhat newbie fly tier just trying to dip my hand into tying up more and smaller clousers. Thanks in advance!

Bonus Pic: an example of some ugly little micro poppers I'm developing for river bass and panfish based around the Dedeaux Popper. They move a ton of water for their size and ride high for much longer than balsa wood/cork poppers.

Honestly, it's so damn good I'm not sure I'll ever need to go back to shrimp. I'd do crawfish though if they were regularly available to me in my state.

Also didn't have bell pepper so I had to use poblanos in my Trinity. Couldn't really tell too much of a difference. All in all, probably the least traditional cookbook Etouffee I've ever made, but the most authentic backwater use what you have on hand Etouffee I've ever made.

Stayed at a little mountain resort for a wedding this weekend. They had this little creek on the property and fished it religiously every morning. It's always fun how shocked people who don't fish are when you pull a little 7" rainbow out from under a rock in skinny water.

Confited pork butt for 3 hours with onion, garlic, orange, bay leaves, and cinnamon. Shredded and crisped the pork on cast iron w/ my tortillas.

Used the confit liquid and the garlic and onion as a base for a thrown together salsa with chile de arbol, ancho chiles, cilantro, and lime.

Still debating whether I should try and make my own tortillas next time without a press. Any suggestions?

Been fishing all my life, but it wasn't until 2021 that I discovered that not every panfish was a "bluegill." The vast majority of these were caught throughout NC spanning mountains to coast and all over the piedmont in-between. #1 was the first time I realized that I had caught a "funny looking bluegill with a big long ear and a larger mouth."

To this day, other than carp, the humble sunfish is my favorite fresh water fish to chase after on light tackle and little flies, especially when you get your hands on a dandy. My next project is to find and refurbish an old paw and click fly reel and get my grandad's old fiberglass fly rod set up and catch some fish out of the creeks he probably fished as a kid with his dad.

Yeah yeah, I'm aware that I should be at the hospital