Inspired by some saltwater baitfish patterns i seen on reddit. You can tie the marabou feather toward the head to make the body opaque (as in pic 1), or tie it short on the tail to make it translucent (right 2 in pic 3). Twitch it subsurface or let it slow sink and yo-yo similar to a ned rig.
While the storms hit, was getting these tied. Taking breaks in between storms to watch neighborhood fireworks 😂😂
My local shop was out of stock of my go-to sz16 2xl straight shank hooks, so I decided to give these short shank curved hooks a try. I’m gonna tie some scuds, zebra midges, pink squirrels, and worms with them. What else should I try?
Very fun tie, using the “polish weave”. Looks crazy buggy. Pattern via Fly Fish Food.
After watching a Charlie Craven video on this, i tied two late last night, this is the second. I was lacking anything like the front feather he capped off his tie with so i used two colors of CDC instead of one, a darker brown in front which doesn't show well at all, maybe my new desk lamp is just nuking the feathers in the photo. Metallic coffee brass bead in 3.2 since i didn't have a tungsten for this hook and wanted to use that coffee color, but added maybe 18-20 wraps of .020 lead wire underneath. Large sized tinsel on the back wrapped with 2x mono. All on a Mustad ROAR (!) barbless streamer size 8 hook, R73XAP. Tail might be a tad too long. I'll have to tie a few more up to get this right.
I used some old Awesome Possum dubbing... do they still make that stuff? My box is maybe 15 years old and i don't recall seeing this dubbing on any of the sites i've been ordering from over the past year.
I received a Yellow-Bellied Marmot from a local homesteader, as he shot it(it was being a nuisance, eating his garden and a few other things, and was living in and pooping/peeing on his goats' hay) but he didn't really have any use for it but knew I was looking for pelts(or at the very least an animal I could tan for some material).
I am working on tanning it for tying, but I'm not sure how to use it, anyone have any info, tips, patterns, and/or techniques that I could use it in? Would it be more of a dry or wet fly material?
Ive been trout speying for around 2 months now… so much fun. I am curious to what is some good trout spey flies, I mostly use flies like micro dungeons and home ties. I would love to hear what others like to swing🤙
Love to dead drift these for big browns!
Congratulations, you’ve discovered an awesome new hobby.
Every day in this sub I see posts like “what vise should I get? What tools? How should I get started? These are some flies I tied from my brain!”
Hopefully this can help with the repetitive questions.
Facebook Marketplace is a great place to look. Kingfisher has a ~$100 rotary on Amazon that is perfectly functional. In my opinion, you probably won’t use the same vise for your entire life.
What tools should I get? You need a bobbin holder (ceramic is best, although I’m partial to the Umpqua DreamStream because of its weight), a good pair of scissors, hackle pliers, a hair stacker, and a whip finisher (maybe controversial). That’s it. Don’t use your good scissors to cut wire. Again, buy what you can afford. There are tons of companies that make good starter kits. If you find yourself tying a pattern that uses a dubbing loop, you’ll want to buy a dubbing spinner. You will pick up tools as you go along. You’ll run through many pairs of scissors over the years. Don’t overthink it.
How should i get started? Pick 3 patterns to learn. The common suggestions are Zebra Midge, Elk Hair Caddis, and Wooly Bugger. These three patterns will teach you a number of techniques that apply to the majority of things you will tie. They also prevent you from going broke buying materials. You’ll need tying thread (SemperFli or Veevus are my go-to), wire, hooks (obviously), a patch of elk hair, dry fly dubbing, hackle (rooster and hen, grab a cape rather than a saddle for dries), marabou, and chenille. 8 materials, at least 3 patterns you can tie. You’ll use these materials in most patterns.
Hop on YouTube and watch some videos on each of the patterns. Focus on one to start. Tie 6. They’re gonna look bad, but that’s ok. They’ll probably still fish in all honesty. KEEP THOSE FIRST FLIES. Identify what went wrong. Taper too heavy? Too much material? Bad proportions? Now that you see what’s wrong, tie 6 more and try not to make the same mistakes. You’ll have already seen improvement in the 12th compared to the first. Then tie 12 and try to make them all identical. Count your thread wraps if you need to. Now move onto the next pattern and do the same thing. Soon you’ll have a dozen of 3 different patterns. Not only does this help teach some fundamentals, it keeps you from buying random shit that you’ll never use (at least at this point in your journey); once you get deeper you’ll probably do what I do and grab packs of stuff because it’s cheap at the fly shop.
On that note, support your local fly shop. If you don’t have a local fly shop, there’s tons of websites that you can order from. AvidMax, FFF, JStockard to name a few.
I just started and tied this fly without following a pattern. Awesome. I implore you to follow some tried and true patterns first, and then branch out and design your own flies. You’ll learn why certain materials are used for certain parts of certain flies. It took me years before I came up with a pattern that I’m proud to have designed.
Have fun.
I really hope this helps. I’m also always happy to provide constructive feedback if you want to drop me a DM.
size 16, 11/0 Miyuki bead, black sparkle dubbing, 0.15 mm motor wire
A few black wooly buggers going out for a donation.
Is there a varnish or something that can be applied prior to give them more protection on rocky bottoms etc?
Have you noticed a difference between cheaper tungsten and say Fulling Mills and Hanak for example in terms of finish quality out the pack?
This was from a cheap company so wondering if you get what you pay for with tungsten these days..this was a nice olive bead then after a few casts looks like this