Archive for Tying General
iPhone 4 Fly Art
Posted by: | CommentsThe new iPhone 4 arrived today and I had a chance to play around with the camera and video functions. It is a very respectable upgrade and the white balance, at least on my model, is excellent. Furthermore, the up-close images (nearly macro) are incredible. In summary, a fly tier could photograph and videotape a fly tying sequence with this camera phone.
Here are some images of my Tarpon flies honestly taken “straight out of camera”. It’s always fun to see the fruits of labor neatly lined up and color coordinated before the battle. Let’s hope they look this good to the Tarpon next week.
The Seaducer Fly
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The Seaducer Fly
Homer Rhodes introduced the Seaducer fly in the 1940’s and it is still as effective today as it was back then. For warm/salt water fishing there are three basic foundation patterns that should be mastered. They include the Seaducer, Clouser’s Deep Minnow and Lefty’s Deceiver. I would also include the modern Enrico Puglisi baitfish patterns in the must-tie category as well.
The Seaducer is easy to tie and master, but the trick is selecting the correct hackle for the intended application. With that in mind, the following tutorial will be separated in two parts. First, we will discuss hackle selection and then move on to the technical aspects of tying the fly correctly.
Before proceeding, let’s first discuss the purpose of the Seaducer in general terms. This is primarily a light weight top water fly, originally designed to attract Snook in shallow water. It is nothing more than a few feathers on the tail end and a few palmered wraps on the front. The tail feathers may be tied concave out (i.e. kicker legs) or concave in (i.e. baitfish style). Traditionally, the kicker legs are employed to give movement and life to the fly and that is the preferred style of the author. It is generally fished with a floating line and moderate length leader in a stealthy site fishing manner. It is also very effective for Tarpon, redfish, largemouth bass, and almost any warmwater species. However, it is also deadly when fished on a sinking line with a shorter leader in a strip-pause-strip fashion at depth. The Seaducer can be tied with a large profile on hooks as large as 3/0 or conversely it is very effective with smaller profiles on hooks smaller than size 10.
DIY – Inexpensive Fly Art Displays
Posted by: | CommentsDIY – Inexpensive fly tying displays
I recently discovered a way to decorate the walls with fly art. At the local craft store there are various styles of Shadow Boxes in the framing department. They are 40% off on a regular basis. On sale the large box is about $30 and the smaller boxes are only $20. Until recently I didn’t know they existed. They come in many different sizes, shapes and colors/stains. They all have about an inch of foam padding with material stretched and glued to the backing. The purpose of these shadow boxes is to place pictures or memorabilia onto the backing with push pins. The front lid opens with a hinge for easy placement of objects. I was overjoyed to find that they are perfect for securing hooks and thus make great displays for flies.
If you have ever been to a conclave then you know the framed fly art displays often go for high dollar. By using the shadow boxes you can create similar works of art for very little money. Below are a set of 4 boxes I put together. In the future I will be using this method to showcase my collectable flies from other tiers.
Two shadow boxes with collectable flies from Craig Riendeau and Anthony Hipps. I have left space for future flies.
Homemade Epoxy Rotary Fly Drier
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So I finally got around to posting some pictures of my homemade fly tying epoxy/resin dryer. This device is very simple to make and costs only $20 total! It is actually much better than the ones you buy in the fly shop because it can be custom designed to your needs.
Buy a cheap universal rotisserie. IMPORTANT – you must buy this at Walmart (or somewhere equivalent) because it is only $19.95 at that location. Home Depot has the same universal device but it runs $40.95 and $55.95 for the same setup.
You just need to cut a small board to length and then attach the motor and the opposite end mount with basic home screws. You can make it short (like I have) or attach both metal bars and make a double-long version. Then just add some soft insulating material or anything you have available to hold the flies. Then secure the meat forks at the end and jab them into a circular piece of foam and you have a double setup with a longitudinal drier and a vertical/circular drier. Done, easy.
Homemade Bugger Beast Box
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I like the Cliff’s Bugger Beast large fly boxes for holding my saltwater flies. I have the Beast Junior box and it works very well for crab patterns and bonefish flies but I really want/need the large Beast for Tarpon flies but have other financial priorities at this time. So here’s what I did . . . this box is very easy to make and requires little effort and no special tools.
Go to Walmart and in the bead section you can get these cheap plastic carrying boxes for $7 and inside there are like 40 smaller plastic boxes that work great for storing extra tying material. Buy two sheets of closed cell foam at the hobby store, $1 each. Get a razor blade, I use a surgical scalpel. Some superglue, I used Zap-a-Gap. That’s it.
Waterproof Markers for Fly Tying
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Bic Mark*It 36 pack, Walmart $12.
This is the best deal I’ve found on markers for fly tying yet. The colors are great for fly tiers because there are multiple shades of brown/tan and also light blues and light greens and pink/sand colors. They are permanent and fine point. I tested multiple colors on a swatch of craft fur and soaked it in tap water for 2 days and salt water for 3 days – no bleeding or fading. I have been tying up quite a few salt water flies lately and these markers and colors are perfect. In my opinion they are better than prismacolor or sharpie. Thought I’d pass it along.
http://www.bicmarkit.com/base/content.asp?section=pickabic&dir=pickabic&page=cou…
Wig Hair Flies
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This fly is tied upside-down (the darker colors should always be dorsal – but it’s the only picture available at the moment)
This weekend I met an old and very accomplished fly guy who has been tying flies for years. The weather was bad and there was nothing to do so he invited me over to tie. What a great time – I learned all kinds of tips and tricks from him. The most important was the creative ways he finds materials for tying. Let me tell you, this tip below turned out to be a veritable gold mine!
He said that he gets all his hair and fur and fibers from a local wig shop. In Atlanta these kind of shops are very common and so I visited one today on my way home. OMG it is amazing the stuff they have in there. I found these hair weaves for $1.09 per package – all colors under the rainbow and perfect for tying bass bugs, Clouser’s or any saltwater patterns. For $20 I got enough hair and fiber to last me years!
These are the hair weaves and the colors are shown below.
Hackle Pliers – IC Grabbers
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People often ask/wonder where to get those little hackle pliers that the fly tiers use at shows. You know the little black/red clamps that are also used to hold flies and mount flies for show. It can be pretty hard to find these if you don’t know what they are called. By the way, these make perfect hackle pliers, especially on little English/Wet fles.
Name: Pomona IC Grabber, IC Grabber Test Clips, IC Clips, or simply Minigrabber Test Clips.
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