Archive for August, 2009
Art Fly Slideshow August 2009
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Click the image above to view the slideshow.
The August addition of Art Fly is now live. I have been working on a new style for the fly art photography and this month’s theme is hands and hand-held flies. The flies were all shot with the left hand and the camera was in the right hand. The technique employed a fast shutter speed combined with a natural cloud sky background. In addition to the flies I have been working with various fly tiers in the portable macro studio. The technique is progressing nicely and we are now able to capture high resolution macro tying sequences. In the future you will see the full tutorial markups, but for the August edition of Art Fly only a few examples have been posted.
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.
