Recent comments

Not stupid at all

Mike,

Your questions are not stupid at all. It's my experience - from myself and others - that leaders and tippets are complex and quite intimidating and can be difficult to understand and master.

1) Sealing the knots in some way makes very good sense. I know the problem with the knots picking up weed. I don't know whether the UV glues would work, but they probably would. Loon has its UV Knot Sense, which I personally use for flies, but judging from its name, it should work well for knots.

2) I usually tie my leaders with the intent of adding a tippet to the last piece of the leader. I then work my way into the tippet as I change flies, and finally cut off the last bit and tie on a new one. This slowly eats into the leader itself, but it takes quite some time before the leader is "worn down". I can always replace the last bit of the leader before I tie on the new piece of tippet. The tippet ring will enable you to almost endlessly replace the tippet without eating into the leader itself. I have actually bought a handful of rings that I want to use on my leaders for the exact same reason.

Martin

Jungle Angler video

Awesome film and awesome fish! Great job!

super glue versus uv glue for this pattern.

would superglue in the gel form be a decent substitute for the uv glue, its a little pricey for me.

vises

Like you, I started with a cheap fly tying kit in 1967, about $10.00 for materials & Vise, then a Thompson A vise, then a marvelous vise called the Price Vise which I still have with the extension arm & Light, and my present vise, a Renzetti 4000, which is my daily go to. Every once in a while, for nostalga, i will use the Price Vise.Tried a friends Regal once & hated it, bulky, clumsy, no Hutzpah!

dahlberg flashtail

Thanks for posting, I'll be able to give it a go now that I've seen how its done. Definitely bookmarked for later. Greetings from Australia

Regal pics

James,

Thanks for your kind offer! It would make good sense to have images, but I'm honestly kind of tempted to leave the post as it is and let no Regal be shown. If they don't want images, they don't get images...

Martin

Gurgler targets

Valentin,

The Gurgler will definitely work for browns and rainbows under the right conditions when the fish are aggressively chasing high in the water - or if you target fish eating frogs, mice or similar large animals.
Catfish is a different game. Catfish are bottom fish, and a Gurgler is in the surface. It might lure the fish up, but I would guess not. I have to say, though, that my catfish experiences are zero, so I can't be sure.

Martin

Gurgler #6

Will it work on rainbow, brown trout? Or catfish perhaps?

I have coverage of most of

I have coverage of most of the Regal range if you want me to take some pictures and email them through. Its a shame you were made to bring down the images...

Regal Vice

If you have Art Flick's "Streamside Guide..." you'll see that the Regal is a copy of his original design. I was quite upset when Regal claimed the design as their own.

Great tie.

Great Iso pattern, you need a manicure Jim, aside from the nibbled digits a very simple yet deadly effective fly in spring and again in Sept/Oct here in my great home state of Maine.

The J Vice

Maybe you should look at the South African J Vice too!

Regal Vise

I think that the regal became popular back when there were few other options for a high quality vise. Other people bought them after being recommend by friends. I have owned a Dyna King Barracuda for 5 years now and I'm in love.Much better than my old Renzetti.

Flyfishing southland New Zealand.

Hello Henk. I was born in Workum 1950 then migrated to australia 1952. Have been brought up
in a hunting /fishing environment. Brought a cottage in NZ and accomodate keen fishermen there. Will be in Amsterdam and Friesland 12th October to 12th November this year. Have some great trout fishing footage from a go pro that you would undoubtedly find interesting. Feel free to connect. Cheers John

regal vice

i tried to use a regal vice once. it took me both hands to open the jaws, leaving me no way to mount the hook. back to renzetti for this t

Your B.I.Law Peter

Hello there....about the arthritis thing...I know it was an old post..but I just found you guys!! I had arthritis in both basal joints of my thumbs...since fixed with fusion surgeries...but...it was very difficult for me to do many things...tying one of them...I tried to MacGyver all of my tools so the handles were all oversized...Making it more comfortable to hold...they look odd...but if it works for him....awesome. prayers for relief and healing....Tom

WD 40

In the Eastern part of the U.S I fish only 22-24 and find that big fish are easily temped with smaller sizes flies. Good hook ups come fairly easy with small flies and provide great sport on light rods 2-3 #. The small hooks ,I find do not seem to require a wing case which really make the fly very easy to tie.

Nice catch!

Beautiful fish, Grats.

Fly Fishing near Bansko

Hi Radoslav

I will come to Bansko in 2 weeks, do you can recommend me some good spots? Can I fish in the mountain lakes in Pirin?

Thank you and regards
René

Warm water Humpy

I fish Humpy's as a surface/near surface fly for bluegill. While I know that's probably sacrilegious, they like it and I'm a rebel.

- I prefer a short tail with some flair, a skinny hump and wings with less hackle.
Here's why

- The fish jump the fly when it first lands, but often miss because they are "swatting" it with their fins/tail. This attempt to stun and submerge what they think is a bug drags the fly down, subsurface - where the fun starts.

- Tied slim, with less hackle, the "Slim-Fast Humpy" suspends near-surface, and I slow strip it like a wet fly. A twitching, then a slow figure-8 hand retrieve. Repeat.

- At some point, the fish get excited and grab the fly, very nearly snatching the rod from your hand.

I discovered this Skinny Humpy, subsurface connection by accident. In trying the pattern for the first time, that's just how I tied them.
I do add micro dabs of varnish and half hitches through the tying process, to add durability in the old school manner. Its probably not necessary, but bluegill can be hard on flies.

No US dealer... yet

Steve, the SMHAEN bobbin holders are slowly hitting the shops this autumn, but mainly here in Denmark and Europe. Stig tells me that he's working on US contacts, but have no serious options yet, so I guess they will eventually be available more locally in the US, most likely with lower shipping costs.

Martin

US sources

Steve, as far as I know the only source is Stig directly, but I have inquired about US sources. I guess the postage would be pretty steep if they were to be sent over through ordinary mail. I'll post the information here once I get it.

Martin

Smahaen bobbin

Hi Martin,
Late May this year , I contacted Mr. Stig Hansen re:obtaining a Smahaen bobbin in the US. In his reply on May 29 , he told me I could purchase one directly from him for 54 euro plus 25 euro for shipping to the US. I think I posted this here in late May ,early June.
If this price is incorrect , does anyone know the correct price with shipping to the US or if they are available in the US ?.
Best Regards,
Steve Keim

Adjusted

Eric,

I just got a note today from Stig - the manufacturer - himself noting the wrong price, and it has been corrected now. Back when I wrote the article, I didn't have a precise price, and put in the price I could gather from the correspondence with Stig and people who bought the bobbin holder.

Sorry for having the wrong price for so long!

Martin