Recent comments

Phlatwing... Sort'a.

Phlatwing... Sort'a... Thanks...
It starts off with vertically oriented hackles tied in near the bend then progresses with high/low tied splayed buck tail and culminates with flat and tented hackles tied in without the classic "pillow"...
I mix and match basic techniques to create the desired size and profile... and enjoy playing around with material management to achieve a balanced and pleasing result... the hook is a canvass and the pheatherz 'n phur my pallet... being able to share the results is part of the challenge and pleasure... phlatwing... sort'a...

great information, o

great information, on line care, as a guide myself, too often i see clients equipment brought on board may be relatively new but in questionable working order, drag, lube neglect, and line neglect, thanks for driving home the importance of equipment care. capt. brian moran

Glenn, Mike,

Glenn, Mike,

The thing about tubes is not to consider it as a "better" way to tie the flies you usually tie, but to use tubes where it really makes sense.

I personally tie and use tubes for large, light flies where hook weight might be a problem, and for flies where the hook will typically last a lot longer than the materials or the other way round - pike fishing shreds a lot of flies, deep salmon fishing dulls a lot of hooks.

Last but not least, the new compact metal tubes makes it possible to tie a small and heavy fly, where the weight is concentrated exactly in the place you want it.

You might have noticed the large tube fly section here on GFF, where I go much more into depth with this issue:
http://globalflyfisher.com/tiebetter/tube-flies/

PS: regarding movement in the fly: that depends on the materials used, not on a tube or hook choice! I have plenty very enticing flies tied on tubes using zonker strips, marabou or Arctic fox or Finn raccoon hair wings. That works equally well on a tube.

Martin

you guys'll love this strange, fun stuff

no financial interest here, just something i've come to love:

Clear Cure Goo: http://clearcuregoo.com/

it comes in several formulas -- i've tried them all and found them to be useful for different things. a little pricey to get into (i think the kit is around $US 40), but he ships pretty fast and so far i'm very happy with the results. this stuff really is quite fun, and no waiting around to dry either.

again, no financial interest, just something i've found that i love.

Is there a book?

is there a book that i can find these patterns in or other web sites that i can find them in

I've been through lo

I've been through loads of wading jackets to. Including the Simms Guide jacket. All are poorly designed for those who fish saltwater. However the one I've been using for the last 5 years is the Patagonia Deep Wading jacket. 2 deep chest pockets with velcro and thats it! The zip salted up so I had it replaced with a large plastic YKK zip used for tents. This was done by a local seamtress for £20. It's perfect now - no rusting and minimalist design. Why can't Simms, Patagonia and the rest use these zips in the first place?

more meanderings in the UV FREE zone...

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa176/Phracas/P6101118.jpg
Playin' around with high/low ties then welding in the mylar gill plates, 3D eyez, and peacock herl... weshallsee!?
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa176/Phracas/P4090751.jpg
A DarkOpsDualTubePhly...
I've blended some long black hackles with Midnight "Devil 'n Blend" then finished the body with segments of splayed buck tail to enhance the wide-body profile...
The 3D eyez were spot welded in place over the lower "junction tube" along with 3 wide black hackles, buck tail chin, and peacock herl to finish the profile...
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa176/Phracas/P4080740.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa176/Phracas/P4080739.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa176/Phracas/P4270801.jpg

terriffic fish , the

terriffic fish , they can be spooky devils at times ,, as hard to convince as rain bows on may flys,,, great photo,,, what fly?

Excellent tip!

David,

Excellent tip! I was looking at supplies for the dental clinics, which use the same technology for fillings and tooth repairs. But they were nowhere near being cheap! On the opposite. Not surprising when you consider the demands on health care materials.
The nail business is a lot less demanding!

Martin

UV Gel used in the nail art industry

Having liked the look that Tuffleye gives to flies, I set about trying to find a cheaper product that gave me the same effect, as being unemployed for the first time in my life I couldn't warrant the outlay for the more well known products. I stumbled upon the UV Gel used in the nail art industry. I bought the UV light, the base coat and top finish coat for a fraction of what you would pay for Tuffleye etc. It gives just as good a finish and cures in seconds.
Cheers Dave

Bernd,

Thanks for

Bernd,

Thanks for your kind words about GFF! We're glad you like the page.

I tend to agree with you on fly fishing competitions. Competing is far from my attitude towards fishing, and I never really understood people who want to compete rather than fish. Like yourself I fish to be out there and enjoy nature and good company.
But of course others can do as they please: compete, do distance casting or whatever.

Martin

Hello dear GFF Team,

Hello dear GFF Team,
in my opinion, your side is one of the best flyfishing sides on the www and definitly my personal favorit. I am a fly only man for more then 30 years, teaching flyfishing and flytying, writing articles for magazines and doing a lot of guiding. But the video from the "french flyfishing championship" has absolutly nothing to do with serious flyfishing. It degenerates our passion to ping-pong playing with live animals. Competition fishing -no matter if it is coarsefishing or flyfishing- means a less of respect to the fish. I wonder why especially flyfishermen do this; in my opinion flyfishing means an intensive feeling of nature, beeing a part of it combined with maximum fairness and respect to the creature itself. Competition flyfishing is in my opinion light years away from serious flyfishing. I think it would be better for the fish and for the standing of our passion, when these competition "flyfishers" would do only casting. They can earn their trophys much better this way.... This is only my personal opinion, but I hope, that this kind of sport has no real future or any space.
Everybody thight lines!

Duh Uh! If Rain X is

Duh Uh! If Rain X is not for use on plastic then why does it come in a plastic Bottle and how can a Plastic Zip Lock bag survive the storing of Rain X Wipes???

"All is as it should be in the Universe"

Hi Glenn I use tube flies

Hi Glenn I use tube flies sometimes but honestly I think that a good streamer is a better fly most times. The tube flies just do not have that enticing movement that a Rabbit or even a hair wing fly has. The tubes of course sink much faster so if you need to get down then they are hard to beat.
All the best.
Mike.

Randy,

Actually,

Randy,

Actually, I have yet to trash one of these flies because fish have shredded it. I have a few marred ones, but none that were completely trashed. And I have caught pike on it!

On the other hand, I have had a few of the very simple flash type flies (Valeur Pike Streamers and Tinsel Flies), which were literally flowing away in pieces after one pike.

So I don't think the rule is a simple natural materials versus synthetics.

Martin

Nice looking fly but

Nice looking fly but will probably last through about 3 fish. Synthetic materials will allow many more fish per fly. I have tied several patterns using synthetic body fur heads and angel hair tails that have landed more than 30 fish and are still usable.

Eino,

No, we don'

Eino,

No, we don't make anything - apart from these web pages.

Eumer doesn't make a "normal jaw" vise as far as I know - only a tube vise.
And no, I haven't heard of the Finnish pp-vise, and I can't find anything about it on the web either.

Martin

I have used several

I have used several reel seats made by Bob and they are beautiful. I purchased them from Goldenwitch a few years ago and all my buyers love them.

do you make a normal

do you make a normal jaw vise. have you heard of pp-vise made in finland.

I'm glad to see ther

I'm glad to see there were some fish taken! By the looks of the second grouping of pictures, there was plenty of resting going on!

This is a nice pictu

This is a nice picture. I wish I knew if that feather was on the water or on a mirror. Kind of hard to tell, but's still a great picture.

I have several old (

I have several old (antique) bamboo rods that I have found at yard sales. Two of the rods that I am interested in restoring are heavy rods one is in the 10 foot range and the other is in the 8 foot range. The others are fly rods, they seem to be in pretty good shape still in the original wood box. Any information that you could supply would be most helpful.

This fly made my fis

This fly made my fishing trip! Tied a Tan-coloured fluff with STF and a dubbed butt of black hair (to imitate shrimp's eyes/head) and the fish loved it. I like the stf-dubbing's shimmering effect in the water. Thanks for the pattern.

I agree that the art

I agree that the article is well written and informative.
However I am disapointed that there is only positive feedback. Let´s give the flyfishing philosophy some consideration. How about the old adage that "fly fishing is not (only) about catching fish". There is more to it. The method has nothing to do with flyfishing. To quote Howell Raines from his famous book "Flyfishing through the Midlifee crisis", fishing e.g a gold beaded nymph with a strike indicator with a flyrod has nothing to do with flyfishing. Flyfishing is not defined by the fact that you use a flyrod.
It is too bad that there are flyfishing "contests" that lead to excesses of this kind.
I know my comments will not draw sympathy here. I hope that at least a small minority of true flyfishermen will start thinking.