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Do It Yourself
about doing things yourself

Tom's Line Winder

DIY: Build your own line winder for maintaining your fly lines and getting them on and off the reel. Tom Biesot considers the line cleaning process and use and construction of your own line winder.
Follow the detailed instructions here.

Super simple fly photos

Fly photos: This is the über simple lightweight guide to taking pictures of your flies - finished flies or for step-by-steps - even with your phone!
Learn how to do in this article
This link takes you to "Cutting and buying zonker strips"

Cutting and buying zonker strips
Click to see "Everyday Fly Tying Tips"

Everyday Fly Tying Tips
Click to go to "DIY brushes and combs"

DIY brushes and combs
Read more on "Tom's reel"

Tom's reel
Proceed to "Coloring Raw Tubes" here

Coloring Raw Tubes
Read more on "Fly Line Blues"

Fly Line Blues
Read more on "The Dream Stream"

The Dream Stream
Skip to "Measuring the temperature"

Measuring the temperature
More about "The Ugliest Flies"

The Ugliest Flies
Go to "Balance beam"

Balance beam
Directly to "LeaderCalc2007"

LeaderCalc2007
Jump to "Tool turning"

Tool turning

  
 Go to Dogma framing
Dogma framing
Framed flies can be pieces of art - both the flies and the framing. But creating your own framed flies is not that difficult. Follow these instructions and frame your first fly with few tools and few demands on routine and skill. You can develop it into art later.
  
 Go to Flexible bench
Flexible bench
German Jan-Ole Willers wanted to be able to clear his vice, tools and materials off the dining table for such unimportant events as lunch and dinner. That made him think out and build his own inexpensive portable fly tying bench. You can do the same.
  
 Go to Tying Station
Tying Station
A tying station is a small, mobile board where you can set up your vise and your tools, making it quick and easy to move your favorite tying spot around: from the dinner table to the TV to the office to... the bed? This article gives you some ideas on how to make one.
  
 Go to Weird Ways
Weird Ways
What can you get if you mount a giant sling on your Volkswagen Beetle? A sturgeon fishing gadget out of the ordinary! This is just one of the strange gizmoes and methods that John Waldman writes about in his book "100 Weird Ways to Catch Fish". Weird indeed!
  
 Go to DIY Epoxy Rotor
DIY Epoxy Rotor
If you tie a lot of epoxy flies and have been glancing in the direction of the nice but expensive epoxy rotors in the local flyshop, you may want to consider building your own out of some scraps and a disco mirror ball motor.
  
 Go to Bamboo part 7
Bamboo part 7
Follow along as Harry Boyd takes us through the process of trimming the bamboo blank to the proper length, preparing and mounting your ferrules, and adjusting the fit of the ferrules. Many thanks to Harry for this well received series of articles.
  
 Go to Lamar Reel Seats
Lamar Reel Seats
Andy Dear hits a home run with his custom reel seat spacers and complete reel seats. It's a rare thing for a product to get a "Global Class" GFF rating, but Andy's woodworking skills earn him that high honor easily.
  
 Go to Saved soles
Saved soles
Felt is great for soles on wading boots. But while it overcomes slippery rocks it does not overcome waer. But luckily it is easy to replace the worn down soles. Buy some felt, som glue and 
  
 Go to Production leaders
Production leaders
What is production leader tying? Tying more than 2 leaders at a time! But, if you are like me, you find out that tomorrow you may go fishing, so you scramble to tie just enough leaders (usually 2) to handle the day and go on with life.
  
 Go to DIY Rod Tubes
DIY Rod Tubes
You have one extra rod with no sock and rod tube. You've been putting off buying a tube...why don't you just make your own?! With $4.00 and about a 1/2 hour's time, you'll have a DIY rod tube. These won't win beauty contests, but they work just as well as any retail version. Read here how to DIY.
  
 Go to Shooting heads
Shooting heads
In this article I will try to cover some advantages and disadvantages of the shooting head over the WF line, and I will thoroughly describe the way you can configure a good shooting head system for your rod. The article will teach you how to calculate, make and trim a shooting head. It will also tell you how to cast it - just on the introductory level.
  
 Go to QwikCalc
QwikCalc
Want to use LeaderCalc but don't have access to MS-Excel? No problem! We at GFF recognize that many of you have been missing out on the extensive capabilities of LeaderCalc in helping you design your own tapered mono leaders.
  
 Go to Digitizing flies
Digitizing flies
This is the most complete lecture on digitizing flies you will find on the net. Its aim is to teach you all the techniques needed for making good fly pictures online. By web master Martin Joergensen with supplementary text and photos by web master Steve Schweitzer.
  
 Go to Fly fishing leaders and tippets
Fly fishing leaders and tippets
Leaders fall in several categories. These all serve the same purpose: transmitting the energy fra the fly line to the fly in a gentle, yet firm way. The different types each have their advantages and disadvantages, and selecting one is often a question of compromises.
  
 Go to Harry Boyd
Harry Boyd
GFF's own bamboo rod expert and maker of these beautiful rods. Best known for his extremely popular series on making your own bamboo rods.
  
 Go to Braided sleeve and silicone tubing
Braided sleeve and silicone tubing
There's an easy way to attatch the leader or backing to the fly line, and that's by using a piece of silicone tubing.
  
 Go to Making a wading staff
Making a wading staff
Finished stickHere's the recipe for making a 'Totally Cool' Wading Stick - Danish Kind.
  
 Go to Making loops
Making loops
These loops are often refered to as Orvis loops. I don't know if Orvis invented them, but they do sell them -- and at high prices too.
Sullys Rod Drying Motor
I don't expect much from a rod drying motor. It should turn smoothly and hold a rod section securely while it turns. Bumps and wobbles and starts and stops are most unwelcome. Sections that come loose and stop turning are definite no-nos. An on-off switch is nice
  
 Go to Picric acid
Picric acid
Dyeing with picric acid yields colors between a gorgeous olive and an electric yellow.
  
 Go to Juro Mukai's shooting head setup
Juro Mukai's shooting head setup
Juro Mukai is a old aquaintant from the Flyfish@ mailing list. I had the pleasure of fishing with him in the Seattle area, and was intrigued by the 'modular' line setup that he uses on his two hand spey rod for steelhead.