Do It Yourself - about doing things yourself - Keywords - The words we use - Words, tags, taxonomy - Fly fishing tag cloud - Global FlyFisher

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

Find "Cutting and buying zonker strips" on this page

Cutting and buying zonker strips

Zonker: Here's a description of how to cut zonker strips yourself and some advice on getting the best store bought material - both as strips and whole skins.
Get the tips on zonker strips here

Directly to "Everyday Fly Tying Tips"

Everyday Fly Tying Tips

Tie Better: I am as likely to sit down and tie six different flies as I am to tie six of the same pattern. Speed is not a concern, but I don't want to waste my time either. There are things I can do to make my life easier which may be different from a professional production tyer.
Click here to read more

Click to go to "DIY brushes and combs"

DIY brushes and combs

DIY: These are some of the least expensive and most useful fly tying tools you can make yourself. A Velcro stick, a brush and a comb made from strips of Velcro, pieces of wood, hair combs and even ice lolly sticks!
See how to here.

Jump to "Tom's reel"

Tom's reel

DIY: This is a first! Rod building is common, but how about making your own fly reel? Dutch Tom Biesot takes us through the process of making a beautiful home made fly reel, step by step and in meticulous detail with tonnes of pictures.
Follow the process here.

Click to go to "Coloring Raw Tubes"

Coloring Raw Tubes

Tube flies: "See what you can do with these" said Stuart Anderson, who owns the Canadian Tube Fly Company to Bob Kenly who often goes berserk with tubes and epoxy. And that's exactly what Bob did. He started painting the raw tubes.
Read more about it here

Directly to "Fly Line Blues"

Fly Line Blues

Line care: Once in a while Martin needs a different line than the one, which he has been using for a while, and he has to dive into his line stash. That makes him think about the crazy prices on fly lines and ways to buy lines cheaper and organize them better.
Sing the line blues here

Directly to "The Dream Stream"

The Dream Stream

Midge-fishing paradise: Seven summers in the North Swedish wilderness is what Thomas Ohman has spent to get hours of recordings. Enough to tell his story.
He climbed lots of obstacles to get the casts, fights and atmosphere framed in 16:9 format, but was it worth the effort?
Read the review here

More about "Measuring the temperature"

Measuring the temperature

Point Zero: Is this just for nerds or do you as angler get something out of knowing how accurate you can measure the temperature? For some, knowing the temperature may change the day from a disaster to success.
Know how to measure your temperature here.

More about "The Ugliest Flies"

The Ugliest Flies

Commercial: Martin has just received the ugliest flies he has ever seen in his life. And no, don't worry they weren't from a potential GFF contributor or a well meaning friend, but commercially tied. They just confirmed what he has always said: home tied flies are best.
See the pictures and read the story here

Skip to "Balance beam"

Balance beam

Line weight: Les Austin shows you how to construct a simple balance to weigh you fly lines. Using a ruler, a few paperclips and some nuts you can make a precise balance, which can help you determine the AFTM class of all of those fly lines you may have laying around.
Follow the instructions here

LeaderCalc2007

Upgrade!: One of GFF's all-time most popular articles and downloads just got better! Download two new upgrades for FREE! 1) Leadercalc2007, enhanced with new formulas and label making features and 2) the all new GFF's Leader Guide, a 28-page PDF book you can use for your classroom or personal use.
Take me to the downloads now!

More about "Tool turning"

Tool turning

Woodworking: Dutch Henk Verhaar finds that producing his own tools is just as satisfying as tying flies or building rods. Follow his small course in woodturning here and learn to turn hair stackers, bodkins and other beautiful tools in exotic woods
It's quite easy and requires only few tools

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.

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