Recent comments

Noel,

Sure! Like you attach hooks to any tube. Run the tippet through, slip on a guiding silicone sleeve and tie on the hook. Slip silicone over the tube and pull the hook into the sleeve. It's described and shown numerous places on this site - like here... and here... and here.

Martin

Submitted by noel o donovan on

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does anyone know how to attach hooks to these scierra river bullets ?

Jim,

You can use one pearl in stead of two, but I usually prefer two because I can keep the copper wire free of the body and have it grab the eye and the shank, and it gives a better control because the flies can't rotate. But one pearl and a single holding point can work too.

Martin

Submitted by Jim Hagar on

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Martin-- I have 16 miniature full dress feather wing Atlantic Salamon flys--is there any reason why I could not mount them in my shadow box by threading the cooper wire through a clear pearl or clear tube then around the middle of the hook shank?
thx Jim Hagar
ps RU related to Poul Jorgensen?

Great picture of the caddisI usually carry a small round plastic container with me when I fish. When I get home I'll study it under a magnifying class. This lead to a very successful midge/black fly/gnat/trico pattern which has caught me many fish over the last 12 years or so here in the Northeast. SE/NE PA, Catskills, Adirondacks, Vermont and the Grand and Upper Credit Rivers in southern Ontario. Tying without a specimen or basing a pattern on a book as its problems. There is a Little Black Caddis hatch on a local creek. I had one of the Orvis stream insects books and it said it's tied on a size 16 hook. So that's what I did. Took the flies out to the stream and watched the trout ignore them. Got a bit frustrated and took a break laid my rod down with the fly on a boulder and a couple of the actual caddis landed next to the fly and I was shown the error of my ways. Caught a couple took them home measured them they were about 7 mm long including the wings. The body was 3 mm long. Measured a standard size 16 dry fly hook. The length of the shank was 7 mm. So the caddis was a size 16 it just shouldn't have been tied on a size 16 hook. Another thing that I learned was the caddis wasn't all black. The body was a dark battleship gray.
I'm also a big fan of having an example of a new fly I want to tie in front of me. Sometimes I can wheedle one from the tyer, sometimes they give me one, sometimes I have to buy one. I definitely want a picture if I'm tying a bait fish pattern.

Submitted by Phil Trautmann… on

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Always exciting to come upon a new (to me) technique that makes my tying easier/more streamlined.
This one is fabulously smooth and simple. Why didn't I think of it years ago?? Thx ever so, Hans.

Jim,

I have no idea whether a salmon turns its eyes down as a reaction to light. I have never heard about that before and never seen it happen, but you might be right.
Regarding the life or death of the fish that Nils is holding, I'm almost 100% sure they are all alive and were returned to live on. Nils is an avid C&R fisherman, and even though he does keep a bright fish to eat now and then, basically all his salmon are released again.

Martin

Submitted by Jim Gourlay on

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I believe all of the salmon photographed are dead. A live salmon's eyes will be down turned in response to unaccustomed light. Am I right?

Submitted by Juan J. Serra … on

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Great article, Martin. And yes, float tubes are lot of fun everywhere. Good fishing! Juan

Colin,

That reversed fly looks really crazy - but in a good way. I'll bet you it can catch fish. I also have the outside-the-box book and have been planning on a review for a while. Perhaps I'll dig a little deeper into it during Christmas and get it done.

Martin

Submitted by Joe Danford on

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I need a pattern for a John Deere which is popular at Bennett Spring, Missouri. The fly is tied on a jig hook with a green head and yellow eyes but I don't know the colors of the body and tail. Surely appreciate any assistance.

Martin, this is the way how ALL hatchery fish should look like, but I personally never caught one of those pig look-alike escapers. Nice article.

Rgds,
Ole

Submitted by Beth Holmes on

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I love the tips. I also use many of the tips mentioned here such as the gerber food containers, the magnetic square on the base of my vise. A few more that I would like to share are:
1. Dryer sheets (such as bounce only cheap ones) work really well when tying with hair or if the environment is extremely dry as it is here in Northern California.
2. The drying wheel is critical. My father made one for my step Mom and one for me using a BBQ rotisserie motor. It works so incredibly well and the motors were actually scavenged from BBQs that had been thrown away.
3. Wine Corks... These little buggers are such a useful item. I use them to put flies on as they dry, I use them to protect my bodkin tip (and myself) and for dozens of other things. I also cut the corks in half and clue them to a picture frame so I have a way to display some of my flies. It actually looks very classy.
4. Hemostats, like a doctor uses, are very useful tools. I use them as tools to hold things, I use them for that extra flash that I only used part of. etc..
5. Tic Tac boxes work really well to house beads, cone heads and any other small parts. I have found some plastic bins at the dollar store that will hold the tic tac boxes so they too are organized.
I could go on and on as I love tying flies but I also love the challenge of seeing what is out there that can be used or reused that was never intended for fly tiers. I also agree that a fly tier never throws anything away. LOL I look forward to additional tips, tricks and quirks from anyone who is willing to share. :) Happy Tying to all!

Submitted by (Buddy) Lowell… on

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Great Job and Nicely Done. Thank You. C.Lowell Barnes was a Maine Guide from Long Beach East Sebago Maine. However, it was his son who was the Dr. Dr. Lowell E. Barnes of Hiram Maine. He was my best friend, He was my Dad. Grampa Cecil first tide this fly in the mid '30s to be used trolling Sebago in a canoe with a bamboo fly rod for monster salmon.

Hi Buddy> Great to have you drop by and check out the fly. Thank you for the correction on the information, I'll note this in the write-up. Many thanks!

Tony, this fly is equally at home in stillwaters and rivers. The profile, shape and size can be so many insects, that fish very seldom swims past it, without taking a nibble

Submitted by Ted Patlen 173… on

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timo,

yeah the original muddler is nothing like todays stuff...people have adapted them for themselves and different applications that the original was intended for. the muddler was at first tied to sink as fast as possible and imitate a wide body sculpin. the original's wide sparse collar and heavy hooks represents this fish well.

florian...yes many of those very long shanked hooks were for trolling or just hanging off the end of a canoe when anchored...these flies are just examples of how some of the original flies were tied mainly to imitate smelt.

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