Recent comments

Submitted by Tony Stewart 1… on

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Congratulations, a great achievement. Thoroughly enjoy visiting the site every week for the entertainment and lessons learnt from some expert filmmaker/flyfisherman. Thanks for providing such a comprehensive medium.
Keep up the excellent work. inthebubbleline media

Submitted by John Snow on

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This has to be the simplest yet best looking shrimp imitation out there. Should be a Trout and Redfish killer here in N.E. Florida. So easy and efficient to tie. Thanks for sharing your recipe and also thanks to Global for publishing. This is the best fly tying site!

Submitted by Ed Null on

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Cool idea about the coffee seal! I'll remember that one, and have the wife save the next one.

Submitted by Ed Null on

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Nice, Martin. Big flies for big fish. I'm a natural material guy, but I will investigate some of the lighter synthetics. Getting harder for the old goat to swing a big rod all day. ;-)

Submitted by Clint Brumitt … on

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I began a few years ago to tie small soft hackles in the 16 to 20 size range. Feathers are few and far between on the partridge skins to reach that size hook.
I stumbled on to a video on You Tube, I believe from the Blue Ribbon Fly Shop that showed how to use any size
soft hackle feather and create a soft hackle for the fly. In essence, the trick is to cut the stem and form a V in the feather. Using that notch in the feather, spin the available feather herl like you would deer hair in a single action that creates the soft hackle wrap.
Very educational and very easy to do. Matched with your content on how to use and select feathers, anyone could tie any size soft hackle.

Submitted by Clint Brumitt … on

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One additional item that can be used to make eyes...
The flavor seal on what used to be three pound coffee container are a bright silver color.
Cut or punched, they can be used with the system as explained in this article.

Submitted by John on

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I am looking for a Pamola fly tying vise. If anyone has one for sale or knows of one that might be for sale please let me know.
Thanks, John

Submitted by Yalcin Savas on

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A very helpful article explaning the logic and technique. Thank you!..

Submitted by Phil Ewanicki on

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Levered cam fly vises, especially those with narrow jaws, put an amazing amount of pressure on the hook wire. I have heard this pressure can weaken the steel in the hook wire. I believe it; the broken hooks I have found myself fishing with broke right where the vise jaws were on the hook bend. To prevent this I use a technique suggested by Art Flick: Cut a small piece of light cardboard/paper (like a cereal box), bend it in half, and place the hook bend between the halves. Trim the cardboard so it won't protrude far beyond the vise jaws, place the paper-wrapped bend of the hook in the vise and close the jaws with about half the pressure you normally use. The hook will be held rock-solid in the jaws of even the cheapest vise and the chances of the hook breaking are greatly reduced.

Congratulations Martin and GFF on the videos. You have a wonderful site filled with entertainment and great information. It is a place where everyone can learn something. No mater what your level of fly tying ability is, you can't know it all. I learn something new everytime I come to this site.

Thank you for making this site available. There is nothing like it. Keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing you the next time you come to the Catskill Mountains.

One thing not mentioned is the hook quality. Cheap hooks have points that break off. Also a cheap hook has inferior wire and doesn't have high carbon wire. Cheap hooks aren't a bargain if the points break off. I can't recall the last time I broke a point off, I don't fish saltwater though. If you sharpen points, that will often remove the coating, causing them to rust. Black Nickel hooks are usually the sharpest and some of the worst are blackened salmon hooks, those usually almost always have dull points because they are painted.

Bending hooks removes a hook's tempering. When the heat treating fails, the hook usually breaks. Cheaper hooks are almost always not heat treated well because that involves another step which costs time and money.

I've dropped fly boxes in the water and usually at the end of fishing for the day, I remove the flies. wrap them in a towel and bake them in the oven at 250 degrees for 30 minutes. You need a cotton towel or paper towel with no plastic fibers.

Submitted by Cap Mel Simpson on

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I've been watching him tie for sometime now and he is really a good tier. His techniques are very good...and that fly is beautiful. I'll probably steal some of his ideas!

Submitted by Ed Null on

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I've lost more than one nice smallmouth bass because the hook went dull banging off the rocks. I carry a diamond sharpener and touch up any fly that won't bite into my thumbnail.

Since you got this far …


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