fisheye56 Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Started tying my own flys this season with great success. I can't remember anytime I have had greater satisfaction to catch fish on my own creations or my interpretations of another fly. My quality has improved and obsession has grown.My question to those of you that tie floating flys, what material do you use? I have just about every color of craft hair offered, and three types of barred duck feathers and wow the mylar and streamer material I have obtained, some with ultra violet properties.Paint my own heads finger nail polish... have just ordered 6 diffrent powder coat paints.The problem here in the south the f-n-f fly season is just that a season and it's coming to an end this year:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassrecord Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 (edited) OK you've caught fish on your tied flies and you've tried lots of materials - what's next? It's time to come on up to the next level. Here's a few specialty areas: 1. Develop flies that catch ALL fish. Find a topwater pattern that catches LM Bass, SM bass, Rainbow trout, Bream (bluegill) and (drum roll) catfish! 2. Develop patterns and combos that catch two or more fish at a time on the same cast! Try poppers and droppers; poppers and trailers (articulated); and turbo blasters with hootchie chasers for example. 3. Develop topwater patterns that target and only catch specific fish species. Patterns come to mind just for goggle-eye (rock bass), crappie, and bream. 4. Develop fly patterns that work only at night. Try these at this level on for size and enjoy! Yep, you guessed it. There's at least one more level above this one. Good luck! John Edited March 3, 2009 by bassrecord Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisheye56 Posted March 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 Whoa!!! I just got started friend how many years have you been tying? That makes a diffrence... But :worship:I got--cha where do I start looking, I googled and have read most everything about flys for bass {mostly what i fish for] but this weekend while the weather was bad started tying for pan fish...crappie..down here. 1/16 oz and 1/32 oz jig heads bought some chenille to try do do a version of a doll fly.The problem is time...and balance...at home I would tie every night if I could.I'd rather be fishing but this seems to help when i'm not on my Ranger! Any help will be great! Later Robbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassrecord Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 (edited) Whoa!!! I just got started friend how many years have you been tying? A little over 60 years, but I've still got a lot to learn. Recently I tried out a new fly pattern idea on a local river and it was a total failure! Walking back with the son of a friend who came along to help, he said, "Next time you want me to come along and watch you make a fool of yourself, just let me know!" ....where do I start looking, .... Flies are classified three ways. There are only three general types, classifications or groupings of flies. Can you name them? Can you tie them? Can you tie at least one from each class to fit the four alternatives I posted earlier? Rather than focus on the "See a fly - tie a fly" approach why not focus on what fish see? Right, fish food. Crawfish are a major component of fish food. Tying them is fun, challenging and productive when fishing. Another major fish food is nymphs. Can you name and tie the three categories? In three life stages each? Maybe the largest fish food component is prey fish. Can you tie minnow patterns. One of my favorite fish foods is terrestrial insects. Can you tie tarantula spider patterns? Tumble bugs? Dirt Daubers? Bees? You live in Georgia. Wonderful state and great location for learning fly fishing and tying. Learn trout mayfly, caddisfly, etc. and match the hatch techniques on Carolina and Georgia cold water rivers. Learn the joys of SM bass on Tennessee lakes. Pursue Northern and Florida strain LM bass in Georgia and Florida. Fight the Kudzsu and other exotic plants and see how they affect your flies. Other species and other water bodies beckon to you. ....The problem is time...and balance...at home .... So true, for all of us! Don't forget to involve the family whenever and however possible - it will draw dividends forever. So you've made progress but can come much further. Time is of the essence so make the most of it. Plan what you want to test on the water and work backward to the tying bench. Always test when fly fishing. Hold all variables constant and just vary one at a time to test your idea. Basic statistics is helpful as is introduction to Design of Experiments. Avoid gut and feel type decision making. Go for observed fact and science whenefer possible but not so much that if affects your joy of fishing. A waterbody journal is helpful. Write down on a water proof book your observations including what you planned on testing, what you actually tested and were your results and conclusions. After several decades these recordings start accelerated payoffs. Fact observed 11 years ago on fish type "A" worked yesterday on fish type "B" and so on. Now's a good time to lay out your 2009 summer fiy fishing plan - what, where, how, why, etc. Rather than attempt too much and fail, why not attempt to gain a firm basis this year for you to build upon next year? By late Fall 2009 you should have enough accomplishments and knowledge to have a much better idea of what you need to study and learn next winter (classes, courses, etc.) to have the quality of flies and fishing you want in 2010. Good luck! John Edited March 3, 2009 by bassrecord Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camo Clad Warrior Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 Hello there, I am new here but have tied for a while. I think that the easiest types of topwater flies to tie are ones that utilize foam in the pattern. I use normall 2mm thick craft foam that you can purchase just about any where for really cheap. There is hundreds of patterns that use it. Also you can try tying poppers. You can either buy the bodies pre-shaped or you can shape you own out of anything that will float. I have recently been working on shaping my own out of botlle corks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTfishingrods Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 I am going to give you the name of a web site that is one of the best websites out there for flyfishing and flytying. My only problem I have with it is that you get the attitude that tends to come with flyfisherman that here way is the only way and their pompous attitudes just turn me off. The main one comes from the owner of the site. However if you can wade through the arrogant attitudes there are some real good people on this site and a wealth of info that cant be found anywhere else. Just be sure to come back here also.Fly Anglers OnLine, Your Complete Internet Flyfishing Resource. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camo Clad Warrior Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 I am going to give you the name of a web site that is one of the best websites out there for flyfishing and flytying. My only problem I have with it is that you get the attitude that tends to come with flyfisherman that here way is the only way and their pompous attitudes just turn me off. The main one comes from the owner of the site. However if you can wade through the arrogant attitudes there are some real good people on this site and a wealth of info that cant be found anywhere else. Just be sure to come back here also.Fly Anglers OnLine, Your Complete Internet Flyfishing Resource. That is a very informational site but yes there is a lot of bad attitudes on there. Try Flytyingforum.com I have been a member there for a while and believe they have helped me out a ton...not to mention shortened the learning curve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisheye56 Posted March 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Hey thanks guys will start reading info on the rainy days. My great grandson is helping me now when he comes over. He is 5 and cuts my material for me, its humbling when I get over my own agenda i.e. this is my time to do what I love and see and opportunity to share my time with him.He asked me while we were tying Robbie am I your fishing buddy? I said you sure are!! He said what does that mean? I said bubba that means nobody fishes with me but YOU!! You should have seen his face.By the way when he spends the night on Sat. He goes to church with me and stands in the choir on the front row with my wife!!! He see us loving the Lord with all our hearts thats the balance I am in need of. I want to post my before and after pictures of my flys just can't get them small enough to get this blog to accept. Later Fisheye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtticaFish Posted May 1, 2009 Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 ...flys for bass {mostly what i fish for]... If you're after bass, spinning deer hair to make a floating mouse is the way to go. I caught my personal best bass (on any tackle) with one of them. Takes some practice to get it right, but the bass don't care much if it ain't perfect. Now trout...salmon... thats another story. To spin hair, you will need some very fine deer hair, I think it is belly hair. Cut a chunk of hair (longer the better) and hold it on the hook shank and make one loose wrap of thread around it, next wrap pull it tight and the hair flairs out, then wrap towards the front while holding back the flaired out hair. Cut more hair and repeat till you fill the shank with a puff ball of hair. All thats left to do is trim the hair to shape with some very sharp sicisors. Thats not the "proper" way to do it but works just fine and has caught me some big bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
