New fly tying season: what to work on?

The fly tying season started for me today. I haven't tied
a fly since April. But I did visit the ladies sewing store today,
where I bought scissors, thick claret-colored thread for ribbing,
various spools of metalic tinsel and a bunch of long thin
'beading' needles, which I tie most of my fly bodies on these
days. This weekend I'll drive down to West Yellowstone and get
a bunch of bird skins for tying soft hackles.

And I find myself wondering: what should I work on this year?
I still tie lots of standard patterns, but like many of us, I do
like working on new designs most of all. So what do you think the
most important,
still-outstanding and unresolved design problems are?
What the most important fish foods that don't have a satisfactory
imitation yet? If you could close your eyes and say the magic words,
presto, what would you like to see in the fly bins next year?

"spittendrigh" wrote in message
...
So what do you think the
most important,
still-outstanding and unresolved design problems are?
What the most important fish foods that don't have a satisfactory
imitation yet? If you could close your eyes and say the magic words,
presto, what would you like to see in the fly bins next year?




A great set of questions, Sandy. I am about to start up the season, as well,
so a fine time to ponder(unfortunately the next 60 dozen or so are
established designs, for me, but I still do some thinking, from time to
time).
Unresolved design issues? Geez, probably every design can be improved
somehow....it's just that we haven't figured it out yet.

What foods aren't satisfactorily imitated? Algae and plankton have few, if
any imitations, and some fish eat them.....seriously, most common foods of
trout and bass have been imitated to some serious extent. Satisfactory?
Well, that would be up to the end user. Can it be done better? See above for
my opinion.

What do I wish to see in fly bins next year? If they held mine, nothing....I
will immediately seek payment from the shop owner, and well as re-orders!
Have a good season,
Sandy, and keep us posted with those brainstorms of yours.
Tom

Tom Littleton wrote:
"spittendrigh" wrote in message
...

So what do you think the
most important,
still-outstanding and unresolved design problems are?
What the most important fish foods that don't have a satisfactory
imitation yet? If you could close your eyes and say the magic words,
presto, what would you like to see in the fly bins next year?





A great set of questions, Sandy. I am about to start up the season, as well,
so a fine time to ponder(unfortunately the next 60 dozen or so are
established designs, for me, but I still do some thinking, from time to
time).
Unresolved design issues? Geez, probably every design can be improved
somehow....it's just that we haven't figured it out yet.

What foods aren't satisfactorily imitated? Algae and plankton have few, if
any imitations, and some fish eat them.....


You say that in jest but one of my things this Summer was to catch a
grass carp on a fly. There's a small pond just down the street that has
some HUGE 20 to 30 pound grass carp. I fished for them probably about a
dozen times, usually for about 15 minutes when I end up spooking them.
In the small shallow pond, you spook one and they all get spooked.
They're plant eaters, and it's hard to imitate plants with a fly (at
least for me). The one guy I know that is reasonably successful, chums
them with grass clippings. Once they're feeding he throws out a fly with
some strands of green floss tied to it. I don't want to chum the fish.
I know some people have caught them on nymphs, but I've made some great
presentations to actively feeding fish with no results. Common carp are
easy but these grassies are tough!

Willi

spittendrigh wrote:

... So what do you think the most important,
still-outstanding and unresolved design problems are? ...

I make no claims as to its importance, except to me, but
the design problem which will get most of my attention
this winter is how to tie a large bait fish imitation on
a 4/0 hook. Gizzard shad can grow to 16-20" and muskie
love them.

Rabbit fur strips are the tried and true but they're a
pain to cast, the Puglisi-style synthetics absorb less
water and are easier to cast but don't catch as many fish.

At any rate, tying up big honkin' muskie flies will occupy
a large part of my "creative" tying time this season.

--
Ken Fortenberry

spitten

It's that time again isn't it.

I get bored tying the samo samo patterns hour after hour, year after
year. After tying 5 or so, I quit and start tying something else.
Hince, material and hooks piled all over my bench. I've even been known
to buy the standards just so I don't have to tie them again. Then I
complain all season about the poor tying job and cheap hooks.

However...this summer I went to one of my favorite fishing spots and
casted to rising trout all morning without a single take. So, I got out
my trusty net and caught a few of the drifting midges they were feeding
on. Never seen them before and couldn't find them in any book or
online. I made some up that night and in the am gave them a try. All I
can say is they were exactly what the trout wanted. So guess what I'll
be tying a bunch of this winter. Probably one of those once in a
lifetime hatches, that came from Mexico in the intestines of migrating
finches.

Cdog


--
Corndog
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On 28 Nov, 23:35, spittendrigh wrote:
The fly tying season started for me today.

I still dress lots of flies all the year round, so I don´t really
have a "season". As I fish for lots of different fish, I also use
quite a large number of patterns. The only way I have found to come up
with new designs is when I discover specific problems or scenarios,
and sit down to solve them. Just sitting and trying to come up with
new designs doesn´t work for me.

Sorry if that is not much help!

TL
MC

spittendrigh wrote:
The fly tying season started for me today. I haven't tied
a fly since April. But I did visit the ladies sewing store today,
where I bought scissors, thick claret-colored thread for ribbing,
various spools of metalic tinsel and a bunch of long thin
'beading' needles, which I tie most of my fly bodies on these
days. This weekend I'll drive down to West Yellowstone and get
a bunch of bird skins for tying soft hackles.

And I find myself wondering: what should I work on this year?
I still tie lots of standard patterns, but like many of us, I do
like working on new designs most of all. So what do you think the
most important,
still-outstanding and unresolved design problems are?
What the most important fish foods that don't have a satisfactory
imitation yet? If you could close your eyes and say the magic words,
presto, what would you like to see in the fly bins next year?


I'm up to my ears in tying stuff for the silent auction at my club's
Xmas party. Some of my old standbys have provoked some quite savage
bidding wars to the clubs advantage. After that it's replenishing my
boxes of small stuff, 18 and smaller. I'm also considering going
semi-pro with a barter deal for some steelhead guiding services.

Mike McGuire

"spittendrigh" wrote in message
...

...So what do you think the most important,
still-outstanding and unresolved design problems are?...

Beetles come readily to mind. Not that I think they're undermisrepresented
as a food source......they just aren't that important compared to the
aquatics.....or that there aren't already enough effective patterns
around.....plenty of very useful deer hair and foam bugs to chose from.
But, deer hair is fragile and quickly soaked, while foam holds all the
aesthetic appeal for me of a bag of pus.

Wolfgang

On Nov 28, 7:06 pm, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:
At any rate, tying up big honkin' muskie flies will occupy
a large part of my "creative" tying time this season.

I've fished the following two full seasons now. It's the best big fish
fly I know (in brown trout terms
anyway) and it IS a lot easier to cast than a fur strip fly of the
same size. It does take a fair amount
of planning and determination to make.


http://montana-riverboats.com/Pages/...g-Sticker.html

Always looking for big, ugly flies to catch big trout. The Pig Sticker
looks interesting and I will tie some up.


My quest is to get nymphs to wiggle like the real ones. When I throw
live nymphs into a stream the trout come running and grab them
aggressively. My patterns will take fish, but don't get the positive
takes a real live bug gets. BTW, dead nymphs seem to be a turn-off -
it's the wiggle that seems to draw them in. The plastic cones work OK
for streamers and very large nymphs, but for size 14 and under nymphs I
still can't get the wiggle I'd like.


--
JeffK
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