What do you do different?

ryguyfi

ryguyfi

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Oct 18, 2006
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I think one of the best things about tying your own flies is creating something different. Whether it's a completely new pattern or just a tweak on an existing pattern. What do you do different?

One thing I've been playing with lately is on my spinner patterns. I tie a catskill style dry, but tie in a small piece of foam and pull it over the top like a flash back. This serves as a bright sighter for me. So my sulphurs have an orange "backpack" on them. Then I clip the bottom of the hackle for the spinner. I use a hackle about 2 sizes bigger than normal. I thought I had this idea all to myself and then found it elsewhere about a year after I started using it. This year I'm also playing with a UV post material for this as well. So for my brown drakes that I fish past dark, planning to charge up the material to glow and see if I can see it better. I'll let you know how that goes at the end of May.
 
I tie up a few flymphs (ala Leisenring) but ad a hot spot thorax. Some will get a bead.

I still use a Thompson A vise, from what I understand is a rarity anymore. Never got the hang of a rotary. Of course never really tried that hard.

For catskill style drys I dub a small thorax and wind hackle over that. Adds a nice profile and the hackle barbs stand up better. Also found it to be a bit hardier vs fish teeth.





 
I form the head of my hendricksons and sulfurs with red thread to imitate the prominent red eyes. Doubt I’m alone in this adaptation.
 
I add gills to a lot of my nymphs. Usually just an ostrich feather tied along the sides.
 
I often just don't follow any guidelines and begin lashing materials to a hook. I do this mostly for bass and panfish but have for trout as well. It is fun to just create something that looks like it will catch fish and then it does. After all, there are so many patterns that imitate an often small set up pretty items so it is easy to create your own.
 
I add a turn or two of hen hackle on most my nymphs, I couldn't tell you if it is just my confidence in them, or it actually makes a difference, but I seem to always be more productive with the "soft hackle" style collars on my nymphs
 
NewSal wrote:
I add a turn or two of hen hackle on most my nymphs, I couldn't tell you if it is just my confidence in them, or it actually makes a difference, but I seem to always be more productive with the "soft hackle" style collars on my nymphs

I also often employ some hen hackle on my nymphs. I like adding it to many nymphs.
 
Interesting thread.

I really don't follow many recipes for fly patterns.

Generally, I tie my mayfly imitations a with lot thinner body and more tapered. I also generally use a lot less hackle than one would see in a fly shop bin.

I will of often tie the same pattern with tails and a few with trailing shucks.

I'll tie several versions of the same nymph pattern, kind of generic with a varying amount of weight. Some will have no hotspot (no weight added) and I use different colored hotspots for different weight flies. Also I will tie some of the same nymphs with and without beads.

I favor tying comparadun ties and parachute ties for mayfly duns. I will imitate the size, body shape and color of a natural and imitate it with a parachute or comparadun style tie. I do the same for MF emergers. I favor loop wing or cdc wing style emergers.

For caddis I tie a CDC & Elk and/or and EHC patterns for adults (I started to tie some "double ducks" from the video put up by TimC to experiment) and I use mostly Lafountaine ESPs and DSPs for my emerger and pupa pattern all in the size and colors of the naturals.

For Stoneflies, the same. Sort of a generic nymph form in the size and color of the natural.
 
i never tie on friday the 13th or when theres a full moon

:lol:
 
MKern wrote:
I add gills to a lot of my nymphs. Usually just an ostrich feather tied along the sides.

I've been meaning to do this to a few nymphs and keep forgetting. I think ostrich is an underused material in tying.
 
I own an ostrich plume in every color, except the florescent ones.

An easy scud is just ostrich wrapped around the hook with a scud back material and ribbing of the tying thread's tag end.
 
I agree that ostrich has more potential uses as a material than we might think. I often use it in longer tailed bugger-type flies because it is a good deal less prone to wrap-around than marabou.

I also often substitute ostrich for bucktail in Clouser Minnow-type flies. Makes a nice silhouette when stripped.

It isn't as durable as either marabou or bucktail through..
 
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