Eelworm Streamers

I was watching Skip Morris and his video The Art of Tying the Bass Fly the other day.  His take on Whitlock's eelworm streamer seemed interesting to me.  I decided to give it a whirl.  Skip uses four hackles and locks them down on the hook shank as one.  I decided to change it a bit and fork the tail.  I thought maybe this might be a little different and maybe a little better.  Here are the colors I chose.

More balsa wood poppers

Here are some more balsa wood poppers I tied up yesterday.  I really like the square body.  It rides low in the water and it doesn't make a big sound therefore it wont scare the fish when they are skittish.

The Ants Go Marching On Again Hoorah, Hoorah....

Here are some red and black ants I tied up for the upcoming Fly Tyer Of The Year contest.  I wanted to enter something more than just the popper catagory.  I discovered this ant pattern earlier in the year.  I have yet to catch anything on it but it does look cool.  It takes a little while to tie because I have to cut the foam out and then try to attach it to the hook.  These are size 16s.  Trying to hold something that small in my big fingers is challenging to say the least.  My wife and I are arguing over which fly is better.  I personally like the bigger sized foam and she likes the smaller one.  Looking to see what people think.

Poppers

I love tying and fishing poppers.  There is something so wonderful about watching a fish leap out of the water to smash your popper.  I really love it.  Here is a popper I am making for a fly swap at flytyingforum.com

Joker and Mr. Freeze

Here are the Joker and Mr. Freeze nymphs I tied to go along with my Batman and Robin.  Let me know what you think.

More tying of Super Heros and Villians

Among the poppers I have in the works, I managed this weekend to tie up a Joker and Mr. Freeze nymph.  These are keeping with the Batman and Robin nymphs I tied up a few days ago.  Hopefully I will have some photos up tomorrow.  I also have around 20 poppers drying.  Once the last base coat is on, I will start with the stippled dot pattern and then hopefully I will have some photos up.  Right now the wife is sick and I am watching the children so no tying for me!

Batman and Robin

Batman is a big deal in our house. My son loves him and demands that we call him Batman. BTW he is 3. Anyways, a while back Fly Tyer magazine did an article about making super hero nymphs. I cut out the article and saved it for later. With the upcoming fly tyer of the year contest at the fly tying forum, I decided to break out the recipe and give it a whirl. I changed some things up and decided to make them look a little more like the dynamic duo. Batman wears black boots, gray tights with a black cape and a black cowl. Robin on the other hand wears green boots, gloves and a mask with red tights and a yellow cape. I would also like to mention that these are literally the first two nymphs I have ever tied. This is my first go. Let me know what you all think and if I should enter them into the contest. Thanks in advance.

Foam Bumble Bee

Against my wife's advice, I decided to join a fly swap for bluegills.  My wife thought that I would hate it and complain about it.  Therefore she didn't want to hear it so she didn't want me to do it. Well....what does she know???  Nothing I tell ya!  I was home sick yesterday for the third day in a row.  I managed to crank out 15 of these foam bumble bees for the swap.  This is a pattern I tied earlier this year.  It killed the smallies and panfish.  I originally tied this guy with a piece of wing material as the wing but I soon learned it didn't hold up long.  Maybe four fish at best.  So I decided to lose the wing and just cut some wings out of the foam not unlike a Predator fly.  Well here it is.  Let me know what you think.

Tying

I did some tying today.  Sorry no photos.  I really haven't been in the mood to tie lately and I hate to force myself to tie.  The problem is that I have a fly swap that is due in 7 days and I need to make 10 more flies for it.  It is a bluegill invitational swap and I agreed to tie some cone head woolly buggers in orange and brown.  These guys had killed late in the year.  I seem though, to be having a problem tying them and I have only been able to tie 5 decent ones.  I hate sending shitty work out to other people.  I always like or shall I say have to be the best at everything I do.  Hence the problem.  I also need to tie for the Fly Tyer of the Year competition over at fly tying forum.  So much to do and the days are counting down quickly......