Nothing To See Here Folks

Just a quick post today to share another Fire Tiger color combo with you all.  This one is a streamer that I have really enjoyed tying as of late.  It will be making its way across the pond as soon as I can finish a long overdue project.  Anyways, if you would like to read about the materials and the tying of this fly, you can find it here.

Fire Tiger Foam Diver

Just a quick post on a foam diver color combo I did.  I'm a big fan of the Fire Tiger color combo.  We have been doing foam divers for an order.  Love them.  Fished them twice this year with spectacular results.  These flies will be available when we eventually make it through our backlog.  Anyways, here is the Fire Tiger Diver color combo:

Hook: Gamakatsu B10S size 2
Thread: Flat waxed nylon
Tail: 20 pound mono loop
Tail: Hareline Dubbin Inc Micro Rabbit in Orange
Tail: Copper Flashabou
Marabou: Hareline Dubbin Inc Hot Orange
Palmer Chenille: Black
Marabou: Hareline Dubbin Inc Chartreuse
Eyes: Hareline 3/16" Oval Pupil 3D eyes Orange/Black Pupil
Finish it off with Loon Outdoors UV Clear Fly Finish flow
Dog hair not included.....golden retriever/yellow lab mix must be purchased separately

Some Streamer Love

I've been doing some streamer tying as of late.  Working on stuff for largemouth.  I have come up with a few color combos that I feel will work quite nicely.  There really isn't much to this fly.  It is tied on a size 6 Mustad R73-9671 hook.  I have run a mono loop of 20 pound test fishing line off the back of the hook.  Next up, I used mirco rabbit strips since it is a size 6.  I did some with and some without Krystal flash.  I then added layers of marabou and Palmer chenille as I made my way up to the eye of the hook.  Last, but not least, I added in a small amount of red Ice Fur for a throat.  After measuring, I added a Fish Skull to the front of the fly.  Tie in a thread dam in front of the Fish Skull and seal it with some Loon Outdoors UV Clear Fly Finish Flow and you are ready for action.  A short water test showed that the materials compress nicely.  I'm excited about these guys and I can't wait to see what people catch with them.  I am hoping the largemouth tear them up but they are also small enough for my local smallies.  Going to be good times!

A Tribute To France

I was recently on the Partridge Hook Forum on Facebook and read a post about the tragic events in Paris almost two weeks ago.  Mark Hamnett, Partridge Hooks, invited their friends and fellow tyers, no matter whose hook or whose vise they are tied on to tie their favorite fly in the colors of the French national flag which are red, white and blue.  Partridge Hooks is going to get them framed and send them to retailers in France in a show of solidarity.  Fly fishing and fly tying are truly international and there is a bond between us all regardless of who we are or where we live.  

Many probably do not know this, but I had the opportunity to visit France and in particular Paris last year.  It truly is a marvelous and spectacular city.  I loved every minute of it and I hope one day to be able to return.  Seeing the events unfold that Friday night really bothered me.  It was something I could connect with since I had been there.  Not only did it bother me because I had been there, but it bothered me to see innocent civilians lose their lives at the hands of terrorists.  Terrorism, regardless of the reason, has got to stop.  

As of late, we have been tying divers for orders.  I did well with divers over the summer when I was able to fish them.  I even managed to land a personal best largemouth on one.  Anyways, I felt the diver was a perfect fly to tie in the national colors of France.  

I used a Rainy's small diver head in white and tied it on a size 2 Gamakatsu B10S stinger hook.  Unfortunately, I did not have any Partridge Hooks.  At some point I would love to get my hands on some.  Starting from the back and working forward, I used Hareline Micro Rabbit in blue for the tail, I added Flashabou in Pearl, Red and Blue, I used Hareline marabou in blue with blue Palmer Chenille, white Hareline marabou with white Palmer Chenille and then red Hareline marabou with red Palmer Chenille.  Next, I used a blue and red Prismacolor marker to make the tricolor flag on the white diver head.  After it dried, I used an acrylic spray to seal it.  The lines aren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I am pleased with it.  It was finished with Hareline 3/16" Oval Pupil 3D eyes in pearl/black.  I hope it will bring some happiness to someone when they see it in a fly shop in France. One day maybe I will get there again to see it in person.  

Here are some in progress photos as well as the finished product.  Let me know what you think. Thanks.

A Swap Of Tying Materials?

Earlier this year, I posted a question as to whether or not anyone would be interested in exchanging tying materials on my blog.  A few answered up.  Winter is right around the corner and for a lot of us our fishing days are over until the Spring.  Most of us turn toward fly tying as a way to pass those dark, cold, and long winter nights.  I was thinking of hosting a swap of tying materials and I would like to know who might be interested.  Basically it would work like this: I would send a box of materials to a person, who would go through it, pick out what they want and then put stuff in it from their stash that they don't want.  They would, in turn, ship it to the next person on the list.  I would like it to not be a box of crap sent from person to person but rather quality materials no longer being used or needed.  I am attaching some photos of some of the stuff I would be willing to send along in the box from my stash. I am hoping we can get this thing up and running.  If you are interested, let me know please.  Looking for say 12 people.  You can email me at jandmflies@gmail.com.  I look forward to hearing from you all soon.  Thanks.

So I Went To The Fly Shop Last Week

and I came home with a few things......

All were "needed" items.  Do I have a problem?  I'm not sure.  

Cleaned Up My Mess

I finally got around, again, to cleaning up the tying area.  I probably do this every six months or so. Really it should be done after each session but who can do that?  I always make a good effort to keep on top of it for about a week afterwards and then it falls apart.  So here it is all nice and shiny for the time being.  We moved into my son's old room a few months back hence the large size Batman.  I figured I would leave it up because who doesn't like Batman?  For those that tie, how do you organize?  I thought about peg boards but I couldn't pull the trigger on them.  Does anyone use them? We did manage to grab Melissa a desk.  Frankly I was getting tired of sharing with her.

I also decided to finally go through my materials.  I pulled out two totes for some of my materials. One is for getting rid of, the smaller of the two, and the other is to keep but I dont use them right now so they can be stored.  I know a lot of people asked me to give them the box of get rid of materials when I posted it on the social media sites.  I feel a better use might be for us to give it to Casting For Recovery or Project Healing Waters.  I did think that a materials swap might be fun.  Basically we could pass a box around with materials we don't want.  Once you get it, you add to it from your stash and you can take out anything you want.  Would there be any interest in something like that?  Let me know.  First up the give away tote then the keep tote:

So let me know who would be interested in a materials swap.  I would like to get at least 6 people involved including myself.  I can start it off and mail it to someone who would then in turn mail it to someone etc until it comes back to me.  

Rainy's DINKS Panfish Diver Bodies

Quite a while ago, we picked up a few packages of the Rainy's DINKS foam diver bodies.  These come in four different colors and, according to the Rainy's site, should be tied on a size 10 Mustad 3366 hook.  For around six dollars you get six bodies to a package.  Working on another special order, we put a few of these together in color combos that are similar to the poppers we sell.

A few pros and cons about these divers.  First up, the cons.  I do not believe they will work on a size 10 Mustad 3366 hook without modification to the underside of the body.  By modification I mean excessive sanding.  I simply do not see how, if you use the recommended hook, you would ensure a proper hook set given the size of the gap between the body itself and the point of the hook.  The below photo should illustrate what I mean.  This diver was tied on a size 8 Mustad 3366 hook.

If you use the size 10 Mustad 3366 hook, the body itself takes up the entire shank of the hook and sits directly over the point of the hook.  The problem remains... making sure a proper hook set can be achieved. You could sand down the underside of the foam body but I don't see why you would want to.  We found that by turning the body around and making it a popper rather than a diver, you open up the gap between the hook point and the body of the hook.  We also switched the hook from a Mustad 3366 to a Gamakatsu B10S stinger hook in sizes 6 and 8.  This hook has a wider gap which will aid in a proper hook set.  Using a larger hook does take away from the whole idea of these being marketed for panfish, though.  Here are two photos showing what the diver looks like on a size 10 Mustad 3366 hook.

Another con, for me and only me, is that there isn't a lot of creativity involved in using these foam diver heads.  We enjoy painting our poppers.  When painting poppers, the sky is the limit in what color combos you can create either through stippling.  These guys currently only come in four different colors which are black, white, yellow and chartreuse.  I would also love to see an olive, orange, blue, red, and cinnamon colored head.  I think that would open up the creativity a bit. 

Pro....these bodies are easy and fast to tie with.  Start to finish, one can make a popper in under five minutes.  A quick and easy fix to filling those gaps in your warm water fly box at the beginning of the season.  The only thing you need to wait for is the glue to dry.  We used marabou for the tails, hackle and round rubber legs.  If you are going to go with a size 8 hook, we would recommend not using the round rubber legs.  There really isn't enough space to add legs if you are using a tail and hackle.  This could be solved by threading the legs through the body but we do not like to do this. As for the eyes, we found that the Montana Fly Company 3mm eyes looked the best on them.  This, of course, is really up to the individual tyer.  Add bigger or smaller eyes depending on your preference.   

Overall, we enjoyed using these and I look forward to fishing them when I can.  If you are looking for a quick, down and dirty popper to make, give these little guys a try.  

Feeling Black, Blue and Tan?

I am.  Just a very quick post to share the last two divers for a special order.  One has a black diver head, blue tail, electric blue flashabou, black marabou, blue Palmer chenille and finally blue marabou. Many, many, many years ago when I was spin fishing this color combo was a favorite of mine.  It was deadly for largemouth.  They loved it. 

 Next up we have a cinnamon diver head with a tan tail, copper flashabou, tan marabou, tan Palmer chenille and white marabou just prior to the foam diver head.  I really struggled with this color combo.  I'm not sure I totally love it.  The cinnamon colored foam head was a pain to match.  I almost went with a rust colored theme but at the last minute I decided to scrap it.  Anyways, let me know what you guys thing and enjoy.