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How to Fish Undercover

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6 pointers to improve your hero shots

Largemouth Bass caught in Pelican Lake, UT


Have you ever had this terrifying act happen to you while fishing?  Before I delve into this serious subject, I want to just explain that there need to be two willing parties to make this work.  1- The "Dude" and not the Big Lebowski type of dude.  The Dude is the guy in all of the pics regardless of who catches the fish.  2- The "Wing Man." This is the guy who gets to use the Dude's camera to take pics of said Dude.  No real photography skills are needed for this role because all cameras come with the little "green camera" auto setting that ensures that you will be automatically awesome on Instagram, Facebook, and your local pissing match forum.

This excerpt is directed at the Dude.  NOT the Wing Man: 
You are fishing your secret spot that is probably public water that may or may not be accessible to the jackwads that frequent the interwebs.  It's just you, your 7 wt Pflueger rod/reel combo, a spool of 8 pound test, and pocket full of a secret pattern you affectionately call "Trout Candy." Your DSLR is strapped around your neck and the arrow is pointing to the little green camera setting ready to go so you can hand it to your Wing Man to get photographic evidence that you in fact were there.  That you, in fact, have the ability... the audacity... the POWER, to raise a fish out of the water and hold it up for your wing man to capture the image of a lifetime.  What's so terrifying about this?  I'll tell you.  It's impossible to get a picture of you holding your prize without getting the background in the picture.  Having the background in the picture is the same as walking a single file line of swinging dicks to your treasured hole, handing each and every one of them your Pflueger Trophy Tamer, and making sure that the Trout Crack is even tied with a LOOP KNOT to maximize movement...  Yes.  It's serious.  Why not just take a pic of the fish at water level so as to maximize the health of the fish, and ensure that no swinging dick will be able to recognize the background???  Dumb question.  RIDICULOUS question!  You are just as important as the fish in this picture, for how will your esteemed associates know that it was you who foul hooked caught this majestic beast.  In fact, you are actually MORE important than the fish in the picture.  There are many fish in the sea, but there is only one of you.  Pixelation and digital paintbrushes are your ONLY option.

Ok...  So now that you see that this is a very serious issue, we have researched and met with several Dudes to help us understand some common techniques to help you fish undercover.
Blackout

1- Blackout the evidence.  It's OK for the people to see a little bit of the brown bath tub of a boat in
this picture, but all of the damning evidence is GONE!  See?  They get to see you, they get to see the fish, and everybody wins.  I also probably should have blacked out the baitcaster that I used to catch this fish.

Pixelate


2- Pixelate the evidence. That's right!  It's kind of like, "Hey you Jackholes, you can kind of see where I was fishing, but not really." The good thing about this is that people will actually get in their cars and drive to similar looking pixelated areas and waste their time trying to find your spot.  With any luck they will end up in New Jersey with no cash to pay the tolls.

Pixelate everything... but the face


3- Pixelate everything! Everything except you.  Remember that you are the most important part of this picture...  AND people will still be able to see the fish for the most part.  Also, when I say pixelate everything, I mean everything but your face.

Get creative... PAINT!


4- Paint the pic yourself. This is similar to pixelating the picture, but instead you use a paintbrush tool to make the picture look just like you painted it.  As you see in this picture, you want to go just "Picasso" enough to make sure that the background doesn't show through.  VERY IMPORTANT - leave your face alone.  The people need to know it's you.

The rare purpleout


5- Purpleout...  You have never heard of a purple out, but you just basically make everything purple except for your face and a TINY part of the fish.  As you can see in this picture, there is enough fish showing to prove that it's a 7+ pound largemouth.  It also helps to draw arrows and hashtags to help your pic get more likes.

The Green Ninja


6- The Green Ninja.  This is where you leave the background there and just paint yourself green.  It's important to leave just enough of yourself showing so your closest friends know that it's you.  In this picture I left a tiny portion of Bob Marley's face showing so people can recognize me.  Everybody knows that Cheech is the only one who catches 7 pound largemouth while wearing Bob Marley shirts.

~Cheech


In all seriousness though...  I love to see fishing related pictures, but is the hero shot important enough to post these poorly edited eyesores on the internet?  If you are fishing in a sensitive area, find a way to take a pic without having to compromise the picture with the above silliness!  At the end of the day, I hope you got a good laugh out of this, because I sure had fun writing it!

The NOOB Corner: 4 Flies And The Materials To Get Started

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A material and fly list for beginners

Your fly tying room, once you get addicted
Out of the many questions we get sent to us via email or messages on social media etc, one of the
more common, especially for beginners, is what materials or flies should they focus on while learning the ropes. So let's talk about that question here...

First off, there's really no right or wrong answer. It really depends on what you'll be fishing for and subsequently the bugs you'll be tying that ultimately determines your material selection. However, there are a few skills that can be learned on fairly simple fly patterns that can translate universally to other more complex flies as you gain more experience. So our first recommendation is that even though you might be living in Florida and plan on fishing for Tarpon, these are some patterns that you could start with just to nail down those skills. We'll focus on a few of those patterns as well as a list of materials to cover the bases on some patterns for a few different fish targets.  NOTE: We assume, at this point, you've seen our vise options as well as our tool options. Obviously, you need a vise and some tools to work the magic with these materials. You should also start at the very beginning of our Fly Tying 101 courses here. From there, you will see some mini-lessons on how to attach thread, wrap dubbing, attach tails etc -- all of which are skills needed to tie the following flies. Practice those techniques again and again. And again.

1. The Dubbing Emerger (Trout, Grayling, Panfish etc)

As long as you can attach thread and have gone through our Wrapping and Ribbing bodies section of the Fly Tying 101, you'll be a pro at this pattern. Easily one of my most effective nymphs (fly that goes under the water when fish are eating insects under the surface), it's also one of the simplest. Read about it here, but we'll start off your tying session with it now.

Hook: Partridge Fine Czech Nymph #16 (BUY HERE)
Bead:  2.3mm Tungsten Bead, Gold  (BUY HERE)
Thread: MFC Premium Thread, 6/0, Brown  (BUY HERE)
Body:  Nature's Spirit Fine Natural Dubbing, BWO  (BUY HERE)
Thorax (area right behind the bead):  Nature's Spirit Fine Natural Dubbing, Gray Olive (BUY HERE)




2. Wooly Bugger (Trout, Bass or anything that swims)

It's tough to argue either the effectiveness or simplicity of the tried and true Wooly Bugger. It features relatively inexpensive materials, it's not a difficult tie and it will catch almost any fish that swims. It's most often fished in streams and lakes to imitate a lot of different creatures, including leeches, dragon flies, stoneflies, craneflies and the list goes on. It's meant to be fished under the water, so it's meant to sink, not float. Here are the materials you'll need and a video to go along with it:

Hook: Daiichi 1710 #8 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 Denier, Black  (BUY HERE)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Strung Marabou, Black   (BUY HERE)
Body: Speckled Chenille, Midnight Fire  (BUY HERE)
Ribbing: UTC Ultra Wire, Copper-Brown, Brassie size  (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Schlappen, Black  (BUY HERE)




3. Brassie (Trout, Grayling mostly, but also good for panfish)

Likely the most bang for your buck if you're nymphing and looking for something effective yet can take a couple of minutes (or less) to tie. You can use this in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds etc and, like the Wooly Bugger, it's fished under the surface to imitate any one of the many small insects the fish will eat.

Hook: Daiichi 1120 #14 down to #18  (BUY HERE)
Bead: 2.3 mm Tungsten, Black Nickel  (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville, 70 Denier, Black  (BUY HERE)
Wire: UTC Ultrawire, Black & Silver, Size Small  (BUY HERE)
Head: Dubbing of your choice. We like Arizona Synthetic Dubbing  (BUY HERE)


STOP: Tie a dozen of each of these flies. Tie them until your fingers bleed and then tie more. Get them as close as you can to what you see here. Remember, we're working on motor skills and tying techniques. If the fly looks like crap, untie it and tie it again. Be mindful of proportions. And again, go through our skill sessions here.

Now, moving on to something a bit more challenging...

4. Elk Hair Caddis (Dry fly for trout, grayling etc, but also good for panfish)

The Elk Hair Caddis is likely one of the most widely fished patterns in the world, right alongside the venerable Wooly Bugger. It's a dry fly, so it floats on the surface of the water and is intended to imitate the Caddis insect that hatches from the stream or lake to emerge as it turns into an adult ready to hit the town with the other single caddis peeps who also want to desperately get it on before they ultimately flutter and die.

Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14  (BUY HERE)
Thread: Veevus Monofilament Thread, Clear, .1mm  (BUY HERE)
Body: Nature's Spirit Fine Natural Dubbing - Callibaetis  (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Dark Barred Ginger or Coachman Brown (bear in mind this will tie a LOT of flies, so it's worth the $$$  (BUY HERE)
Wing: Nature's Spirit Select Cow Elk, Natural  (BUY HERE)




So once you have these patterns down, we recommend searching out the areas you'll be fishing and then move onto any of the other patterns we tie. The Fly Tying Tutorial page lists our patterns by category, so you can search through those to find other patterns to tie. But these four listed here are a great start.

Complex Twist Bugger

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Complexity in a simple form

Complex Twist v2.0 


***UPDATE***

Do you have a fly that always ends up making it's way onto your line because it just plain works?  As many of you might know I really like trying new patterns and branching out to explore new patterns, but when the going gets tough, or if I need to have a fly on my line that I'm 100% confident in, it's the Complex Twist Bugger (CTB).  The brown and black CTB has produced when other flies have not, and I caught the biggest fish of my life this spring on it (caught and landed are two separate things right?)

The Complex Twist Bugger has been an absolute beast for us this year, and we have made a few changes to the pattern that we'll share here.  I have been using a cone head (both brass and tungsten) and a better hook, and I have even switched out one of the strands of chenille for another color of schlappen (yes, two pieces of schlappen for one fly.) Check out the secret recipes below the new video...


Tools Needed:
Gator Grip BUY HERE
Turbo Dubbing Spinner BUY HERE
Stonfo Comb/Brush Tool BUY HERE

Cream Twist:
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 BUY HERE
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - white BUY HERE
Cone: Brass (or Tungsten) - fl. pearl white - large BUY HERE
Weight: Lead free wire - .025 BUY HERE
Tail: NS Prime Marabou - white BUY HERE
Body 1: UV polar chenille - gold BUY HERE
Body 2: Tinsel chenille - gold BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - white BUY HERE
Veil: Bruiser Blend Jr. - cream BUY HERE

Brown and Black:
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 BUY HERE
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - black or brown BUY HERE
Cone: Brass (or Tungsten) - copper large BUY HERE
Weight: Lead free wire - .025 BUY HERE
Tail: NS Prime Marabou - brown BUY HERE
Body 1: UV polar chenille - copper olive BUY HERE
Body 2: Schlappen - black BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - fiery brown BUY HERE
Veil: Bruiser Blend Jr. - brown BUY HERE

Black and Red:
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 BUY HERE
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - black or red BUY HERE
Cone: Brass (or Tungsten) - black nickel large BUY HERE
Weight: Lead free wire - .025 BUY HERE
Tail 1: NS Prime Marabou - black BUY HERE
Tail 2: NS Prime Marabou - claret BUY HERE
Body 1: Senyo's Aqua Veil chenille - chocolate covered cherry BUY HERE
Body 2: Schlappen - black BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - Nature's Spirit dyed claret BUY HERE
Veil: Bruiser Blend Jr. - black/red BUY HERE

Black and Blue:
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 BUY HERE
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - black or fl. blue BUY HERE
Cone: Brass (or Tungsten) - black nickel large BUY HERE
Weight: Lead free wire - .025 BUY HERE
Tail 1: NS Prime Marabou - black BUY HERE
Tail 2: NS Prime Marabou - royal blue BUY HERE
Body 1: UV polar chenille - black BUY HERE
Body 2: Schlappen - black BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - Nature's Spirit dyed royal blue BUY HERE
Veil: Bruiser Blend Jr. - black/red BUY HERE

Olive and Brown:
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 BUY HERE
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - black or olive BUY HERE
Cone: Brass (or Tungsten) - copper BUY HERE
Weight: Lead free wire - .025 BUY HERE
Tail 1: NS Prime Marabou - olive BUY HERE
Tail 2: NS Prime Marabou - brown BUY HERE
Body 1: UV polar chenille - copper olive BUY HERE
Body 2: Schlappen - olive BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - fiery brown BUY HERE
Veil: Bruiser Blend Jr. - brown olive BUY HERE

Fall (Autmn):
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 BUY HERE
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - black or Brown BUY HERE
Cone: Brass (or Tungsten) - copper BUY HERE
Weight: Lead free wire - .025 BUY HERE
Tail 1: NS Prime Marabou - sulphur orange BUY HERE
Tail 2: NS Prime Marabou - brown BUY HERE
Tail 3: NS Prime Marabou - fl. orange BUY HERE
Body 1: UV polar chenille - copper olive BUY HERE
Body 2: Schlappen - fl. orange BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - Nature's Spirit dyed crawdad orange BUY HERE
Veil: Bruiser Blend Jr. - hidden treasure BUY HERE


Happy tying and catching.


See below for the original pattern.


Olive Complex Twist Bugger
The Wooly Bugger is the first fly that I learned how to tie back in 2000, and I bet it was one of the first flies that most people learn how to tie because of it's simplicity and effectiveness.  As my tying skills increased, like many of you, I started to add lots of variations to my buggers including flash, different chenilles, and dubbing loops...  For the past few months I have been in full mad scientist mode at the vise, and dubbing loops have been my main medium for my madness (even though I kind of ditched the whole idea of dubbing.. and loops).  The first complex twist bugger I tied really made me realize how endless the possibilities are for this twist.  Here are some of the items that I have put in this bugger...

- Schlappen
- Cactus chenille
- Palmer chenille
- Polar chenille
- Simi seal dubbing
- Small animals
- Unicorn mane fibers
- Pictures of Curtis' mom

Now you can see that you can throw almost anything in this bugger, but I have kind of settled on the materials that are listed in the video and recipe below.  One thing that I realized is that it was hard to get a grip on all of the materials that I put in these flies, so I made a very rudimentary tool that just so happens to work so well that I made a bunch of them to sell on our store.  It's not too hard to figure out what it is, and if you want to make your own go right ahead...  For those of you who want a cheechcrafted original, you may purchase these gator grips here...

~ Cheech

Material List

Hook: Allen S402 #4 BUY HERE
Thread: 3/0 Uni - white BUY HERE
Bead: Tungsten - 3.8mm BUY HERE
Tail 1: Wooly bugger marabou - olive BUY HERE
Tail 2: Senyo fusion dub - tobacco BUY HERE
Body 1: UV polar chenille - rusty copper BUY HERE
Body 2: Speckled chenille - lime olive BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - olive BUY HERE
Veil: UV ice dub - olive brown BUY HERE

***Variations we use***:
Black: Wooly Bugger Marabou, Black; Senyo Fusion Dub, Midnight; UV Polar Chenille, Silver; Speckled Chenille, Midnight Fire; Schlappen, Black; UV Ice Dub, Black

White: Wooly Bugger Marabou, White; Senyo Fusion Dub, Rainbow; UV Polar Chenille, Pearl; Speckled Chenille, Pearl/White; Schlappen, White; UV Ice Dub, UV Pearl

Fall: Wooly Bugger Marabou, Rusty Brown; Senyo Fusion Dub, Tobacco; UV Polar Chenille, Hot Orange; Speckled Chenille, Halloween; Schlappen, Fiery Brown; UV Ice Dub, Gold



Craft Fur Dubbing Brush

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Speed up your complex streamers

Dubbing Brushes with some Hambone flies


As many of you know by now, I love to tie streamers with dubbing loops.  Dubbing loops are a great way to place a material on a fly with maximum durability and full body.  It really wasn't until a few months ago that I decided to give my hand a try with dubbing brushes because we had just ordered about every color of craft fur under the sun.  I was determined to get over my love/hate relationship with craft fur and start using it more in my patterns.  I was building loops with a couple colors of craft fur and putting in flash, but I realized that I probably ought to just build brushes if I was going to get any more complex.  

My biggest beef with the dubbing brush jigs/tables that I had seen was that they left very little room for longer fibers once you start to twist them.  I wanted table that I could remove once I started twisting the brush so I could ensure that none of the long fibers would be impeded.  I know there are some really beautiful jigs out there with all the features that I would want, but they also cost an arm and a leg.  This one cost me about $20, and it could cost a lot less than that if I were more patient.  In the video you will see the basic design of the jig, and you will also see that I won't be teaching wood shop at any vocational school any time soon.  I was going for form over function... and I succeeded.  To be clear, this is the third jig that I built (in about a week), and there may be more changes to it if we decide to make these for the masses (obviously by someone more able than me.  Two changes that I have already made since we filmed this are that I bent out the hook holding the key ring so the ring was easier to take off and put on the drill, and I also added some rubber feet to the bottom to prevent slippage.  I also realized that I probably don't need to clamp down the table with the wood clamp so I experimented without it with no issues.  I decided to use a power drill to twist up my brush because most everyone has a drill already and I wanted to keep it simple.  I know that we could have used a fancy bearing system or a motor built into the tool, but we wanted to keep costs down.  If you don't have a power drill, you should be able to find something that works for about $30 to $40 (probably less than that at Harbor Freight.)

I have put a ton of materials into this jig including raccoon, arctic fox, coyote, rabbit, etc etc...  They all work great, and I'm also working on modifications on the jig so it's more "short fiber" friendly.  The key here is to be creative, so if you have a long stringy material that you think would look cool in a fly, throw it in the brush jig to see what you come up with!  

~ Cheech

Don't forget to check out the recipes under the video!


We have a limited quantity of the new dubbing brush tables for sale as shown below



Recipes:

Brown/Yellow
Wire: UTC dubbing brush wire .009 (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 1: Yellow (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Medium brown (BUY HERE)
Flash: Ice wing fiber: Gold (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)

Dark Olive
Wire: UTC dubbing brush wire .009 (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 1: Med Olive (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Black (BUY HERE)
Ice wing fiber: Minnow Back (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)

Minnow
Wire: UTC dubbing brush wire .009 (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 1: White (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Med Gray Dun (BUY HERE)
Ice wing fiber: Lavender (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)

Justin's Jam (The original Gangster)
Wire: UTC dubbing brush wire .009 (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 1: White (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Tan (BUY HERE)
Flash: Ice wing fiber: Gold (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)

Redfish Magic
Wire: UTC dubbing brush wire .009 (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 1: Cream (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Medium Brown (BUY HERE)
Ice Dub: Copper (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)

Tools used:
Vedavoo fly tying apron (BUY HERE)
Hareline dubbing blending brush (BUY HERE)











Hambone

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Catch fish, or season a pot of beans

Hambone

Several years ago I went to Phoenix on a business trip, and as I usually do, I stopped in a fly shop to "check it out." Little did I know that I had walked into Arizona Flyfishing; the shop that was owned by the godfather of dubbing - John Rohmer.  His walls were covered top to bottom with all types of dubbing, and I left with some goodies that day.  I was introduced to the simi seal leech that day, and I also talked to him about fishing for bass with baitfish patterns; specifically one of his flies that he used superglue to shape the head.  The technique was very simple, and I tied and fished some with great success.  I never really added a lot of those to my arsenal because my fishing priorities changed a bit, but the important part of that trip was that I learned a great technique by listening to someone much more experienced than I was.  The super glue head technique came in very handy on the Hambone.

The Hambone kind of happened as an accident.  I had fully blacked out in my craft fur brush thuggery (Click HERE to learn how to make these brushes) when I realized that I probably sit down and put these things on some hooks.  I had a tail tied in, some chenille for the guts, and now I was going to attempt to wrap a CF brush around the head of the fly.  After wrapping the head in I knew that I either needed to trim a profile, or slick it back with some type of adhesive.  I used UV resin first, but I didn't love the result so I decided I'd give the old John Rohmer superglue trick a try.  I liked the result much more so I just went with it.  It kind of had that appearance of being just buggy enough, but not completely smooth around the head.  When I got it wet, I really liked that it stayed super bulky and round at the head, and everything else just slimmed down behind it.  The fly was a prototype at this point, so we headed to a local reservoir full of educated cutthroat to give it a test run.

We met up with Justin Hamblin (known for his powers in kicking and photography) to give this fly a whirl.  I just kind of threw it over to him and told him that he could fish it if he wanted.  He wanted.
Hambone eater.  Photo: Justin Hamblin
 Now, I'll be completely open and honest with you.  I love fishing conventional gear almost as much as I love throwing flies, so I was throwing some giant swimbaits and tube jigs for a lot of the day.  Justin outfished all of my expensive swimbaits pretty handily with the now-named "Hambone." Justin went on to fish it in other waters to experience similar success, so I asked him to tell me what he thought of the fly.  Keep in mind that the fly he was using was unweighted.


I was first introduced to the Hambone on a blustery day at a well known Cutthroat stillwater fishery. Even on a fairly slow day it brought some nice Cutthroat to hand. I fished it the better part of the day and the fly looked virtually unchanged. I've also fished it when targeting Rainbow and Tiger trout and had great results on both. It has just enough weight to be fished shallow on a floating line in still or slow moving water but needs a sinking line if you are wanted to get down a little deeper or fishing moving water. The craft fur really makes the fly come to life in the water which is why I think it is so effective. Great durability, great movement, my new go-to bait fish pattern.
For a large collection of stellar images, go check out Justin's site www.onelastcastphotography.com
Fat Rainbow.  Photo: Justin Hamblin

I think this is a good pattern, but it has a lot more potential.  I will be playing with different color combos, and working with different sizes to try to match many different types of baitfish.  The best part is that it's really a simple fly, so make some time at the vise to try a bunch of them out!

~ Cheech

Video beneath the recipes.


Recipes:

Tools and accessories needed
Stonfo comb and brush tool
Zap a Gap brushable
Zap a Gap Gel

Brown/Yellow
Hook: Gamakatsu SC15 #2/0 or Gamakatsu B10S #1  
Weight: Tungsten 6mm x 5mm or Brass large cone - Gold (BUY TUNGSTEN) (BUY BRASS)
Thread: Danville 140 - Yellow (BUY HERE)
Tail: Craft Fur - Medium brown and yellow (BUY HERE)
Body: Senyo's aqua veil chenille - Peanut brittle (BUY HERE)
Head: Craft fur brush - Brown and yellow
Eyes: Hareline 3D adhesive eyes - Super pearl (BUY HERE)

Brush ingredients to make the head:
Craft Fur 1: Medium brown (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Yellow (BUY HERE)
Flash: Ice wing fiber - Gold (BUY HERE)
Wire: Uni dubbing brush wire - .009 (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)
Link to craft fur brush instructions HERE.

Dark Olive
Hook: Gamakatsu SC15 #2/0 or Gamakatsu B10S #1  
Weight: Tungsten 6mm x 5mm or Brass large cone - Bl. Nickel (BUY TUNGSTEN) (BUY BRASS)
Thread: Danville 140 - Olive or black (BUY HERE)
Tail: Craft Fur - Med. olive and black (BUY HERE)
Body: Senyo's aqua veil chenille - Peanut Brittle (BUY HERE)
Head: Craft fur brush - Med. olive and black
Eyes: Hareline 3D adhesive eyes - Super pearl (BUY HERE)

Brush ingredients to make the head:
Craft Fur 1: Medium olive (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Black (BUY HERE)
Flash: Ice wing fiber - Minnow back (BUY HERE)
Wire: Uni dubbing brush wire - .009 (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)
Link to craft fur brush instructions HERE.

Light Minnow
Hook: Gamakatsu SC15 #2/0 or Gamakatsu B10S #1  
Weight: Tungsten 6mm x 5mm or Brass large cone - Silver(BUY TUNGSTEN) (BUY BRASS)
Thread: Danville 140 - White (BUY HERE)
Tail: Craft Fur - White and medium gray dun (BUY HERE)
Body: UV polar chenille - Silver (BUY HERE)
Head: Craft fur brush - Med gray dun and white.
Eyes: Hareline 3D adhesive eyes - Super pearl (BUY HERE)

Brush ingredients to make the head:
Craft Fur 1: White (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Med gray dun (BUY HERE)
Flash: Ice wing fiber - Lavender (BUY HERE)
Wire: Uni dubbing brush wire - .009 (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)
Link to craft fur brush instructions HERE.

Justin's Jam (The Original Gangster)
Hook: Gamakatsu SC15 #2/0 or Gamakatsu B10S #1  
Weight: Tungsten 6mm x 5mm or Brass large cone - Gold (BUY TUNGSTEN) (BUY BRASS)
Thread: Danville 140 - White (BUY HERE)
Tail: Craft Fur - White and Tan (BUY HERE)
Body: UV polar chenille - Gold (BUY HERE)
Head: Craft fur brush - Tan and white.
Eyes: Hareline 3D adhesive eyes - Super pearl (BUY HERE)

Brush ingredients to make the head:
Craft Fur 1: White (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Tan (BUY HERE)
Flash: Ice wing fiber - Gold (BUY HERE)
Wire: Uni dubbing brush wire - .009 (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)
Link to craft fur brush instructions HERE.

Redfish Magic
Hook: Gamakatsu SC15 #2/0
Weight: Tungsten 6mm x 5mm or Brass large cone - Copper (BUY TUNGSTEN) (BUY BRASS)
Thread: Danville 140 - Tan (BUY HERE)
Tail: Craft Fur - Cream and medium brown (BUY HERE)
Body: UV polar chenille - Rusty copper (BUY HERE)
Head: Craft fur brush - Cream and medium brown
Eyes: Hareline 3D adhesive eyes - Super pearl (BUY HERE)

Brush ingredients to make the head:
Craft Fur 1: Cream (BUY HERE)
Craft Fur 2: Medium Brown (BUY HERE)
Flash: Ice dub - Copper (BUY HERE)
Wire: Uni dubbing brush wire - .009 (BUY HERE)
Wax: Loon low tack swax (BUY HERE)
Link to craft fur brush instructions HERE.



UV Resin Shootout

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Resin is Resin right?  Wrong...



Disclaimer!
Before I jump into this post, I just want to be clear that most of these resins that I tested are VERY GOOD.  The differences between a high score and a low score are very very small.  Also, you can create your own ratings based on what you think are the most important attributes of resin.  This being said, we tie everything from tiny midges to huge sailfish flies, and we have used resin in most of these applications.  Based on our experiences on the tying bench and through these tests, we have come to these conclusions.


There is nothing quite like a good disclaimer to start out a post right???  Light cured resins...  While they have been around for many years, they have become more and more mainstream in the past little while, and I think that a lot of companies are starting to crack the code to make very quality products.  I remember the first time I saw flies with very elaborate epoxy work, and the first thing I thought
Resin head on the Low Fat Minnow
was how much of a pain it would be to tie those in any quantity.  I found out that the tyer had been using Loon Wader Repair to make the heads, so I was intrigued enough to go buy a tube of it to try for myself.  It was hard to get the desired results with Loon Wader Repair or Loon Knot Sense (mostly because of user error and high tack,) so the UV resin flame kind of dwindled until Curtis showed me some Clear Cure Goo.  It seemed like the big battle back then was with "tack," and pretty much every resin on the market had a sticky film (or so I thought.)  Since then, UV cure resins have become more and more mainstream, and it seems like a lot of different companies have emerged with a "be-all end-all" product that is so much better than anything out there.  With so many claims of resins being superior to all the "other" brands, we decided that it was time for an apples to apples comparison, and not to declare a winner, but to show strengths and weaknesses of each resin so the consumer could make a decision for him-or-her-self.

I started out by researching most of the conventional products in the fly tying world, and also reaching into some other industries to find products that could carry over to tying.  I also wanted to take the scientific element out of this test for the most part because, shocker, I'm not a scientist!  This test is designed to be useful for an average Joe Fly Tyer who just wants to know if and how these products work.  I'm not going to go too deep into nanometers, lumens, or chemical reactions in this test because I frankly don't understand all of that mumbo jumbo.  What I can do is rate these resins on several different fields to give the end user an apples to apples comparison.  If I shine a light on the resin and it hardens, it "works." That's all 90% of tyers want anyway... a product that works.

UV LIGHTS
As I began the study, I was in the process of researching lights pretty deeply, and there was so much information out there that I ditched the research...  If a flashlight put out purplish looking light, I'd try it in my experiment. This was perhaps the most eye opening part of this study because I was worried about spending so much money to get each manufacturer's light to get the resins to cure.  What I found is that it was much harder finding a light that wouldn't cure the resins, than it was to find a light that would cure the resin to the manufacturer's expectations.  In fact, all of the "purplish" emitting lights that I have for this test can cure all of the resins.  The only kicker to all of this is that if a light was more powerful (in regards to wattage) it would cure the resin faster.  If there was tack left on the resin... It was because of the resin - not the light. That's right...  Tack is due to the chemical reaction that's going on in the resin, and no amount of exposure to the UV light will take the tack away.  that means that the $7 light I bought from amazon would cure the resin the same as the $50 manufacturer's lights, but it would take longer because the wattage was lower.  This being said, I really do prefer a nice light in order to cure a thick glob of resin quickly.

TACK
Tack seems to be a very hotly contested "issue" of UV cure resins, but is it really that big of a deal?  I used to think it was a much bigger deal, but it is easily overcome with either rubbing alcohol (i prefer hand sanitizer) or clear nail polish, and in my opinion, it is only one of the factors that you should consider when you are making a resin buying decision.  For example: Would you rather use a resin that is rock solid and durable but stays tacky (until you treat with polish or alcohol), or a resin that cures tack free, but stinks to high heaven, turns brown in direct sunlight, and shatters the first time it hits a rock?  Sure I like tack free resin a lot, but it's not the be-all end-all of resins.  (Keep in mind that the "tack" test and the "durability" tests were weighted twice as heavily because I value those things the most in a resin.)  Also, in case anybody was wondering, I tested tack by curing a glob of resin on a piece of paper, then I pressed a piece of marabou on it, then I turned it upside down to see if the marabou would stick.  High tack resins would retain the piece of marabou for a few seconds, and the low tack or no tack resins wouldn't retain the marabou at all.

TESTS
Test #1 - Cure each resin with 10 different lights.  I gave each resin a burst of light for 5 seconds and noted the percentage that it was cured.  Then I gave it a burst at 10 seconds, and if it was not cured in 10 seconds I would blast the resin with the light until I got a full cure.  There is a PDF (Link here) that you can download with all the nerdy details, but like I said above, pretty much any light I used would cure the resin.


Lights Right to left top to bottom (As seen on the PDF report): Silver Multi LED, Black Multi LED, Laser Pointer, Single LED Fob Light, Bondic Light, CCG Light, CCG Pro Light, Ultrafire Light, Loon Mega Light, and the Loon Power Light.


Result Highlights:
The lights that stood out to me were the Loon Mega light, the Clear Cure Goo Pro Plus Light, and the Ultrafire 501-b light I bought on Amazon.  They cured all resins within 5 to 7 seconds.  I lean lightly toward the Loon light because it uses AA batteries (more accessible), and the other lights use the more expensive CR123 batteries.  This being said, I was able to find a rechargeable battery for the Ultrafire light on Amazon for about $10 (and it also works in the Clear Cure Goo Pro Plus light)... The surprise of the bunch was the Bondic light.  That little thing was AWESOME because it cured the resins so well.  I really didn't get a feel for how long the battery would last, and I hated the on/off switch, but it could make for a viable travel option.  Interestingly enough, the knock off key fob light that was nearly identical to the Bondic light sucked sucked sucked sucked sucked...  Yeah.  It was bad.   It's important to consider that it's NOT about nanometers or any of that other BS.  Buy a powerful light and cure to your heart's content.  If I were starting out on a budget and wanted the most cost effective option I'd buy the Ultrafire 501-b light and the rechargeable battery.  There are TONS of options...  Go to Amazon and search for UV Flashlight.

Test #2 - Examine heat, tack, odor, applicator, and durability.  I cured each resin and took note of the heat, tack, odor, applicator, and durability.  I think tack and durability are much more important than most of the other attributes so I weighted those scores twice as heavily.  This being said, tack can easily be overcome, so in fairness, durability should be the ultimate test.  I still decided to weight them equally because tack is a major emphasis in the industry.

NOTE: the pricing is "Per Oz" not per bottle/container. Obviously "Per Oz" is the best way to judge value, so we used that number to standardize the comparisons.  Also...  Silver Creek resins are named "Flexthin," and "Crystal UV Cure."

The first thing that you might notice is that we didn't consider the price in the scoring at all.  We listed it to maybe help you make a decision if you are trying to save some money, but we also know that you probably wouldn't use a really bad resin even if it were next to free.  Also, for some people, an extra $20 here and there isn't really a big deal at all.  I also thought that it was important to highlight the top resins based on viscosity.  Truly thin resins can be used as head cement, coatings for wingcases, or to put a top coat over a tacky resin.  Medium resins are pretty versatile in making visible coatings that still soak in a bit.  Thick resins are used for building up bulk in a big musky fly head for example.  All viscosities of resin are useful and important.

Other Notes:

Deer Creek Resins:  I really liked the Deer Creek resins because they are spot on when they say that they cure tack free.  I thought they would score very highly, but they didn't do very well in the durability testing (except for the flex).  It was interesting to note that most resins that cured 100% tack free were also pretty prone to shattering.  I also found the applicator options to be super limited.  All this being said, I like the Deer Creek stuff, and I could probably find myself using it.

Solarez Resins: I had never really worked with Solarez before, but they have been in the UV cure game for a long long time.  Overall, I was really impressed with their resins because of the price, and how well they performed.  I bought the smallest sizes available, and I hated the metal squeeze tube applicator that they have, so if you buy it, spend just a bit more for a 2 oz bottle that comes with a better applicator.

Silver Creek Resins:  This is kind of the black market resin of all the resins.  I found out about it through Curtis first, and then through www.flytyingforum.com.  The creator of it is a chemical engineer who came up with the ultimate formula for creating a tack free resin.  Well...  It is tack free, but it has major issues with durability, smell, and heat.  I tried it on many different surfaces, and it would bubble up quite a bit, so I'd have to cure it in short exposures to make up for it (which really isn't the end of the world).  You will also see that it didn't do well at all in the "dash of my car" test below.

Loon Resins:  I will disclose that I'm an ambassador for Loon, but I told the owners that I was going to do a test and their resins would be right in the mix for good or bad.  I didn't hold anything back on them.  For most of their resins, you will see that they didn't score very well regarding tack (except for flow), but they scored exceptionally well in most everything else.  The applicators are what I really like about the Loon resins because you can use all different diameters, or use a brush depending on what you want to do.  Also, the smell of Loon resins is almost non-existent, and I think it's due to them being so conscious about the environment, a trait that only they have as a resin company.  I got a bunch of MSDS sheets for these products, and the long and the short of it was that most of the resins looked pretty scary chemically compared to Loon.

Tuffleye:  I had heard about Tuffleye from many people because they claim to be the best because they use "blue" light that is somehow better than using UV light.  Through looking at their products and reading their material, I realized that they expect their product to cure very hard, and with tack that can be removed with a product they call "top coat." The top coat is very similar to a clear nail polish, but they claim that it prevents yellowing.  At no point do they claim to make a tack free product.  I decided to try it with my "UV" lights first, and if I had any issues, I'd buy their "blue" light.  Guess what?  The normal old UV lights worked wonders on Tuffleye and cured it hard as a rock... with a tacky surface.  Exactly how the manufacturer said it would cure... but only with a "blue" light.  Like I said before, it's good just like the majority of the resins on this list.


Test #3 - Durability test.  How much damage would a resin endure if it were smacked on a rock?  We rigged a hammer to fall from the same height each time to see how much damage it would do to a glob of resin.  Yes, this is probably a bit more force than most flies will go through, but we wanted to torture test them.  Some are cracked, some are shattered, and some look like they have been sitting on the couch all day eating chips and salsa like Curtis.  Not a scratch on them.




Test #4 - Dash of my car test.  I cured a bunch of globs of resin on a piece of paper and put them on the dash of my car for 24 hours.  Some of the resins really discolored badly, some yellowed a bit, and some stayed crystal clear.  See for yourself which resins did the best.  I also was worried that the paper might be creating some type of reaction with the resins, so I tried it again on clear plastic bags and the result was identical.  I think I was missing a couple resins when I did this, but most of them are there.





Test #5 - Flex Factor. There are several resins that are marketed as "Flex" resins denoting that they remain flexible after they have been cured.  This is intriguing to me because They could make for some cool moving parts to a fly.  I found that the most accurate and scientific way to rate them is to give them gummy candy ratings.  Are they squishy like a brand new Kellogg's fruit snack, or are they "squishy" like a haribo gummy bear that has been out of it's package for a year?  Before you read this, go to the store and buy some Kellogg's fruit snacks, and then go buy some Haribo gummy bears.  Consume them all in one sitting while taking notes.

CCG Flex - This was probably the most consistent of the bunch, but it's flexibility was that of a haribo gummy bear right out of the package.  Yes, flexible, but not enough for water to make it move.

Deer Creek Flex - This is one of the resins that people said that I absolutely had to have.  Well, it's the best of the Deer Creek resins, but not because of the flex.  It's the best of their offerings because it's much more durable than the other two.  It's gummy rating is that of a Haribo bear that found it's way out of the package for a few weeks.  Does it flex? Yes.  But much less than the CCG product.  The crazy thing is that Loon flow was actually more flexible than this product.

Solarez Flex - This resin was also very durable, but the flex was somewhat minimal.  It's also a Haribo bear that is weeks away from fresh packaging.  The positive side of this resin is that it's much cheaper than all other "flex" resins.

Tuffleye Flex - This resin is actually very flexible!  If you were going to incorporate a resin based fly that absolutely had to have movement, this would be your resin.  It's as soft as Kellogg's fruit snacks that are still warm and on the conveyor belt in the factory getting ready to be packaged.  I was intrigued by this resin even though it was by far the tackiest resin I used.  A little rubbing alcohol took care if it though.

My thoughts on flex resin are that they are pretty cool in theory, but they aren't really flexible enough in the water to make a difference.  They are super durable because they squish a bit when they get hit, but if you want something that wiggles like a bass plastic worm, I'd recommend just getting the plastic worm.



Conclusion:
My conclusion is that most of the mainstream resins are very good, and it almost boils down to personal preference when determining a "best" resin to use.  If you are starting out with resin, make a list of what is important to you, and perhaps you can use my data to help you make a decision.  All in all, this was a fun experiment that I dumped waaaaay too many hours and late nights into, and at least now I have a healthy collection of lights and resins to play with.

~ Cheech




Cheech's Low Fat Minnow

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Them Minners work reaaaaaal good...

Bluegill Low Fat Minnow


The Low Fat Minnow isn't really much of a secret anymore, and it's been fished for everything from Tarpon to Trout.  It has gone through many different versions over the past two years, and I've dialed it in to maximize effectiveness and simplicity in tying.  Here is the original "write-up" about the Low Fat: 
I love fishing for bass.  Always have, always will.  Largemouth bass are my favorite fish to chase by far, and up until about 5 years ago, I did it with a fly rod only.  "Fly or die," was my mantra until I found my self living near, and having access to a private pond with an excellent population of healthy bucketmouth.  This pond was covered by weeds most of the months out of the year, and I tried in vain to create the ultimate weedless fly, but I eventually came to the conclusion that I needed to get serious about gear fishing if I wanted to catch these fish.  Long story short, I have about 14 baitcast rigs that get USED.  I love everything about throwing big stuff for bass, and don't be fooled that it is any less technical than fly fishing.  


One fall, I was fishing a lake that has a huge bluegill population and we were throwing lipless crankbaits that yielded a fish on seemingly every cast.  As I lipped a nice fish, It YACKED all over the deck of the boat.  Up from the gullet came 4 or 5 bluegill minnows that really made me change the way I looked at fishing with bluegill patterns.  I could literally see right through them, and their guts looked like little strands of krystal flash.  Instead of going to try to find a crankbait with those characteristics, I immediately started creating a fly in my mind.  Fishing with gear WILL improve your fly fishing and vise versa...  Gear fishing that day led me to start working on a pattern that has both great profile, and translucency.  Through much consultation with Uncle Ken, we decided that Senyo Laser dub is a very versatile material that really has some excellent properties in this fly, and the marabou acts the "guts" of the minnow that will not stay translucent.  When stripped, this fly will flip around and do a 180, so its best to fish this one on a loop knot.  I also didn't put any weight on this fly because the hook is a bit more beefy and will help the fly get down a bit. Happy fishing, and let us know  how the "Low Fat" treats you.

White on White Low Fat
Since then, the biggest changes are to the head material and the hook.  After we came out with Bruiser Blend I knew that it needed to be incorporated into the Low Fat Minnow.  HERE is a good example of a Perch tied with, but the longer fibers of Bruiser Blend didn't really lend well to a small baitfish profile.  Bruiser Blend Jr. is about half the length of the original formula, so it's much better for tying flies with a smaller profile.  The hook that I use is the Daiichi 3111 for most applications, but I will still tie them on a Gamakatsu B10s from time to time.  I like the 3111 because it has a short shank and a very aggressive point.



~ Cheech

See the original video and our most popular recipes below this video.


***The Daiichi 3111 has been out of stock for quite a while, but these hooks work well in a pinch.
Gamakatsu SC15 Size 1
Gamakatsu B10s Size 4
Partridge Nordic Tube Hook Size 2


Chub 

Hook: Daiichi 3111 1/0  (+)
Thread: Danville 140 - White  (+)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - White  (+)
Underbody: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - Tan  (+)
Chenille: Palmer chenille - Rootbeer  (+)
Outer body (top): Bruiser Blend Jr. - Tan  (+)
Outer body (bottom): Bruiser Blend Jr. - Cream  (+)
Eyes: Fish Skull living eyes - Ice (Silver) 5mm  (+)
Head: Loon UV clear resin - flow and thick  (+)
Markers: Top: Brown and black. Bottom: Orange.

Bluegill 

Hook: Daiichi 3111 1/0  (+)
Thread: Danville 140 - White  (+)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - White  (+)
Underbody: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - Olive  (+)
Chenille: Palmer chenille - orange  (+)
Outer body (top): Bruiser Blend Jr. - brown olive  (+)
Outer body (bottom): Bruiser Blend Jr. - cream  (+)
Eyes: Fish Skull living eyes - Ice (Silver) 5mm  (+)
Head: Loon UV clear resin - flow and thick  (+)
Markers: Top: Black stripes and dot.  Bottom: Neon blue and orange.

Shad (Click HERE to add all items to your cart)
Hook: Daiichi 3111 1/0 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 - White (BUY HERE)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - White (BUY HERE)
Underbody: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - Muskrat Gray (BUY HERE)
Chenille: Palmer chenille - Pearl (BUY HERE)
Outer body (top): Bruiser Blend Jr. - Gray holo (BUY HERE)
Outer body (bottom): Bruiser Blend Jr. - White (BUY HERE)
Eyes: Fish Skull living eyes - Ice (Silver) 5mm (BUY HERE)
Head: Loon UV clear resin - flow and thick (BUY HERE)
Markers: Top: Gray and black.  Bottom: Red gill stripe.

Sexy Shad (Click HERE to add all items to your cart)
Hook: Daiichi 3111 1/0 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 - White (BUY HERE)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - White (BUY HERE)
Underbody: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - Kingfisher Blue, Fl. Chartreuse, Muskrat Gray (BUY HERE)
Chenille: Palmer chenille - Pearl (BUY HERE)
Outer body (top): Bruiser Blend Jr. - Gray holo (BUY HERE)
Outer body (bottom): Bruiser Blend Jr. - White (BUY HERE)
Eyes: Fish Skull living eyes - Ice (Silver) 5mm (BUY HERE)
Head: Loon UV clear resin - flow and thick (BUY HERE)
Markers: Top: Gray and black.  Bottom: Red gill stripe.

White on White 

Hook: Daiichi 3111 1/0  (+)
Thread: Danville 140 - White (BUY HERE)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - White (BUY HERE)
Chenille: Palmer chenille - Pearl (BUY HERE)  
Outer body (top): Bruiser Blend Jr. - White (BUY HERE)
Outer body (bottom): Bruiser Blend Jr. - White (BUY HERE)
Eyes: Fish Skull living eyes - Ice (Silver) 5mm (BUY HERE)
Head: Loon UV clear resin - flow and thick (BUY HERE)
Markers: Top: None.  Bottom: Orange.

Perch (Click HERE to add all items to your cart)
Hook: Daiichi 3111 1/0 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 - White (BUY HERE)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - Pale Yellow (BUY HERE)
Underbody: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - Olive (BUY HERE)
Chenille: Palmer chenille - Orange (BUY HERE)
Outer body (top): Bruiser Blend Jr. - Brown Olive(BUY HERE)
Outer body (bottom): Bruiser Blend Jr. - Pale Lemon (BUY HERE)
Eyes: Fish Skull living eyes - Ice (Silver) 5mm (BUY HERE)
Head: Loon UV clear resin - flow and thick (BUY HERE)
Markers: Top: Black stripes.  Bottom: Orange gill plate and fins.


Here is the original Bluegill video.


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Beginner Fly Tying: Zebra Midge

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Simple and Effective


The zebra midge is probably responsible for more fish caught in my first few years of fly fishing than any other pattern.  The great things about a zebra midge are that it is among the easiest flies to tie, and it can easily be modified to be tied in a wide range or colors and variations.  I think black is the most common color but I fish a lot of brown, olive, and red too.  

Here's the video, but make sure to check out some of our alternate recipes below.



Recipe:

Black

Hook: Daiichi 1120 #18 (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - black  (+)
Bead: Tungsten 2.4mm - gold  (+)
Wire: UTC wire small - gold  (+)
Dubbing: Ice dub - UV black (+)

Olive

Hook: Daiichi 1120 #18 (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - olive (+)
Bead: Tungsten 2.4mm - copper (+)
Wire: UTC wire small - copper (+)
Dubbing: Ice dub - olive brown (+)

Brown

Hook: Daiichi 1120 #18 (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - brown (+)
Bead: Tungsten 2.4mm - copper (+)
Wire: UTC wire small - blue (+)
Dubbing: Ice dub - UV brown (+)

Red

Hook: Daiichi 1120 #18 (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - red (+)
Bead: Tungsten 2.4mm - white (+)
Wire: UTC wire small - silver (+)
Dubbing: Ice dub - UV Dun (+)


Beginner Fly Tying: Easy Hare's Ear

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The Messier the Better


The Hare's ear has been around for a log long time because it just plain catches fish.  I think that fish mostly eat it as a clinger mayfly nymph or a caddis pupa due to it's messy appearance and unique movement under the water.  I typically have some type of variation of a hare's ear in a size 8 all the way to about an 18, and yes, each of them has it's appropriate application.  This fly is originally designed to be tied almost completely our of the fur from a Hare's face, but due to all of the new materials that we have access to, the "hare's ear" is more of a concept than a fly tied from a certain part of a rabbit.  As you will see here, there are many different ways that you can make variations to this pattern...  have at it.

Make sure to look at the alternate recipes under the video.




Recipes:

Natural

Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14-18 (+)
Bead; 2.4mm Tungsten - Gold (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - Black (+)
Tail: Teal - Dyed wood duck color (+)
Body: Nature's Spirit hare's mask dubbing - Natural (+)
Ribbing: UTC wire sm - Gold (+)
Wingcase: Fino skin - Brown (+)
Thorax: Nature's Spirit hare's mask dubbing - Brown (+)

Olive

Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14-18 (+)
Bead; 2.4mm Tungsten - Gold (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - Black (+)
Tail: Teal - Dyed olive (+)
Body: Nature's Spirit hare's mask dubbing - Olive (+)
Ribbing: UTC wire sm - Copper (+)
Wingcase: Fino skin - Black (+)
Thorax: Nature's Spirit hare's mask dubbing - Dark olive (+)

Black

Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14-18 (+)
Bead; 2.4mm Tungsten - Gold (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - Black (+)
Tail: Teal - Black (+)
Body: Nature's Spirit hare's mask dubbing - Black (+)
Ribbing: UTC wire sm - Gold (+)
Wingcase: Fino skin - Black (+)
Thorax: Nature's Spirit hare's mask dubbing - Black (+)

Tools/Extras:
Loon Flow resin for the wingcase (+)
Beadmaster bead tool (+)




Beginner Fly Tying: Easy Pheasant Tail

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Simplify one of the most effective patterns in the world


The pheasant tail is arguably the most popular nymph pattern in the world.  This being said, if you look in 5 different fly boxes, you will probably see 5 different variations of the bug.  Why? Because they ALL work.  This is basically a standard pheasant tail without a wingcase and legs...  It is another really basic, two material fly, that seems to work anywhere fish eat nymphs.  

See the additional recipes under the video.



Recipes:


Original

Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14-18 (+)
Bead: 2.4mm tungsten - Gold (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - Black (+)
Tail/Body: Pheasant tail fibers - Natural (+)
Ribbing: UTC wire sm - Gold (+)
Thorax: Peacock herl - Natural (+)

Frenchie Variation

Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14-18 (+)
Bead: 2.4mm tungsten - Gold (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - Black (+)
Tail/Body: Pheasant tail fibers - Natural (+)
Ribbing: UTC wire sm - Copper (+)
Thorax: Peacock herl - Hot pink (+)

Black/Purple

Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14-18 (+)
Bead: 2.4mm tungsten - Gold (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - Black (+)
Tail/Body: Pheasant tail fibers - Black (+)
Ribbing: UTC wire sm - Red (+)
Thorax: Peacock herl - Purple (+)







Beginner Fly Tying: X Caddis

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A simple and effective dry fly.



Chances are that you have heard of the Elk Hair Caddis, because it's one of the most popular and effective dry flies on the planet.  The X Caddis is a very close relative of the Elk Hair Caddis, and it is probably just as effective.  Craig Matthews delevloped the pattern to represent an emerging caddis, but it can work as everything from an attractor to a mayfly.  Just change the colors and sizes to match your local insects.

Check out the alternate recipes under the video.




Recipes:


Tan

Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14 to 16 (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - Black (+)
Shuck: Sparkle emerger yarn - Tan (+)
Body: Nature's Spirit fine natural dubbing - Callibaetis (+)
Wing: Nature's Spirit select cow elk hair - Natural (+)

Black

Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14 to 16 (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - Black (+)
Shuck: Sparkle emerger yarn - Black (+)
Body: Nature's Spirit fine natural dubbing - Black (+)
Wing: Nature's Spirit select cow elk hair - Natural (+)

Olive

Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14 to 16 (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - Black (+)
Shuck: Sparkle emerger yarn - Gray (+)
Body: Nature's Spirit fine natural dubbing - Baetis (+)
Wing: Nature's Spirit select cow elk hair - Natural (+)


Beginner Fly Tying: Easy Caddis Pupa

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Two materials for an effective pattern



I have dabbled a lot in tying caddis pupae, and I have tied everything from super complicated to very simple.  This pattern was born on one of those mad dashes of tying the night before a trip and realizing that I didn't have many sub-surface caddis patterns in my box.  I whipped up some of the most basic patterns I could think of, and that involved a tungsten bead, a bit of dubbing, and a thread body.  They worked fine the next day, but I wanted to add an element to maybe make them more realistic.  I changed the body from thread to thin cut latex because the latex can add really good segmentation, and the results have been excellent.  All in all, this is a pattern that has just enough realism to go along with it's simplicity, and the fish like to vacuum them up.

Check out the recipes under the video.



Recipes:

Green

Hook: Daiichi 1120 #14-18 (+)
Bead: Tungsten 2.8mm (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - Black (+)
Body: Kiley's Nymph Skin - Caddis green (+)
Thorax: Nature's Spirit hare's mask dubbing - Natural (+)

Cream

Hook: Daiichi 1120 #14-18 (+)
Bead: Tungsten 2.8mm (+)
Thread: Danville 70 - Black (+)
Body: Kiley's Nymph Skin - Natural Latex (+)
Thorax: Nature's Spirit hare's mask dubbing - Natural (+)

Best Flies for Beginners: The Top 7

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Our Favorite Flies to Get You Started


The Venerable Hare's Ear
We recently did a list of 4 simple "getting started flies" and we were surprise by the number of positive responses from people who were just getting started tying. We realize a lot of our patterns here are very technical, so we've spent a lot of time recently getting back to basics. We've re-done several tutorials and have now completed our series of the 7 basic patterns every fly tyer should learn. These patterns will showcase different techniques, materials and tools to help round out your tying skills in order to move on to more complicated patterns and also help you build your own creative patterns or variations.


Not only that, we've also compiled a few curated fly tying kits on our website that correspond to these patterns. So if you're really just starting out, we've got the materials, tools and vises to go along with these tutorials. You literally have no excuse to learn to tie now.

Before you get too far, we've outlined a series of steps to get started. You can refer to our Fly Tying 101 classes here or a summarized list below:

1. Get Supplies: See what we recommend here.
2. Take the basics classes: Learn the basic techniques you need to know before ever tying a fly
3. Learn the flies listed below
4. Practice
5. Practice
6. See 4 and 5
7. Move onto any of the other patterns listed on our site. You're a pro now. ;)

So let's get started! Click each pattern to see the video tutorial and associated recipe. Each recipe has links to the materials in the online store. Or you can click here to get all materials for all flies in one fell swoop.

1. Zebra Midge
http://www.flyfishfood.com/2015/11/beginner-fly-tying-zebra-midge.html
2. Easy Caddis Pupa
http://www.flyfishfood.com/2015/11/beginner-fly-tying-easy-caddis-pupa.html
3. Easy Hare's Ear
http://www.flyfishfood.com/2015/11/beginner-fly-tying-easy-hares-ear.html
4. Easy Pheasant Tail
http://www.flyfishfood.com/2015/11/beginner-fly-tying-easy-pheasant-tail.html
5. Brassie
http://www.flyfishfood.com/2014/01/build-better-brassie.html
6. X-Caddis
http://www.flyfishfood.com/2015/11/beginner-fly-ting-x-caddis.html
7. Wooly Bugger
http://www.flyfishfood.com/2013/06/build-better-bugger.html






Griffin Montana Mongoose Vise Review

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Bring your hooks... any hooks.


***UPDATE***
We just filmed a video set-up guide and review.



griffin montana mongoose vise
Griffin Montana Mongoose vise

If you have been following our articles and videos you will see that the vast majority of our tying is done with
the Griffin Montana Mongoose vise so I though it would be a good time to tell you all why.  As a fairly afflicted fly tying addict I know that most of you will agree that there was a time in your fly tying "career" that you decided that you needed a better vise to help you tie better, more comfortably (or you can just insert whatever justification you used to buy a new vise here.)  Some might have started with a top-o-the-line vise, and never had vise envy, but let me assure you...  Vise envy is real!  Curtis and I have tied on pretty much all of the commercially (and readily) available vises out there, and we basically can have our pick of any vise we want.  We choose the Mongoose.

After tying with the Mongoose since about 2006, here is my list of pros and cons about the vise.

Pros 

Hook holding 
#32 Bunny midge from the Mongoose
As I have ranted before, I think that the purpose of a vise is to hold a hook at 100% strength with minimal any hook that I throw at it with 100% positive lockout, and with minimal adjustment.  The Mongoose is the best of the best when it comes to hook holding power with minimal adjustment because I can take 7/0 trokar out of the vise, turn one knob a few times, and then seat a #32 hook and get tying. I'm not saying that I make this transition very often, but the fact is - I can do it... easily.
effort and minimal adjustment.  My definition of a hook is also a bit more broad than some might use, because it includes 7/0 heavy wire Trokar
6/0 Musky fly from the Mongoose
hooks that I tie sailfish flies on, to 4/0 jig hooks that I use to pour lead onto for bass fishing, to the standard tout fare of #2 to #20, to the micro #32 TMC 518 hooks that we use on Utah rivers during the winter and early spring (yes, they are effective and very necessary at times).  There are very few vises that I have tied with that can hold

One Jaw
There is no "midge" jaw or "super tough big boy" jaw that I need to install to get that holding power - it's all done with the same jaw.  The point of the jaw is fine enough to accommodate the smallest hooks, and with the twist of a knob the jaw is ready for a much bigger hook.  All you have to do is seat the larger hook a little bit further back in the jaw to get it to hold.  This, is a huge deal in my opinion because I don't want to have to take the time to change jaws in a tying session, and I don't want the extra cost of having to buy two of arguably the most expensive piece on the vise.

Material Clip
Material clip being used as a drying rack
This vise has probably the best material clip that I have seen on a vise.  It has a wide spring that can be easily adjusted and used with one hand.  If i'm tying midges I can easily slide it right up next to the hook, and if I'm tying bigger streamers, I can move it back far enough to be out of the way.  It can also be used to keep the back hook of an articulated fly out of the way while tying them.  When I tie with other vises, this is usually the first thing that I miss about the Mongoose.

Durability
These vises are made in Montana by people who understand what it takes to meet the demands of beginner tyers all the way to production tyers who tie thousands of dozens of flies per year.  I have beat this vise to death.  It has been thrown in the bottom of my wader bag, It has been checked with my luggage, and it has suffered the abuse of tying huge saltwater flies.  It works the same today as it did when I got it out of the box.

Warranty
Even Curtis can figure this vise out
I really only have had to call Griffin once about one of the screws that broke, and instead of trying to
troubleshoot how, and why I did it, they just asked me for my address.  No questions asked, they sent me the stuff I needed to get up and running again.

Whole package
The Montana Mongoose comes with more goodies than any other vise on the market for the price.  With the Montana Mongoose you will get a carrying case, pedestal base, c-clamp with extension rod, supreme ceramic bobbin, and a hackle gauge.  The most critical part of this is the fact that they add a stem extension if you want to use the c-clamp.  This is something that many other companies overlook.

Cons

Pedestal base
Because the rotary hub on the vise is offset from the stem, and doesn't sit directly above it, the vise can tend to rock toward you while using the rotary function.  There are many fixes for this all the way from using a different pedestal base (which Curtis and I both do), to welding the current base to a bigger hunk of metal.  You can either add weight to it, or make it wider.  Both work.

Initial calibration
This is a very minor con, because once it's set up right it requires very little maintenance.  To get the vise to rotate silky smooth, I had to tighten the rotary assembly (with the bolt on the very back of the rotary assembly) just right.  Not too tight, and just loose enough so it doesn't wobble.  Once it is just right, the rubber gaskets still touch the sides of the rotary assembly that causes them to stick a little bit.  Just add a tiny bit of reel oil to those bad boys and you will be silky smooth.  I re-apply oil to them about every 6 months and I tie a lot.

To sum it all up... This is, in my opinion, the best vise on the market due to the things listed above.  It has all the features I'm looking for in a vise, but the most important feature is that it will hold ANY hook with 100% positive lockout.  That means no slipping ever... EVER.  (sorry for yelling).  In my opinion a vise should be designed around the jaw - everything else is just gravy.

~Cheech

We have the Mongoose (for a steal at $185) and many other vises available HERE.

Here are some videos using the Mongoose.











Easy Jig Style Nymph

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Simple and Fishy

EZ Jig Nymphs

The story of this pattern started in a motel room on the front end of a couple of days of brook trout fishing. We often bring tying gear to pass the time in the evenings and to re-stock boxes. The departure from home this time was a bit on the hasty side and so I grabbed only a few materials and hooks as I ran out the door. So with a quick tie (or a good beginner pattern) in mind, I ended up throwing together a number of these simply jig nymphs.

There's nothing inherently special about the pattern. It's a jig style nymph, which is a fairly popular style of flies these days, and it incorporates Hare'e Ice Dub -- one of my favorite materials.

The idea is to keep the fly two-toned and vary the colors to match your local insect populations. The Brook trout below took this olive colored version for a damsel or maybe a scud.

Brook trout on the EZ Jig Nymph

The nice thing is you can tie these up at a pretty quick clip and they require only a few materials. They are great in the still waters as well as rivers or streams.
Another Brookie on the EZ Jig Nymph
Here are a couple of different recipes

Black/Rusty Orange


Hook: Partridge Jig Hook #10 - #16 (+)
Thread: Danville 70 Denier, Black (+)
Bead: Slotted Tungsten Bead, 3.8mm or 3.3mm Black Nickel (+)
Body: Hare'e Ice Dub, Black (+)
Ribbing: Krystal Flash, Copper (+)
Thorax: Hare'e Ice Dub, Rusty Orange (+)

Olive/Rusty Orange


Hook: Partridge Jig Hook #10 - #16 (+)
Thread: Danville 70 Denier, Light Olive (+)
Bead: Slotted Tungsten Bead, 3.8mm or 3.3mm Black Nickel (+)
Body: Hare'e Ice Dub, Olive (+)
Ribbing: Krystal Flash, Olive (+)
Thorax: Hare'e Ice Dub, Rusty Orange (+)

You can also get the entire Hare'e Ice Dub Dispenser here (+)

Also, the Stonfo combo dubbing brush/comb tool (+)






Belly Scratcher Sculpin 2.0

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Even picky fish can't resist this one




Several years ago I went on a sculpin rampage because of the number of sculpins that we have in our
Beady Eyes
local rivers.  There were some that came off the vise that were good, some that came off the vise that really sucked, but there were a few like El Sculpito, the Mohawk Sculpin, and the Belly Scratcher Sculpin that needed a bit of extra attention and development.  The Belly Scratcher in particular was such a pain that I kind of stopped tying it for a while due to the tedious forming of the fins.  I had talked to Jonathan Kiley who makes awesome latex fly parts and told him that he should develop some sculpin fins out of latex to make my pattern easier to tie.  The prototypes came, and not only did he nail that shape of the fins, he included a tail with each set of fins.  The tail added so much movement in the water that I decided to change the way the body was constructed.  Instead of rabbit, I built the body out of a 20mm shank and some AZ diamond dub. I also noticed that the head of the fly would not keep its shape very well if I relied just on the trim job that I would give it, so I reinforced the bottom of the head with UV resin.  Anyway, the initial tests have been very impressive with this new pattern and we will be releasing a larger version as well.  Let us know how this bug fishes for you!

~ Cheech 

Recipes under the video.





Recipes

Olive:
Shank: Flymen 20mm (+)
Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1 (+)
Thread 1: Danville's 140 - Black (+)
Thread 2: Veevus 200D GSP - White (+)
Connection: Articulation wire (+)
Tail/fins: Kiley's Finz - Olive Medium (+)
Back body: AZ Diamond Dub - Bronze peacock (+)
Front body 1: AZ Mega Simi Seal - Dark olive (+)
Front body 2: Palmer Chenille - Olive (+)
Weighting system 1: 2  4.6mm tungsten beads - Gold  (+)
Weighting system 2: 1  3.8mm tungsten bead - Orange  (+)
Head: Bruiser Blend Jr. - Brown Olive  (+)


Tan:
Shank: Flymen 20mm (+)
Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1 (+)
Thread 1: Danville's 140 - Tan (+)
Thread 2: Veevus 200D GSP - White (+)
Connection: Articulation wire (+)
Tail/fins: Kiley's Finz - Tan Medium (+)
Back body: AZ Diamond Dub - Tan (+)
Front body 1: AZ Mega Simi Seal - Amber Olive (+)
Front body 2: Palmer Chenille - Root beer (+)
Weighting system 1: 2  4.6mm tungsten beads - Gold  (+)
Weighting system 2: 1  3.8mm tungsten bead - Orange  (+)
Head: Bruiser Blend Jr. - Tan  (+)



Brown:
Shank: Flymen 20mm (+)
Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1 (+)
Thread 1: Danville's 140 - Brown (+)
Thread 2: Veevus 200D GSP - White (+)
Connection: Articulation wire (+)
Tail/fins: Kiley's Finz - Brown Medium (+)
Back body: AZ Diamond Dub - Copper olive (+)
Front body 1: AZ Mega Simi Seal - Brown (+)
Front body 2: Palmer Chenille - Root Beer (+)
Weighting system 1: 2  4.6mm tungsten beads - Copper  (+)
Weighting system 2: 1  3.8mm tungsten bead - Orange  (+)
Head: Bruiser Blend Jr. - Barf Brown (+)


Other things used:
Loon Fluorescing UV Resin (+) -or-
Loon Flow (+)
Loon UV Thick Resin (+)
Glue: Zap a Gap  (+)
Marker 1: Chartpak - Celery (Olive) (+)
Marker 2: Chartpak - Delta Brown (+)
Marker 3: Chartpak - Black (+)
Fugly Packer (+)
Rattle Bass Fangs scissors (+)




That's Not a Fly. It's a Lure!

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Learn the rules!!!  dang rookie

Is this a fly or a lure.  Do you care? Neither do I.


I think we have all seen it happen before on the interwebs, an expo, or on the river.  I frequently see this type of expert authoritatively prance into the expo room floor.  He's dressed in his zip-off wet wading pants and long sleeve "technical" casting shirt with sandals and socks.  His flip up polarized lenses are ready to be slapped into place in the event that he needs to cut glare on any water he may confront.  He has an Indiana Jones style hat perched upon his crown with a lambswool patch that masterfully shows which "flies" he has been catching trout on.  His right hand is tightly gripping his wading staff as he scouts for people who need to be "educated," and his left hand is jostling for something deep inside his black leather fanny pack that he wears facing forward (probably a fly box of patented "flies".)  He spots a young tyer who is happily dressing some foam poppers out of 90% synthetic materials and super glue, and he is now locked on like a mako shark on a chum trail.  Our expert has found his pupil so he plops down in front of him and proclaims....  "NICE LURE!" With those two words our expert has educated this young simpleton that "flies" are tied out of feathers n' fur dammit!  Not polyurethane, antron, and resin!!  What he was "making" were, gasp, "LURES." 

Fly or lure?  Don't Cuuuuurrrrrrr
I'm always looking for forms of entertainment in my life, and witnessing this behavior is about as good as it gets for me.  As I have said many times, I really enjoy fishing.  Fishing with flies...  Fishing with lures... Fishing with bait...  Ice Fishing...  All of it.  I really like fishing!  The beauty of this is that I don't have to make up sets of phony rules that dictate how I will fool fish into eating hooks.  I don't have to limit myself to what I put on a hook and call a fly (because that's how I'll present it to the fish.)  Really though...  who cares!!??!!  Who cares what the thing on the end of your line is called as long as you are having fun, right?  Lure? yep.  Fly? yep.  Fun? yep.  Let me be very clear though.  This is just my opinion, and you don't have to agree with it at all.  The reason I bring this up is that there are a lot of experts like our "Expo-Educator" who really can't sleep at night if they don't convert everyone to their way of thinking.  One of these days I'll get one of them to show me the manual with the rules. 

I worked in a shop for a little while some years ago, and the owner always would say "these are the good-ol-days of fly tying." Meaning that we have more variety and quality in materials than ever before.  There are pre formed hopper legs, curly tails, tungsten formed stonefly heads, and soft squishy eggs.  The question I have is, where to you draw the line?  No synthetics? No beads? No delicious soft squishy eggs? No pre-formed bodies? If I were to answer my own question, I'd say that you don't draw the line at all.  With the vast amount of synthetic materials out there, the definition between fly and lure is probably best left to the presentation of said lure or fly.  If you can cast it on a fly rod, you are fly fishing.  If you can cast it on a conventional rod, then you are lure fishing.  Or how about this...  If you throw it in the water in hopes to fool a fish, it is called fishing. 

This is definitely in no way a dig at anyone who prefers to tie flies or fish a certain way.  If all you do is wear tweed, fish a bamboo and a hardy, and swing classic wet flies?  More power to you.  If that's how you have fun, then you are doing it right.  What I have an issue with is when people "educate" others about the do's and don'ts of fly fishing and fly tying when it's unsolicited.  Maybe I'm way off base here, so I welcome any comments on why it might be important to make sure we follow the supposed rules of "fly" vs. "lure." 


~ Cheech

 

The Don. Fly Wallet Review

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Classic and modern at the same time.

The Don 


I'm usually a "function over form" type of guy when it comes to rods, reels, and fly boxes.  I just want something that "works," and I don't take much else into consideration.  When I first saw the Don from the Provo River Fishing Company my first thought was that it would be cool for someone who was into classic stuff like fiberglass and bamboo, but I didn't realize that it would be a perfect fit for some daily streamer storage.  I have a big ol' Fishpond Sushi roll that I really like because of the capacity to hold about 5 bagillion streamers.  Also, because of this, I typically keep the sushi roll in a sling pack on my back so it can be a burden to get access flies.  Before heading out, I typically grab 5 or 6 streamers that I want to fish that day, and stick them in a small plastic container that goes into my back pocket (if I'm wet wading) or in my wader pouch (if I'm wearing waders.)  I decided to use the Don instead of the plastic case for this purpose, and it's a great fit in my arsenal because I can fit more flies in the don, and the soft edges are more comfortable in my pockets.  At the end of a fishing day, I just open it up and let any wet flies dry out before putting them back into the sushi roll.  It worked really well with streamers, so I started putting some nymphs in it as well with similar results.  The only thing that I didn't really use it for was for delicate dry flies that need to maintain a certain shape and can't be "smashed." It was really nice to have a dozen or so of my go to patterns in a pocket that I can access without having to get into my main pack (I know...  I'm extremely lazy.)  

Regarding the actual wallet though...  The price tag is a bit spendy, but the craftsmanship that goes into these is second to none!  Everything is hand made out of premium materials, and it has a magnetic closure that I like quite a bit.  The magnetic closure is a great way to mix modern materials into a classic design.  All in all, I really like the Don because of the durability and the ease of use in my system.  If you into classics with a modern touch, this would be perfect for you.

For further information about the Don, check out www.provoriverfishingcompany.com.

~ Cheech

Savery Creek Bootcamps for 2016

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Fish all day and tie all night


Portly Savery Rainbow on a Hopper
We're excited to announce our upcoming Fly Fishing and Tying Bootcamps at Savery Creek for 2016. If you haven't heard of the bootcamps before or the timing didn't work out previously, we're announcing the schedule early this year. If you're not familiar with them, we plan everything for you, setting you up with guided fishing during the day and tying flies with us in the evenings. Food, lodging, flies and Cheech's entertaining anecdotes are all included.


The dates and details are outlined below. In the meantime, check out some of the photos...

An evening on Savery creek


Savery Rainbow that ate a Cicada


Terrestrial Bootcamp: Savery Creek Wyoming; June 16th through 19th

The Lodge at Savery Creek

Savery Creek is easily one of our favorite places to fish. We've yet to find a better place where you can entice huge Rainbow Trout to the surface for a variety of dry flies. They have a penchant for terrestrials, so we'll focus on fishing big dry flies. The bootcamp will run from Thursday night June 16th through Sunday morning June 19th with two full days of fishing in there. Rather than this being just a stay in a lodge with some guided fishing, we're going to focus on learning about terrestrials, tying some awesome terrestrial patterns with hands-on instruction, learning strategies and best of all -- taking what you learn and putting it to use on this small stream catching some of the biggest river or stream Rainbows you'll ever see. How about getting a 24 inch fatty rainbow to slurp up the Cicada or Hopper pattern you tied the night before? Yeah, it's like that. Just the fact that you will be fishing juicy terrestrial patterns to huge fish all day should be enough to get your motor running. Forget New Zealand, this is dry fly Shangri La.

  • We have spots for 6 to 8 anglers. First come, first served and spots will fill up fast. If there's enough interest, we may expand to more sessions.
  • The cost will be $1400 per angler for three nights lodging, two days fishing (with guides), food, fly tying materials and flies (if you don't want to tie or want to save the ones you tie).
  • We will provide a few vises but if you have a vise and tools that you can bring, it will be helpful. We will provide all materials. Again, the fly tying part is totally optional. But if you want to get one-on-one instruction from Cheech on how to tie his Project Hopper, it can't hurt.
  • We advise bringing your own rod, but if you don't have a suitable one, let us know and we can make arrangements. We suggest a 5 or 6 weight. You could get away with a 4 weight, but a 23 inch 6 lb fish full of fight will appreciate a beefier rod. 3X or 4X tippet is great.
  • 50% deposit will hold your reservation. Email me: curtis@flyfishfood.com to snag a spot.
  • Contact us for travel suggestions, but you can fly into Rock Springs, Wyoming; Laramie Wyoming or even Salt Lake City, Utah.

Streamer Bootcamp: Savery Creek Wyoming; August 18th through 21st






Another pig on a streamer
Once the summer flows have kicked in high gear on Savery creek, the name of the game is big fish on big streamers. While you can still catch a them on dry flies (see above), our goal in this bootcamp is to learn about and catch enormous Rainbow Trout on streamer patterns. We'll also spend plenty of time tying streamers as well. Email if you're interested: curtis@flyfishfood.com



  • We have spots for 6 to 8 anglers. First come, first served and spots will fill up fast. If there's enough interest, we may expand to more sessions.
  • The cost will be $1400 per angler for three nights lodging, two days fishing (with guides), food, fly tying materials and flies (if you don't want to tie or want to save the ones you tie).
  • We will provide a few vises but if you have a vise and tools that you can bring, it will be helpful. We will provide all materials. Again, the fly tying part is totally optional. But if you want to get one-on-one instruction from Cheech on how to tie his Project Hopper, it can't hurt.
  • We advise bringing your own rod, but if you don't have a suitable one, let us know and we can make arrangements. We suggest a 6 or 7 weight. You could get away with a 5 weight, but we'll be throwing big flies to big fish. Plan accordingly.
  • 50% deposit will hold your reservation. Email me: curtis@flyfishfood.com to snag a spot.
  • Contact us for travel suggestions, but you can fly into Rock Springs, Wyoming; Laramie Wyoming or even Salt Lake City, Utah.

Mohawk Sculpin v 2.0

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Upgraded fly with upgraded parts



This fly has kind of been on the back burner in my box, but it has caught plenty of fish since it's birth.  Also, since we got these Finz from Jonathan Kiley we have been going nuts by putting them on about any fly pattern that warrants them.  The Mohawk sculpin was a perfect candidate for some fin addition surgery, so on they went.  The original mohawk sculpin is listed HERE for your reference.  You will see that we have made minor changes to other parts of the fly, but for the most part the fins are the only big change.

Recipes listed under the video.



Recipes:


Brown
Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1 (+)
Thread: Danville 140 - Brown (+)
Head: Fish Skull sculpin helmet - Brown (Small) (+)
Body: Arizona Diamond Dub - Olive Brown (+)
Fins: Kiley's Fish Finz - Brown (Medium) (+)
Tail: Micro Pulsator Strip - Black barred medium brown (+)


Olive
Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1 (+)
Thread: Danville 140 - Olive (+)
Head: Fish Skull sculpin helmet - Olive (Small) (+)
Body: Arizona Diamond Dub - Bronze peacock (+)
Fins: Kiley's Fish Finz - Olive (Medium) (+)
Tail: Micro Pulsator Strip - Black barred olive variant (+)


Black
Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1 (+)
Thread: Danville 140 - Black (+)
Head: Fish Skull sculpin helmet - Black (Small) (+)
Body: Arizona Diamond Dub - Midnight fire (+)
Fins: Kiley's Fish Finz - Black (Medium) (+)
Tail: Rabbit zonker strips - Black  (+)



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