Top 10 Summer Dry Fly Patterns

June 22, 2015, 10:37 am

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Feed them the floating protein...

'Tis the season to be throwing dry flies, and in many cases, BIG dry flies.  We have been having a blast throwing flies that consist mostly of foam and rubber legs, and it's a blast to see the wide variety of "eats" on these flies.  Some fish are so confident that they simply rise to a juicy hopper like it's a delicate mayfly, while others launch their whole body out of the water because they eat the fly so aggressively.  We though we would give you a rundown of what has frequented our boxes this summer.

Here is our top 10 in no particular order (Click the name for the story)

Blingnobyl Ant -
This fly is pretty unconventional in regards to colors, but many a summer fish has tried to eat it and digest it all in the same motion.



Grumpy Frumpy-
Still Cheech's favorite dry fly of all time.  It often gets tied on after other patterns get the nose from the trout.  They usually end up with a sore mouth/lip/tongue.  We fish the yellow/red version 90% of the time.



Purple Haze-
This is kind of the new-blood version of the Parachute Adams.  It's just different enough to make the fish think it's a brand new invention that they must eat.  We are good with that.



Moodah Poodah-
After a great day on the water and after bad service at a restaurant... Curtis came up with this fish getter.  It floats high and gets crushed.  Time to seek out another Golden Corral soon.


Project Hopper-
After two years of research and development procrastination (kind of), the project hopper is being fished hard.  The fish like it...  a LOT.



Unsinkabeetle-
Developed during a late night session at Cheech's Mom's house.  This thing floated for over 2 weeks.  She wanted to name it the Unsinkable Molly Brown.  #nope.



Amphibious Damsel-
Designed as a dry fly, but fished either dry or wet.  This bug is a must have in the summer if you are going to fish lakes or slow moving rivers.



Sickada-
One of the most realistic Cicada patterns that has come off our vises.  Curtis put his time in on this one and it scores well with the East German judges and the trout as well.  Plop it down and hold on.



Callibaetis Comparadun-
Another pattern that is a must for fishing lakes or slow moving waters.  The two stage wing on this bug makes it very realistic.



The Butt Head-
A Stimulator variation with a CDC underwing.  We use this one a lot when we fish with people new to fishing because it's very visible, and it gets eaten.

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The Project Cicada

June 26, 2015, 7:32 am

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Another Go-To Crunch Bug

Project Cicada (v. 2)

I had a friend ask the other day "why retool or re-design a Cicada pattern when you have a good one already in the 'Sickada'?". I guess I rarely look at any pattern without thinking of how I can improve or change it -- sometimes just for given conditions or purposes and other times...just because I can. So earlier this spring, after a long tying session whipping up a bunch of Project Hoppers, a few ideas and techniques there carried over to improving an already good Sickada pattern. So rather than just revamp what we had before, I wanted to give this pattern more of the "Project" moniker because it's indeed been a longer term project fly.

Some of the bigger differences are the technique to make the body (much easier now) and using the heated-foam technique for shaping the body a bit more realistically. The overall profile and wing method is relatively unchanged, although we throw in some para-post wing material to aid flotation and keep the fly balanced.

First version of the Project Cicada

As a far as design goes, the first version of this pattern sported cow elk wing and a foam indicator, but I found that once the wing became water-logged, the fly had a tendency to turn on its side every once in a while. And while that didn't cause many rejections, from what I saw, I wanted it to land right-side-up more consistently. (As a side-note here, there are some that say an upside-down Cicada style pattern is still just as effective because the bugs often land that way on the water. Something to consider).

So in order to keep the CG (that's center of gravity for you non-nerds) more in line with the hook weight and dimensions, I swapped out the foam and deer hair for two colors of parapost wing material. And speaking of hooks, that's one of the key elements of any bigger foam pattern. You need a hook with a big enough gap to accommodate a bit of foam "belly" on the pattern, while being heavy enough to offset the weight of the materials but not be so heavy that the fly sinks. We searched and tested with many different hook types. We'll recommend the two listed below from Partridge and Gamakatsu respectively to be some of the better choices for terrestrial or big foam fly hooks.

Also, one other change we made here was to scale back the brightness of the orange color. Our buddy Colby, a guide on the Green River in Utah, had sent a few photo and video samples of bugs along with what we also concluded to be a recommendation to tone down the orange a bit. So we went with a more subdued color scheme here.

And finally, as we normally do, the pattern was submitted to some pretty hefty field-testing and
scored really well. In fact, I was surprised to see how many fish would reject a hopper pattern but yet move several feet (and in one case a full eat-and-a-miss only to circle back around) to eat this pattern. And this was in conditions where not many cicadas were actually out and about.

Plus it's a fun pattern to tie.

Material List

Hook: Partridge Attitude Extra #4 or Gamakatsu L10-2H  (BUY HERE)
Thread: Veevus Fly Tying Thread 10/0, Orange  (BUY HERE)
Body: Crosslink Foam, 6mm, Black  (BUY HERE)
Wing: Thin Wing, Lt. Dun  (BUY HERE)
Over-Wing: Para Post Wing Material, Dark Gray & Fl. Orange  (BUY HERE)
Wing Cover: Crosslink Foam, 1mm, Black  (BUY HERE)
Legs: Centipede Legs, Speckled Orange  (BUY HERE)
Eyes: Mono, melted and colored

Tools etc:

• Beavertail Foam Cutter (Large Size)  (BUY HERE)
• Hopper Caddis Ant Cutter (Large Size) (BUY HERE)
• Tomsu Hopper Kit (for wing cover and/or wing) (BUY HERE)
• Razor Blades  (BUY HERE)
• Lighter
• Hemostats (to hold the eyes) (BUY HERE)
• Super Glue (BUY HERE)

Fripple 3.0: Caddibaetis

July 8, 2015, 8:11 am

≫ Next: Complex Twist Tube Fly & Peak Tube Vise

≪ Previous: The Project Cicada

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And yet another variation...

Fripple: Caddisbaetis

I look back on my history with the original or version 2.0 Fripple patterns and find I've tweaked this fly more than probably any other pattern in my little fly boxes. And like Brian Fantana says "60 percent of the time, it works every time", so we may as well keep trying to get that number up to something like 80 or 90 percent.

As it is with a lot of my pattern variations, the changes come as a result of fishing it and finding ways to catch more fish under different conditions. This rendition came out as a result of needing to increase the buoyancy a bit more in order to either support small droppers or to perform better on rougher water in rivers. Not only that, I wanted to take a lazy route and make this thing imitate a wider variety of bugs so I could fish this across hatches.

In order to get that, I added a good clump of CDC, improved the hackle method and created a more realistic non-foam thorax area. At the same time, we keep the Klink style hook and the medallion sheeting wings -- both of which are the real key to the effectiveness of this style pattern. The end result is a fly that has nailed fish eating Drakes, Callibaetis and Caddis -- all on the exact same color and size fly.

A Brown trout that was alternating between eating caddis and some PMD's.

And speaking of hackle, rather than cutting the underside like I did with the Green Drake version here, I employed the para loop or hackle stacker method to get a good solid dense clump of hackle fibers. This method is definitely one to learn.

Material List

Hook: Daiichi 1160 or 1167 #10 - #16  (BUY HERE)
Thread: UTC 70 Denier, Fl. Fire Orange (hot spot)  (BUY HERE)
Body: MFC Premium Thread, 8/0, Light Brown  (BUY HERE)
Ribbing: Midge Flash, Tan  (BUY HERE)
Under-Wing: MFC Bulk CDC, Golden Olive or Nature's Spirit CDC, Brown Olive   (BUY HERE)
Wing: Medallion Sheeting, Buggy Light Dun  (BUY HERE)
Thorax: Ice Dub, Pheasant Tail  (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Whiting Hebert Miner Saddle, Speckled Badger or Whiting Rooster Saddle in Barred Dark Ginger, Grizzly Coachman Brown or Golden Badger. Many options and great colors!  (BUY HERE)

Complex Twist Tube Fly & Peak Tube Vise

July 14, 2015, 8:24 am

≫ Next: Leetle Beetle

≪ Previous: Fripple 3.0: Caddibaetis

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The Deflectinator Gets An Overhaul

Complex Twist - Tube Style

When I first wrote about the Deflectinator a couple of years back, Cheech hadn't quite spilled the beans on the Complex Twist method for tying buggers and the like. However, after we released the first Complex Twist Bugger, I knew that was soon to be the new method for tying up what's become my go-to bass pattern.

And while I won't bore you with the background on the Deflectinator, this version here is more trout color and size and works great in streams. It's also done some damage as a bugger or leech style pattern on lakes.

And probably most notable about this tutorial here is the use of the awesome Peak Tube Fly Vise. As I point out in the video, it's definitely not a "beginner" vise, but if you tie any amount of tube flies, this is the vise you need. It's well-built and works very nicely with any size of tube fly you might need to tie on. Plus, since it's designed specifically for tube flies, you cut out a lot of the nooks, crannies and angles on a regular vise and get a sleek uncluttered fly tying machine.

Peak Rotary Tube Fly Vise

So as you'll see and hear in the video, we really like this vise and for throwing together patterns like the Deflectinator here, it works out great. I much prefer it to my "old" method of using a standard vise jaw adaptor to tie tubes.

And if you're still new to the tube fly world, here's a quick primer to help you understand the benefits and such. Tubes are definitely not new and not made to be your prime tying method, but it's one that I think all fly tyers should at least look at.

Material List

Hook: Partridge Nordic Single Hook #6  (BUY HERE)
Tube: Small Plastic Tube (or size to fit your needs). (BUY HERE)
      NOTE: You can also buy colored junction tubing, as shown. This size fits the small tubes above
Cone: Ultralight or Regular Monster Cone  (BUY HERE)
Thread: UTC Ultrathread 140 Denier, Tan  (BUY HERE)
Tail: Magnum Rabbit Strips, Dark Brown or Dark Olive  (BUY HERE)
Body: Schlappen, Olive & Fiery Brown;UV Polar Chenille  (BUY HERE)
Collar: Arizona Diamond Dub, Ice Blue Brown  (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Whiting Coq De Leon, Speckled Fl Green Chartreuse  (BUY HERE)

Tools Used:

• Peak Rotary Tube Fly Vise  (BUY HERE)
• Or you can get the vise adaptor and kit. All you need to get started.  (BUY HERE)
• Turbo Dubbing Spinner  (BUY HERE)
• Gator Grips  (BUY HERE)

Leetle Beetle

July 21, 2015, 10:47 am

≫ Next: Card's Cicada Variation

≪ Previous: Complex Twist Tube Fly & Peak Tube Vise

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Quick and effective

Leetle Beetle in Black

"Uh... yes...  I'd like materials to tie a fly that is quick and effective sir." Summer time is a great time to expand your terrestrial game, and we have been tying all kinds of big nasties like hoppers, cicadas, and larger beetles.  I realized that there was a hole in my box right where my smaller terrestrials should be.  I started using some of the techniques from the Unsinkabeetle, and stripped them down a bit.  This fly is about as simple as it gets, and it plain hunts.  Tie them in a variety of sizes and colors to fool basically anything that eats beetles (trout, bass, carp, sunfish, etc.).

This beetle is most effective in black, but olive/brown and tan are great as well.

Recipes:

Black

Hook: Gamakatsu S10 #10-14 (BUY HERE)

Thread: MFC (BUY HERE)

Body: Evazote foam 1/8"- Black (BUY HERE)

Underbody: Nature's Spirit Hare's Mask dubbing - Black (BUY HERE)

Legs: Fine round rubber - Black (BUY HERE)

Indicator: 1mm Crosslink foam - Golden yellow (BUY HERE)

Olive/Brown 

Hook: Gamakatsu S10 #10-14 (BUY HERE)

Thread: MFC (BUY HERE)

Body: Evazote foam 1/8"- Olive (BUY HERE)

Underbody: Nature's Spirit Hare's Mask dubbing - Brown (BUY HERE)

Legs: Fine round rubber - Brown (BUY HERE)

Indicator: 1mm Crosslink foam - Golden yellow (BUY HERE)

Tan

Hook: Gamakatsu S10 #10-14 (BUY HERE)

Thread: MFC (BUY HERE)

Body: Evazote foam 1/8"- Camel (BUY HERE)

Underbody: Nature's Spirit Hare's Mask dubbing - Natural (BUY HERE)

Legs: Fine round rubber - Brown (BUY HERE)

Indicator: 1mm Crosslink foam - Golden yellow (BUY HERE)

Card's Cicada Variation

July 27, 2015, 8:49 am

≫ Next: Sparkle Minnow Variation

≪ Previous: Leetle Beetle

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Could this be "THE" guide fly?

For those of you who don't know Charlie Card, hes a guy who has been rowing a drift boat longer than he has been driving.  I knew Charlie in high school, but I really didn't appreciate his fish wizardry until I started fly fishing about 15 years ago.  Utah's Green River below Flaming Gorge Reservoir is home to some great terrestrial fishing because it runs smack dab in the middle of a desert.  Not really known for hatches of giant salmonflies or green drakes, the Green River is mecca for terrestrial fishing.  Hoppers, beetles (even in February), ants, and most of all - cicadas.  Charlie has a fly with MFC called Card's Cicada that has been wrecking fish for years and years, but if you get a glimpse of Charlie's fly boxes, you will see that he has variations upon variations of these big black beasts.  He gave me one of them that still sits perched on a piece of driftwood in my tying room.  I have studied it in it's simplicity many times to gather inspiration, and it has helped me put many a fish in the net.

I was replenishing my boxes with some big foamies this spring and decided to make some variations of Charlie's pattern.  In the fly I got from Charlie, he had a piece of accent foam (purple) under the black main foam body, but I decided to put it on the top of the fly.  I also swapped out the calf tail wing for treated para-post material.  Also, I wanted to add some "spent" wings that laid a bit off to the side of the fly, so I tied in wings of sparkle emerger yarn.  Sparkle emerger yarn really doesn't do much to add buoyancy, and it just sits in the surface film looking all translucent and such.

Once I had my variations tied up, I had to see if they passed the two most critical tests on big foamers.  1- Will it land the way I want it to every time? 2- Will the foam stay put without twisting all around the hook shank?  These bugs passed with flying colors, now to fish them (which I wasn't worried about at all.)  I won't bore you with details, but these flies absolutely have been crushing fish on several different river systems and on a lake with picky browns.

~ Cheech

Recipe:
Hook: Gamakatsu S10 #6-10 (BUY HERE)
Thread: MFC Premium Thread 3/0 - Rusty orange (BUY HERE)
Body1: Evazote foam 1/8" - Black (BUY HERE)
Body2: Fly tying foam 2mm - Orange (BUY HERE)
Under-Body: Snowshoe hare's foot dubbing - Rusty Orange (BUY HERE)
Wing1: Para post wing material - Norm Woods special (BUY HERE)
Wing2: Sparkle emerger yarn - Cream (BUY HERE)
Legs: Centipede legs Medium - Speckled orange and yellow (BUY HERE)


Transform this fly into a hopper...

Recipe:
Hook: Gamakatsu S10 #6-10 (BUY HERE)
Thread: MFC Premium Thread 3/0 - Light Brown (BUY HERE)
Body1: Evazote foam 1/8" - Camel (BUY HERE)
Body2: Fly tying foam 2mm - Tan (BUY HERE)
Under-Body: Snowshoe hare's foot dubbing - Tan (BUY HERE)
Wing1: Para post wing material - Norm Woods special (BUY HERE)
Wing2: Sparkle emerger yarn - Cream (BUY HERE)
Legs: Centipede legs Medium - Speckled tan brown(BUY HERE)

Sparkle Minnow Variation

July 31, 2015, 8:30 am

≫ Next: Cinnamon Toast Ant

≪ Previous: Card's Cicada Variation

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Fill up a box in no time

As much as I love fishing Complex Twist Buggers, this fly has found a permanent spot in my streamer box because of how simple it is to tie and how effective it is.  I recently went on an excursion with a friend who hadn't really caught fish on streamers, so I tied on a white and gold version of this fly.  Long story short, He's probably tying some up right now...  Anyway, this fly is similar to the MFC Sparkle Minnow after it's all tied, but the method for this one is even more simple, in fact, this fly is easier to tie than a wooly bugger.  

Some variations that work well for this pattern are: 1- Tie the tail out of a single piece of marabou. 2- Use gold, silver, or copper ice dub in a loop instead of the EP brushes. 3- Leave out the Bruiser Blend head.

A word about the EP brushes...  I can typically get 2 flies out of each individual brush, and there are 6 brushes per package.  This stuff is an awesome blend of flashy material that really moves great in the water.  I really hadn't messed much with these until this year, but now I think I have one of each color at my desk.  It's an awesome product.

~ Cheech

Cutthroat on a Golden Ticket

Recipes:

Olive/Brown

Hook: Daiichi 2461 #1-4 (BUY HERE)

Bead: Slotted tungsten cone - Copper 6mm x 5mm (BUY HERE)

Lead Free Wire: .035 (BUY HERE)

Thread: UTC 140 or Danville 210 - black or brown 

Tail: Nature's Spirit prime marabou - olive and brown (BUY HERE)

Body1: Holographic cactus chenille- Brown (BUY HERE)

Body2: EP sparkle brush - Rootbeer (BUY HERE)

Head: Bruiser Blend Jr. - Barf brown or olive brown (BUY HERE)

White/Tan

Hook: Daiichi 2461 #1-4 (BUY HERE)

Bead: Slotted tungsten cone - Black Nickel 6mm x 5mm (BUY HERE)

Lead Free Wire: .035 (BUY HERE)

Thread: UTC 140 or Danville 210 - White

Tail: Nature's Spirit prime marabou - Tan and white (BUY HERE)

Body1: Holographic cactus chenille- Silver gold (BUY HERE)

Body2: EP sparkle brush - Pearl or pearl magic (BUY HERE)

Head: Bruiser Blend Jr. - Cream (BUY HERE)

Copper/Brown

Hook: Daiichi 2461 #1-4 (BUY HERE)

Bead: Slotted tungsten cone - Copper 6mm x 5mm (BUY HERE)

Lead Free Wire: .035 (BUY HERE)

Thread: UTC 140 or Danville 210 - black or brown 

Tail: Nature's Spirit prime marabou - Brown and rusty spinner (BUY HERE)

Body1: Holographic cactus chenille- Brown (BUY HERE)

Body2: EP sparkle brush - Copper (BUY HERE)

Head: Bruiser Blend Jr. - Hidden treasure of sasquatch brown (BUY HERE)

Smaller Variations

Golden Ticket

Hook: Daiichi 1750 #6(BUY HERE)

Bead: Slotted tungsten cone - Gold 5mm x 4mm (BUY HERE)

Lead Free Wire: .035 (BUY HERE)

Thread: UTC 140 or Danville 210 - White

Tail: Nature's Spirit prime marabou - White (BUY HERE)

Body1: Tinsel chenille- Gold (BUY HERE)

Body2: Ice dub - Gold (BUY HERE)

Head: No head on this fly

Silver Ticket

Hook: Daiichi 1750 #6(BUY HERE)

Bead: Slotted tungsten cone - Black nickel 5mm x 4mm (BUY HERE)

Lead Free Wire: .035 (BUY HERE)

Thread: UTC 140 or Danville 210 - White

Tail: Nature's Spirit prime marabou - White (BUY HERE)

Body1: Tinsel chenille- Silver (BUY HERE)

Body2: Ice dub - Silver (BUY HERE)

Head: No head on this fly

Copper Ticket

Hook: Daiichi 1750 #6(BUY HERE)

Bead: Slotted tungsten cone - Copper 5mm x 4mm (BUY HERE)

Lead Free Wire: .035 (BUY HERE)

Thread: UTC 140 or Danville 210 - Brown

Tail: Nature's Spirit prime marabou - Rusty spinner (BUY HERE)

Body1: Tinsel chenille- Copper (BUY HERE)

Body2: Ice dub - Copper (BUY HERE)

Head: No head on this fly

Cinnamon Toast Ant

August 3, 2015, 10:19 am

≫ Next: Review: Zeal Optics

≪ Previous: Sparkle Minnow Variation

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Not for human consumption

Cinnamon Toast Ant with the Rising Brookie net

The good thing about having friends that are super fishy is that they give you the feedback needed to create killer bugs.  Around 2005 Bryan Gregson requested an ant of some sort to take to some small streams that he had been fishing, but you have to know that Bryan has fished about everything under the sun.  I looked at a lot of ants online, and I looked at a bunch of fly patterns to make sure I didn't give him anything that he already had before I hit the vise.  I tied up a prototype ant that was kind of similar to the now-named Cinnamon Toast Ant, and sent him on his way.  They ran into an unexpected Green Drake hatch that weekend, and since he was there to do some product testing, he followed through with his promise of fishing this cinnamon ant.  Well, he was glad that he did, because this ant outperformed all of the green drake imitations that they were fishing.  

Cinnamon Toast Ant

His feedback was to make it more visible and to make it float better - check and check.  Similar to the Unsinkabeetle, this fly has cartoonish wings that stick up and out to sides, making it more visible.  I also changed the hook from a heavier wire scud hook to a Gamakatsu C12 because I really like the hook gap and the light wire diameter.  It's great because the back half hangs just low enough in the water, but not so low that it's hard to see.  So far, we have fished this fly for picky stillwater trout and some terrestrial eating river fish.  The consensus is that they LOVE cinnamon toast.  If you tie this one, make sure to tie the Black Toast Ant as well.

Recipe:

Cinnamon Toast Ant

Hook: Gamakatsu C12 or Daiichi 1130 #10-14 (BUY HERE)

Thread: MFC premium thread 6/0- Rusty brown (BUY HERE) (even though we didn't use it in the video.)

Underbody: Nature's Spirit hare's mask dubbing - Rusty spinner (BUY HERE)

Body and head: Fly foam 2mm - Rootbeer (BUY HERE)

Wings: Sparkle emerger yarn - Cream (BUY HERE)

Hackle: Whiting dark barred ginger cape or saddle (BUY HERE)

Black Toast Ant

Hook: Gamakatsu C12 or Daiichi 1130 #10-14 (BUY HERE)

Thread: MFC premium thread 6/0- Black (BUY HERE) (even though we didn't use it in the video.)

Underbody: Nature's Spirit hare's mask dubbing - Black (BUY HERE)

Body and head: Fly foam 2mm - Black (BUY HERE)

Wings: Sparkle emerger yarn - Cream (BUY HERE)

Hackle: Whiting grizzly or black cape or saddle (BUY HERE)

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Review: Zeal Optics

August 5, 2015, 7:17 am

≫ Next: California Leech Variation

≪ Previous: Cinnamon Toast Ant

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Sustainability and quality in one package

Curtis wrangles a nice rainbow while sporting Zeal glasses

I remember the trip when I realized how important good lenses are.  I had a lot of experience fishing our local cutthroat lake with flies, and if there is a common theme for that lake, it's short striking cutthroat.  The game changer for this trip was the fact that my father in law and I were fishing standing up on our new-to-us tin boat instead of sitting in kick boats.  I was fishing a pretty bright fly around 12 feet deep and I could see the fly the whole time due to good polarized glasses.  We really weren't doing super well until i realized that my fly would disappear for a few seconds at a time, but I couldn't feel any bites.  The next time my fly disappeared I strip set and it was fish on.  We repeated this for the rest of the day in what turned out to be one of the best trips we have had on that lake.  It wouldn't have happened without good polarized glasses.

I have fished with $15 gas station cheapies to $250 lenses, and the technology that is available now is pretty amazing.  As with any other fishing related product, we are always interested in the new companies in the fly fishing world to see how they compare with already established companies.  Sometimes the newcomers rally shock us with great products, and other times it's more hype than anything else.  We met Joe Rizzo from Zeal Optics in the spring of 2015 and we were intrigued by what is by far the most environmentally friendly product in the optic field.  Frames made from bean oil???  Lenses made from plants??? Yep.  The list of eco friendly features goes on and on.  We wondered how this eco-tech would stack up against other glasses that we had used in the past so we put them through their paces pretty hard.

I got the Tracker model in both the copper lens and the bluebird HT lens.  I wanted something that I'd use for the majority of my fishing, and I also wanted a lens that I could use in low light situations (like evening caddis hatches).  My first impression was that they were very comfortable to wear and they fit my huge noggin really well.  The true test was on the water where they could definitely hold their own, and I realized that they were on par with any of the other high end lenses that I have fished with.  It's cool to be able to fish with a product that ranks highly in both technology and environmental friendliness.  I have been fishing them hard for about 4 months and I keep them out of their case on purpose to see if they can stand normal wear and tear.  So far they have proven to be very durable and scratch resistant, even though I haven't sat on them yet, which is a sure fire way to destroy glasses.

The Zeal Big Timber has an automatic lens for bright and low light.

And from Curtis:

I got the Snapshot model in a Copper lens and took them to Mexico to fish the flats with my eagle eyes and a pair of similar Costas and Maui Jim glasses on board.  I really wanted to just see how they all compared.  I was really surprised at the clarity and sharpness of the Zeal's when compared to my other two pair of "go-to" sunny weather glasses. In fact, I'd say under some conditions, I'd end up switching back to the Zeals because I was seeing the Bones a little more clearly. So after that first day of the trip, I decided to leave my other glasses back at the hotel because the Zeals were doing everything I needed them to do. Now whether or not it was a combination of the sun, the flats' coloration and the tint on these specific lenses, I can't say for sure (definitely not a knock on the other glasses) but I was still very impressed with what I experienced.

I guess we had our answers...  Zeal glasses can hold their own in a tech heavy market where eco-friendliness usually isn't as big of a priority as it ought to be.

~ Cheech

Pros:
Eco-friendly:  These glasses are made from plant based products and are 100% biodegradable.

Prescription friendly: Many of their models can be ordered with prescription lenses.

Very functional: These glasses are born from high technology and perform as a high tech lens should.

Cost effective: The Tracker is $119, and the Snapshot is $79.

Lightweight and comfortable: The frame is rubberized on the critical places where it touches your face.  They don't move when you are acting a fool swatting mosquitoes.

Con:
Fog:  These glasses fogged up a little easier than some of the other glasses that we have used, but it was mainly a non-issue.



Make sure to check out the full line of Zeal products for the next time you have a pair of shades go over the side of the boat.  www.zealoptics.com

California Leech Variation

August 10, 2015, 12:45 pm

≫ Next: Desk Dump: 5 for Summer

≪ Previous: Review: Zeal Optics

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It's highly adaptable

California Leech

Several years ago when I first started to poorly cast, kick, and strip (I know... bad play on words) or as I called it "stillwater fishing," I was a bugger guy.  All you needed was a handful of olive, black, and brown Wooly Buggers and a type 3 sinking line.  Sure, I caught plenty of fish, but it wasn't until I started paying more attention to some of the excellent patterns out there that I really started to catch more fish.  One of the extra "ninja" patterns that I had heard about was the California Leech that was made famous by Bill Scheiss at Henry's Lake in Idaho.  Bill's flies were usually pretty scraggly, and not the prettiest of flies, but they sure caught fish.  There are many different versions of California Leech dubbing, but the best I have used is made by Mike Andraesen from Bountiful, UT.  It's a blend of flash with his famous Canadian brown mohair that can be adapted to be used in a wide range of patterns.

In the pattern that I tie in the video, it's not an original California Leech because I change the tail, it's too bulky, and I wrap hackle through it.  The original calls for a marabou tail, and a very thin body without hackle.  BUT...  I have caught many fish on the "variation" that I tie in the video, so that's how I tie all of mine now.  This fly also opens the door for a lot of creativity, and I'll list some pattern variations that can be very effective as well.

To fish this fly, I usually like to find where the fish are holding and use a full sink line to get the fly down to their depth.  I start off with long slow pulls with some pauses, and a lot of the time the fish will eat it on the pause.  The key is to vary your retrieve until you find what the fish want, and then duplicate the retrieve that caught fish...  Clear as mud?  Good, now go give some friendly fish free facial piercings (Say that 5 times fast).

~ Cheech 

Recipe:

California Leech

Hook: Daiichi 1710 or Allen S402 #6-10 

Thread: MFC 3/0 - Rusty brown (BUY HERE)

Tail 1: Arctic fox tail hair - Brown (BUY HERE)

Tail 2: Krystal flash - Rootbeer (BUY HERE)

Ribbing: UTC wire size BR - Amber or copper (BUY HERE)

Body,: Canadian series dubbing - California leech (BUY HERE)

Hackle: Brown saddle or neck hackle (BUY HERE)

Pond Olive Leech

Hook: Daiichi 1710 or Allen S402 #6-10 

Thread: MFC 3/0 - Red (BUY HERE)

Tail 1: Arctic fox tail hair - Black (BUY HERE)

Tail 2: Krystal flash - Peacock (BUY HERE)

Ribbing: UTC wire size BR - Red (BUY HERE)

Body,: Canadian series dubbing - Pond olive plus (BUY HERE)

Hackle: Black or dark olive saddle or neck hackle (BUY HERE)

Canada Blood Leech

Hook: Daiichi 1710 or Allen S402 #6-10 

Thread: MFC 3/0 - Wine (BUY HERE)

Tail 1: Nature's Spirit Bugger bou - Claret (BUY HERE)

Tail 2: Krystal flash - Pearl (BUY HERE)

Ribbing: UTC wire size BR - Wine (BUY HERE)

Body,: Canadian series dubbing - Canadian blood plus (BUY HERE)

Hackle: Black or claret saddle or neck hackle (BUY HERE)

Desk Dump: 5 for Summer

August 13, 2015, 6:29 am

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5 Materials for Summer

Desk Dump: 5 for Summer

I know it may be disappointing, based on the title here, if you were expecting to see my dog taking a dukey on my desk, but no we'll save that for a later post. However, if you've been around the social media and interweb channels long enough, you might be familiar with a very popular style of photo and blog post called "Pocket Dumps" (Google it if you're not). We've toyed around with the idea of doing something similar that would revolve around tying, so this is the first in a series of pocket dump style posts we're going to name "Desk Dumps". These posts will feature materials we have on our desks a lot lately and how we're using them. In terms of pocket dump jargon, this would be called an EDC (Every Day Carry) type material. And while our EDC materials will vary throughout the year, we'll try to stay on top of what we're tying.

So in this inaugural post, I'm going to stick to some of the materials that have been on my desk the longest this summer. (click each material heading for a link to see more info on each material)...

Nature's Spirit Select Cow Elk

Out of all my materials, I'd say the Cow Elk from Nature's spirit, in pretty much all colors, has been on my desk the longest for the past few months. It's been used on caddis patterns, Fripples, foam patterns like the Moodah Poodah, the Project cicada pattern and a few others. Check out the colors here.

Speckled Badger Hackle

I don't think my speckled badger has been back in its bag since the time we got it back in April or May. The nice thing about this versatile hackle is that it's got enough variation in the colors and hues in one cape or saddle, you can literally use it for a bunch of different patterns.  See more here

Partridge Czech Nymph Hooks

Once we started to carry Partridge hooks, my hook choices for  tying sessions have changed quite a bit. And my favorite, probably most versatile in the mix, is the Czech Nymph hook. I use them for everything from emergers to nymphs to soft hackles (see the biot nymphs below). Sharp as can be and stout quality hooks. They come in a bunch of sizes here.

Nature's Spirit Wild Turkey Biots

These Wild Turkey biots might get my vote for material of the year. I'd seen them in the past, but never tied with them. What you get here is a natural segmented coloreffect similar to peacock quill, but with the ridge effect you get from biots. And these ones come in a sweet variety of colors to tie anything from Callibaetis to Caddis and everything in between. The biot nymphs shown here are tied with the Callibaetis color:

Danville 140 Denier Thread

We sell a lot of different threads on our store and I really find myself tying with a pretty wide variety of threads for different purposes. But when I got a couple of sample spools from Hareline, I knew right away this would be a go-to thread for bigger patterns like streamers, big foam jobs and most of my stillwater patterns. If you haven't tried this particular size of Danville's you owe it to yourself to at least try a couple or three colors.

Biot CDC Callibaetis

August 21, 2015, 7:51 am

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Feed the Gulpers

Biot CDC Callibaetis, the Slurpee of the lakes

Remember that time when you were fishing your favorite reservoir out of your donut float tube?  The time when you were rigged up with your 6 weight, a type 5 sinking line, and your very best bugger pattern?  The time when you started seeing dimples in the surface only to realize that those were fish dimpling the surface, and not only were they dimpling the surface, they were eating mayflies???  I remember that time.  I had never really considered rigging a dry fly line for lake fishing, but what did I know - I was a neoprene wader, 'murican flag bandana wearing, secret dubbing having, bugger strippin', EXPERT...  This day was similar to many that I have had over my fishing journey, because it taught me that I should never get too comfortable with my techniques and that I should always keep an open mind to learn new things.

If you have ever fished a good callibaetis hatch on a stillwater, you have experienced some very exciting fishing.  It's exciting because you never know if the fish is going to crush your fly with reckless abandon, sip it gently, or swim up to your fly to count it's body segments only to decide that it's not "real" enough and flip you the fin.  When tying flies for lakes (or for froggish slow moving water) it's critical to dial in your flies just a little bit more than you would for faster moving water where fish don't have the luxury of window shopping before making a commitment. Split your tails.  Use materials like biots to make segmented bodies. Sparse up your hackle just a bit...

Brookies eat Callibaetis like I eat Skittles.  Fast and Furious.

This pattern has been particularly effective due to some very cool materials that we have been playing with.  The wild turkey biots give a very mottled effect to the body, and the speckled badger hackle plays very well with the "speckled" callibaetis theme.  Another big player in the "match the hatch" game is Nature's Spirit materials.  They have their colors so dialed in that it makes it very easy to tie a fly that is G'd up from the feet up (That's bad gangster lingo for "matching head to toe." I apologize... kind of.)

The next time you are fishing a lake, pay attention to what is happening on top of the water, even if you are killing it stripping buggers, rocking a 'murican flag bandanna, and listening to Skid Row on your portable boom box.

~ Cheech

Recipes:

Speckled Tan
Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14-16 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Veevus 16/0 - Dark tan (BUY HERE)
Tails: Coq De Leon rooster cape - Med pardo (BUY HERE)
Body: Nature's Spirit wild turkey biot - Callibaetis (BUY HERE)
Wing: Nature's Spirit CDC tufts - Callibaetis (BUY HERE)
Thorax: Nature's Spirit fine natural dubbing - Callibaetis (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Whiting Hebert Miner - Speckled badger (cape or saddle) (BUY HERE)

Speckled Gray
Hook: Daiichi 1180 #14-16 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Veevus 16/0 - Dun (BUY HERE)
Tails: Coq De Leon rooster cape - Med pardo (BUY HERE)
Body: Nature's Spirit wild turkey biot - Muskrat Gray (BUY HERE)
Wing: Nature's Spirit CDC tufts - Medium gray dun (BUY HERE)
Thorax: Nature's Spirit fine natural dubbing - Muskrat Gray (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Whiting - Grizzly (cape or saddle) (BUY HERE)

Fly Tying Room Renovation

August 28, 2015, 7:02 am

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The fly tying desk gets a facelift

I usually go through some sort of fly box or fly tying area re-arrangement once every year or two -- especially during the dead of winter when I'm spending more time at the vise. And for the past probably three years, I've been using a fairly large flat oak dining table as my main base of operations in the tying man-cave. As Cheech and I spend a good amount of time in the man-cave plotting out trips, talking flies and materials or doing our filming, I've realized that room is much too small for such a huge piece of furniture. So I decided to retool the room, making it more Sasquatch friendly.

Before we get too far, I've written about some of my organization tips here and here. I'm sticking to the same ideas there as far as storage goes, but I've realized I needed to consolidate and change up my tying area and make it even more efficient. I'm mostly talking about getting away from my Dwight Schrute style "megadesk" to something more user-friendly.

For me, the biggest thing when it comes to my tying desk (besides my light snobbery) is making sure I can easily reach as many materials as I can without taking my butt out of my nice comfy chair. If I have to stand up or even worse, take a few steps, I'm losing out on precious fly tying time and physically taxing my body way too much. But seriously, it really is nice to have most of the materials at my fingertips without having to dig through boxes or pull stuff off of peg boards and stuff like that.

So to begin, here's a shot of my previous setup:

Fly tying room before the renovation

You'll see the big table there in the corner. It took up too much space and in order to reach the things on the top shelf and towards the back of the table, I had to stand up and move things around. Not the most efficient setup.

Here's the "after" setup:

Renovated fly tying area

I ended up taking the table out and replacing it with a cheap ($20 total) corner unit from IKEA. I got it in the clearance area, so it was super-cheap. This freed up a lot of space and allowed me to form more of a "cockpit" tying area where most of my materials and tools are in arms' reach.

Here's a video to walk you through it all...

Sponsor Me Bro...

August 31, 2015, 11:23 am

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Follow for follow? Like for like?

Do you fish for pictures? Neither do I.

#followforfollow #likeforlike.  When I started with this social media world 3 years ago I had no idea what those things meant!  Don't worry.  I have translated them into the Queen's English for you.  It means this: Hey, uhhhhh, I don't have any good content on my social media platform (specifically Instagram) so I'll like yours if you like mine.  Is this like a co-ed gym class in 9th grade?  Shouldn't people just see the content you put out into the world wide interwebs and decide whether or not they like it or not?  Nope.  This is a world of non-original content and asking for likes.  See below.

From the diary of a habitual re-poster: 

There are days when I stay up until the early morning scanning my phone for THE shot to post.  You know, you have to be in the right place at the right time to get the right picture and you have to have dedication to pull it off.  One morning I just finished with another DirecTV sales call (yes I'm awesome) and my manager turned her back long enough for me to launch Instagram...  There it was.  The queen mother of all social media fodder - A super hot chick holding a giant Brook Trout!  I had been practicing my screen captures all day so it was mere muscle memory to capture this beauty.  I could contact the original account to ask if they are cool with me posting their image, but I NEED likes right NOW!!!  Picture up, and look at this - I just gained 15 followers and 100 likes in 10 minutes!!  This is exactly like fishing for rising fish - but better - I think anyway.

Picture of an actual PRP

This must be what goes through the mind of the Pure Re-Poster (otherwise known as the PRP).  Re-posting is actually a cool part of social media, and I really don't have issues with it if it's done the right way.  Hell, we even re-post pictures all the time if the picture is representative of our "end-game" which is to help people tie better flies so they can catch fish.  Tie a great fly based on our patterns?  yep.  Catch a nice fish with one of our patterns hanging out of it's meaty grill?  Even better.  What we don't do is Purely Re Post content, in other words, our media channels consist of 95% original content, and 5% re-posts from our followers.

Don't get me wrong... There are good pages out there that do a great job bringing the latest and greatest from the fishing/tying industry, and they are good because they are updated by well respected members of the community.  They aren't just scavenging pictures on Instagram so they can get likes; they share relevant material that they think their followers will gain value from.  They also add many original posts and pictures that I look forward to. I consider these sites valuable, and they most definitely don't fall into the category of a PRP.  

We started our site mostly to share information on tying flies and getting our patterns and recipes out there.  In all honesty, I was tired of sending out the recipe for the Cheech Leech for the hundred billionth time, or maybe just the 50 billionth, but it was a lot.  We made a few videos and started posting stuff on social media, and like many other tying/fishing sites, we were trying to gain as many followers as we could.  We found a page on Facebook (that no longer exists) that offered us a post on their page if we gave them 2 dozen low fat minnows for a giveaway.  Their page had 40K followers!!!  We did it and we got lots of likes, but were those organic/quality likes, or were they likes from the give-me-something-free crowd?  As we became more familiar with social media, we realized that there were TONS of pages out there that existed purely based on re-posts from other pages.  On Facebook, it's kind of hard to take off with this approach because it's a bit more interactive, but on Instagram where it's based mostly on imagery, these PRP pages were off to the races!!!  Mega followers for zero original content!  This is genius!!

The question I have is this: What is the point???  If all you do is spend all day trolling pictures to put on your page, are you looking for likes? Sponsorships? Marketing dollars?  Hot babes with fancy creams and lotions? I don't get it.  Regardless of what the end game is in this PRP business, at least be courteous while you are furthering your page by using someone else's work.  If a page contacts us and asks if they can use our image, more than 99% of the time I'll give them permission.  Other pages tell people to tag them in their pictures with a unique hashtag to "pre-approve" some of this PRP business.  The two types of PRP that I absolutely can't stand on Instagram (I'm sure they exist on other platforms too) are the pages that give you credit but don't ask permission, and the pages that flat out steal images and credit them as their own.  I recently had a brilliant exchange with a page that posted one of our images without asking permission.  I was "on one" so I commented on the image something to the effect of "What is the point of your page." This apparently didn't go over too well with the page owner and several snide remarks went back and forth, so I requested that the image be removed from his page.  My point??  If you are going to act like a salty and vinegary cleaning device, I have no interest in letting you use my image to further your fake site. Period.  My comments were deleted and the picture remained until I employed a covert task force that consisted of a contest, the FFF #prostaff, and the Rattlebass.  The picture was removed and I was blocked from the page and the owner couldn't understand why I wouldn't want all of this "free" marketing.

In another instance, there was a kid that was posing as a Simms pro and Orvis endorsed guide (well WHOOPTY friggin doooooo) and was trying to gather up free crap for posting something to his page.  Upon further research, he was stealing images of flies and claiming them as his own.  That might work if you aren't stealing images from one of the most renowned tyers in the WORLD...  A tyer who has a very distinct skill set, and ties flies that are so good that you immediately recognize them as his patterns.  That would be like a 6th grader going to his teacher with a Van Gogh and claiming it as his own.  Taskforce 6 was deployed again, and he begrudgingly took the images down.  I was proud of one of my comments to him "Just because you have LeBron's jersey, it doesn't make you LeBron." (I'll be here all week to sign autographs)  He said that he gave credit where credit was due, but he only added the original tyer's initials.  Weak sauce Mr. Pro Orvis Simms Patagonia Massengill.

There really aren't any legal ramifications for being a PRP,  but if you go about it the wrong way, it does not shine very positively on you from an ethical standpoint (see salty and vinegary).  If you are a PRP there is help:  Turn off your phone, grab a camera, go outside, go fishing, take pictures.  See?  It's a bit of work to get good content!  Maybe I'm blowing this way out of context, but maybe I'm not.

~Cheech

I'm Sponsored Bro!

September 3, 2015, 8:39 am

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Gimme, gimme free stuff...

Cheech's failed attempt at pro-staffing prison camo-wear

So Cheech's latest rant the other day coincided with a some thoughts and grumbles I've had rumbling (and I'm not a "ranty" type guy, so take that FWIW). But I see a trend in the fly fishing and tying industry, and most other industries, that's changing the approach to marketing and collaboration -- mostly for the better but also with some downside. I call it the "social media influencer" ecosystem and it more effectively matches up companies who want to get their products in front of potential customers by virtue of partnering with content creators on the interwebs who these potential customers trust -- primarily via social media, but also blogs, podcasts and forums as well. You might know this better by terms like sponsorships, pro-forms, pro-staffers, ambassadors etc. But regardless of what you call it, like most things, it comes with good and bad, so I'll start off with one of the biggest negative side-effects I've seen.

So to take it a step further from the standpoint of our PRP* from Cheech's last post -- and if you're not familiar with that term, check out the aforementioned rant -- let's pick it up from the next couple of entries in his diary:

8/15/2015: I've literally spent the past few weeks emailing all the fly industry homies I can think of and I've finally nailed down my first legit sponsor! (cartwheel, selfie, post, selfie, rally, post again).  ACME Fly Rods is gonna totally hook me up with a brand new fly rod. Finally, I can retire the rod/reel combo my Aunt Gertie bought me from the Piggly Wiggly. I always hated how the reel was permanently attached to the rod. At least it had that nice plastic protector around the foam grip.

8/25/2015: The ACME fly rod came in the mail today. I wiggled it in my living room and it's such a sweet stick! I'm gonna post this sucka! (posts to all applicable social media outlets, creates a blog entry and a video review touting the sweetness of the rod). 

So what's the harm in some dude with a computer, collecting social media followers and scoring some SWAG? First off, as with many industries, there is a blossoming in the fly fishing industry (well, let's just say "sprouting" instead) with respect to social media engagement and adoption. Companies are finally starting to realize the value of this grass-roots social media influencer marketing and the PRP's are front and center. And we're not only talking PRP's on the Instagram or Facebook side, we're talking bloggers, Youtubers, Snap Chatters, Forum posters and anything in between. With the abundance of pictures, articles or otherwise public content, anyone with even a modicum of tech savvy can throw together a decent presence online and act the part of a person well-connected in the industry having years of experience.

Limited Edition Gucci Fly Fish Food cap

That, in and of itself, isn't the issue. The issue is when our PRP friend here turns into what we call the "Insta-Pro". Or maybe it's the "Pro-Tuber". All of a sudden, with hardly any real experience with other products, the ACME rod outfit becomes the best thing on the planet. Or when ACME starts to sell hooks, those hooks get an "A+" rating with a snazzy review to boot. "Best hooks I've used!", says our Insta-Pro advocating for his goodies as he ties his first ever dry fly.

Mr. Insta-Pro is happier than a clam, as he gets some good SWAG. ACME is happy because their online presence just shot up for a few days or weeks. And the Insta-Bro's (Insta-Pro's pro-staffers), run it full circle tagging, liking and Insta-Spreading the good word. Before we know it, Insta-Pro comes up with a line of flat brimmed gucci hats and some super-sweet beer cozies made from recycled coyote testicles and ACME is "the" rod to own.

</rant>

Ok, so rant aside, there are two important points here regarding this social media influencer model. First off, from a consumer standpoint, there are a LOT of really great dudes and dudettes in the fly fishing and tying world. You can get a lot of value from unbiased and fair product reviews, features or opinions from a lot of people -- even people who may be compensated or who might be pro-staffers for said products. And while even the legit dyed-in-the-wool experienced people will have some pretty strong opinions, you can usually glean some good information about products or services you might consider using by listening to what they have to say. Just beware of superlatives (basically most anything ending in "est") whenever you hear someone describing a product they use/like/advocate. And most importantly, use your judgment, compare what others say and ultimately consider the source.

Secondly, then what do (or should) companies look for in an influencer they want to work with and is it something you could conceivably do or even want to do? First and foremost, any company that has an ambassador, pro-staff or associate type program usually has some sort of requirement in order to become a part of the team. Here's a summary of three things commonly expected from industry companies:

1. An established background and role in the fly fishing or tying world. They often look for guides or outfitters, media members, people working for a living in the industry or people who can really speak to the product and with whom a given marketing segment might have good rapport. Insta-Pro probably doesn't qualify here.
   
2. An outlet or ability to showcase their company's products to as wide an audience is possible and be an "influencer". Even though this influencer concept is still relatively new, companies nowadays are starting to realize the value of social media and other non-traditional marketing methods. But here's where our Insta-Pro can leap-frog the two other points in our list. A company wanting to get as wide a marketing coverage as possible, might decide that it's more important to get quantity coverage as opposed to quality coverage. But, on the other hand, if you just started a blog, throw a few videos on Youtube or have a modest Instagram following, don't expect a company to give you products just because you tell them you'll tell all your friends and post things on your blog or social media for them. We probably get at least 5 emails or DM's a week asking for free stuff just because the dude will post pictures using our stuff on Instagram (right next to the photos of his buddy blue-darting it across the driveway in the dark). The biggest thing here is that key word -- influencer.
   
   Also, as part of this marketing arrangement, most companies -- especially ones in the social media world -- like to have you provide quality original photos and videos related to their products. The PRP or Insta-Pro typically cannot hang when it comes to providing that original content. Did I say "original"? Yes. Yes I did.
   
3. Provide accurate and useful feedback on the products. This means you'll need to use and know how to objectively analyze the performance and hopefully compare to as wide a range of competitive products as possible. We had an instance where our feedback lead directly to the cancellation of a specific model of product from the company we were working with. Just because it's free, doesn't mean you have to like it and give glowing reviews. This is probably one of the most overlooked aspects of any pro-staffer or sponsor program. And for some reason, often when people get something for cheaper or free, they tend to throw out a lot of their objectivity and end up convincing themselves how great a given product is. I call this a "lose-lose" scenario. As an example, I once agreed to tie on a new cutting edge vise for a couple of shows a number of years ago. I sub-consciously overlooked some serious flaws in its design just so I could have the newest coolest vise at the show. It wasn't until Cheech tried it out and flat out said "this vise sucks!" that I realized...yeah it sucked. And guess, what....that vise went the way of the Dodo bird.

Most companies that we work with (and most people who work with us on the flip-side) realize it's a two-way street. Cheech and I spend a lot of time and money getting to the locations we fish, buying materials and working on flies that we tie and feature and ultimately taking the best photos and videos that we can muster. There are also a lot of other people we know that do excellent jobs representing the product lines they are teamed up with. As part of that, here are a few things you might consider if you ever work with a company as a pro-staffer or influencer (assuming you can fit their needs as outlined above):

1. Reduced price (or free) gear. Probably the most obvious of all pro-staffer or influencer benefits is the ability to score some great gear at a price below what it can be purchased at retail. If you've met the requirements above and a company still isn't willing to part ways with some gear, move on. They still probably shove most of their marketing dollars into print magazines or old-school internet ads.
   
   You also need to calculate your costs in this deal. Considering their product cost is still less than what you're paying, you need to come out at least even in terms of the ROI here. And even more, a company who's interested in utilizing you for some of the reasons above, it means you'd should not only see gear discounts, but you should also see new gear when it's available. We've worked with more than one company who sent us old or sub-par gear (to save money??) and expected a reasonably positive review or representation. On the other hand, we work with some good companies that will look to use us for feedback and new product development on the latest and greatest. These are the companies that will survive the social media marketing revolution here.
   
2. Cold Hard Cash. I still find it hard to believe so many companies consider social media or grass-roots marketing as something for which they won't necessarily budget marketing dollars. They'll pay $5000 for a passive non-personal magazine ad that maybe sees a grand total of 10,000 people, but don't see the value in paying someone who helped get their product in front of 100,000 people in a more influencer role. So while the fly fishing industry is still behind the times as far as social media influencer programs go, there are a few companies out there that are "getting it". In fact there are businesses out there in the marketing world who actually make a living matching up social media influencers with brands or companies for them to represent. That's how you'll see mommy bloggers or Instagram hot-shots from the fashion, beauty, cooking, crafts and other industries making a lot of money from their social media efforts.
   
3. Cross Promotion. While you may be the person providing the exposure and the content for a given product, it's also important that you work with your sponsor to send that same love back your way. See that they tag you in posts, blog about you or have you listed on their pro-staff if that's applicable. Again, it's a two-way street.

In the end, social media is revolutionizing the way all companies need to approach marketing. And for those people and companies out there who want work together to embrace the new ways, there's a lot of hay to make together. And for those companies who are still stuck in the dark ages of marketing and working pro-staffing relationships like they did in the 90's, then I wish them good luck and very likely goodbye.

* PRP = Pure Re-Poster

---

Cheech Leech

September 8, 2015, 9:01 am

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My Favorite Streamer - hands down.

Black/Red Cheech Leech at Glamour Shots in the mall

**Update**
As we do with many of our patterns as we fish them more and more, we find ways to improve them for effectiveness, durability, color combinations, or all of the above.  I have been playing with some different changes for the Cheech Leech, the most important being the way that I do the head.  I have to hand it to my buddy Jeff Welker for challenging me to tie a few "perfect" El Sculpito patterns that he was putting into a frame.  The El Sculpito uses the same type of head that the Cheech Leech uses so it was directly translatable.  The solution was simple, but it took me a while for my slow artist brain to catch up with what my hands needed to do.  It involves some velcro, a thick dubbing loop, and some strong thread.  This new color combo has been great, and with the addition of claret marabou, black wine dubbing, and black/red krystal flash, it really makes a fish getting fly...

(This fly uses quite a bit of AZ Mega Simi Seal dubbing, so it might be a good idea to stock up)

Happy tying.

~ Cheech

Video beneath recipes



Modified recipes:

Black/Red
Back Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - Black (BUY HERE)
Tail: AZ Mega Simi Seal dubbing - Black Wine (BUY HERE)
Flash: Grizzly Krystal Flash - Black/Red (BUY HERE)
Body: AZ Mega Simi Seal dubbing - Black Wine (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Palmer Chenille - Black (BUY HERE)

Connection:
Beads: Articulation Beads - Ruby Red - Gunmetal (BUY HERE)
Wire: Articulation Wire (BUY HERE)

Front Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1 (BUY HERE)
Eyes: Ballzeyes - Large Red (BUY HERE)
Body: AZ Mega Simi Seal dubbing - Black Wine (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Palmer Chenille - Black (BUY HERE)
Collar: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - Black, Claret  (BUY HERE)
(Alternate) Nature's Spirit Strung Marabou - Black, Claret (BUY HERE)
Legs: Silicon Streamer Legs - Red Glitter Black (BUY HERE)
Head: AZ Mega Simi Seal dubbing - Black Wine (BUY HERE)

Halloween
Back Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - Fl. Orange (BUY HERE)
Tail: AZ Mega Simi Seal dubbing - Black UV (BUY HERE)
Flash: Krystal Flash - Rootbeer (BUY HERE)
Body: AZ Mega Simi Seal dubbing - Black UV (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Palmer Chenille - Orange (BUY HERE)

Connection:
Beads: Articulation Beads - Roe Orange - Gunmetal (BUY HERE)
Wire: Articulation Wire (BUY HERE)

Front Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1 (BUY HERE)
Eyes: Ballzeyes - Large Red (BUY HERE)
Body: AZ Mega Simi Seal dubbing - Black UV (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Palmer Chenille - Black (BUY HERE)
Collar: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - Black, Fl. Orange  (BUY HERE)
(Alternate) Nature's Spirit Strung Marabou - Black, Fl. Orange (BUY HERE)
Legs: Silicon Streamer Legs - Speckled Copper Black (BUY HERE)
Head: AZ Mega Simi Seal dubbing - Black UV (BUY HERE)

Wyoming Cowboy
Back Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - Brown (BUY HERE)
Tail: AZ Mega Simi Seal dubbing - Golden Yellow (BUY HERE) (item coming soon)
Flash: Krystal Flash - Rootbeer(BUY HERE)
Body: AZ Mega Simi Seal dubbing - Golden Yellow (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Palmer Chenille - Rootbeer (BUY HERE)

Connection:
Beads: Articulation Beads - Nuclear Corn (BUY HERE)
Wire: Articulation Wire (BUY HERE)

Front Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1 (BUY HERE)
Eyes: Ballzeyes - Large Red (BUY HERE)
Body: AZ Mega Simi Seal dubbing - Golden Yellow (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Palmer Chenille - Rootbeer (BUY HERE)
Collar: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - Sulphur Orange. Brown  (BUY HERE)
(Alternate) Nature's Spirit Strung Marabou - Sulphur Orange. Brown (BUY HERE)
Legs: Silicon Streamer Legs - Speckled Glitter Yellow (BUY HERE)
Head: AZ Mega Simi Seal dubbing - Golden Yellow (BUY HERE)

(**buy Cheech Leeches here**)

As a creative fly tyer I am not haunted by waters.  I am haunted by names.  Many nights as I tie flies I will have crazy fly names come into my head that really make me question whether or not I am really sane.  The Stoneflopper, Grumpy Frumpy, and Petite Sirloin Stonefly all made it off the vise, into the hands of able anglers, and eventually into the mouths of some intelligent trout.  The Caddis Leech, Samsquatch midge, and Big Lurch are still works in progress, and I’m still searching for bugs that will fit those names.  The Cheech Leech was a name that was haunting me for several months before it finally appeared onto my vise one night.  It was early one fall morning probably about 2 am.  I was chugging Mtn. Dew by the 2 liter, Bob Marley was blaring in the background, and I wasn’t going to sleep any time soon, so I started throwing stuff onto hooks.  I was pleased with what I saw after I tied the first one, but what would the fish think.

Video Tutorial:

 

            The conditions were very nice for a freezing cold miserable snowstorm.  I had a 3 wt rigged with 3x tippet, and I was set on hooking up with this fly.  I only had one so I began by tying a very perfect loop knot so I wouldn’t lose it.  I was staring at a pool that was known for holding some large educated trout.  The first cast told me that my 3 wt was not an ideal streamer stick.  The accuracy was off, and my furry creature went wide of the honey spot of the hole.  Just then, a nice Cutthroat turned and followed my fly all the way to the back of the hole.  No dice.  From the other side of the creek I heard my buddy yell “hey dummy, don’t you have to strip streamers?”  I got caught up in the fact that I might actually hook up on this ugly thing and dead drifted it.  The next cast the fly made it to the sweet spot.   Flash of orange!  BAM!  Big brown on!  This fish also reminded me in not so subtle a manner that my 3 wt was NOT an ideal streamer stick.  He did get the last laugh because he came off right at my feet.  That was fine with me though, because the Cheech Leech had pierced flesh.  I clipped it off, stuck it in my pocket, and started walking back to the truck.

            After a fly is a proven fish catcher I like to take it back to the fly dungeon to see if I need to improve upon it.  I realized quickly that this fly is an open book, and there are many variations that can be done with it.  The colors can be changed, rubber legs can be added, and the barbells can be put on either side of the hook to make it ride hook up or down.  It has since been distributed to much more able bodied anglers and is terrorizing trout all over the country.

Cheech

Cutthroat that fell victim to a Cheech Leech

Recipe

Hooks: 2x Allen S402 -- Buy Here -- (We use Trokar in the video, but these are the more common style we use)

Thread: Black or brown UTC 70 or140 denier  -- Buy Here --

Eyes: Barbell eyes to match size of the hook.  Most of mine don’t have eyes. -- Buy Here --

Back hook tail: Simi Seal Dubbing (We used Canadian Brown).  -- Buy Here -- Three strands of crystal flash on each side of the tail (we used brown). -- Buy Here --

Back hook body: Simi seal dub ribbed with medium palmer chenille (we used rootbeer). -- Buy Here --

Connection: Beadlon wire from the craft store separated by 2 6mm articulation beads. We have the special 3D version beads in stock here. -- Buy Here --

Front hook body: Same as back hook body

Collar: Three marabou feathers wrapped soft hackle style.  Tied in tip first.  We used gold, orange, and brown. -- Buy Here --

Rubber legs:  Rubber skirt material. -- Buy Here --

Head: Simi seal dubbing in a loop. -- Buy Here --

Here are some other color variations.

The Short Stack Slider: Carp, Crappie and Bluegill patrol

September 21, 2015, 10:09 am

≫ Next: Slum Hopper

≪ Previous: Cheech Leech

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Sliders Don't Suck

Black/Yellow Short Stack Slider

I'm a sucker for bluegill and crappie flies. And although carp aren't the most popular quarry on my fly rods, I've caught enough of them to know enough to have a good fly selection for them as well.

So the Short Stack Slider is a combination and culmination of a few patterns I've fished for both crappie and carp over the past number of years. One of my favorite crappie patterns is called the "Matacrappie" and consists of a wire body, a throat, legs and barbell eyes for weight. (see below for a very old photo of this fly)

Matacrappie Fly

As it turns out, I also ended up catching good numbers of carp and catfish on the Matacrappie as well. And in terms of Crappie, it did a good job. Check out this video from a few years back:



However, there were two things I needed to change on the pattern. First, it needed to sink a bit slower and it also needed to land "butt up" to be a bit more enticing for carp. That's where the the Short Stack slider came about. So give it a try for all sorts of warmwater fish. It's a fun tie and gives you a good exposure to deer hair with a relatively simple stack and trim job.

Material List

Hook: Partridge Jig Hook #8  (BUY HERE)
Thread: Veevus GSP 100 Denier, Black  (BUY HERE)
Eyes: Barbell Eyes, 4mm (small), Red  (BUY HERE)
Body: UTC Ultrawire, BR, Yellow & Black  (BUY HERE)
Legs: MFC Centipede Legs, Yellow/Black, Med  (BUY HERE)
Collar: Deer Belly Hair, Black & Yellow  (BUY HERE)
Under-Collar: Az Diamond Dub, Midnight Fire  (BUY HERE)

White/Chartreuse version

Hook: Partridge Jig Hook #8  (BUY HERE)
Thread: Veevus GSP 100 Denier, White  (BUY HERE)
Eyes: Barbell Eyes, 4mm (small), Red  (BUY HERE)
Body: UTC Ultrawire, BR, White & Chartreuse  (BUY HERE)
Legs: MFC Centipede Legs, Chartreuse/White, Med  (BUY HERE)
Collar: Deer Belly Hair, White & Chartreuse  (BUY HERE)
Under-Collar: Az Diamond Dub, Caddis Green  (BUY HERE)

Slum Hopper

September 25, 2015, 7:44 pm

≫ Next: Mongrel Meat 2

≪ Previous: The Short Stack Slider: Carp, Crappie and Bluegill patrol

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Simplify your foam game

After we came up with the Project Hopper, I quickly realized that I didn't like to tie it very much due to how long it took to cut out all of the foam pieces.  I liked the rounded foam body and how it was attached to the hook, so I started tinkering with a more simple foam bug.  The Slum Hopper is named such because I was literally just grabbing stuff int he junk pile of my desk to tie it.  Even though it is straight out of the gutter of the slums, it absolutely fishes...  It will ride high, and it has a great hook that will stay sticky sharp and turn it over on every cast.  The best part is that you can tie a TON of them in very short order.

~ Cheech

Recipe:

Cutter:
River Road Cutter: Hopper, Caddis Ant size 8 and 12 (BUY HERE)

Brown
Hook: Gamakatsu L10 2H #6 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 Denier - Brown (BUY HERE)
Body: 6mm Tying Foam - Brown (BUY HERE)
Wing: Para Post Material - Norm Woods Special (BUY HERE)
Indicator: 2mm Foam - White  (BUY HERE)
Legs: MFC Centipede Legs - (Medium) Yellow Black Red (BUY HERE)

Tan
Hook: Gamakatsu L10 2H #6 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 Denier - Tan or Cream (BUY HERE)
Body: 6mm Tying Foam - Tam (BUY HERE)
Wing: Para Post Material - Norm Woods Special (BUY HERE)
Indicator: 2mm Foam - White  (BUY HERE)
Legs: MFC Centipede Legs - (Medium) Tan Brown or White Brown (BUY HERE)

Yellow
Hook: Gamakatsu L10 2H #6 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 Denier - Yellow or Tan (BUY HERE)
Body: 6mm Tying Foam - Yellow (BUY HERE)
Wing: Para Post Material - Norm Woods Special (BUY HERE)
Indicator: 2mm Foam - White  (BUY HERE)
Legs: MFC Centipede Legs - (Medium) Yellow or Yellow red (BUY HERE)

Mongrel Meat 2

September 30, 2015, 8:03 am

≫ Next: 5 Tying Station No-No's

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More meat for the carnivores

Purple Mongrel Meat 2

The Mongrel Meat has been one of our very best streamer patterns for a few years now, but like many of our patterns, we tweak and modify them constantly to try to make them more effective and more simple to tie.  The original Mongrel Meat fished great, but the head was a bear to tie because it involved tying in so many clumps of hair.  We fixed that issue with Bruiser Blend Jr. dubbing.  Also, I have had a lot of luck with solid metallic colors (gold, silver, and copper) so I decided to add a fair amount of bling to these bugs.  Finally, we changed up the hooks to include two of the very best streamer hooks in the game right now, the Gamakatsu B10S and the Daiichi 2461.

One modification you can try deals with the ice dub collars...  You can try substituting other colors of the metallic colors of ice dub like Silver, Copper, Pearl UV hue, Blue Steelie, and Red, to name a few...  You can also tie the fly without any flash to make a more subtle, yet meaty, offering.

This pattern will also be available through Fulling Mill in 2016.

~ Cheech

Recipes for 4 colors below the video.


Purple
Back Half
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 - Purple (BUY HERE)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Long Marabou - Fl. Purple or Purple (BUY HERE)
Tail Flash: Ice Dub - Gold (BUY HERE)
Body: Holographic Cactus Chenille - Black (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Nature's Spirit Schlappen - Purple or Spirit River Schlappen - Purple
Collar: Nature's Spirit Prime Long Marabou - Fl. Purple or Purple (BUY HERE)
Collar Flash: Ice Dub - Gold (BUY HERE)
Connection
Articulation Beads - Purple (BUY HERE)
Articulation Wire (BUY HERE)
Front Half
Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 - Purple (BUY HERE)
Weight: Lead or Lead Free Wire .025 or .035 (BUY HERE)
Barbell: Lead Barbell Eyes (Dull or Shiny) - Large (BUY HERE)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Long Marabou - Fl. Purple or Purple (BUY HERE)
Body: Holographic Cactus Chenille - Black (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Nature's Spirit Schlappen - Purple or Spirit River Schlappen - Purple
Collar: Arctic Fox Tail Hair - Purple (BUY HERE)
Head: Bruiser Blend Jr. - Purple (BUY HERE)
Head Flash: Ice Dub - Gold (BUY HERE)
Eyes: 3D Holographic Eyes 3/16" - Super Pearl (BUY HERE)


Black
Back Half
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 - Black (BUY HERE)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Long Marabou - Black (BUY HERE)
Tail Flash: Ice Dub - Gold (BUY HERE)
Body: Holographic Cactus Chenille - Black (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Black Nature's Spirit Schlappen  Spirit River Schlappen  or Hareline Schlappen 
Collar: Nature's Spirit Prime Long Marabou - Black (BUY HERE)
Collar Flash: Ice Dub - Gold (BUY HERE)
Connection
Articulation Beads - Gunmetal (BUY HERE)
Articulation Wire (BUY HERE)
Front Half
Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 - Black (BUY HERE)
Weight: Lead or Lead Free Wire .025 or .035 (BUY HERE)
Barbell: Lead Barbell Eyes (Dull or Shiny) - Large (BUY HERE)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Long Marabou - Black (BUY HERE)
Body: Holographic Cactus Chenille - Black (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Black Nature's Spirit Schlappen  Spirit River Schlappen  or Hareline Schlappen 
Collar: Arctic Fox Tail Hair - Black (BUY HERE)
Head: Bruiser Blend Jr. - Black (BUY HERE)
Head Flash: Ice Dub - Gold (BUY HERE)
Eyes: 3D Holographic Eyes 3/16" - Super Pearl (BUY HERE)


White
Back Half
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 - White (BUY HERE)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Long Marabou - White (BUY HERE)
Tail Flash: Ice Dub - Gold (BUY HERE)
Body: Holographic Cactus Chenille - Silver/Gold (BUY HERE)
Hackle: White Nature's Spirit Schlappen  Spirit River Schlappen  or Hareline Schlappen 
Collar: Nature's Spirit Prime Long Marabou - White (BUY HERE)
Collar Flash: Ice Dub - Gold (BUY HERE)
Connection
Articulation Beads - Nuclear Corn (BUY HERE)
Articulation Wire (BUY HERE)
Front Half
Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 - White (BUY HERE)
Weight: Lead or Lead Free Wire .025 or .035 (BUY HERE)
Barbell: Lead Barbell Eyes (Dull or Shiny) - Large (BUY HERE)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Long Marabou - White (BUY HERE)
Body: Holographic Cactus Chenille - Silver/Gold (BUY HERE)
Hackle: White Nature's Spirit Schlappen  Spirit River Schlappen  or Hareline Schlappen 
Collar: Arctic Fox Tail Hair - White (BUY HERE)
Head: Bruiser Blend Jr. - Cream (BUY HERE)
Head Flash: Ice Dub - Gold (BUY HERE)
Eyes: 3D Holographic Eyes 3/16" - Super Pearl (BUY HERE)


Olive
Back Half
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 - Olive (BUY HERE)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Long Marabou - Olive (BUY HERE)
Tail Flash: Ice Dub - Copper (BUY HERE)
Body: Holographic Cactus Chenille - Olive (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Olive Nature's Spirit Schlappen  Spirit River Schlappen  or Hareline Schlappen 
Collar: Nature's Spirit Prime Long Marabou - Olive (BUY HERE)
Collar Flash: Ice Dub - Copper (BUY HERE)
Connection
Articulation Beads - Electric Lizard (BUY HERE)
Articulation Wire (BUY HERE)
Front Half
Hook: Gamakatsu B10S #1 (BUY HERE)
Thread: Danville 140 - Olive (BUY HERE)
Weight: Lead or Lead Free Wire .025 or .035 (BUY HERE)
Barbell: Lead Barbell Eyes (Dull or Shiny) - Large (BUY HERE)
Tail: Nature's Spirit Prime Long Marabou - Olive (BUY HERE)
Body: Holographic Cactus Chenille - Olive (BUY HERE)
Hackle: Olive Nature's Spirit Schlappen  Spirit River Schlappen  or Hareline Schlappen 
Collar: Arctic Fox Tail Hair - Olive (BUY HERE)
Head: Bruiser Blend Jr. - Brown Olive (BUY HERE)
Head Flash: Ice Dub - Copper (BUY HERE)
Eyes: 3D Holographic Eyes 3/16" - Super Pearl (BUY HERE)

Accessories / Adhesives
Zap A Gap Thin (BUY HERE)
Loon Clear UV Resin - Flow (BUY HERE)
Loon Clear UV Resin - Thick (BUY HERE)
Loon UV Mega Light (BUY HERE)
Stonfo Comb/Brush Tool (BUY HERE)

Fishpond Sushi Roll

Here is a bonus if you made it this far down the page...  We now have the Fishpond Sushi Roll to store all of your big meat this fall. Check it out HERE

5 Tying Station No-No's

October 2, 2015, 9:31 am

≫ Next: How to Fish Undercover

≪ Previous: Mongrel Meat 2

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Just say "NO"

I realize this post might not go over well with a lot of people, but sometimes you just gotta help your friends make some informed decisions. And before anyone that reads this wants to punch me in the face because you're doing these things, I'll admit I've been guilty of most of these babies, so there you go! We're trying to help you from making the same mistakes we did.

1. Spooled threads and materials that are stored on those awesome spindle thingies. Here's an example of what I mean with the photo on the right.

"What's wrong this this?!!" you ask. Well for starters, what color thread is under the blue wire on the third row back? Yeah, I thought so. Even if you didn't have this staggered setup and could see each spindle in its entirety, you'd still have to remove the top spools to get to anything underneath them. Too much work.

Beyond that, having your thread out in the wide open like that turns it into a dust magnet. Makes for really clean flies when you already have a nice thin layer of brown "dubbing".

Good use of wall space

And more than anything, this method just isn't scalable. The collection above is probably from someone just getting started. But before too long, you'll have threads, tinsels, wires and other spooled materials in all colors, sizes and types. Good luck fitting them all on a spindle without going to something like this -->

So what do we recommend? I'm a big fan of small plastic drawer units or even tackle boxes. You can sort the spools out, keep them readily accessible and away from the awesome dust.

This guy violated two rules...oops!

2. Peg Board. I'm not sure what first made me so attracted to the idea of putting all my materials onto gigantic walls of pegboard spread-out all over my man-cave, but I went all out. (NOTE: The picture to the right is not mine. I was too embarrassed to shoot photos of that failed setup). Anyway, I put peg board on the walls, the closet and even built a peg board tool rack. But it didn't take too long to realize I was barking up the wrong tree.

First off, it never failed that the package of marabou I needed was at the back of the stack so I'd have to pull the whole bunch off the hook (and hope the stupid hook didn't come with it) and replace the ones I didn't need. What a pain! You'd probably save time by just throwing all your materials onto the floor. ;)

And probably the biggest inefficiency, I ended up having materials well beyond my reach as I was seated at my desk because they were spread out over such a large geographical area in my office. Ask yourself why do fly shops store materials this way. They do it so that they can showcase what they have and actually "fill" a fly shop. And once I got over the whole "Hey I need to spread out all my tying materials for all my friends to see how much stuff I've got", I realized it's more about efficiency. And pegboard is definitely not the most efficient way to store things for easy and re-usable access.

Look at all that storage space!

3. Roll Top Desks. So I probably just blasphemed some sort of fly tying station code of conduct right there, but yeah, I'm not a fan of the roll top desk. For starters, they have next to nothing in terms storage space. It might work for you as you get started, but you'll outgrow the minimal storage space soon enough. And while it's cool you can "hide" your fly tying mess in the middle of your living room, every time you want to tie, you'll still need to bust out the rest of the materials you have stored in the closet downstairs. Yeah, it won't take too long before you ditch that idea.

So forget all those fancy visions of tying flies on your roll top desk, smoking a cigar as you lounge in your flannel shirt and regale your friends with stories of 30 pound trout. I think the roll top is just an over-hyped super-expensive semi-useful piece of furniture. If you can spare the space, just get a cheap flat table or desk and build your station with portable storage. Much cheaper and you'll be able to store your materials without having to worry about running out of space or selling your kidney to afford a roll top.

4. Making your entire collection portable. For some reason, especially for people who may not have a set and/or dedicated space in their home or apartment for tying flies, tyers tend to think in terms of making sure their materials and tools are all fully and immediately portable. "Maybe I'll be tying at a show!", "What if I want to tie on my fishing trip?".  But again, when you're starting out, sure you might be able to pull off the trick of bringing your entire material and tool selection, but it won't take long to grow beyond that. So that means your best option is to just plan to keep your materials in one spot (even if it's in the closet) and then raid the collection for only the items you need to take. Then you use a bag, bin or suitcase of some sort to cart your materials to wherever you're going. Too many times I see tyers come to fly tying shows or demos around the country carting around what can only be assumed is their entire material and tool collection. That's just an unnecessary pain and limits how and where you can organize your stuff. Plus, if you ever travel longer distances with your loot, good luck with that. We have a hard enough time getting tying gear checked as baggage and moved around even with a very small subset of our tying stuff.

Cheech ties flies at his computer desk sometimes

5. Having your computer in the middle of your fly tying area. As a computer nerd over the years, I've seen some pretty nasty things happen to desktops and laptops and I can tell you that keyboards, mice or even monitors don't take well to spilled glue or paint, tiny bits of feathers or fur and other nasties that can make their way onto and into your expensive electronics. If you need to watch our fly tying videos at your tying station (which is an activity highly encouraged here), make sure to keep the electronics free and clear of materials, liquids and glues (with maybe a pull-out keyboard shelf?) and look to elevate your monitor above the fray so that it's not accidentally tagged with some errant scissors or a stray bodkin. A best case scenario, assuming you have the space, is to keep your computer/tying areas separated. And as you can see in the photo of Cheech here, too much time on the computer is ultimately going to take away from your tying time and possibly cause weight gain.


In the end, of course, there are no hard set rules in all of this. Do what works best for you. We're here to help with some friendly suggestions based on things not working for us in the past.