Taking Another Shot at Tying

Usually I hate tying flies. Mostly because I'm not very good at it. It seems like a waste of time to spend 20 minutes on something that looks like a bundle of thread and feathers. I like to call that pattern the trash fly. That's usually where it ends up after I'm finished. I've started to keep those flies because sometimes they work.

This year I took another shot at fly tying. I wouldn't say I'm liking it. But what has been great is catching fish on flies I tie. I've been really into these white bugger patterns with dumbbell eyes. They've been really effective on crappie and they were the only thing I could catch white bass on so far. The best part is they aren't difficult to tie. I can tie one in under 8min. The most time consuming part is finding the right hackle. The saddle hackle I bought kind of sucks. I've realized I like thin hackle strips. The big fat ones make the flies look ugly. I can see where it would be effective with bigger hooks. I'm mostly using sz10 or smaller.

I use egg patterns quite a bit and I tried to tie some on my own. They seem simple enough. There are a ton of youtube movies on how to tie glo bug patterns. Even with the movies mine turn out looking more like a cotton ball then a trout egg. I think maybe they'll be more effective in some situations. The funny part is the size of the puff ball that ends up on my hook. Let's just say I'll have plenty of flies if I ever go steelhead or salmon fishing. After tying a few dozen flies I can see the value of a good vise. Mine has tightening knobs. These do the job but if you tie a lot the knobs start to wear on your hands. I may one day look into getting a renzetti rotary vise but it's not my highest priority right now.

This year so far my fishing experiences can be only described as efficient. Each trip I've gone on I haven't had the usual annoying things that plagued me the last few years. No reels dropping in the water, I've had all the flies I needed, haven't forgot any equipment. The fish have cooperated too.

I hope this trend continues.