Still trying to find my way around the vice. I would say, outside of a Snake Fly tying blitz I had done in Montauk in 2014 this is probably the most I have tied flies in my life. People ask me if I tie all of my own flies, "I'm a tier and a buyer". While I have been dependent on Andrew's and Joe's flies when I needed that 7" inch Hollow style flies it will be nice to only throw what I tie now. The problem is, for me, it takes a long time to tie a nice fly from start to finish. If my undiagnosed ADHD kicks in it can take a several hours. I think one of the things I am learning is to take the time to evenly distribute the
materials and reverse it if it doesn't fall correctly, even if you have to waste some. In the past I over tied with too much material, over tightened which gave too much flare, over glued or resined trying to cover up my mistakes. One thing I also picked up from Steve is using as much as the base of hackles and feathers as possible as a way to bulk up the fly. Those ends where the stems are thicker also strengthen the fly and really let you tie down to secure it. I have started to add feathers in the tie so the ass ends aren't bulkier than the front. The below fly I tied with the hook up, worried that most of these flies will get eaten by the concrete and metal jungle that waits under the surface of the 9 foot tides where I fish.
I have also seen that if you tie a fly with a darker back and eyes, you better make sure it runs in the water right, or else the one eye will be facing up as the fly rides sideways in the water. For that I have been adding weight on the bend to keel the flies so they ride correctly. This one I want the hook up to
to make it weedless, or rebarbless, with a chance to hold onto it for a while. Fishing from the shore, with a 11 wt with 450 gr line makes keeping these flies around a difficult endeavor.
I realized I haven't tied anything darker or in black so I took a look to see what I had. Here's a nice fly I used a lot this past fall, and caught on it. "I tied a nice fly there", I thought to myself. I saw that one eye was gone, peeled off from the excessive use. But then I looked closer, and truth be told. This fly was tied by someone who took the time to cut out their own tab eyes, yep, that's Jimmy Matson for ya.
So I found some eyes that were the same size and reglued them on, all ready for some more fishing, and catching. 10 days away until the season opens, lets hope the weather cooperates.
