Again, just tying without thought. Maybe that's the best way for me. Just sit down and grab some materials and tie. I've been tying for many years, not trout flies for sure, but a lot of horrendous salt water flies over the years. So today, on my birthday, at age 55, maybe it's starting to click. Below is a shot of me struggling through tying a fly at the Orvis NYC store on March 31, 2012. I was there doing a presentation and was asked to sit down and tie up a few flies. You can see how this one was turning out..... (that when Clear Cure Goo was all the rage until it folded in 2014.)
So the top picture and the one below are the results of, I think, a job pretty well done. Don't be fooled by the ass-end taper, it hasn't been wet down yet and should fall into place. There's a mono extension in there so that's probably a little bucktail that needs to be tamed. I think those 8-10"s are the perfect length fly for what I need. They're not Beasty, but do kind of follow a herring profile.
On the one below I passed on a mono extension and tied in some feathers. They should really do a nice dance when they hit the water. Even the subtle mix of colors works, and there's black down the back which you can't really see in the picture. And not to get too-Squimished up I reached into
my selection of SF Blend and tied one up for the 3rd shift fishing. What I don't have is any good soft and long black bucktail on hand so I'll have to run down to Brad before the shows start and see if he has any. I do have plenty of Steve's blend so that's what I'll use for now. After looking at the below fly I went and cut back tapered the flash better as the ends were all the same length, not that I think a striper would care. That's a 6/0 Mustad so it approaches almost 9 inches when taped out.
One thing I've never had is a true rotary vice. I use a Regal Medalion and would like to upgrade to their Revolution model one day. One thing is for sure, the fly side that faces me always seems to come out the best. I need to get to a show soon, tying materials and supplies, outside of the eyes, are dwindling. Just about 3 weeks until The Fly Fishing Show in Edison, I hope it's good this year.
