tying flies and telling lies

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Marsha/CA

Marsha/CA

Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Mar 9, 2005
Posts
4,489
Location
Home base-Kernville, CA
Well, I have 5 peacock herl #12 bead headed nymphs under my belt.  I had tied a couple under the watchful eye of our fly-fishing....fly tying son a couple of days ago.  So this afternoon, as we accumulated nearly 5 inches of snow here in Kernville, CA, I tied a few more.  Plus I got a gift certificate for a new rod and reel for Xmas.  Last Fall I used Chris' (son) rod and loved it.  The rod he has they no longer make, so Tim (hubby) said "get what you want".  So, tomorrow off to the local fly fishing shop.  This is gonna be a good flyfishing year; I can just tell.

Next on my list to learn to tie, is parachute adams....I love those little things!

Oh, the telling lies part....I heard a song by the Doroados about tying flies and telling lies....It's about a family who goes to the family cottage for a few weeks every summer.  They get up early in the morning, put on their waders...telling lies and tying flies....right up my alley.

Marsha~
 
Marsha,

I got a real sweet deal from your local fly fishing shop "across the bridge" from where we had breakfast. One nice thing the guy offers, but I didn't take advantage of, is "go try the rod on the river and, if it's not what you want, try another one". I believe it was this guy. He was a really great guy to deal with.

Tim (hubby) said "get what you want"
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Tim knows what I paid the my Sage rod, so you have a blank check  ;D

#12 - is that a gaff?  ;D

I'm having an increasingly tough time seeing the smaller flies (anything smaller than 16 or 18), and I'm getting ready to buy a lit magnifier such as this one.
 
Tom,

I have one I got over 30 years ago and it still works fine.  It is a little shop worn but it sure helps in seeing those circuit boards!!
 
Tom,  we know Guy Jeans, owner of the Kernville Fly Shop, very well.  His oldest daughter is our granddaughter's age.  We were with them all on Christmas Eve and the girls play together a lot.

I had heard Guy was really good about letting you try rods.  Tim also paid for a lesson or two for me, so I'm excited.  With the rod I have now, I'm having a hard time getting my line to lay out and most time I can't feel the line load up on the rod with my back cast.  With Chris's rod, it was very easy to feel to line load and to lay it out.  It's a very fast action rod.  The one he has is a 2 piece; mine is a 5 weight 4 piece and is very flexible.  We got it when we were back packing with the horses and wanted rods that broke down so we could pack them.  Now that I'll have 2 rods, I can set one up for nymphing and one for dry flies.

Re the "Gaff"......I'm moving down to the little stuff.....I need the big stuff so I can see what the heck I'm doing.

I'm wondering what size hooks they use in Alaska?

Marsha~
 
[quote author=Marsha/CA]I'm wondering what size hooks they use in Alaska?[/quote]

Probably smaller than we use for sturgeon here on the Delta  ;D
 
Marsha
If you can get to Yellowstone in August we have a class for women lead by a world class woman angler, her name is Rhea Topping and she is great.  I took a novice class from her and stay in contact.  You stay at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch, the site they used to protect the species way back.  Nice little log cabins.  There are RV spots nearby, but best bet is to stay right there.

I switched to a 4 pc from a 2 pc end of last season, packing purposes.  Both are 5-6 wt. 
 
Marsha/CA said:
Well, I have 5 peacock herl #12 bead headed nymphs under my belt.  I had tied a couple under the watchful eye of our fly-fishing....fly tying son a couple of days ago.  So this afternoon, as we accumulated nearly 5 inches of snow here in Kernville, CA, I tied a few more. 
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I never thought of the peacock herl on these.  I usually wind a olive green thread on bead head nymphs on #18 hooks.  Knocks them dead................ I'll give the peacock herl a try.
Tom said:
I'm having an increasingly tough time seeing the smaller flies (anything smaller than 16 or 18), and I'm getting ready to buy a lit magnifier such as this one.
Click to expand...
I too have trouble seeing the small stuff......... I sometimes tie midges on #28 and even #30s.  I have tried a magnifying glass on a goose neck but it gets in the way.  I have been toying with the idea of either a magnifier hood that you see jewelers wearing or maybe the binocular looking things like my dentist appears to have glued onto the lenses of  his glasses.
 
Nothing better or more satisfying than catching a trout with a fly you tied!
 
So true, especially when, as is often the case, my flies don't look anything like the natural insect they're supposed to imitate.
 
threeful said:
Nothing better or more satisfying than catching a trout with a fly you tied!
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It is a great feeling to know that you have out-smarted a fish!  Little is more satisfying.
 
Well, yesterday I worked on tying #14 "curved" hook bead head Copper Johns; but then changed to Copper Joes, the hillbilly version, which is much easier and faster.  This was the first time I used wire thread and actually had 2 bobkins going at once.   

George, I'll try your #18 bead headed nymphs with the olive thread.  I still can't figure out the parachute Adams.  I think I'll need to have someone show me that one, several times over.  The fly tying book I have is very technical.  Chris (son) is going to let me use his tie flying #101 and a couple of others that are much simpler.  I finally got the whip lash knot, with the cute little tool, figured out.

Marsha~ 
 
Just joined the forum a few days ago and was pleasently surprised to find this section.  I have been tying my own flies for about 5 years.  If you are looking for a neat light and magnifier google Giraffe lights.  I bought one and even with the cataracts it is great.  If you are ever in Tennessee you need to go to Little River outfitters in Townsend Tn.  If you are ever in Texas look for Greune outfitters in Greune Tx.  Right along the Guadalupe river.  I had a brother in law that had a guide service on the guadalupe (he passed last Dec. from CA) he taught me to fish and tie flies.  It is the only thing beside camping that relaxes me.  DW gave me a Creek Company pontoon that deflates and I can carry it with us in it's own bag.  Looking forward to fishing this year.  Come on over to TN and lets go fishing. ;D
 
sundance3200 said:
Come on over to TN and lets go fishing. ;D
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Well, I just might do that sometime; but this year we are heading to Alaska.  I've already started looking up flies and guide service. 

We haven't done any fly fishing in Tennessee; but we have fished the White River in Arkansas.

I'm still working on the fly tying; and have only been at it for a month or so.  I'm now doing Adams (darn little wings) and just the other tied my first elk hair caddis.  That one I really enjoy tying.  I'll look up the "Giraffe Light".  At the moment I'm using my husband magnifiying glass that is lit and on a long swing arm.  It seems to be working well.  I'm about ready to go down to a 16....<squinting my eyes to see>
Good to see you here.  There a number of us who fish, flyfish and tie flies.

Marsha~
 
Marsha/CA said:
but we have fished the White River in Arkansas.
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The first time I fished the White I was wading.  After an hour or two the water was about half way between my waist and my chest and I noticed that regardless of which way I went the water seemed to be getting deeper.  About that time some guys came by in a boat and asked how I was planning to get out of the river.  I answered that I reckoned as how I would get out the same way I got in.  They explained that it was doubtful that I would succeed as they had opened the dam and the water was raising rapidly.  They drug me into the boat and took me ashore. 

Lesson learned: Watch the water level when fishing the White.
Marsha/CA said:
Marsha/CA said:
tied my first elk hair caddis.  That one I really enjoy tying. 
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I tie several versions of the elk hair caddis.  I find it to be kind of a universal fly.............. when I don't know what to throw I usually throw an elk hair caddis.
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[quote author=geodrake]After an hour or two the water was about half way between my waist and my chest and I noticed that regardless of which way I went the water seemed to be getting deeper.[/quote]

Good warning George. That happened to me on the South (?) fork of the American River, although I was lucky enough to be able to make it to shore. Talking to folks at the camprgound, I later learned that they open the dam every day at a specific time.
 
We have a couple of rivers here the Hiawassee and the Clinch that are controlled by TVA with Generators.  They do post the times that they will operate them.  If the Hiawassee only has 1 running you are good to go, but if both are running then you need to be aware of it.  They sound a horn but you can't always hear them if you are a piece downstream.  The clinch is a great river and can rise fast.  A day of fishing sure beats a day of working.
 
George,

We happened to be in a flat bottom "jon" boat when we fished the White River; but there were signs along the shore line saying that if you heard a siren warning to get out of the water if you were wading.  We never heard it, but we did catch a ton of fish using a very unique technique.

My next fly to figure of is a blue olive, I think that's the name of it.

Right now I'm almost totally bedridden.  I hurt my back this morning and it's "killing" me so to speak.

Marsha~
 
[quote author=Marsha/CA]Right now I'm almost totally bedridden.  I hurt my back this morning and it's "killing" me so to speak.[/quote]

Oh my gosh Marsha, what did you do? Hope Tim is looking after you!
 
We have a cast iron pellet stove.  I opened it to see if the inside needed to be cleaned.  When I shut the "heavy" door I pushed down hard on the latch and felt something "give" in my back.  I knew instantly.  I made it to church; but came home to the heating pad and bed rest.  Poor Tim, I had laundry to do, a dishwasher full of clean dishes to put away and was going to make homemade soup for dinner.  The dear sweetheart did it all, including making the soup.  He's just about as good of a cook as I am.  :p  However, he follows recipes to the "T", while I add stuff.

Ok...heading back to the heating pad.

Marsha~
 
Marsha,

I'd be headed for the local chiropractor in the morning.

You're like Chris when it comes to "adding stuff" to recipes  ;D  I can follow the microwave instructions on the side of a frozen dinner  ;)
 
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