These bobbins are manufactured by Merco Products, and come in several iterations, including a newly introduced version that allows the tyer to make half hitches and whip finishes using the bobbin tube. Really slick! You have to watch this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f8uJssaV0k. The Rite bobbins have some distinct advantages for the tyer: (1) Light weight, (2) […]
The standard wire form bobbin that I reviewed in the last post has one disadvantage: size. Not that the bobbin is excessively large, but its bulk makes it just a bit awkward to handle in some situations, especially for the very tiny stuff. One of the standard wire forms hanging from a size 28 is […]
There are any number of fly tying bobbins available today. All have something to offer to the tyer, and so this is the first in a series of posts on bobbin designs and their characteristics. The first one that I want to look at is the standard wire leg model. There are any number of […]
The winter has released its grip on the Lake States, and steelhead time is upon us. As I get ready for the first steelhead trip of the year, I am tying some of Walt Mueller’s new Embryo Egg designs. This concept can be applied in two ways: (1) as a single egg on a hook, […]
While at the Somerset New Jersey Show, I met Morten Bundgasard, Managing Director of Pro Tubefly System. Now here’s innovation. I can’t believe that someone actually has made plastic propellor blades for tubes. WOW is all I have to say. At long last, someone is thinking. In addition, they have a variety of cone head […]
At the Somerset Show this past weekend, I gave a presentation on “Nymphing,” and was asked several times about the pattern for the Snail Fly. It’s so easy that it’s almost embarrassingly so. Here’s the pattern for the Snail Fly: Hook: Sizes 10-14, standard shank length hook (I like a heavier wire nymph hook because […]
For all of us interested in long flies, their history, tying tactics, and etc. this is the site where we can exchange ideas, read about the ins and out of long fly origins, and show our skills at dressing these important imitative flies: http://www.streamerlist.com/. Have a look.
Book Three in the Fly Fishing series is entitled Long Flies. It is a look back and a look forward of the design of flies to imitate minnows, leeches, salamanders, eels, squid, and other elongate food prey of our sport fishes. The look back is to glean what we can from the thinking of long […]
This is the icicle reduced to its bare bones. Actually this is the “stage” of the icicle that I fish most often because it works just as well as the others and is super fast to tie. In addition, like the “reduced” version, there is no tail and no body, eliminating the hassle of tearing […]
I received a question about John Beth’s bunny flies and his other “giant killers” that he uses for Lake Michigan tributary salmon, browns, and steelhead. The question asks: “Hello! Do these flies ride hook up or hook down? I see the eyes on top of the hook (like a clouser) so I would think they […]