Anyone Flying Flies?

[cornelyj]

These are a bunch that I have been working on in the few moments of spare time for the past colder winter months. Getting ready for this semester to be over and for a nice walkabout/fishing trip in South Biscayne. Hopefully later this summer there will be some added pictures with these feathers in the sides of their fishy mouths.

From another thread on here I know at least one of you QPs are going on a trip to the keys If you pick a couple out maybe you'll get an early x-mas gift.... PM me....

[cornelyj]

Couple more pictures.,...

[Roguish Lawyer]

Nice work!

[JJ_BPK]

I think you should go into business,,
I can see the Poons & Bones drooling on the flats..

I have very little experience,,
I get most of my ideas from books,, and then modify,,
I occasional get a nibble for my efforts..

[cornelyj]

Originally Posted by JJ_BPK

I think you should go into business,,
I can see the Poons & Bones drooling on the flats..

I tried selling locally in the Miami area to a couple canal guides and had an account with a store but you just can't compete with the prices of the Indochina and Hispanic countries. The flies and most products come straight from the sweat shops. The fly that costs me a buck to make mainly because of the high quality hook cost them about .03 cents because of cheaper materials and lower quality no brand hook. But heck I tried and made a couple bucks from one of my passions... not to bad a deal if you ask me.

To tell you the truth I would tie and fish them for free shoot I would even snuggle with the key deers.


I do pretty well with the Bones not so much with the Tarpon last time I went home. Last time I went home the wind was blowing West and there wasn't a chance, so we tend to stick to the neighborhood canals with my brother and catch some pretty good peacocks and largemouth which are real fun on a #2-4.
Now about the Poons & Bones if I told you where they drooled I would have to see your Ultra High Super Top Secret Credentials.

Going to go do PT.

[Penn]

You must have the book:"Matching the Hatch" ???

[Infantry44]

I got into tying flies when I lived in upstate NY for a brief period. Seemed to make sense vs. paying $2 for what amounted to a ball of fluff (salmon egg imitation). That's as "advanced" as my tying got...

Now that I'm down South, I'm looking forward to trying out bass on the fly. Not sure if I'll get into tying, sorta busy most of the time

[Penn]

After contacting my friend Joe one of the great obsessive fly fisherman today.

The book "Matching the Hatch" was authored by Ernest Schweibert, now deceased Princeton architecture professor.

The title of the book refers to the goal of some fly fisherman to identify the stream insect upon which the trout are currently feeding, prepare an effective imitiation fly of that insect on a miniature hook, and present it in such a way as to inducee the trout to take the fisherman's imitation instead of the live insect.

The word 'hatch' in this context is actually a traditional term, but a misnomer. Whereas we accurately speak of a chicken hatching from an egg, the hatching referred to in this book and those of many predecessors (all the way back to ancient Greece) and subsequent modern authors, should more properly be called emerging.

A stream insect starts with an egg deposited in the water by the adult form. This egg hatches in the stream and the insect larva lives in the stream for a species-specific period of time. After that time the larva exits the water, or in some cases merely rises to the surface film of the stream, splits its 'skin' and an adult insect with wings emerges and flies in to the air to breed and repeat the cycle. The metamorphosis from larva to adult is the emergence or 'hatching' referred to by fly fisherman.

During the emergence period, which can in some cases be timed by season, temperature, time of day and other amazing specifics, the insects emerge en masse and are vulnerable to predation by trout and birds. The birds and trout take advantage of this. If the fly fisherman can effectively 'match the hatch' then he/she can take advantage of the vulnerability of the trout which become 'keyed in' on the specific insect species currently in abundance.

[cornelyj]

There aren't too many streams where I am from so trout fishing isn't really my thing... but I did start by buying books by many of the well know fishing greats like Stu, Lefty, Flip Pallot, Ed Jaworowski and Bob Popovics. I reproduced much of their great designs and they work. But it got to the point where you have to observant of the small area that you fish. The flies that they invented work but not for all situations. The most recent book I bought was a bait fish encyclopedia which was pretty much a profile of all small fishes with a description for each. From there I would experiment with shapes and patterns till I got one that worked and stood up to abuse from mangroves, casting, etc. Take fish off hook and repeat till sun goes down.

[abc_123]

Nice looking flies! I've done enough fly fishing to be dangerous. have caught some trout (fresh water) but I'm not an expert by any stretch. Mostly fished wets to take as much of the skill aspect out of it as humanly possible.

What wt line / rod you fish these salt water flies with in fla?

[cornelyj]

Originally Posted by abc_123

What wt line / rod you fish these salt water flies with in fla?

How bout we just go over Fly setup selection.....

Well when you have been fly fishing since you were about 11 you collect a random assortment of rods, reels, lines, tippets, etc. just like any sport. I have most rods from 12wt to 4wt. If I had to say which one got the most use it would be the 6-7-8wts. in Fl sometimes 10wts. for bigger species.
Favorite all time rod...http://products.gloomis.com/gl/produ...=1238007483855


The line selection that is another story... fishing the flats on windy day I tend to keep to the faster forward sinking lines which help the crab or shrimp imitation get into position faster when site casting also helps to cut the wind.

If you haven't tried to cast into a nice headwind call me cause I would love to watch your first attempt.

Note I said windy day because the sinking line has a heft to it it makes it harder to make a soft and flat presentation unlike the normal floating weight forward line. If I had to pick one line to fish for any condition it would be this...http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...502&cmCat=perf
The line has enough bump in the front to throw short and double haul out to farther distances. Even though they say it is good in the wind it is still a wt FORWARD line. If you want to fish sinking lines with a floating fly line add a longer leader which adds scope and will let the fly sink fast against the leader to a certain depth and then slow down once it starts to sink the floating line. Tuned to proper depth can be deadly on target species.

Note about reels: as most of the trout fishermen know most beginners going after smaller species usually don't use reels as they can be hand pulled/cranked in. You don't really need a reel till you learn how to cast far enough and go after fish around 10lbs or greater. Now for buying a cool looking reel that's up to you and your wallet....

If you have a wallet for a reel you cannot break these... http://www.abelreels.com/pages/reels.htm and they are machined works of art to boot.

So now that you have a rod, reel and line you need to buy backing....sorry kinda out of order.... nothing needs to be said about that just buy the highest LB test you can fit on the reel and learn how to tie effective knots not to be confused with pretty knots!!! NOTE!: do not fill up your reel perfectly on the vise because when you are fighting a fish and reeling in line. The line will not be placed perfectly back on the reel like on your vise. Leave ample room between your fly line packing and your reel inside edges so when you get that prized fish next to the hell's bay you can net him and not have a jammed up fly reel with too much backing....

For tippets or leaders as some call them... don't buy those fancy tapered things they sell in fly stores. They are too much $$$ and fish don't care if they are hungry enough to eat feathers. Buy some 8lb or 10lb fluorocarbon and learn proper loop connection knots. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...p.form1&Go.x=0

find a pretty fly and tie and improved clinch knot and go catch fish! Before you release the prized catch back into warm FL waters take pictures and post them here!!!


Lastly one fun thing I used to do when I was a kid was tie on a small crappie popper to fish for needle fish by docks. They are an overabundance of them in almost any FL waters and would make great first saltwater game as they are easily fooled by anything that moves and floats at the same time.... Be careful as they have some nasty little chompers especially when you are 8

[JJ_BPK]

Originally Posted by Penn

You must have the book:"Matching the Hatch" ???

Penn

I use Lefty's Saltwater Patterns,, and like most, feeble-ly try to duplicate the art pieces..

When my hatch doesn't match the book,, it's artistic nuance..

My greatest failure is trying to match the Palolo (Palola) hatch we have in May. The Poon love warms,, but get so drunk on them that they act like stupid kids on Spring brake..

If you ever need a chuckle, try to find time to be between the Bahia Honda Bridges during the hatch..

If your not familiar,, google fu "palolo hatch bahia honda bridge"..

There is a picture in my Fish Tails album of a Palolo.

http://albums.phanfare.com/jj-bpk/17...ageID=39696146

abc_123 "What wt line / rod you fish these salt water flies with in fla? "

Here in the Key's you can use just about any wt you want. The gate is the wind,, more wind = heaver line class. OR you fish with a buddy that can put you on the lea side.

My buddy is a guide, one customer from Germany brings over all sorts of rigs,, just to test. Three yrs ago he try Tarpon on a 2wt, and it worked, he landed a 40 lb and several smaller. Given he is very very good caster and has 30 yrs experience with Tarpon..

I take 8wt, 9wt, 10wt, & 11wt, all with WF floating line. I fish Sage rods, most are older ebay finds. My preference is stiff and fast.

[alright4u]

Randall Kaufmann has some great books on fly tying.

[abc_123]

Thanks for the replies. Good info all around. The HH 6 has got our keys trip pretty much set....All I have is a 6wt rod that is very dusty from non-use and was wondering if it was even worth it to try and pack into my luggage. Since I'm not a hardcore fly-fisher I'll probably leave it at home.

Heading down to the keys in a couple of weeks...will be spending a couple days in KW and a couple in Marathon. It would be nice to place a face withf the folks here on PS.com.

[Habu-MFFI 175]

I realize this is a older thread but fly fishing and tying flies are at there best when aged. Not trying to steal the thread but to help it out.

I just got into the act of tying my own flies this past Feb 09. Since then there is no telling how many I have tied. Its a whole bunch of em. I tie mostly for saltwater species but do make some for freshwater.

I tie mainly for red drum and speckled trout. I give a lot of my flies away to our fishing group and a lot of guys out of Fayetteville in FAAN. (Fayetteville Area Angler Network
http://www.fayettevilleanglers.com/

These are Spooky Shad....I haven't tried em yet but you are suppose to
be able to walk the dog with these. If not they still will make for a great
topwater slider.



Clouser and Deceivers..maybe a couple of Half and Half.