+Bigmouth.png)
Here are a few of the flies that i like to tie and use to ply the saltwater flats of Florida.
Top left - Double Bunny Mullet - i like to use this pattern when mullet are present. It has 2 zonker strips, bead chain eyes and a peach marabou collar. Size 1/0
Top right - All White Deceiver - Nothing better when the snook are running on the beach. Size 1/0.
2nd left - DT Special - i found this pattern in an issue of Florida Sport Fishing Magazine. i tie it a bit more sparse than the original. All white is good for snook around dock lights at night. It's sort of similar to a Seaducer. Size 1/0
2nd right - Bigeye Majora - A white bait similar to a herring. Size 1/0
3rd left - Big Eye Deceiver - i tied this for Barracuda in the Keys. It's pretty hefty and has a lot of material. i tied it in Chartreuse and White with a lot of Krystal Flash and thought the big eye might give it that little extra appeal. Size 3/0.
3rd right - Red Cockroach - This is a tarpon pattern mostly....but i made them 1/0 for snook and redfish on the flats. i like to tie these in brown with grizzly marabou, white and chartreuse too. Size 1/0
4th left - Red Seaducer - An all around versatile for the salt. Trout seem to like the way it hovers in the water column. Size 2/0
4th right - Mini Bunny - Smaller version of the Double Bunny Mullet. Size 4.
5th left - Clouser Light - i tied some Clousers with bead chain eyes for skinny water in the Keys....plus, with my horrid casting style, i don't have to worry about nailing myself or the rod so much. Size 1
5th right - Red/White Deceiver - A good backcountry pattern for the big 3. Size 1/0
Let me know what you think......
pretty good silhouettes and material selection. some of the techniques still need some refinement, but given the amount of time you've been tying you're doing fantastically! for example, the flies picture show a tendancy to crowd the eye...meaning your thread heads are bunched up on the eye of the fly instead of being very cleanly tapered up to just behind it...showing a very clean hook eye. this isn't just aesthetic. it improves the durability of your flies and on smaller flies becomes critical to being able to thread the eye with tippet. and a couple of the tails don't seem to set quite right, but i'm sure they'll still catch fish. fish aren't as particular as fishermen...and especially not as picky as other tyers. keep up the good work. these are good flies for most guys who have been tying for a couple of years or so.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ken.....i realize about the hook eye and sometimes it just turns out that way when i am tying it. Most of the time it's just a mental lapse or just trying to make it work when i should back up and fix the mistake.
ReplyDeletei know what you mean about some of the tails. Most of the time it's not having the right kind of feathers or not a whole lot to choose from.....for instance, my white rooster hackle is toast and the only thing remaining on it is small, short feathers and i've just been lazy and haven't picked up any new ones.....but thanks for your compliments.
on the crowding the eye issue, the best way to avoid the problem is to discipline urself to tie all elements of the fly further back on the shank. of course, u can't start further back than the pattern calls for, but try to be conservative of shank space from there forward. you can always fill up excess space at the front if you have too much with your last step of fly or by elongating the thread head. as for the tail materials, i hear ya! that stuff can get expensive and you don't exactly have a bunch of good fly shops close by. and it was the feathered tails i was referring to. like i said: great work. fyi, crowding the eye is a problem many tyers don't overcome for years...especially when tying new patterns. when attempting a completely new style of pattern for the first time, i still do it every once in awhile. you just don't take pics of those early attempts. lol
ReplyDeleteThat DT special with weed guard looks like it would work well for a lot of different fish. I'm a hack tyer but my philosophy is as long as the fish like it, it stays in my fly box.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pete, i like that philosophy!
ReplyDelete