Just getting back into tying
I broke my vise and supplies out about 2 weeks ago to see what was what. My head cements, dubbing wax, etc. were shot after about 15 years of dormancy (is that a word?). I have replaced those necessary supplies. Tonight I decided to tie a few flies since a shoulder injury has kept me from fishing since 6/22 when I was out with Rich on the Farmington. I dusted off the old books and started with a hare's ear since it's simple and I catch a lot of fish with that pattern. The first few were very ugly specimens but I was pleasantly happy that tricks I had picked up back in the day came back very quickly. I tied 7 flies in about an hour which is pathetic but the last couple actually looked like something you would buy in a store. I'm sure the early, uglies will catch fish though.
So here is my question. I need advice on the advancements that have been made over the past 15 years. Good books, supplies, techniques, etc. I was going to pick up some bead heads at a local fly shop recently but all he had was gold. I remember reading on this site that gold was old and other colors could be more productive. Any advice like that would be greatly appreciated.
Happy Independence Day. God Bless America.
JB
Re: Just getting back into tying
for beads
try copper and black for metal beads also dont be afraid to try glass beads in the same sizes. fish see the same types of beads all of the time and something a little different might be the trigger that get the fish to pick out your fly rather than the 50 or so they see everyday.
also try using so flash in your flies. you can blend synthetic dubbing with the dubbing that you are using. i like to blend small amounts of antron or ice dub into my flies. i use a coffee grinder to blend my dubbings.
you can actually do a lot with a hares ear. you can tie them in brown and chance the ribbing to black copper wire and you have a good sulpher nymph. now that the dorotheas are hatching on the farmington i would have some of them in a size 16.
also... dont worry about that the flies look like. you will be making them perfect in no time. a good idea for finding new patterns is to type what you are looking for on google and search images. for example try blue winged olive nymph patterns some time. you will be amazed with all of the ideas that you get. print out the ones you like and go from there. also mix and match things that you like from some of the patterns and you will come up with new patterns that you will have confidence in. i hope this helps.
Re: Just getting back into tying
great advice Aaron. Even though I use google at least 6 times a day for other searches, I hadn't thought of searching for patterns to tie.
Any recommendations of online sites to buy supplies like beads?
Thanks a lot for the input.
JB
