Christmas

How was Christmas at your house?  Lots of great food, fun family times, and some fly tying "stuff" here. And, some time off of work to spend at the vice.

I've been interested in saltwater flies lately, and my wife picked up Essential Saltwater Flies for a Christmas gift.  There's some great patterns, with variations for everything from bonefish to tarpon to striper.  It will definitely keep me busy for a while.

Here's my second attempt at a bendback.  The first was pretty plain, so I won't share it here.

This morning I ordered a bunch of new material, along with heavy saltwater hooks, from J Stockard.  So once those come in I'll post more pictures of flies, like Surf Candy, Deceiver, and some sand crabs for redfish and permit.

Zebra midges

Is is possible to have too many zebra midges?  From #16 to #22, from black to rust to brown to red to tan. I have a whole box dedicated to these simple little flies and I've probably caught more trout on these than any other fly.

My favorite are with a tungsten bead, to help get these down to the bottom quickly.  It seems finding the bottom is where I catch fish with a zebra.  Your mileage may vary.  It also helps when fishing a tandem, with a Copper John or Pheasant Tail as the first fly, and a zebra hanging below it.  Helps pull the entire rig down into the water column.

Catching up

After a couple year haitus, I've revived this blog to focus almost solely on all things related to fly tying and fly fishing.  That's not to say something unrelated might not sneak it's way in....

So, what's new?  Well, just in the past month, I've purchased a brand new Sage Z-Axis 9'6" 8wt which will be my largemouth bass and redfish rod.  I contemplated many rods, from the TFO BVK (great rod, by the way!), the Orvis Hydros, and some of the mid-priced offerings from the premier brands.  But the closeout price of the Z-Axis was just too attractive to pass up, and it's one of the sweetest rods ever made.

On the tying front, I've been on a tear just in the past week.  3 dozen flies total since Saturday.  Red zebra midges, Copper Prince and Rubber Leg Hare's Ear make up the bulk.  I really need to improve my photography skills but here are some pictures from my cell phone.

Copper Prince:

Rubber Leg Hare's Ear

I'll continue to post more pictures of flies, and as a teaser, there's a fishing trip planned for the near future I'll post about later.