Fluttering Minnow Step By Step

Steps 1-2: Tie in the dumbbell eyes about 1/4 of an inch behind the eye of the hook. This will leave you room for adding Silky Fibers later on. Next, move toward the back of the fly and tie in a small clump of Root Beer Silky Fibers as you would a marabou tail.

Steps 3-4: Continue moving forward on the hook, tying on clumps of Grey Silky Fibers on in a Dubbing Loop fashion. Stop adding when you hit the eye, but make sure to add only a bit at a time so you don't overcrowd the hook. Next, use a piece of marabou to Spey around the eye. For the fly shown, I switched the marabou to some Hareline Dubbing. 

Step 5-Finish: Dubbing Loop on another clump of Root Beer Silky Fibers in front of the dumbbell eyes. Whip finish the fly and add a drop of head cement. Now dip the thing in the water to get the shape looking right before you throw up. Seriously, that thing looks gross right now.

MY NEW BOAT (FOR REAL THIS TIME)

Well, my family has made a decision. The choice was either spending another $250 on building another duct tape yak, or spending the same $250 on buying a real kayak. So we decided to get the real one. My plan is to order a Spitfire kayak, and then use the extra PVC to spiff(?) it up for my fishing adventures. I can move faster in a kayak, get some better angles on fish, and not worry about snapping turtles biting off my toes in the belly boat. Just kidding! But still, it will be nice to have a kayak. My question to all of you is: What additions should I make to the kayak? Rod holders? Foam Fly Patch? Cover the whole thing in duct tape... wait, sorry. So what should I add? Give me some ideas!

The Kayak Before My Additions

MY NEW BOAT!!!! Thanks Troutrageous

Thanks Troutrageous. Like I didn't have enough to do already. No, really. Thanks! I had nothing to do, and with runoff this high the fishing looks bleak. When I saw your post about building a duct tape kayak, my first thought was, "No one would ever do this". Then it went to, "How does this work?" And then finally to, "Mom, I need to go to the hardware store". Yes, I'm actually building the duct tape kayak. As JGR might say, I'm being "That guy". So I have no idea if this will work. Do I have a drill? I do now. Do I have a bone saw? I do now. Do I have a welding torch? My parents were crazy enough to get me one. And now, I have the top of my kayak complete. The first piece of welding PVC took a little effort, but the electrician taught me well. I added an extra T-Bar piece for support, And Made some oar posts to stick on at the last minute. I have to wait until my next order of PVC comes in before I can start working more. The only thing I didn't like about the project is the materials list. It doesn't include a welding torch in the list, and says you need 50 feet of PVC instead of 70. I just made lots of mistakes that needed an extra 20 feet of fixing. So again, thanks for the great idea. For anyone who trusts my welding and building skills enough (65 final in Wood Working), feel free to come and test it out when I'm finished. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

New And Improved

That's A Lotta Worms And Girdle Bugs

You can't even walk around the shop anymore without bumping into some amazing new item! RMA is completely set with new gear, a whole new shipment of tying materials, and NEW flies! Yesterday was all the materials, and there were tons. New wire, thread, marabou, chenille, tools, hooks, beads, and everything else fly tying came in a giant box. Luckily one of my little home-dogs, Alan, came into to help us out. Alan has a knack for perfection and organization that is completely beyond me. I can't do anywhere near what he does. Not to mention he is a very good fisherman to boot. So Alan set up all the wire and thread, and then worked on other materials with me. So today I came back to the shop, ready to get shit done. Randy was already working on setting up flies. I jumped in and helped, and we managed to get all the flies set up. So now, you can't even walk through the shop without walking into something awesome!

Tie Whatever Color You Want!

Quadruplets And A New CONTEST

Don't be a hater, don't discriminate. I went out these past two days and caught quadruplets, four different species of fish. I didn't leave any of the fish out, except anything that didn't live where I was fishing.

Let's start this one off at the beginning. I went out to find my first of the four babies, a trout. I fished a tight little stretch for about an hour, picking up lots of fish as I went. They were mostly small, but I did manage to pick up this good looking Brown on a PMX.

Now, it was time to find some big uglies, the Carp. I went out to a local hot spot that has really been producing for me the last week or so that night. Nothing. Well, not quite nothing. The carp weren't picking up on the flies at all, but I did find one cute little pond bass to add to my list. Not a big Bass, but a bass. Now all that was left was Carp And Bluegill. 

I woke up this morning around 8:30, and was on the water by 9:00. The Carp were hanging around, but they didn't seem very hungry. Finally after around an hour of casting, I tricked a Carp into sucking in my fly. I battled the fish for a few minutes, who gave one big run and then bulldogged his way back in. The fish was in the net, we were all set and three fourths of the way done, and the only fish left was a Bluegill. 

Wow, where can I start with the Bluegill? I've been tying a cool variation of the Backstabber, with a tail and some flash and things like that. Many bluegill were caught on this fly. Some very large Bluegill were caught on this fly. The one Bluegill worthy to make an appearance as the Bluegill though, was this guy. Why? Look at those beautiful orange markings. How could I resist such a pretty fish?

And so all this got me thinking. And this is how the contest comes into play. If you can catch four different types of fish in under 24 hours, you will win four flies. However, if you submit more than four, you will win more flies. The three people who catch the most fish will win a bigger, special, secret prize. Just email me photos of the four fish you catch. We will trust that they were all within the time period, so please be honest. Below are some rules for the contest.

Rules:

1. All fish must be caught within the 24 hour time period

2. Bluegill are considered Sunfish, and Brook Trout considered Trout (not char). Crappie can be their own thing. Saltwater fish will be individually judged to decide if they are considered the same species or not. 

3. All submissions should include a first name and contact email

4. All fish should be released after the photo has been taken

5. Tippet should be no larger than 3x, unless fishing for Saltwater fish or fish over 10 pounds. 

My New Carp Fly

So two weeks ago at the fly-shop, I was bored out of my mind. Things were slow, I had been there long enough to start getting bored, and my primary source of entertainment (my iPhone) was at the bottom of a lake. So what else could I do, I asked myself while sitting at the tying desk. The answer was right in front of me, literally. I was staring at the vice, wondering what to do, and then it came to me. I should tie some flies! But which? Everything I knew how to tie was too repetitive and boring for this moment. So I decided I would tie something new. After a few awful attempts at tying crap on a hook, I came upon something that was only terrible, not awful. To a normal person, that's the same thing. But to a fly designer, that's the beginning of brilliance. So I tied it again, a little neater this time, and showed it to my good friend Jay Zimmerman. Jay is a guide at the shop I help out at and a professional fly designer for Umpqua Feather Merchants. He gave me some advice, and I went after it again. And again and again and again. I would change one little thing, ask Jay what he thought, and then tie another. After a week of sitting in my room, tying flies over and over, I finally had one fly that I thought would catch fish. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I would show this to anyone. But I did believe it would get some good looks from fish. I had a very hectic schedule with my schoolwork, so I dropped some flies off for Jay. A week or so later when I saw him again, he told me he had something for me. He plugged a flash drive into my computer, and up popped some photos. Photos of carp. But wait, there was something else! The carp had MY fly in it's mouth! Amazing! It's been a while since that day, and I've kept working on my fly. I tie it in colors for Spring, Summer, and Fall. I feel confident in my fly, and I'm glad I have something to put my name under. Good fishin' to ya, and tight lines!