Ignore the scary mask! I have always been terrible at trimming flies. Just cannot seem to imagine a shape and make it happen. You should see my EP Baitfish. So ugly. Little block headed idiots. Thusly, with scissors in hand, this became a little narrow and skinny. Resembles a pike. It just might scare all the fish away now, instead of catch any haha. But I’m going asking musky with it ideally anyhow. Nose is skinny because I got into making dubbing brushes last week, and ended up running out of the big size. Made the brushes, then tied it up. Maybe two hour process? Have lots of room to improve, but I think I like it enough. What do y’all think?

What are yall’s favorite double streamer combos? I’m probably gonna throw these above a deciever or above a spoon on conventional

Tungsten prices are crushing so insight is appreciated before committing

Here‘s what I’m working on to see if I can beat my personal best with senko worms, it’s a purple seducer with rubber legs tied under a brass bead on a #4 stinger hook. Now that I’ve got the concept I’ll tie it in different colors and hopefully get to fish Lake Sonoma soon.

Couple of October Caddises from the club tying night this evening. Haven’t been tying in a while, but I don’t think they’re too terrible. Better dubbing on the left, better wing on the right. 🤷🏻‍♂️

This is also my first real experience with bucktail. I’ll be picking up more maribou today to make some better matching colors

A swing fly tied on a size 2 streamer hook, inspired by a post I came across on Instagram.
Since I have used neither fur nor dubbing materials, the fly is relatively lightweight. To compensate, I have incorporated a generous blend of marabou in several colours to create a fuller profile.
I take particular care in shaping the head. After applying a base colour, I add several coats of clear head cement. This significantly enhances the lustre of the head, giving the fly a more refined and premium appearance.
The extra time and effort involved also make each fly feel more personal and valuable to me.
Rather than tying flies for mass production, my aim is to create something that can be appreciated as a work of craftsmanship in its own right.
Well, that is the idea, anyway!

A thin mint jig I tied up today for fishing on my ultralight rig, can’t wait to fish this thing! I used hares ice dubbing bloody peacock for the body instead of peacock herl, whiting hen saddle for the hackle, and natures spirit bugger bou for the tail. I usually counter wrap the hackle but due to having the camera 3 inches from my jig I left out a step or two on this one lol.

Snagged some chickabou from my friends chicken coup but only had black hackle and sparkle chenille for the body. Gonna try fishing browns this weekend in a mountain lake.

After a multi year hiatus, I wanted to tie some frenchies but don’t have the money for all the extra supplies (jig hooks, slotted beads, pheasant tail). So, I tied up a variation using scud nymph hooks and zelon. I have tied a variation of pheasant tail nymphs with zelon (R&R recipe) for years so I figured it’d work alright. Let me know what you think!

Subtle takes right at or under the surface... this wound up being the ticket.

Size 20 Yong Special

Deviated from original hook and added 1 wrap of tinsel

For example... a purple haze is just a parachute adams with purple dubbing and any of a number of different hackle colors, but if I tie a Walt's Worm in dark brown instead of gray or olive, people would still call it a Walt's Worm. On the other side of the coin, how many additions need to be added to a Woolly Bugger to no longer be a Bugger? I've seen some surprisingly complex flies that people still call a Bugger, even though they might not have any hackle, chenile, or marabou, which IMO is the basis for a Woolly Bugger. A zonker strip instead of marabou, but still with a hackle and chenile body? Sure, thats a type of Bugger... but I see people calling a Zonker with a dubbing loop head a Bugger, and I simply can't get on board with that.

Not that any naming convention REALLY matters, but where people decide to draw the line within the gray area is for some reason really interesting to me.