The hairy question...

[Waders]

I have tied a good amount of flies over the years for friends, family and of course myself, but one things always gets me is the number of flies I see that get put under a glass, in a shadow box or on a shelf. There is a since of pride to see some of your flies sitting in a prominent spot on an executives desk, coffee table or wall but there is also that gut wrenching feeling of... "man you should be fishing those flies!".

If it was intended to be under glass I will put them in a nice shadow box and seal them in with a piece of artwork or a pin from a FFF show or something. But if they are in a plastic box, by all means fish with them! All that being said, what are the opinions of other tyers?

I recently tied the flies below up for a friend and his first response was those are too pretty to fish with...to which I started to say... fine give them back and you can have the ugly ones!

So I am wondering if they will ever see the end of a fly line or even have the opportunity to entice a beautiful bronze back. Only time will tell unless they rot first.

[lastchance]

They are very nice, but if you send them to me, they'll certainly catch some bass with them.

[Eric-WD]

I have some steelhead flies I will never fish with, when I look at them It is a great reminder of a friend who gave them to me.
Perhaps you can tie one for him and put it in a shadow box then he can fish the others.

Eric

[FishnDave]

Yep...sorry, those really ARE too pretty to fish with!! Very nice!

[EdD]

Waders, let's try a different test. If you were to sell them, what would you charge for them. Would it be "art prices" or "get 'em out and use 'em" prices? I'm not saying that you ever have, or ever will sell your work. It's just an idea of seeing how they're valued.

I can't tell you how tempted to add, "If you do sell them at "get 'em out and use 'em" prices, feel free to PM me your price list. But that would be wrong...

Those flies ARE truly beautiful. Thanks for sharing the picture.


Ed

[branhap]

Waders,

I'd be happy to take a gift of those flies... for fishing or hanging on the wall.

P.S. if you ever want to make some money, I could use some bass flies... just PM LOL

Paul

[Clay]

How are the eyes attached? Did you burn a hole in the hair and then glue the eyes in? I always wonder about durability with eyes. That looks like a nice pattern, might have to tie some of those up for a friend that I have in TX.

[modocdan]

Howdy Waders ! Here's my take on the issue you bring up.
I tie my flies to be fished. Some of my flies are very nice looking, and might be suited for display, but I fish 'em. I've joined in a bunch of swaps, and have flies tied by fellas from all over the world.....I fish 'em. I figure that was their intention when they tied 'em.

Last year I got in the Geography swap, and I kept those flies aside with the intention of mounting them on a map with the tier's name & location just for fun, I haven't done it yet, 'cuz I think there will be a follow-up swap to fill in the missing ones....one from every state was the original idea.

I also give lots of flies away.....whatever I'm fishin with at the time, or maybe just a handful of different types to a newby, or someone trying fly fishin on for size. They're all meant to be fished, though.
As for the quality question.... I've gotten lots and lots of flies in swaps, and even traded for others, and bought some from fellas here at FAOL. EVERY fly I've ever received was fishable, and many have caught fish. I've also decorated streamside shrubbery with quite a few. I've never received a poorly tied fly in a swap. Maybe I'm being generous, but I don't think so, when I say this. Across the board, I've found this bunch to be careful tiers who mean to produce quality flies that are meant to be fished.
There are some exceptions, and I've seen some photos here of flies that are truly works of art, but they were intended to be just that......................ModocDan
By the way...Those are excellent-looking flies you've tied...........I'd fish 'em

[Waders]

How are the eyes attached? Did you burn a hole in the hair and then glue the eyes in? I always wonder about durability with eyes. That looks like a nice pattern, might have to tie some of those up for a friend that I have in TX.

You got it. Use a tool that was given to me by a Urologist. Sorry guys! Has three tips that heat up bright orange and will burn just about anything you touch including some metal. Have to be careful not to drop in your lap. :^0

I trim the yes so that they still have a bit of a stem and use epoxy to set. All the glues I have tried tend to fall off after about 4 fish so the epoxy tends to hold the eyes onto the hair until the hair is just plain beat up by rocks, fish etc... I try my best to pack the hair as tight as I can. I like to be able to squeeze them and not change the shape of the fly on certain patterns others I like it loose so it feels more realistic to the fish like certain mouse patterns.

I am experimenting with some flies now that are deer hair divers that have been completely coated in epoxy. They look amazing especially the large (JUMBO) muddlers.
I will post patterns and successes once I get a few details worked out. Color is turning after a few days in the sun and water.

Thanks for all the comments. I like to fish em too!

[joe cool]

I'd fish them too. Maybe save one for a model so I can attempt my own. Might go attempt one now based on the picture. Are they weighted? Or fished as a diver? Or near bottom on a sinking line? I like the last idea a lot, think I'm gonna try it that way. I'll be interested to hear how the coated ones fish. They'd be getting pretty close to a flyrod crank bait I think.