I’m trying to provoke a discussion. I’m in the process of tying a bunch of flies to give to my football players at our year end banquet.I tie these in the team colors (purple and gold) and suspend them in a clear glass ornament as a keepsake. This year I decided to tie a Le Reynard with a gold wing and a purple collar. Gold tinsel body with a purple tag. i don’t think it’s fishable but it is eye catching. Does anybody else just tie to catch fisherman or just fish?
I love tying flies which are as close to the original as possible.
However most are only for my pleasure and to test myself. They will not get wet and would be quite impractical in the water.
For fishing I just stick to tried and tested recipes.
Coach,
I tie flies that the fish will eat for actually fishing with. Like you, I sometimes tie flies for other reasons, using odd colors and such. You’d be surprised, though, at how many times they end up catching fish.
I do like to play with the realism stuff, but I’ve found them to be way less effective on the water than ‘representative’ flies. Fun to tie, however, which is why I like to tie them.
Good Luck!
Buddy
Hey Coach,
Often times my topwater dremel bugs are
tied more for the user than the fish. Not
an original idea as I’m often just doing
copies of original bass plugs in fly fishing
weights. Of course you gotta catch the
fisherman before you can get your product
to the fish.G Warm regards, Jim
Jim,
I’m not trying to steal Coach’s thread, but I have a question for you. You haven’t managed to do a Crazy Crawler in frog colors yet, have you? I’d love to see a photo. 8T
You had better learn to be a happy camper. You only get one try at this campground and it’s a real short camping season.
[This message has been edited by Eight Thumbs (edited 11 October 2005).]
i don’t think it’s fishable but it is eye catching. Does anybody else just tie to catch fisherman or just fish?
Just fish 
.
Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL
“Flip a fly”
College marketing 101. You can have the greatest product in the world but if it is packaged wrong, advertised wrong,or visually unappealing no one will give it a second thought. Highlight of my tying was when last years version was included in the Flyfishing and tying journal Fall 2004 Steelhead flies as a runner up. I assume anyone that sent a fly was a runners-up.
8 Thumbs,
Thats the one topwater I’ve not tackled.
Though I have worked my way through many of
the others like the spook, injured minnow,
river runt, hula popper, jitter bug, torpedo
and the like. But that crazy crawler is too
far out for me to get a grip on.G Warm
regards, Jim
Coach,
I tie hummingbirds, regular and in school colors, and suspend them in the clear glass ornaments. They look really kewl on the Christmas tree! I’ve been told that the hummingbirds will work for bass, but I’ve never tried them. I have however, learned many new words as I’ve worked at stuffing them into the glass balls!
Betty
Trouts don’t live in ugly places
Guess I fit in this category. You can fish my flies…if you can stand the price… I tie anything that is an insect. Preying Mantis, Walking Stick and Water Scorpion all of which I invented back in the 60’s and 70’s plus many more realistic flies…all I guess have becom collector items of sort…not originally tied to be…just tied to see if I could do it. Other ‘fishable realistics’ were tied to try and more closely immitate the actual insect. They just took off from there. I never meant to become a “Franklyn Mint” of fly tying,…it just happened. I have done a few noveltiy flies…like the Red Baron’s Biplane, A Great Blue Heron and a Hummingbird, all maybe 12 or 15 years ago…time goes by…My God, has it been that long. Half a dozen other tyers have done a take off on the mantis and they are all pretty good. This year I was given the chore of lining up realistic tyers for the International Fly Tyers Symposium. The only two major realistic tyers that couldn’t make it are Ted Niemyer and Ollie Edwards.
Bill Logan (who ties the most real looking nymphs at 5 grand apiece) will be there along with, Bill Blackstone, David and Becky Martin, Paul Whillock and myself. Also Dale Beamish from Calgary, Jukka Tappio from Finland, Steve Thorton from England Rich Bogardus, Tim Wohland, Jackson Leone and Dwight Yokum…USA.
Occasionally I tie fishing flies…but I have so many tyer friends from the shows that keep me supplied with plenty of flies to fish with I don’t have to worry about churning some out as all these others take loads of time. Klinks or spinners are about it lately.
By Far the biggest catches I have made to date have been fishermen. I well tied “Art Fly” fly will get em everytime.
Rich