I know I might be a little early but I’m looking for new xmas fly recipes. Tied lots of Betty’s hummingbirds and a few Christmas snowman for friends and relatives but I am looking for something new to try. Friends and relatives go nuts over the hummingbird and that is the only time they are interested or impressed with my tying. The thread is started a bit early because I may have to find some material. I did see the Grande Ronde Rudy and the Yule Mouse in the archives but I tie lots of mice for my friend’s cats already and Rudy just doesn’t appeal to me. Thanks much.
I would like to see some patterns for these. I did a quick Google and found a Christmas Tree Fly.
Christmas Tree Fly
by Gary Schultz
"Use a #6 salmon hook.
First tie in at the butt of the hook silver maylar tinsel, as well as apeice of " v rib"for ribbing. Wrap both to the front of the hook .
Then for the wing is three layers. The under wing i use 6-8 strands of silver tinsel.Then on top of that i tie in 8-10 strands of green flash aboo.( or green tinsel ) I prefer the flash my self.
Then on top of the green tie in 6-8 strands of silver tinsel & whip finsh .I also tie med. dumbbell eyes . black for some the ponds are deep and the fish love to hug the bottom."
Here is a link to another:
Would you post pics of the Snowman and Hummingbird? I think I would like to try something like that.
wayne
They are in the archives here for the Fly of the Week.
Bump, bump, bump
I think it was 4th quarter 2006 (?) in the fly tying archives.
Turvy,
Tied up some Christmas tree ornaments last two years for family and friends. Some were standard type flies with variations and others I just made up as I went along. Got 3-4 different sized bulbs from Michael’s Craft store to use. Tied some really bright “critters” based on salt water type flies. Just grabbed “stuff” from my supplies and let 'er rip. Sorry don’t have photos. Have used one rule when doing them - Never repeat a pattern so that they’re all one of a kind. They seem to go over pretty well.
This guy ought to get your imagination tuned up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwervdOqXsE
and his site:http://www.leonguthrie.co.uk/
What about an over-sized Royal Wulff?
Thanks for the link to the guy from UK. I had looked at his work before but this time I think I might try a variation of his butterfly. Swiss Straw, feathers, mono line to make the feelers…it may take a few tries but it might just work.
Any more ideas?
I have been thinking of taking a smallish hook, 2x long or more and dubbing in a trunk at the bend, then using peacock hurl tied in along the shank to form “branches” for a tree. Maybe with a bead head of some sort for a top ornament. I gotta get on the bench and tie that and a few of Betty’s hummingbirds. I really like that humming bird!
Everyone likes Betty’s hummingbird. I made some for people at work who had given me tying materials at some point during that year and ended up gong back to buy more bulbs to fill all the requests from everyone else. The peacock herl body seemed to be everyones favorite.
this ones cute
I tied up a hummingbird this weekend. Love the simple pattern! I’ll post my 'bird after my camera batteries recharge. 
Here’s my Christmas Tree Fly ornament.
All spun deer hair on a 2/0 hook with krystal flash tied in, but you cant see it until you twirl it in the light. Then the tips of the flash sparkle like lights. A 6" piece of mono tied in aloop thru the eye for hanging.
Bass Bug
Nice xmas tree! I think I’ll give it a try but not certain how many colors of deer hair I have.
I made my first attempt at a butterfly yesterday and was moderately happy with the outcome. Used 40lb. Maxima leader material for the legs and feelers and that wasn’t too bad. Tying the herl and four feathers to the body was tough because of the four legs. The outcome was encouraging but didn’t get the four feathers on the body uniform enough for me to show just yet. I’m looking for lighter colored feathers that would change the look also.
There are Five Christmas Fly Patterns available, on FAOL.
I have all five of these articles available in pdf format (require adobe reader) if you want a download of these five articles, contact me at parnelli@comcast.net
Most of the members do not realize, that you can normally find me down in the archives (listings get muddled and articles get misplaced) been down there since October 1997. ~Parnelli;)
I’d totally forgotten the Grande Ronde Rudy! What fun!
Here’s my versions of the humming bird. Based on the ornament photo, mine are a bit larger.
The green body was the first attempt, and I thought the body was too thin, so I tried again with a different chenille and wrapped it much thicker.
Ornaments they may be, but I see this pattern as a possible bass fly!
Another option is to add some tinsel when spinning the green deer hair for the tree to add the ornaments.
Rudy fly awesome!~