Hairwing, I found a place here where the gills eat them like candy. Golden pheasant tail, black chenille body, brown hen beard, white calf wing… Pretty neat-lookin fly! I’m going to tie some with chukar flank for the tail when my pheasant runs out.
While I have fished buggers often in past I haven’t been fishing them much these days in exchange for more, lets say, complicated or challenging patterns - BUT I ran across an application where the fish were just slamming an all white bugger type pattern. I have been tying it with a red wire ribbing, rabbit fur tail and rabbit dubbed body with a silver beadhead. Very simple pattern but have been doing much better than normal fishing it. Since I am sight fishing for these fish the all white pattern lets me see exactly where my fly is in relationship to the fish.
I’ve also been doing some pretty ugly crawfish patterns but haven’t come up with anything that I really like.
One comment Kelkay is that I see that you are documenting your tying with digital photographs. I document most fish that I catch because it time stamps it for the journal that I keep, but I should carry that over to the flies that I tie. Thanks for idea of doing this even though this might not have been your objective in starting this thread; it has kicked me in the pants to do just that.
I always enjoy seeing your prolific tying results. They are always well made with very clean lines. Something to aspire toward.
Rick
Rick, I certainly like the thought of your fly, it is similar to a fly I tie in black, and I got that fly from somebody on FAOL too. I think your fly sounds simple enough, yet very effective… I can visualize it, and think I will tie up a few of them to test out in these Texas lakes around here. Have you named that fly? I plan to add it to my TreeDBNotes program, and need a name. If not I can call it Clay’s Fly from FAOL…lol.
As far as documenting my tying, I don’t put all my flies on Photobucket, just most of them. I like to time stamp them, but one of my camera’s time stamp keeps getting taken off by my 19 year old daughter. (she likes taking photos of herself) To me it shows my progression as a tyer, maybe I did well with a particular fly and want to make one just like it, if it is a new fly (or I think it is one I made up)…it shows the time I came up with it. A while back I thought I made a new pattern…come to find out…there was a style of fly that looked very similar to what I thought I made up. Mine was not an exact fly …but made in that style. I guess it is hard to come up with a new pattern…somebody in the past, or in another country seems to have thought of it before us…lol. If I am trying a pattern I have never made before…and maybe fish it, and lose it…it will refresh my memory on how to make it. Many times on the photos I add the name of the hook, or something that is substituted, or some little detail about the fly that I know I wouldn’t remember down the road. Like naming the color of the flashabou or something. Sometimes I do that, because some colors are not easy to find again.
As far as what you document with fishing, I should do that, but never seem to. Where you caught the fish, what time of the year, moon phase, temps, wind…that would be great to have a journal of that kind of data. It would certainly make it easier to be more productive at fishing.
Two points, one being about naming flies and the second about keeping a journal.
I smiled when you asked about a name and thanks for even asking. I have a mentor who is in his 70s and he has tied for well over 50 years. We have this same conversation a couple of times a year. A short story - Think local TU meeting. Old time member walks in one day and is showing off a new fly pattern to him. He is bragging that he invented this pattern and is naming it after himself to be recorded into posterity for all to know. When my buddy Bob looks at it and then proclaims it a soft hackle that has been tied since the 17 or 1800s and if the guys wants to name a 300 year old pattern after himself what the heck.
The truth is there there is little new under the sun. There can be some very new approaches with the newer materials. I know if you even change a color of the original pattern it is no longer that original pattern. Instead of naming flies myself, probably mostly because of a lack of original thought, I tend to call the newer patterns that I come up with myself as “a variation on XXX” It’s not as exciting or as creative, but those no name flies catch fish.
To further elaborate when I talk at a meeting or someplace else about killing the fish on whatever day, they are always those who have to know what I was catching them on that day. I am quite truthful in saying that the pattern has no name. They always think that I am using the super secret wiz bang cloaked fly that I am not willing to share. I tell them to give me your email and I will send you a picture of it and you can name it whatever you want.
On keeping a journal. I now have the past 4 years on file. I log every single time out in a MS Word file and I usually insert one or two photos in that file. It’s very nice to go back to the previous year in the current month and read what was happening where. I would encourage anyone to keep a sporting journal. You put in it whatever you want. I usually document weather, time of day, if any particular patterns are doing well, but I love to record the WOW moments. Something that day will give me insight into the fishes behavoir. I try to record that more than patterns. Truth is that even though I tie often, I think as flyfisherman while patterns can be important, too many people think all they have to do is put on the same fly as you are fishing and they will catch the same amount of fish that you catch. That is the BIG LIE in fly fishing. Presentation and approach to the water and fish are much more important in my book than what’s on the end of the tippet, but I still have boxes and boxes of flies like most tiers.
Rick
I understand what you are saying. The newer materials do make for new type flies…and that is good. I love playing around with new materials. (or new to me) I also like making flies that are old, and not used much anymore as they may of been out of favor for the new thing…whatever that is. I am planning on making some balsa wood flies, as that is new to me, but has been used for a very long time. I like for flies to have a name though…as it helps me personally. Some flies I do not name, as they are generic…as in a generic bait fish type pattern. I hope to make up something new though, something unique… I do have a pattern I think I made up…and I have not named it, as it still needs tweaking. There are so many patterns to choose from, it is like a kid in the candy shop with a wad of bills in their hands. I may not tie hundreds of a fly to get real good at something, I get bored doing the same fly over and over.
Your journal idea is something I will toy with and possibly do. Basically I like to fish, and I have not done any journaling. I do know there is a certain area at a lake I fish a lot…in the spring you can count on some great crappie. I keep in mind that area at that time, but have not kept a notebook. If flies do well for me at a certain lake, I take a mental note of it. I should write that down though. I love your ideas on journals. Certain fly colors work at certain lakes, or patterns…I have noticed. I have only been fly fishing for 2.5 years though…so I have a lot to learn about what works, and where. If I used your journal idea, it may increase my catch rate. Thanks for posting about it.
I’m ashamed to say a grand total of six #16 EHC and # four #12 white Gurgle Pops. Not a very impressive total for the month. 8T 
Here is that White Rabbit inspired by a bugger type pattern. Today’s tie was done with a cone head instead of a tungstun bead.
I tied up a bunch of flies that Kaboom1 dubbed “Ed’s Cat Puke”. There was genuine anquish in his voice when he saw what I was using and said. “You caught trout on THAT?!!”.
Brad, next year I’ll unveil the upgrade. 
This one take more than a minute to tie.
Ed