Hi Folks,
Being your basic cold water ikind of guy, I don’t get here much. One of the guys in chat asked to see some pictures of VEE’s bass flies. She’s been practicing her deer hair spinning and stacking over the last couple of weeks and would like a little helpful critique from you folks who know about these things.
Anyhow, here’s some pics of VEE’s flies.
Thanks for looking,
REE
Ron,
Tell Vicki that her practice paid off. Great looking flies!
ill be the product tester!
Ron,
Vee’s flies look good and all but to critique them with any degree of certainties one must offer them to the fishes. Now I don’t have a lot of time on my hands to spare but, being a good cause and all I could probably toss them and see how they would fare.
Did I say good? I meant great, and chances are if I tossed them they would end up in a tree or the back of my head. Then everyone would try to pull out ‘looks like something is stuck’ in my hair. Then I would have to go into this long story …
Respectfully,
Sean
Good job on the spinning. The mouse and the popper should be trimmed a little closer to the hook shank on the bottom to give more hook clearance. The orange fly is about right.
I’m not the one to ask about bass flies, 'cause I’ve been trying and failing to catch 'em for 3 years now. So, I don’t know if they’ll catch fish, but they will definately catch fishermen - they look great.
VEE might be interested in this page I came across, might expand her repertoire.
What kind of vise is that that’s holding them? Looks like it would be much more convenient for tying than the one I use…
MZR
VEE, REE and other “EES”… the flies look GREAT and the packing is exceptionally well done!
The only “critique” I’d even suggest, is to maybe take a razor blade and flatten the bottoms of the 1st. and 3rd. fly. The mouse, being that “round”, Vee, is liable to “roll and spin” on casting and retrieve, possibly making it a real potential for a “leader twister”.
(Plus, small filed mice, don’t “roll and pitch” when swimming for their lives, they go at it “flat out” to get back to shore!).
The popper will also “chug” a little louder, if you coat the face of it with something like Zap-A- Gap or Bonidi cement.
But, the actualu TYING, PACKING and OVER ALL TRIMMING, is very, very, well done and that middle fly should be a real killer!!
GREAT JOB, VEE!! I hope you make REE jealous!
PS: Those weed guards are beautifully done!
VEE so thats what you meant by spinning flies like mad. lol
Nicely done. Your talent is moving ahead like a house on fire.
Very nice blending of colors.
Now if you can just perfect a spun hair Atlantic… hmmmmm…
Im KINDA HOPING that Vee gets SO GOOD I can soon order my own “Spun Hair Toupee”!
Just wondering if MN bass would like 'em flies? PM and I’ll forward an address! That aside, good seeing you in the neighborhood, REE! Like seeing you more often. Beautiful flies. Isn’t deer hair fun? JGW
Thanks Guys. We have discussed trimming the bottom more to increase hook gap and stop the roll effect. Spinning and stacking deer hair is something I hate doing. Fortunately, my lovely wife thinks it’s fun and actually enjoys it. Makes things like muddlers a snap for me. I tie everything but the Spun deer hair head and pass them off to VEE, she does her thing with the seer hair and we have minnows.
MikeZRed, Thanks for the link. What’s holding her flies isn’t a vise, it’s a Radio Shack test clip that I use to hold flies when I take pictures of them. VEE normally ties on her Nor-Vise, her Renzetti Travler (cam jaws), or her Dan-Vise. Where she sits in her tying area lets me know which vise she’s using.
Thanks again for the critiques.
REE and VEE
I’m impressed, but then again I knew I would be from the either of the “EE’s.” One helpful link that I’ve found is here. Absolutely do-able techniques and really great looking flies.
Ron,
Those are great!!
The orange one has Smallie and Pike all over it!
Tell her to keep up the good work!!
Wet
I’ll second what was said about leaving more room for the hook gap. After all that good work with the spinning and trimming, it would be a shame to have fish eat 'em (and they certainly will) but not get hooked. Hook clearance is absolutely vital with surface bugs of any kind, but with boney mouthed fish like bass it becomes even more important. It doesn’t have to be a flat bottom, either. A little wobble or roll will give it something a little different in the action deprtment, which often makes all the difference in the world. Don’t be afraid to experiment on shapes, but be sure to leave that hook gap as clear as possible. Looks great so far, keep it up!
Hey Mrs VEE, I think the mouse is really cool, looks like alota fun to fish… 
Hardly limited to warm water applications… You should see what huge rainbows do to swimming mice… 
Not just big rainbows. When I think about trout eating mice, I think about big browns. I’m thinking about trying a deer hair mouse in the bread pool at the MI Fish-In this year.
Ed