Time at the Vise

A few samples of my work

Tied a few flies. From left to right are three Deceivers, a Cockroach and a Toad fly. The Deceivers are for the beach snook; the Cockroach is for the tarpon; and the Toad fly is for tailing reds.

I tied each with a goal. For the Deceivers, I tried to tie sparse to make the profile as sleek as possible. The big issue was tying the tail feathers on straight. That's simply a matter of holding the fly against the shank of the hook with the off hand and being steady. It's the same deal with the Cockroach. You line the feathers up, get them straight on the hook shank and secure them. With the Toad fly, it's the same pattern I've been using --- except with smaller, lighter eyes. I'm hoping that a lighter fly will sink slower and not get hung up in the turtle grass. We'll see what happens next week with the new moon tides.

Fly tying again (it's still cold)

Even though March is almost gone and Easter is nearly here, winter has not lost its grip on Tampa Bay. Once again, I stayed inside to tie and write instead of fish.
This is my second attempt at a Cockroach, a classic tarpon pattern. Pretty simple to tie. Two grizzly hackles, followed by squirrel tail for the collar. The tough part is getting the feathers to splay properly. My first effort they were crooked. This one is better.
The key is to square the feathers properly before you align them with the shank. It's also important to find matching hackles. As you attach them to to the hook, use soft loops to position and then a re-adjust with each thread wrap. When the feathers are straight and relatively secure, then crank on the thread pressure. So much of fly tying, I've learned, is having the patience to be precise. It's an art to adjust and re-adjust as you go.
Thanks to Enver Hysni at Tampa Bay on the Fly for showing me a few of these concepts earlier this week.