A couple of bugs, and please let me clarify....

So, I didn't realize the Somerset post would draw so much traffic. I checked my stats Sunday morning and realized the post made it on to Trout Underground's twitter feed, which had the place jumping with unique visitors all day. (Thank you Mr. Chandler) If you're stopping by for the first time, welcome to the site. Take some time to dig through the older posts. There's usually more tying photos but I've been lazy.

I'd also like to apologize if my show recap came off as negative. To clarify, the Fly Fishing Show is enormous and I'm sure Mr. Furimsky and crew put in tons of work to pull it off. If you've never been there before, it's definitely worth checking out. Don't let my negativity hold you back. It's full of materials, people who are amazing at twisting up bugs, sweet gear, and seminars. I think I was just expecting some better deals. I didn't find them but after reading other recaps, some people did. Dave Kile over at PA Fly Fish put together a nice video recap of the show.



So anyway, if you're not on Instagram, I posted a few pics tonight of some stuff I've been tying. After watching some streamers being tied at the show, I came to the realization that less is more. I've been loading my streamers up recently, attaching a ton of feathers. Sure, they look pretty, but I noticed that short of using a heavy sink tip, they don't fish as well. After seeing more of a minimalist approach from the few guys at the show, I decided to back off on the bird parts. Here's a simple Fish Skull streamer that can be tied in about 5 minutes. I call it the Vitamin C and I can't wait to try it this weekend.

Size 6 Streamer Hook
6/0 UNI in brown
Orange Marabou
Brown Craft Fur
Oversized skull eyes fastened with a little epoxy
Orange crystal flash

1.Tie in the marabou just in front of the hook point. Palmer to about 3/4 the way up the shank. Tie off.
2.Make a dubbing loop, wrap to the eye, and half hitch.
3.Cut off some craft fur, and pull out the short fibers just like you would with some deer hair.
4.Add the fur to the dubbing loop, give it about 10-12 spins (keep it semi-loose) and wrap forward. Tie it off and comb it back.
5.Add about 4-5 strands of flash for the lateral line on each side and then whip finish.
6.Slip on the skull, and epoxy on the eyes.


I also saw Howard's blog post over at Wind Knots and Tangled Lines and he got me on a terrestrial kick. I whipped up half a dozen Hopper Juans tonight. These things have a lot of steps but once you get into tying them, it goes fast and you get better at making them with each fly. I'm not going to post the steps and recipe, you can head over to The Hopper Juan to check it out. They sit well on a bottle of Bell's Two Hearted Ale.



Also, I came across a pretty nice new blog today. It's called Fumbling the Fly and the guy ties a mean Circus Peanut. Head on over and become a follow and tell him I sent ya. :)

Also, wanna laugh? Gfen breaks down his thoughts on Tenkara. (Watch the F bombs if you're at work)