skjordan Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 This winters fly tying goal is to learn to tie deer hair poppers, divers and sliders. I have watched the Chris Helm DVD's and they have me on the right path but its obvious its going to take more than a season to become proficient at using deer hair. Okay, so what I need to get my learning curve accelerated is a DVD or web sight that shows, in pictures, step by step instructions for a Dahlberg diver. Anyone seen a good DVD??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aloomens Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 I havn't seen a video of it, but here are instructions for tying: http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw/52598fotw.html Also, here are some very detailed instructions and pictures of how to trim a Dahlberg Diver: http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com/f...s/trimming1.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest One More Cast Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 I havn't seen a video of it, but here are instructions for tying: http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw/52598fotw.html Also, here are some very detailed instructions and pictures of how to trim a Dahlberg Diver: http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com/f...s/trimming1.asp Try this: http://www.flyfishersrepublic.com/patterns/dahlberg-diver/ Joseph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Ferguson Posted February 7, 2007 Report Share Posted February 7, 2007 I'm not much of a fly fisherman but I wanted to fish for northerns with a fly rod. Fly shops wanted a lot of money for pre-made pike flies, so I decided to make them myself. I bought a book, a vice, tools, some material and made my first fly - a Dahlberg Diver. I was going for big pike so I made a big fly. I thought it came out OK for my first attempt at spinning deer hair. I didn't think the pike would care if my skills at tying weren't perfect. When I tried to fish it, I likened the experience to trying to throw a kite. Even with an 11 weight rod, once that fly got full of water (it could hold an amazing amount) I might as well been trying to throw a bowling ball. That's when I figured out that I was rather naive concerning fly fishing (and tying) and that it wasn't quite as simple as it looked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael T Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 Scott, no truer words were spoken. There are times when casting is as smooth as possible and you can plop the fly exactly where you wanted, then the next cast you've got 50 feet of fly line piled on top of your hat. Steve, welcome to the wonerful world of spinning! I absolutely love tying deer hair poppers, sliders and Divers. However, one becomes proficient at spinning deer hair the same way one gets to Carnegie Hall. I bought the first Helm's DVD and learned, then spent the next year practising as often as possible. The class that Joseph hosted with Chris Helm was valuable in that he updated his tips and pointers from his first DVD. The one I found to be most beneficial was to use as big of a clump of hair as possible. Oddly enough, this produces a tighter packed layer than using a smaller clump of hair. As for the Dahlberg, achieving clean and distinct color separation is one of the steps of spinning proficiencies. Of course, knowing where and how much hair to apply so that you get disctinct color separation AFTER trimming 75% of the hair away is the trick. Even though this isn't a Dahlberg Diver, the way the color separation is handled is done extremely well: http://www.warmwaterflytyer.com/patterns2.asp?page=2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickk Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 wow, that's a great tying site! It got my warmwater tying juices flowing again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team9nine Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 Very timely topic for me. With the purchase of my new fly rod, I'm going to expand from nymphs and small bluegill poppers into larger bass bugs/flys this year. Was just in a fly shop last week when these guys caught my eye...had to have them I can't wait to try them out this year! -BW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skjordan Posted February 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 With the purchase of my new fly rod, I'm going to expand from nymphs and small bluegill poppers into larger bass bugs/flys this year. What weight rod did you end up purchasing? Im assuming those bugs are about a size 6. I came from Indiana, Carroll County, and grew up fishing the Widcat, Deer Creek and Tippicanoe rivers I have also been fishing Sugar Creek a couple of times a year, good fishing despite all the traffic. What area are you fishing in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team9nine Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 What weight rod did you end up purchasing? Im assuming those bugs are about a size 6. I came from Indiana, Carroll County, and grew up fishing the Widcat, Deer Creek and Tippicanoe rivers I have also been fishing Sugar Creek a couple of times a year, good fishing despite all the traffic. What area are you fishing in. Good guess Steve The new rod is actually a St. Croix 8' 5-wt. It will take over bluegill/panfish duty on a regular basis and let me turn my only other rod (9' 6-wt Sage) into a full-time bass rod. Also picked up a really cool popper about the same size and coloration that I didn't picture. Can't wait to get some big bass slurping these down when things warm up. Up until a couple years ago, I was pretty much Indy area stuff other than tourney forays. Been to Freeman/Shafer a few times...good smallie reservoirs for our state. Just over 2 years ago I moved west into the Greencastle area, so I now have Big Walnut and Sugar within minutes. Wildcat is and has always been about an hour north of me. As you are probably already aware, Sugar Cr. was just granted special regulations to make it a trophy smallmouth creek. New limit is 1 fish, 20" on the entire stretch. Our group over here (ISC) along with some help from ISA (Thanks guys!) lobbied hard for that one. This rule was granted emergency status and is now in effect as we speak, and will soon be in the State's fishing guide. Also got a slot limit put on another creek, Blue R. down in Southern IN. We're working with DNR on another river for potential special regs, but are very satisfied with this initial step in the right direction for IN smallie fishing. -BW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skjordan Posted February 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 As you are probably already aware, Sugar Cr. was just granted special regulations to make it a trophy smallmouth creek. New limit is 1 fish, 20" on the entire stretch. -BW Yes Iam aware and good work on the new regs on Sugar Creek, it will be interesting to see how much it improves the quality of the fishery. Iam assuming the Indiana DNR will be tracking the impact this new law has. It could potentially be great news for more regulations on other streams in Indiana and in other states . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael T Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Steve, how's the Divers coming along? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skjordan Posted March 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Steve, how's the Divers coming along? Uh..........I bought them. I decided to do Clousers this year instead. I just ran out of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael T Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 I understand. That's the problem with spinning deer hair flies....they are very time consuming. You will knock out plenty of Clouser minnows per each deer hair fly. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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