John Gillio

Nice!

I agree with Kev. A tiny-torpedo in black or a black/orange combo would probably work well. I would darken the jitterbug lip with a black marker.  May not make a dif with smallmouth, as they are so aggressive anyway, but a big old carp may be turned away by the silver lip.

8 hours ago, Terry Dodge said:

Illinois Rig?

6 hours ago, Mark K said:

It looks like a dough bait rig.

It seems to be a dough bait rig (or whatever type of bait is pressed into the cage) with multiple hooks hanging from it like an Illinois rig. There are often  piles of cooked corn along this area. Maybe cooked corn is being pressed into the cage and is also being used on the hooks.

9 hours ago, rich mc said:

reminds me of an old lure retriever

Yes it does, except it had a number of swivels attached to it that each had a hook and line attached.

Pulled this gizmo out of the river while sauger fishing. I was told that it holds carp bait used as chum. There are a lot of carp fishermen in the area.  A baited hook dangles on a line from one end the other end has line to the rod and reel, so it can be cast into the body of water being fished. Can’t say I’ve seen one like this before.

👍 Those should catch trout too.

Looks like you have a good start. The flies are definitely tied well enough to fool the fish you are after. Any type of small bass popper would help round things out. I personally like the small  Wapsi size 8, soft foam, "Perfect Popper" body, or the Rainy's, "Mini-Me" in the same size. They should cast well with a 4 wt, and can also be turned backwards to create a gurgler such as a sneaky peat. I like to up the hook size to a size 4  Mustad 3366 hook when using them for smallies. The wapsi poppers come with instructions for creating a very productive fly (it calls for the use of Sily Legs or Larva Lace) or you can just get creative.  It's also good to carry an unweighted streamer like a Murdich Minnow in a size 4 or 6 also. Have fun filling that box.

Looks great Ryan. That will surely catch fish. The Clouser has been a top producer for myself and many other smallie fishermen. 👍

2 hours ago, Mark K said:

Tim Flager is the first video I posted. 

I missed that. My bad.

Ryan, I'd like to add Tim Flagler to the list of names of tyers doing videos. He would be my favorite of the bunch. As Mark mentioned, the Mustad 3366 hooks are good hooks at a nice price. Another reason I like them is because they have a little wider hook gap which seems to give a better hook set.

I won't answer the question you had for Mark though I will say that as you become a better caster you will be able to throw heavier flies on lower line weights. Your casting ability determines the size fly you can throw, to a great extent. 

Happy NewYear to all!

A book I really like that is great for beginners and anyone else that likes to catch fish on flies is, "Simple Flies: 52 Easy-to-Tie Patterns that Catch Fish", by Morgan Lyle. The patterns are great and the book starts off discussing tools, materials and techniques. I highly recommend it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Congrats on that first smallie on the fly. I never expected to enjoy fly fishing nearly as much as I  have come to. Sounds like you've got the bug. Whether you are throwing flies or lures, you have landed on the right place.

Another good book is,"Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass", by Harry Murry and illustrated by Dave Whitlock. It discusses tackle, casting, reading the water, flies, techniques, etc.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks Terry. Very entertaining.

I 2nd Frank's thoughts.

Thank you Terry.

Thanks for the heads up on these, guys.

I would say that, "Match the hatch", worked well for you. Nice baby pearch fly!

I get my share of throwbacks with those too. Just say, " Thanks for letting me see what I missed out on" and carry on.

That sounds like a nice space to spend some time in.👍

This is my tying room at Music Suite 408 at the Fine Arts Factory. The other half of the room is storage space for office supplies and such. The photo above my desk was taken by a friend the artwork to the left was a gift. The rest is some of my photography that we use to fill in the gallery when no artist is on display. 

50 minutes ago, Nickk said:

My daughter recently left the nest and I picked up a roll top desk on Craigs list for $75,  I don't have the tying station set up yet but I'm dying to get it done

That should be nice. I picked up a roll top a few yrs back at a garage sale and set it up in a room my wife is using as a storage room in her place of business. I'm right across from the main office near the entrence to the business. This is nice because I get to visit when clients come in. An elderly friend gave me a number of vices and a bunch of tying materials that I store there also. It all comes in handy as I have been doing tying demos for the BFAs fishing expo, a fishing rodeo for a sportsman's club, and other odds and ends. I'll try to remember to take a photo and post it here. Fill us in when you get set up.