Tim A

Mike, I always like flies in "rainbow trout" patterns, i.e. olive-pink-white, so your first fly gets a thumbs up for that. And the second fly is cool, too, and could be perceived as a big crayfish pattern. Nice flies. You also reminded me that I'm doing my 12 flies wrong in 2 ways: I made multiple posts/threads, rather than a single one, and I have no theme, other than "I tied these" or "Flies that Catch," lol. Oh well.

Thanks, Rich. I don't tie or fish them enough, but they have caught a few fish for me. They're a nice alternative to clousers when you want to change flies but still need the hook-point up.

Alright, my pace hasn't been what it needs to be, so I've got to squeeze more patterns in my next few posts, starting now. Here we go: #5 Christmas is not only a time of toys & other gifts, but of candy. So, here are some of my Surf Candy variations large and small. No need for a detailed recipe--just get a hook, any material you want, and coat the fibers along the shank with epoxy or light-cured acrylic. You can use different body-braid tubings to create a flashier or rounder head. #6 Next up is my rendition of Jonny King's "Kinky Muddler." You can use EP and tent the hackles: You can even tie this one as a popper (banger-style) if you use a section of foam cylinder: #7 And lastly, for this post, is the bendback. You can tie just about anything as a bendback, but here are some narrow-bodied minnows: Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

Mike, if I tie it with material from a toothbrush, is is a "bristletoad?" I'm as green as a mistletoad with envy, Tom I wish you a great vacation with fantastic fishing, weather, & natural beauty...and an easy time at the airports.

Really cool, Tom--love that top one. Nice big baitfish.

Hmm, I'm taking it you don't like the name I gave this fly...

Good to know. Austin ties some nice flies, and the guy obviously knows how to catch some fish!

Inspired by Rich MC's buzz-influenced suggestion of Christmas-colored flies, I sat down and tied up a quickie. Please do not judge the quality of this fly. It is merely decorative The "Mistletoad"--a combination of the popular saltwater "toad" style fly and the ubiquitous holiday plant under which we are supposed to kiss. I just hope a fish would decide to kiss this fly... On a slightly more serious note, I have been rambling to Tom L about how well I think the "toad" style of flies would transfer to smallmouth fishing. One of my 2013 New Years resolutions will be to catch a smallie on a toad, and I tied one up with this in mind. My argument is that the toad was designed to sink very slowly because tarpon feed upwards--hence the flat head/body. I thought this would make a cheaper and easier-to-tie version of Tom's favorite "marabou muddler." They aren't so different, just a matter of "old school" and "new school." Smallmouth Toad: Hook: TMC 600sp or similar short-med-shank Tail: 1-2 Marabou blood quills Flash: Angel Hair or Wing n' Flash on sides, Flashabou on top Optional Detail: 2 grizzly hackles Body: EP/Congo Hair Eyes: Plastic Beadchain, black

Ha! Keep drinkin if it keeps ya thinkin

Cool stuff, Tom! I'm really digging this one, as its a departure from your other stuff. Since it was a blooper, how about calling it a "BloopsGill?"

Thanks, Mike & Tom. Ron, Feenstra's pattern is an interesting & humorous one that gets the job done. I'm just not sure what the implications of bringing it up here & now are. Care to share what prompted you to remind us of that fly?

I was busy and didn't realize I forgot to do a fly yesterday in my attempt to do an early dozen. I'm hoping to finish on Christmas, so I'm posting 2 flies in one post here. And the theme is crayfish.... First, we have an EP craw I came up with. I call it a "small craw." Note: I have since trimmed the tail a bit to reduce spinning during retrieve & catching tippet. Materials: Hook: Any mid-length O'shaughnessy hook, size 4 Legs: Rubber legs from bass jig, color tan/black fleck Flash: 2 strands Krystal flash, black pearl Mouth: Orange EP or Congo Hair Eyes: Mono+CCG(or epoxy), black Body: EP/Congo Hair material, medium brown, cut to 1.5" lengs, spun in loop, & trimmed Weight: Brass dumbbell, unpainted Second, we have a modified "bonefish slider." I've added mallard flank for legs and used more crayfish colors. So let's call it a "Crayfish slider." Materials: Hook: O'Shaughnessy, size 4 or 2 Tail: Craft fur, cream, tan, or brown, barred with dark brown marker Flash: 2 strands Krystal Flash, black pearl Legs: Mallard Flank, tan, palmered Collar: Deer belly hair tips, root beer/rusty brown/dark brown Body: Deer belly hair, same color as collar, spun & trimmed Weight: Lead dumbbell eyes, small Here's a sight-fished drum that took the crayfish slider: Alright...Sorry my fly pics aren't so great; thanks for paying attention so far...

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the feedback. Andy, yes, the zonker is tied fur-down (hide-up), with flash tied over top of it. I also love barred materials on flies. Fortunately, I found I had some barred root beer marabou and barred brown zonker to incorporate on that fly. Regardless of direction tied, the zonker will foul every so often, so on some of them I've used a length of mono tied straight off the back of the hook and puncturing the zonker about half-way back. This works okay but kills some of the "wiggly" action. The fur still dances nicely, as does the section without mono. Another solution is a mono loop under the zonker, which I use on other flies but haven't put on this pattern yet. Oooh, almost forgot: I listed "dubbing" because the shank is dubbed between the tail and the marabou. This helps ensure you don't make the head too long. I think Senyo calls for 1/4" of hookshank before tying in the marabou. I left about 1/2".

It just dawned on me that I will be unable to do the "12 days of Christmas flies" because I will be out of town a lot the next two weeks for various family functions. So I figured I would start my contribution now with a fly that caught me my personal best brown trout on Monday. Background: I've been seeing a lot of new fly patterns lately that I've been envious of, and these are mainly big streamers aimed at big brown trout and other salmonids of the Lake Michigan basin. They typically have highly-mobile lengthy tails--either articulated or zonker, a lot of marabou, and bulky dubbed heads. Googling around, I came across the "Senyo Sculpin" by fanatical Steelheader and guide Greg Senyo and Steelhead Alley Outfitters. It fit the bill and I had all the materials, so I tied a few up. Of course, I can't settle for just taking someone's pattern. So I played around with different size heads, eyes, amounts of marabou, types of flash, etc. Below is what I came up with. The olive one is the one that caught me two big browns on Monday. Recipe: Hook: Long-shank streamer hook such as TMC-202SP or 700SP, size 2 Tail: Zonker strips Flash: Flashabou Dubbing: Ice Dub Collar/Wing: Marabou Head: Ice Dub (tied in large clumps then trimmed) Eyes: 3D molded eyes, 5mm or 8mm, adhered w/ Goop If you let the head get too big you might have issues with the fly not keeling properly, but I can report no problems so far when using a non-slip mono loop to attach the fly. Happy Holidays!

Oh man, I hope it was a heavily used line that is still in production. On a side note, keep all those lines in their boxes with the price tags clearly visible! (Of course, this means no more lying about how much you spent on those fly lines...). Just giving you grief. Funny story.

Tom, Thanks for taking my suggestion and making it look like really really good advice Nice job on both flies. That crosscut minnow has me drooling. There's beauty in simplicity.

I've never heard the term "neck" regarding fly anatomy. What do you mean by this? Is it the same as a "collar?" My advice is to do what I have always found enjoyable about this hobby--play around. With the ease of using Google Images, I'd search for fly patterns that imitate whatever forage you think will be the ticket. Look at the range of creations people have come up with. Find one that you like for whatever reason--maybe you personally like how it looks; maybe you think it will suit your local water conditions well. Get the list of materials and try to tie it. Then try again. Then again. It always takes me at least 3-4 tries on a pattern before I work out the initial kinks. Now take your fly or flies and get them in the water to watch them. Do you like how they look? Do you like how they move or don't move? And most importantly, did you catch a fish?!? If you didn't like something, you can change it the next time you tie that pattern. Or if the fish are giving you different signals, maybe you find a whole new pattern to tie, maybe imitating something else. I should also add that this time of year in our region, "take your flies to the water" can mean the bathroom sink

Do they have to be our own ideas, or can be others' patterns tied by us? I imitate more than I create.

Nice, Tom. I'd coat that head in CCG or similar acrylic/epoxy.

First question to be asked with any gear advice question is always: what is your budget? A couple years ago I ended up with a Kodak Playsport waterproof camera as a gift. While it stood up to the elements, including long periods soaking in saltwater, it's primary intended use (by Kodak) was a 1080p HD movie camera, although it had point-and-shoot stills capability at 5mp. Let me tell you DO NOT buy this one unless your budget will not allow anything over $60 (and I hope, if you're asking this question, that it is). The stills are blurry in all but the most ideal lighting conditions and even then they aren't as crisp as other cams. But again, the stills capability is an afterthought on this movie camera. I am crossing my fingers that this camera gets replaced on Christmas morning. Okay, I got that out of my system. The cameras I put on my list as good waterproof replacements for the Kodak are the Olympus TG-1 (this thing is really amazing), and Canon Powershot D10 (which Tom L uses, FYI if you want to ask him Qs about it). Canon came out with a D20 to replace the D10, but they took some of the good photo elements out in order to make a stills+HD video all-in-one. The trouble is that you will rarely be happy with a video from a handheld point&shoot--mostly because they are hard to keep still. Better to have a camera good at taking stills, and save up for a GoPro with some mounting device for movies. All-in-one devices have to make sacrifices somewhere. Olympus TG-1 in-depth look: http://www.techradar.com/us/reviews/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/compact-cameras/olympus-tg-1-1086923/review Canon D10 review: http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/canon_powershot_d10_review/ Canon D10 & D20 comparison: http://snapsort.com/compare/Canon-D20-vs-Canon_PowerShot_D10 Someone mentioned Pentax. Here's a good review of the Optio WG-2 GPS http://www.pluggedin.co.uk/article/pentax-optio-wg-2-gps-compact-digital-camera-expert-review

Interesting new article on the use of new 'Smart Rocks' embedded with gadgetry to measure a number of variables relating to stream flow, sedimentation, erosion, etc. http://www.sciencema.../6113/1412.full

Blondie! I like it

Yea I thought it looked like a Walleye painted more like a Yellow Perch. Way too green for walleye. Could have been an ogre of a perch though, lol. Shows you how much the general public (or at least comedy writers) knows about one of the most common American fish.

This is a clip of Jimmy's parody news segment called "Night News Now." Skip to the 1:10 mark for the fish-related stuff. It's obviously not accurate information, but it's a comedy show. Enjoy a laugh. http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/night-news-now-12712/1426502/

Nice bugs. What size & model of hook?