Mike G

Tasty.

Since I finished these before the Equinox, these are my last flies of winter. About the same time I was doing some photo work on rich’s Eyelash creations, I came across an add for Mangum dragon tails and got a craving to do a dragon tail articulation. Then I realized I could use rich’s creations as dragon tails. The rest was history. shankdragons1 by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr Shank articulation, very cool. shankdragontails by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr DSCF2936 by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr rich's Eyelash Minnows Before DragonTails by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

If possible please post a sample picture of what Tom will tie. 😊 Or put one up afterwards.

I should note that these are samples that rich sent me for photoing. Now that I look at them I see perfect rear sections for tandem flies. Watch the bassbugger forums for what happens next.

I took a break from my Brammer binge to tye this 7 inch Schmidt's Double Deceiver. DSCF2915 by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

Rich is on to something. In the wink of some eyelash he makes these flies that look a lot like the Dragon Tails that Orvis sells. DragonTails by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

You have revealed a great truth. The more expensive it is, the better it is. I am getting my materials from Orvis from now on. A bag of their 20 10mm eyes is $3.95. Beat that.

Lefty sed placing the hookeye high on the popper face (like the center) causes too much noise on the pickup. I follow that usually so that the hookeye is very close to the bottom of the popper's head. But one of my best poppers has the eye almost dead center. How's that for a non-answer.

Here's the link. You get 360 6-8-10 mm 3d hollowgraphic eyes for $14. That is less than 4 cents per eye. BP looks like twice as much. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B4S4S97/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks Rob, I well give this a try. I feel like it will work because it reverses things like the way I glue foam bodies. Kelley sez, "Put the glue on the fly and set the eye on top of it." You sez, "Put the glue on the eye and set the eye on the fly." As for eyes I found some great bulk deals on 2 to 10 mm 3D eyes on Amazon of all places. Assuming folks are interested, I will add the info here when I get a chance to get it together.

Nice Mark. I like the FAOL pattern the best. I will now reveal my secret for not gluing fingers to fly in two parts. 1. Wear food service gloves like they wear at Subway. Sometimes I get away with wearing only one glove on the hand that touches the glued popper. 2. Reverse the order for applying glue. Typical instructions will tell you to put a bead of glue on the hook after you have wrapped the hook with thread. Then push the slit in the body down on top of the glue. Crazy glue reacts so fast with the foam body material that sometimes it sets before you have the body in position. So I figured this out. Wrap the hook as usual. Without glue position the body exactly where you want it on the hook. Turn the hook belly side up. Use the fine point on your crazy glue tube or bottle to inject glue into the slit on either side of the hook. Squeeze and hold shut with a gloved hand till the glue sets. (Sometimes I can't wait. So I wrap the body in a small piece of wax paper and lightly clamp it with a small (tiny) woodworking clamp. This works best on flat sided poppers. Initially the foam is slightly compressed. It usually springs back overnight.) Now I still have not solved the puzzle for gluing eyes...

It is a bit relative. Consider Rauner's apointee. https://www.realtree.com/realtree-outdoor-news/bobcat-bill-sponsor-now-chief-if-illinois-dnr

I also thank you. Dam removal has long been a plank in the ISA platform. So it is good to see results from our support. I am just curious to know what dams were removed in IL in the past year.

Somebody figured this out a long time ago. FAOL http://flyanglersonline.com/

Rob, Most of the Brammer Bucktails I have tied so far are bunkered. I have not done much High/tight. I want to eventually get a good Crappie immitation. On my prototype I found that really squeezing and wrapping tight delivered a skinny flat shape. I am thinking that this thing tied on the leader with an open loop knot will veer side to side on the strip/pause. Not having an indoor pool I have not put one in the water yet though it keeps its shape in the tub test. Hitite by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr Right now I am working on getting the Black/white color scheme of a Crappie

In the bulletin that I just got, rich did a great job sharing his investigations into Eyelash. In his never ending quest to find the Motherload of Bohemian Chenille, he has come upon a vast number of materials that may be even better. I can show some samples since he sent me materials. Besides furling other methods of weaving like braiding can also be used. This "Sluggo" made from the old Bohemian is is woven using a crochet stitch.

rich, I have to admit that the idea for layering back to front came from the Bad Hair Man, Dave Pinczkowski. Successive clumps of white, tan, and olive with a marker for barring created a very real looking baby Smallmouth. Of course you have to use flash and plunk often. But how does he keep from wrapping his own hair into the bug? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYdGarKiPH4 John, Now that you mention it, I realize that I never tied a Fire Tiger before either. Since I really like the color combination on lures and have used on swim jigs, I surprised myself here. Are there more streamer patterns in my crankbait collection?

Last weekend we drew babysitting duty for the grandchildren. Since Grandson Michael 13 has the Scout Merit Badge for fly fishing, I scheduled a tying session for him. To my surprise granddaughter Katie 10 tagged along and became the champ. They both picked up quickly on adjusting the vise jaws, waxing thread, starting thread, knots, etc. They used eyelash and chenille to furl and wrap some great creations. Katie was on fire. Katie Tying by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

FireTiger by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr Sometimes I do some planning before I tie. As I continue my Brammer Binge, I am trying to figure out ways to use color to get some traditional patterns. From top to bottom this pic shows my planning steps to wind up with a Fire Tiger Bunkered Deciever. Since the basic model is tied with bucktail flared around the hook shank traditional layering does not work. Switching the layers one on top of the other to one in front of the other seems to work here. I still have some to go in getting the knack for how big a clump of bucktail to use. PS It is a VMC 7250 BLN 2/0.

Tubular Dude! The Mickey Finn a la Brammer, that I posted in another thread, is on a similar size 1 EC 455 (similar to the VMC 9255NI). Two less expensive alterntives. Did you say trout fly? Any TDE #4 3-4 xl will do though the body materials are exotic. I subbed sparkle dubbing and another synthetic hair that I had.

You got some good looking bugs there. For research purposes can you tell me the size and model of hook you used on them. I will return the kindness in advance with a great tip on hooks for Brammer streamers. Brammer has expensive tastes when it comes to hooks. Those Ahrex models he favors are about 80 cents each MSRP. This hook a VMC 7250 is 15 cents. Hooks that price are usually sold by 100s. But JannsNetcraft sells them in packs of 25 with the 3/0 pack going for $3.00. I got some 1/0s, 2/0s and 3/0s. The 3/0s are similar to the Ahrex 3/0 Predator Aberdeen model. I compared the 3/0 VMC to the Ahrex 3/0 PR Aberdeen specs published on the net. The VMC is: 1. Same needle sharp 2. Same BLN finish 3. A tiny bit longer-@ 1 mm 4. Gape a tiny bit smaller @ 1-2 mm 5. Wire diameter heavier 1.4 mm vs 1.1 mm If you do not mind the heavier wire, the VMC is perfect for your Brammer creations.

Mega Jerk Articulation I am still Binging on Brammer. Did he name a fly after me? Though I am not ready to get into streamer brushes yet, I like the shank he made to articulate this fly. It comes up about 22:00 in the video. Since both mono and coated stranded wire have some shortcomings this use of solid stainless for that link looks promising. I have some similar wire-AFw #12 stainless, 174 lb. test. It is about the same diameter as a Mustad 3366 #6 hook. I use it for making shanks with good results. The # 12 wire may he uses be too heavy for smaller flies. I will try lighter gages like #5 (44 lb.) 0r #9 (109 lb.). Anyone else doing this?

I have been making my own shanks for articulated flies for some time. It is easy and really beats buying them. I thought I should mention that here instead of assuming everyone knows that. I just came across this video that tells the story better than I could. I just use round nose pliers to form loops. The looping pliers used in the video really look good. Got to get some.

I suppose I would like to keep my values in order and get real value for $60. I can eat food and drink beer anywhere anytime. Not so for quality tying experience. So, assuming it will be such an experience (a large assumption), I would not want to waste any of the time that evening on the other two commonly available activities.

Too much distraction.🙄