Mike G

Nice tip Mike. What are the dimensions of the box? Try using sticky back EVA craft foam applied in overlaping strips to create ridges that you can stick the hook points into. That is how I have converted plain boxes into fly boxes.

Ryan, To keep things simple let's sort things out. Two strips glued top to bottom is a classic double bunny - a minnow imitator. You can get a leech out of this approach if the upper strip extends out 2-3 shank lengths beyond the bend while the lower strip ends where the bend begins. Next there is the classic leech with the zonker tail and a wrapped shank. Some say you need a zonker strip for the tail and a crosscut strip for wrapping the body. That takes some shopping. But I have it on good authority, Skip Morris, that the crosscut is largely window dressing for sales purpose. Use the same zonker to wrap the body. Though it sticks straight out when dry, it will slant back when pulled through the water. Tip: wet the fur of the bunny strip to keep it under control while wrapping the body. That way you will not trap any fur under the wraps. Hope this helps.

Scott, No doubt about the efficiency of spinning and baitcasting especially if you are after numbers. Fly fishermen are like bowhunters in that we enjoy doing it the hard way. A fellow I used to work with got so bored shooting deer with a rifle that he switched to bowhunting to put some sport back into his game. He used a compound bow. If that got too easy, his next step would be a long bow. In fishing you will know when you reach that point I suspect. I myself go back and forth over the line using spinning, casting, and fly gear depending on how I feel at the moment. Maybe this would be a good topic to discuss with the speaker at the Blowout.

Jim, It sounds like you are just starting out. In the Rockford area, The Rock River Fly Casters http://rockriverflycasters.net/ have a lot going on with beginner fly tying classes and other events. Before you buy anything, hook up with them. Plan B is to tell us what you are looking for. As the other replies indicate, there are not a lot of shops in the area. Unless you want to drive to Madison, mail order is the way to go

I don' remember. But the same sale flyer had all inflateable rafts and kayaks slashed 35%.

Obviously high tech. Is the hardened material bouyant, neutral or sinking? It reminds me of another OTC product that finds its way into my flies--a $4-5 tube of low tech clear RTV. Cured RTV is bouyant, however. I have used RTV on chenille to create craw claws that have a realistic lift to them when the body of the fly is weighted.

I love those fly tying videos and the whole FFOH site for that matter. As for this video, it has been a while since I have seen anyone using an automatic. I use a glass rod regularly. Though I have a Shakespeare automatic, two Wonderods, and a Herter's rod from the 50s and 60s, I do not think of them as vintage just yet. They represent a relatively short period in fly fishing. Tubular Fiberglass reigned from 1950 to 1976 when the first graphite rods came out. Since they were mass produced, fiberglass rods are still a common garage sale item today. It seems they were the transition rods between bamboo and graphite. Yet, just like bamboo, there is a glass revival going on as I type.

Reminds me. A catalog outfit I used to work for ran a summer sale: "Men's and Women's Bathing Suite Half Off"

Good tip, Rich! There are lots of items out there in hardware stores, marts, and hobby stores that work great. Who does not use "Hard as Nails" for head cement, craft fur for tails and wings, eva craft foam for heads and bodies, Bohemian Chenille, etc.? It is not your father's fly tying anymore. Here's my tip. With Easter coming up it is a good time to check the craft sections at Walmart and the Hobby Stores for pastel foam sheets. Back some time I found a nice chartreuse colored sheets that were only on the shelf in spring. Light yellow, lavender, and pink might also be out there. We call pink "bubblegum" so as not to raise eyebrows. On average with foam sheets, you get twice the amount of material for half of the price you would pay at a fly shop.

This is Smokey-a 4", Smoke/Blue Flake Strike King 3X Cyberflex Grub Texas rigged on a 1/8 oz. slider head. BTW it is getting hard to find that smoke grub anymore. The 3X material has great action and is indestructable. When I took this picture, this very grub had caught me over 25 bass. I caught a few more before loosing it to a snag.

Cupholders! Nice!

I do not think you will be disappointed. By the way the only problem I had was getting the instructional DVD to work on my DVD player. Since it is the same video as the U Tube videos, that was not a big problem. Beatty sent a replacement. It turned out that there was a setup setting on my DVD player that I had to change. Let me know if you have that problem. Consider getting the extension arm right away. J Stockard bundles the vise ($85) and the arm ($25) together for $100. Watch for sales and check Craig's and eBay if you are a bargain hunter. Good luck!

Be sure to Google up some reviews on that Terra vise and whatever other vises you come across. I read up on it out of curiousity. Though you can't beat the price, there were some questions about its sturdiness and ability to hold large hooks. One place to look for reviews of other vises is Fly Fish Ohio It could be worthwhile to dig into the topic before making a choice. Al and Gretchen Beatty have written a great book that not only reviews many true rotary vises but also gives a lot of great instructions on how to capitalize on the advantages of this kind of vise. "After using inline rotary vises for a number of years it finally became quite clear that almost all tiers who owned such a vise really didnt understand what this awesome tool could do."The Book The same page also has links to videos for the Danvise-a good vise for a good price.Setup 1Setup 2 By the way Al Beatty was very helpful when I contacted him directly about a problem I was having. He also told me how to convert the vise to a Clouser (horizontal jaw) configuration. Renzetti will sell you a Clouser head for $150 or so. To convert the Danvise, all I had to do was drill a small hole in the coulette and use the hardware I already had. Happy shopping.

Hefner's recent engagement to a recent PB centerfold proves there is still fire in that furnace. But there is more. His influence is spreading into the fly fishing realm. Did anyone notice that Cabela's 2011 fly fishing catalog has a foldout? It features several lithe sensuous Winston rods.

The bulletin is famous and worthy of being a national publication. It already covers topics that reach across state and national borders. Brad Miller's stuff in the last issue is a good example of that. He's from MN. Didn't TSA start there?

Thanks Scott, Maybe I can get something in. Everyone should consider submitting something. Get your 15 minutes of fame.

Merry Christmas and Happpy New Year! Thanks to all for a good year of sharing reports and information.

Ben, For the bodies of small buggers, try this. Tie the tail of the bugger as usual with marabou fluff. Do not trim the excess. Tie in the hackle feather and warp the thread forward. Twist the excess marabou fluff into a ribbon. It helps to wet it. Wrap the marabou ribbon forward and tie off. Finish off with the hackle and wrap the head. Presto! The tail and body colors will match perfectly.

Time to look at Uncle Homer's figures. This is from Circle on Bass published in 1996. I should point out that he says that these proportions apply to all sport fishing in general not just to bass fishing. Uncle does not give a source. Spincasting -- 45% Spinning -- 35% Baitcasting -- 15% Fly Fishing -- 5% (To add more insult, besides the low score, Uncle says,"...Fly Fishing catches the fewest bass especially with subsurface flies..." We should send him a Clouser and a Red and White and see if that affects his opinion.) I think Uncle Homer has a fair estimate of what is going on. Consider what is stocked in most stores. Or next time you are at a public lake or river access on a busy weekend, check what people are using; and you will probably see a lot of spincasting, a lot of spinning, and the odd baitcaster. Fly rods will be rare, and, if you see one, it may be the one in your hand. I am not surprised that our forum readers deviate from the Circle model. We are of course an eggsceptshunal crew.

I agree Scott. The table is tilted towards the readers of our forums. That makes this more of a straw poll which is fine with me. We get what we get.

A good while back, Homer Circle published the percentages for bass tackle useage. It might be interesting to see what ISA members use. Tell us what you usually use. Your favorite method might not be the one you use the most. After this runs a while I will put up Homer's numbers.

A Float'n Fly fly is an interesting challenge since you need a 120 deg jig hook. Besides the way Jonn makes them, I came up with this since I do not have a ready supply of jig hooks. Aberdeen hooks from Wally's are flexible enough to bend. I used a round nosed pliers, also available at Wally's, to bend a #2 hook to the shape I wanted. (BTW the #2 Aberdeen has about the same gap as a #4 Mustad 3366.) I left the bend rounded to avoid a sharp kink that might weaken the hook. You could do this with just about any size of hook. I bend a #8 Aberdeen gold hook to make a 60 deg hook for M'n Ms.

Now that I remember who they are, I can't wait to see this one next summer. Those guys were great in the Real Men on Trampolines trilogy.

“Hunka-burnin-love”, Bob Clouser, joins Lefty Kreh in the sequel. Though Lefty’s expressions of affection are more reserved, the love is still there. Half & Half We are so fortunate to be able to watch this!

When I first saw this video, I was really fascinated by the way Lefty selects and gathers the hackles for the wing. Then I notice how personal Lefty gets with the fly throughout the tying process. That inspired the title.