Terry Dodge

A BIG THANKS to Jonn and his assistant for making their way up here to the NW Region. Jonn delivered a very energetic, full of information seminar to room of 15 ISA members. I really enjoyed Jonns' impression of me giving up on the Float & Fly technique.

This thing happens today. Come one, come all.

A buddy of mine shared this with me today......... Do we need to have a dance off?

The tube itself is pretty heavy and then the added lead wraps make it even heavier. Not sure what the purpose of the ear plug is? Plus that is even more added weight as far as flies are concerned. I guess the idea of the ear plug is to hold the tube in place to keep it from moving? I'll give it a try but still think it'll be too heavy. For me to cast that is.

That'll be bit heavy won't it?

I got an idea of cutting the tentacles from the backend of tube baits I use when spin gear fishing. (after I got the full use of the tube of course) The idea was to use these tentacles for fly tying. Ended up not being the greatest idea. I was having problems with the thread slicing through the soft plastic texture of the tentacles and watching the tentacles drop from the back of the hook shank that was gripped in my vise and onto the top of my tying desk when I tried to tightened the thread and tentacles to the hook shank. I was disappointed in the failure of being able to tie the tentacles to the hook shank. Smallies love these tubes and if I could use these tentacles then I could tie up a bunch of tube like flies, right? My wife had something for me to fix one day and as I was searching for a tool in my tool cabinet in the garage I stumbled across some plumbers tape. You know, the white tape stuff you wrap around pipe threads to prevent any leakage. Hey! I have an idea! I sat back down at the tying bench armed with my little roll of plumbers tape. I pinched the tentacles to the shank and made a couple loose wraps to hold them in place and ran the thread back up towards the hook eye to get the bobbin out of my way. I used about a 4" piece of the plumbers tape and began to wrap it on the hook shank just above the tentacles and wrapped the tape back down the shank and over the tentacles pulling tighter with every wrap. I ran my thread and bobbin back down the shank, over the plumbers tape and secured the tentacles to the shank. Success!!! The plumbers tape is tough enough that the thread does not slice through it. I have yet to test the durability of this tube bait fly but from the tugs I have given it I think the fly will stay together and produce 22" smallies from out of the Kish. Not the best pic but you get the idea....

Cleaning dried glue off a bodkin using the backside of a scissors blade is not the best idea. Try finding a film roll container and punch a few holes in the top. Pack the inside of the film container with steel wool. Insert the glued up bodkin needle into one of the holes in the lid and remove. The glue is now gone. When stabbing the bodkin through one of the holes in the lid the steel wool works its magic. Steel wool in a film canister is an excellent tool for removing glue from a bodkin.

Is it ever possible to organize a fly tying bench and the materials in which we use for tying flies? Is it ever possible to get to such an organized point that the constant organization is no longer needed? What "Tips or Tricks" can you share from your bench to help others get their mess organized? Please share....

Of the "4-5", 2-3 are usually reups.

Spead the word. Jonn Graham is coming to Rockford

No grits at this establishment. Pretty much biscuit & gravy, strawberry crepes, quiche, muffins, and coffee.

This is not a competition. It's just a time for good friends to get together and tie a few flies. Bring a vice and some materials and tie something up. This is not a competition. It's just a time for good friends to get together and tie a few flies. That means NOT TIM!!!

Been hanging around Mike lately?

Oh goody! And I will tie a Thunder Creek Silver Shiner. The B&G are the best around.

It is too cold to go fishing!

HA! I just realized. You're using 4 ear plugs on that fly. Once that sucks up water it's going to weigh about 5 pounds. I've only used one plug and that sucker gets heavy Use your fly, you'll see what I'm talking about and you'll get a good laugh. It won't suck up water right when in comes in contact, but after about 5 or 6 cast you'll see what I mean.

Just so you know..... I have experimented with many, many, different types of earplugs, as I have an endless supply of many different types where I work. The ear plugs that are being used in the pics above are NO GOOD. Those type of ear plugs suck-up & retain water and swell to a large size and become very heavy and hard to cast. I won't even use this type at work because the sweat from work makes the plugs swell and causes ear pain. The only foam plug that I have found that will not retain water are the basic yellow, Bubble Gum looking ones. All other foam ear plugs suck up and retain water. Sorry Tom. I don't mean to dis on your fly. I just don't want to see you waste time on a fly that isn't going to perform well. I tried to coat the ear plugs you used with Flex-Seal but that didn't work either. Only the yellow ones work. If you're going to tie ear plug flies, I would only use the type in the pic below.....

Tell us something we don't know.

No, Silly.

There's a Fly in my Biscuits & Gravy What: There's a Fly in my Biscuits & Gravy (BYOB) Bring your vise and materials and join in with other ISA Members for a lite breakfast, coffee, some smallmouth talk, and a bit of fly tying. Bring the spouse along too as this is a popular venue for shopping for nick-nacks. When: Saturday January 25 @ 9:00am. Where: Hearth Rock Cafe, Rockford, IL. - http://www.bensonsto...s_location.html Please post here if you (and a spouse) plan to attend. Reserving tables can be set up if there are enough in attendance. The Hearth Rock Cafe....

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I am looking at setting up a little get together for us NW Region guys to get together and tie some flies and eat some biscuits & gravy. This will probably be near the end of January on a Saturday morning. Tried the B & G Trail thing last year with no success so I thought maybe I would try it again with fly tying added into it. Of course all are welcomed, whether you fly tie or not. Maybe if you have lures that need gunk put on the back hook, someone could get you fixed up. There will also probably be some smallmouth talk.