Fly Fishing Vise & Old Timer Gifting Me Some Flies

[DanMarino]

I am inspired to get into tying some flies this winter. So I bought a vise from J Stockard for around $34.

An old timer who is into fly fishing has offered to help teach me how to tie flies. He sent me an assortment of extra flies he tied up.

I am interested in the tan ones that are long on the left side of the first photo. Do you think these will work for smallies and/or largemouths?

[Mark]

Your friend does good work.

You're fortunate to have him as a teacher.

The short answer to your question is yes they will work for smallies and largemouth bass, especially the larger flies.

Generally, I use size 4 and size 2 hooks for bass flies. That goes for streamers and poppers or other surface flies. I can't tell what size those flies in your post are but certainly some are large enough for bass -- the tan ones you are interested in for sure.

In moving water, like the upper Potomac, I don't rely as much on rubber legs or any appendages on my smallmouth poppers and surface flies. That's because I generally strip those flies more and faster than I do for poppers in ponds and lakes for largemouth. I think the legs are an attractant for largemouth bass flies as the poppers sit relatively still in the water with the legs undulating. Smallmouth are generally faster moving fish and are less attracted to subtle movements in my experience.

The reason I step up in fly size when bass fishing is primarily to discourage hooking bluegills in ponds and river sunnies since they often hang out in the same areas with the bass.

[bignose]

Back in the "day" I was a fly fishing addict.
You can catch just about anything that swims in freshwater in Maryland on a size 6 Black Wooly Bugger.
Tie them in Green Chartreuse, and you can add Perch to that. Smallies like that color too!

[Mark]

You can catch just about anything that swims in freshwater in Maryland on a size 6 Black Wooly Bugger.
Tie them in Green Chartreuse, and you can add Perch to that. Smallies like that color too!

+1 on that for sure.

[bignose]

IMG_0279.jpg


Here are the three flies I use the most:
Black #4 Wooly Bugger
Bronze Olive Crystal Flash Bugger
Chartreuse Wooly Bugger

All three are very easy to tie…….

[DanMarino]

Thanks guys. My old timer hasn't taught me anything yet...but I'll get with him this winter. Now that I have a vise, I need to get a thread holder thingy and get some supplies.
The old timer has great success with foam spiders and experiments with variations of them for panfish and bass.
He also sent me a bag of shad flies and trout flies that I haven't even looked at yet.

[bignose]

Yes, a bobbin (thread holder thingy) is very useful, as are small sharp scissors.
I started out more than 50 years ago with a pair of vise grip pliers and a C-clamp.
Bass Pro isn't bad ( a bit expensive), Tochterman's in Baltimore has an excellent fly tying department upstairs.

[bunnielab]

My girlfriend has expressed an interest in fly fishing, I suspect my small collection of fur, feathers, tinsel and thread is going to grow. She is always in search of artsy hobbies and I think fly tying might suit her. Can any of you guys recommend a both "technically useful" and "pretty" guide/recipe book? Her birthday is coming up and it would make a nice little gift. She is into coffee table-type art books so anything in that vein would be perfect. There are a few on Amazon that have caught my eye, but I don't know enough to judge how good/clear the info in them is.

[bignose]

The best reference I know of is YouTube!
There is a large video library available on just about every type of fly tying.
Honestly, it has been so long since I have done any serious fly tying, any of my references would be out of date.
Quick check on Amazon: Basic Fly Tying Skills looks to be a solid bet.
They have the same wooly bugger on the cover that I posted above, and it got decent reviews.

[DanMarino]

Youtube is fantastic for all sorts of educational demonstrations. Looks like there is a ton of instructional videos for making flies.
I'll post the results after I build some.

[Mark]

Youtube is fantastic for all sorts of educational demonstrations. Looks like there is a ton of instructional videos for making flies.

There are indeed. When I started tying there was no internet.

Books were great resource for me. But sometimes photos alone cannot show a particular nuance in tying. The videos are great for that.

Enjoy your tying journey.