Simon, again

This time with a video tutorial of his Replot Stinger, a marvelous Finn Raccoon and feathers fly. Simple construction, lots of action.

Simon's Baitfish

 Simon Graham's Baltic pike flies: Baitfish edition

‪Dave Skok's Mushmouth‬

First tied for skipjack tuna, the Mushmouth has been around for quite awhile. It will take just about any fish after smaller baits. (This video was shot by Dave Souza of Fall River Herald News)

Skok (sometimes working with Jaime Boyle) has developed some equally effective variations.

Shallow water backcountry fly

Here's the shallow water backcountry fly from Don's Bait & Tackle.

 And check out the sunglasses-over-the-Kodak-Playsport-lens videos in his other YouTube selections.

Home Invader

Doug McKnight's Home Invader at The Weekly Fly.

Eumer Spin Tubes

I don't mind spinning with flies - a bit of extra weight (floating, suspending, or sinking) works just fine. You lose a lot of the line handling skills when flyfishing, but it's still great fun and opens other possibilities. Eumer has introduced a series of Spin Tube flies and components that should be available in the US soon. These new products, components, and techniques are introduced on their YouTube Channel..

A full-color catalog of their Spin Tube products and components is featured on their website.

There are 2 tying tutorials so far. One is a larger construction aimed at pike, etc using Finn Raccoon.

The second is a smaller tie, the "Keel Minnow".

Sloggi's tube fly w/cone body

There are flies which not only catch your eye but appeal to something deeper... This little tube fly with a weighted cone body is one of my favorites. It's featured in 2 sets of forum discussions on the Salmon Fishing Forum. Sloggi's step-by-step is provided in the 2nd set.

• 1st forum discussion (6 pages)

• 2nd forum discussion (8 pages, including step-by-step)

Popovics' FLEX Fleye

Bob Popovics' FLEX Fleye uses Tuffleye FLEX over a synthetic wing like Steve Farrar's Blend (with a little angel hair topping) over a tuft of fleece. Many variations, way cool and effective.

Want to see more of Popovics and Farrar? Try the ASWF site.

Zaggin Zook

Check out Curtis Fry's "Zaggin Zook", a topwater fly that walks-the-dog with ease.

Or try Curtis's YouTube Channel - lots to choose from.

Simon's Musky Flies

Simon over at Pike Fly Fishing Articles has posted Baltic Pike Flies - The Bad Ass Musky Collection. Have fun!

Niklaus Bauer

Niklaus Bauer has posted a great tube fly tutorial - the Sheephead Master. If you enjoy this style, he has two other tutorials you might find worthwhile, the Magic Minnow and the Hoover Fly, parts 1 and 2. The videos are in Swedish, but the techniques are easy to follow.

Simon's Slideshow

What a great way to start the week. Simon over at Pike Fly Fishing Articles has posted a slideshow featuring an assortment of his ties. Great photography and inspirational tying. Well worth it!

Eyes wide open, but . . .

After a year working with a great acupuncturist, it's clear to me from the regular presence of side-effects that the pharmaceutical industry does not understand the whole-body-system. Still, I need and use plenty of meds. As it happens, one of my inhalers has strongly accelerated the growth of cataracts in both eyes. One lens replacement surgery is done and the other is in a couple of weeks. No tying for weeks, until this morning.

Here's my copy of one of Richard Strolis' rabbit flies (Feb blog 26 entry). He used part of Fox Statler's Alewife Minnow design (tail, body, and ventral flash) and added a rabbit strip across the top. A real fine combination.


My second fly uses Eumer tubing, xx-large conehead, large monster disc, short strip of Finn Raccoon, a shorter piece of rabbit, some pearl angel hair, and 3d eyes.

I mounted a large fl. pink tube over a small clear tube, then tied a little angel hair 360 degrees on the large tube and added the xx-large conehead. Glued a short piece of raccoon zonker to the top of the conehead and a shorter piece of rabbit zonker to the bottom. Glued eyes on the conehead and finished off with a reversed monster disc. This combo was reported to really shake in the water but - surprise - I can't see well enough to tell! If it doesn't, I'll skip the conehead next time to lighten it up.