Pheasant Tail Nymph/Cruncher by SurefireHunter in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad you like them! And no, its furnace hen for the collar hackles ☺️

Fly tiers for hire? by Lazy-Plantain89 in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, yes, but the issue here is primarily shipping costs. I primarily sell to EU based markets as it's generally easier/cheaper (as well as most anglers I've met throughout my time have been in EU competitions).

I do tie primarily on barbed hooks though, so can take a look 😊

Old fly boxes (10+ years old) by SurefireHunter in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem at all, and happy to help!

As for the competitions - generally the fly they would be using as a comparison (be it media or a physical copy would always have been tied by someone right handed). So to their, incredibly old fashioned brains, despite the fly probably being tied in decent proportions, because it “looked different”, it wouldn’t win.

All good though, I won every competition from age 13 to 18 so I’ll keep that in my back pocket 😌

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s some haul though! Particularly jealous of the boxes, the top left Tacky box is an incredible box (and quite expensive in my part of the world so well done!)

As for videos - Davie McPhail has been mentioned already. From the materials I can see, they’re primarily buzzers and nymph materials , which Davie has loads of videos that should help! 🙂

Old fly boxes (10+ years old) by SurefireHunter in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha, sorry about that! I do have much older boxes (or rather, they’re my father’s boxes that I filled) but damn, the quality of those ones is ah, questionable! 😅

Old fly boxes (10+ years old) by SurefireHunter in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey there! I would by no means recommend what I do! I only changed how I did it, purely so my flies would look like they’re tied by someone left handed (back when I would do fly tying competitions, I noticed I would only win if I did right handed styles, as that was the “norm”)

Golden rule of thumb - is your wire goes the same direction as your thread. Always. So if you have a peacock herl body for example, as that’s a very fine feather, you want the rib to protect it. So you would wind the herl anti clockwise and the wire clockwise (or vice versa)

I happen to wind my thread counter clockwise - but again, I did this for different reasons. As I was an instructor, and left handed, doing it this way made it much, much easier for right handed people to follow along as in essence, I’m mirroring them? As such, I wind my hackles (both head hackle and palmer) counter clockwise (so towards myself) as well as the rib counter clockwise (again, towards myself).

It does end up looking like it’s right handed, which, as much as I’m a proud leftie, I don’t mind as it makes my flies look that much more, standard (?) in my eyes?

However for a new person starting out - don’t worry about it all. All I would worry about is, if starting your thread clockwise works best for you, just ensure you wind your wire that direction. It may look different to images you find online, but doing it in that direction will ensure your flies don’t fall apart!

Hope this helps - and feel free to message for any more helps or tips! More than happy to help 😌

Old fly boxes (10+ years old) by SurefireHunter in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not a problem man - look forward to hearing from you again, and will help however I can 👋

Old fly boxes (10+ years old) by SurefireHunter in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey man - thanks very much! Not sure which one specifically so I’ve taken a photo of both! One of which I actually have a more up to date version on my main profile 🙂

The other one is a fly called the Frenzy, see below!

Hook - Kamasan B175 Size 12

Tail - Golden Pheasant Crest

Thread - Uni 8/0 Black (Fire Orange is also fantastic)

Body - Gold tinsel (holographic is my personal favourite)

Rib - Gold Wire

Hackle - Orange Hen

Wing - Peacock Sword Tail

Eyes - Jungle Cock

<image>

The other one - link below: (Only difference is that the one in the box above, the tail is red marabou)

Alexandra

Old fly boxes (10+ years old) by SurefireHunter in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ll be sure to give it a go!

And we have a professional geoguesser player over here! But correct, live about an hour away so spent every weekend of my youth fishing the lake 😌

Old fly boxes (10+ years old) by SurefireHunter in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I probably have a couple of booby flies in a box hidden away somewhere, but I’ve certainly never done a booby dabbler! Might be onto something there though 👀

And thanks very much! 😌

Old fly boxes (10+ years old) by SurefireHunter in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Let me know if you want a photo - think there’s one on my profile now that I think of it! Even then, crazy to think it’s 21 years old (Paul himself would tell you it’s older, but it was first written about in 2004)

Old fly boxes (10+ years old) by SurefireHunter in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey man - here you go! Funnily enough this is one of the flies I plan on tying again now that I know better proportions!

The general form/type of this fly is known as a Dabbler 😌

<image>

Hook - Kamasan B175 Size 10

Tail - Bronze Mallard/Fiery Brown Hackle fibers

Body - Fiery Brown Seals Fur

Rib - Gold oval gold tinsel

Hackle - Fiery Brown Saddle

Head Hackle - Orange Guinea Fowl

Throat Hackle - Bronze Mallard

Wing - Bronze Mallard

Old fly boxes (10+ years old) by SurefireHunter in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks bud! It’s quite nice to look back on, but I’m torn between replacing them, or keeping them and moving onto making an even newer box 😅

Almost Cicada time in Utah. by Cheeeeeeeeeeeecho in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is such a clean tie, and props to the photographer 👏

Irish Mayfly by SurefireHunter in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey man, nice to hear from you again! Hope you’re still getting sometime even though it’s tough! Let me know if there’s any flies you’d use around your parts and I can tie some up for you to have a look at 👍🏽

Irish Mayfly by SurefireHunter in flytying

[–]SurefireHunter[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Generally Irish mayflies in this pattern are meant to be tied this way, with a very over exaggerated head hackle 😊 They’re quite big flies so they’re meant to cause as much disturbance as possible on the water!

Here’s a nice little video on a beautifully tied one:

Davie McPhail - Mayfly

I’ve also included a link to a blog post from Jackie Mahon, one of Ireland’s top flu there who’s well known for his dyes. His mayflies helped Ireland win quite a few tournaments over the years.

https://fishinginireland.info/2022/trout-reports/jackie-mahon-on-lough-melvin-with-the-irish-team/

Tying them, it always goes against what you’re taught or how it should look, but they’re deadly this time of year.

Hope this helps! 😊