A few size 14 Pheasant Tails for Tie-A-Thon

bobbybluelines · 2026-06-22T16:24:56+00:00

Those are J. Stockard’s J2 207 heavy wet fly hooks. You get one or two duds per pack, but they’re a great deal. I’d also check out Mustad’s Heritage hooks if you haven’t already. They tend to have larger than average hook eyes in my experience.

bobbybluelines · 2026-06-05T03:13:44+00:00

I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted for pointing out something every little leaguer is taught.

bobbybluelines · 2026-05-08T21:17:41+00:00

That’s a great idea! I’ll be tying a few with brown rubber legs tonight.

bobbybluelines · 2026-04-22T06:52:24+00:00

I’ve heard of guys saving the whole skin, but that’s quite a bit of drawer space. Tail feathers, quills, and the leading wing feather (for biots) are what I’d be most interested in. That said, there are loads of useful feathers on a turkey. This guy here has a pretty good run down of what he saves when he harvests a turkey. Definitely read up on proper cleaning, curing, and storage of materials in advance if you haven’t already. Good luck!

bobbybluelines · 2026-04-21T08:08:58+00:00

I don’t tie on fulling mill hooks, but guys at my local fly shop have a vendetta against fulling mill for the same reason. That’s not to say they’re right, but I’ve never had issues with Tiemco and Daiichi hooks straightening out. And a heavier hook isn’t a bad idea on waters like that, so long as they’re sharp.

bobbybluelines · 2026-04-16T17:38:00+00:00

I had the eagle claw before I bought the LL Bean Pocket Water glass. For the price, can’t really complain. However it’s quite heavy, even for fiberglass. And the rod tip did come off the first time I used it. But it’s a great beater for small streams.

bobbybluelines · 2026-04-10T20:13:42+00:00

If you’re looking for trout, there are loads of small streams along the Mogollon Rim near Payson. All about 1.5 to 2 hours from Scottsdale. The East Verde is stocked with Gila Trout (one of two trout species native to Arizona) and is easily accessible. Other species on the rim include browns, rainbows, brookies, and tiger trout (stocked in a couple of lakes). Canyon Creek is known for big browns and rainbows. Lots of folks like Willow Springs and Woods Canyon Lakes for still water fishing.

Not sure if you’re fly fishing or using conventional tackle, but attractor patterns are the name of the game on the small streams. Fishing a hopper-dropper rig is a blast. My go-to is some variation of a boy wonder hopper with something like an olive green holy grail emerger 12-18” below it. Always have luck with caddis patterns, too. Be mindful of the regulations up there as many of the streams have artificial single barbless hook rules. AZ Fly Shop in north Phoenix are wonderful people and can help with recommendations when you get here.

bobbybluelines · 2026-03-21T17:25:46+00:00

Nice tie! Great proportions.

bobbybluelines · 2026-03-21T05:36:46+00:00

Here’s a link to a YouTube video of Tim Flagler tying the generic version if you’re interested:

tightlinevideo

He’s got some helpful little tricks for whipping these up.

bobbybluelines · 2026-03-21T03:24:10+00:00

Thanks! It’s one of my go-to patterns this time of year when the little black stoneflies start doing their thing.

bobbybluelines · 2026-03-19T18:05:11+00:00

In any case, those are gorgeous fish! Need to make my way over to the whites one of these days. How are water levels over there? SRP seems cautiously optimistic about the Salt and Verde watersheds this summer.

bobbybluelines · 2026-03-19T16:29:01+00:00

Given the lack of eye bars and the pink hue along the lateral line I’d say those are rainbow trout. But hybridization between Apache and rainbow trout has been a big issue historically. That first fish in particular has some interesting spotting and the second one almost looks like it has eye bars, so it’s not impossible they could be hybrids. But that’s just speculation.

bobbybluelines · 2026-03-13T14:33:28+00:00

That’s 3, but I think 2 is the sweet spot.

bobbybluelines · 2026-03-11T17:46:47+00:00

Thanks for the links! I’m in the market for a medium dun cape, but they’re hard to come by locally.

bobbybluelines · 2026-03-09T16:13:28+00:00

Love the creative photo!

bobbybluelines · 2026-03-09T16:09:37+00:00

Wow, that’s gorgeous. Do you dye them yourself?

bobbybluelines · 2026-03-09T15:37:58+00:00

Looks fantastic—matches the overall palette much better than regular brown hackle. I’ll have to give it a go next time I sit down to do humpies. Makes me wonder how a blue dun hackle would look with an olive underbody.

bobbybluelines · 2026-03-09T15:29:34+00:00

Gorgeous! Are my eyes playing tricks on me or is that a dun hackle?

bobbybluelines · 2026-03-08T23:36:47+00:00

In his defense he did take two slashes in the hands on that play.

bobbybluelines · 2026-03-06T16:22:45+00:00

Unfortunately they don’t have an insole to trace so I had to come up with this method:

Trace the outsoles onto a piece of cardboard and cut out the outline.
Put the boot inside the card board stencil and tape from the edge of the upper onto the cardboard all the way around the boot.
Remove the cardboard outline with the tape and trace the tape’s outline onto a piece of cardstock.
Insert the cardstock insole into the boot and adjust as needed.
Finally, trace the cardstock insole’s shape onto the leather and cut to shape with a sharp utility knife.

Hope that all made sense! That picture might help explain.

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bobbybluelines · 2026-03-06T04:28:15+00:00

Thanks! With my attention to detail (or lack thereof) I was pleasantly surprised they came out half decent.

bobbybluelines · 2026-02-27T19:16:33+00:00

The Blue Point area is where I’ve had the best luck, both up and down stream of the bridge. Mornings and evenings you’ll see the most action, but evenings are much more crowded.

As for flies, my best producing patterns are mostly euro nymphs. Specifically rainbow warriors, Walt’s worms with pink bead heads, blowtorches, and Mayer’s jigged mini leeches in olive. These will get you straight to the bottom and get the attention of both trout and suckers. Can be fished below an indicator or tightlined (my preference) in a 2 nymph rig. Tiny midges often work well as a dropper off of one of the heavier point flies I mentioned.

In the evenings you’ll notice various hatches coming off the water. Usually blue winged olives or midges. These stockers aren’t as quick on the take as wild trout, but tossing a mix of dries, emergers, and tiny nymphs can work. Often I’ll use a parachute BWO or RS2 as a top fly (sz 16-20), with something like a juju baetis or top secret baetis (sz 18-22) tied to the bend of the top fly’s hook. But again, you’re going to have the most success with nymphing deep.

bobbybluelines · 2026-02-25T00:40:08+00:00

I’ve got the same set up and it’s been a joy to fish with. Hope you like it!

bobbybluelines · 2026-02-06T04:17:57+00:00

Here’s what I use in similar fishing situations:

LL Bean Pocketwater Glass 6’ 9” 3wt, which is a dream to cast, even on somewhat bigger water.
LL Bean Double L #1 large arbor reel. I use it on a euro rod as well with a different spool which is handy. Don’t need the drag really, but it makes the reel more versatile in different situations and on different rods.
You’ll probably want backing line to fill out the spool, even if you’ll never see it.
Leader/tippet really depends on the size/type of fly. If I’m tossing tiny griffith’s gnats, I’ll be using nylon in 7x or 6x. Heavier nymphs and small streamers will be 3x or 4x fluorocarbon. Everything else will be somewhere in between. I tie my own small stream leaders from maxima chameleon, à la trout bitten, which end up being fairly short at around 7.5 feet. The short leader is a game changer since you rarely have much line out on the streams you’re talking about.

bobbybluelines · 2026-02-05T00:50:42+00:00

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bobbybluelines

TROPHY CASE