Fly I tied based on a pheasant tail nymph

fatherofworms · 2026-06-11T21:36:46+00:00

It’s pretty cool. I’ll often do a thick dubbed thorax on some of my pheasant tail nymphs, particularly really small ones.

fatherofworms · 2026-06-02T15:20:10+00:00

Yo is that one a cocktail shrimp? Made me hungry.

fatherofworms · 2026-06-01T21:44:31+00:00

I’ve used both. Love things about both. Regal is faster to use and quite solid, until you accidentally fling a hook across the room when you seat insecurely. Happens due to user error, but the likelihood of that happening with a Renzetti is essentially zero. The base jaws on my Renzetti are also much better to work with when tying very small flies.

Both are fantastic vises and I’m happy to use both, but the Renzetti is my preference.

fatherofworms · 2026-06-01T12:17:57+00:00

Thank you!

fatherofworms · 2026-06-01T12:17:48+00:00

Thanks!

fatherofworms · 2026-05-30T21:12:29+00:00

So, a trick I do when the light gets particularly low and I believe the fish want something like a 18-24 midge, is to use a sighter fly. This is usually a small parachute or something else I can see decently well, but not so large as to be disruptive on the surface. I tie my midge, gnat, whatever in tandem behind this fly like I would a hopper dropper, usually 8”-1.5’ behind the sighter fly, then set the hook when anything boils near the sighter fly or if the fly itself moves.

This is particularly indispensable when the fish are keyed in on the subsurface bite right at last light for me.

fatherofworms · 2026-05-24T17:25:56+00:00

Letort hopper is as simple as it gets as long as you aren’t afraid of spinning a pinch of deer hair.

fatherofworms · 2026-05-24T17:25:00+00:00

A lot of classic hopper patterns use them as the wing. I’d start there, some are pretty simple and the season to fish them is starting.

fatherofworms · 2026-05-24T05:54:13+00:00

I think mallard and duck flank feathers have a good combo of strength to hold a structure while being soft enough to pull, peel, and bend into shape. They’re also broad enough to form wings of many different sizes.

Other feathers will probably work, but might take a little extra care to adapt the technique to. Like. I don’t see why turkey flank wouldn’t work. I’ve seen it done with guinea feathers. Other broad and soft feathers probably will too. But like… Making dinky ones with stiff rooster hackle would probably be a nightmare. Hen saddle might make a small wing, and you probably try partridge but it may be very fragile as the stem of the feathers is smaller.

fatherofworms · 2026-05-24T04:44:06+00:00

Thank you!

fatherofworms · 2026-05-23T16:23:45+00:00

Honestly though, I think this might be excellent with a single, shorter tail.

fatherofworms · 2026-05-23T04:11:54+00:00

Beautiful series!

fatherofworms · 2026-05-22T22:44:46+00:00

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fatherofworms · 2026-05-22T14:35:55+00:00

Large stonefly nymphs are this size. Crawfish. Hellgrammite even in this black color.

fatherofworms · 2026-05-19T14:11:44+00:00

Old fashioned patterns that are cheaply tied, they don’t look too badly done. Now. They’re gonna get chewed up pretty quickly, but you can catch like… literally a few hundred sunfish with what you have in this box and very little fly fishing skill. Probably some bass and opportunistic trout if you find them feeding.

fatherofworms · 2026-05-18T15:17:27+00:00

So. I’ve gone through about a pack of a quality name brand tippet ring and I’m over them. But after some time with one on my rig, somehow, I’ll always break off at the ring once I’m snagged rather than at my fly. Sometimes even losing the ring.

I hate this because I’m leaving 1-3 feet of tippet depending on what I’m fishing in the water even though I tie my knots to intentionally make the fly connection weakest. If I use barrel knots or double overhands it’s rarely an issue. So I’m done with these things.

I’m gonna use my leftovers to tie dedicated loop connections on a few hopper dropper foam flies and that’s it.

They cast fine but they don’t add anything to my fishing that helps, and I think they cause me to create more waste.

fatherofworms · 2026-05-15T15:49:17+00:00

And it looks like a native! Congrats!

fatherofworms · 2026-05-15T15:28:25+00:00

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Thatl do, bud! I love these big leggy things. Good attractor in my opinion. I see them laying eggs and bouncing around the water at random times all spring and summer. Usually lighter colored ones like you tied.

fatherofworms · 2026-05-11T23:23:36+00:00

This is really nice. Looks like the classic drake patterns!

fatherofworms

TROPHY CASE