Started last summer, Hadn't done any flies in at least 4 years, and now im slowly getting back into it. I need to find myself a vice thought, its kind of annoying to have to do it with my hands ( a good skill to have if you ever need to do some riverside tying!). Right now im out of hooks, I need to go get some so that I can start again!
My favorite pattern is the fly foam beetle I've made many variations of it in my short time as a fly maker. It is in my opinion the best floating fly. When I still had my fly rod I almost exclusively used fly foam beetles and a nymph now and then.
Here are some photos of ones I made last summer. Had no long feathers like rooster neck or pheasant so I had to use deer hair and seal fur which seemed to work very well, specially the seal fur in picture number 2. As you can see bellow the body is not always made from peacock feathers, you can use pretty much anything. I've even made some variations long ago with red fly foam.
The fly foam beetle with grey deer hair:
Fly Foam Beetle with brown seal fur as legs:
Then I went on to try something new that I've always wanted to try, which turned out to be really easy to do! Shrimp imitations with plastic eyes made from melting fishing line. And I'm gonna make some more of those, ones my new hooks arrive. Here's a study of shrimp eyes I made last summer:
The little black dots. The fly is not a real imitation thought its basically just some random things put together, I just wanted to see if I could make the eyes.
Hang in there for future updates on flies! If you are interested in my flies I would be more than happy to make some for you!
