What did you tie today?

[Mddauby]

You guys tie some fantastic flies. I've been quietly lurking in the shadows of the TKF Fly section for awhile now, but figured y'all deserve some props. I especially enjoy seeing Karstopo's shrimp flies and the awesome reports that come with them.


Which eyes are you referring to? If you are referring to mine, and thank you for your kind words, I make mine from glass beads I purchase from Hobby Lobby and 60 pound mono. I just burn them into the mono. I've also made mine from layers of UV cure and a little micro glitter mixed in, but those don't hold up as well in the fish's mouth.

Thanks man; that's an awesome idea to make'em yourself.

[karstopo]

You guys tie some fantastic flies. I've been quietly lurking in the shadows of the TKF Fly section for awhile now, but figured y'all deserve some props. I especially enjoy seeing Karstopo's shrimp flies and the awesome reports that come with them.


Which eyes are you referring to? If you are referring to mine, and thank you for your kind words, I make mine from glass beads I purchase from Hobby Lobby and 60 pound mono. I just burn them into the mono. I've also made mine from layers of UV cure and a little micro glitter mixed in, but those don't hold up as well in the fish's mouth.

Thanks man; that's an awesome idea to make'em yourself.

It's very easy. I use a long fire starter and just hit the bead with a little flame until the mono softens and melts enough to secure the bead. Cut the mono to whatever length you want. I leave the mono intact so to better secure them to the fly. Way less coin than EP eyes

[Yoffione]

That deer hair topwater fly looks nice. So does the shad. Looks like EP or a similar fiber. Hook looks different. What hook is that tied on?

Thanks. I don't know what that hook is. I was given it in a multi pack when I was tying at a conclave years ago. I typically tie that pattern on red Owner SSW's. I ran out and found that old pack of unmarked hooks.

[karstopo]

More dad gum shrimp. I need to fish. My now lives with me 16 year old daughter invaded my fly tying room and pulled out some flash type material that I decided to incorporate in my shrimp flies.

These are going to slay the flounder, I just know it. Reds too. All fishermen are optimists.

[s1rGr1nG0]

More dad gum shrimp. I need to fish. My now lives with me 16 year old daughter invaded my fly tying room and pulled out some flash type material that I decided to incorporate in my shrimp flies.

These are going to slay the flounder, I just know it. Reds too. All fishermen are optimists.

Beautiful Karstopo!
I haven't tied any flies in a few years, (worked as a contractor overseas), and I just can't find the time to do it.
However, I've had the bug the last few days and I've organized my computer room and brought all my tying material back inside.
Flies like these are making me want to tie up a bunch!

[karstopo]

[quote="s1rGr1nG0"][quote="karstopo"]More dad gum shrimp. I need to fish. My now lives with me 16 year old daughter invaded my fly tying room and pulled out some flash type material that I decided to incorporate in my shrimp flies.

These are going to slay the flounder, I just know it. Reds too. All fishermen are optimists.[/quote]

Beautiful Karstopo!
I haven't tied any flies in a few years, (worked as a contractor overseas), and I just can't find the time to do it.
However, I've had the bug the last few days and I've organized my computer room and brought all my tying material back inside.
Flies like these are making me want to tie up a bunch![/quote]

I'm stuck on just a few patterns. I bought supplies to do the Avalon fly, because you know all the places I fish are just crawling with Permit, but I sit down to tie one and one of my favorites comes to mind.

[karstopo]

1/0 60 degree jig hook shrimp. I did go out in the back yard with the 7-8wt CGR and the fly is cast-able, but not a joy to cast.

The 1/0 shrimp is probably destined to be a wall flower. I'll leave one in the box and maybe be out somewhere and think here is the perfect situation for this fly. It could happen.

[karstopo]

Crazy Charlies. I have never tied or fished one. I wonder if anyone has used them on any of our local fish? It's any easy tie. I complicated it by making glass eyes instead of using bead chain or lead Dumbbells.

Seems like a whiting or a pompano might go for one.

[elnaco]

Crazy Charlies. I have never tied or fished one. I wonder if anyone has used them on any of our local fish? It's any easy tie. I complicated it by making glass eyes instead of using bead chain or lead Dumbbells.

Seems like a whiting or a pompano might go for one.

Those look great. I throw them at spooky reds in clear shallow water when I don't feel like throwing a clouser and they work great. I also tie them in black or purple for black drum and pink, chart or white for trout in the lights.

New shrimp pattern I've been working on

[Kayak Kid]

Karstopo,
I use small unweighted white and pink ones under the lights all the time. The specs love them. I like your glass eye idea.

[BigErn]

This has been my go to topwater fly this summer.



When it isn't happening on top I tie a shad on.

That deer hair topwater fly looks nice. So does the shad. Looks like EP or a similar fiber. Hook looks different. What hook is that tied on?

Mustad and Owner both have a similar hook as that one! What size do you think it might be?
Ernie

[Texjbq85]

Getting ready for Trout season on the Guadalupe. Haven't tied anything smaller than a size 10 lately so I'm a bit rusty. Size 16 Hare's Ears.

[StrykerDM]

Getting ready for Trout season on the Guadalupe. Haven't tied anything smaller than a size 10 lately so I'm a bit rusty. Size 16 Hare's Ears.

Those should fish well. Put an egg or a worm above it and fish it deep enough to bounce it off the bottom. Man, I need to get over to the Guad this season.




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[cesarmedina]

[img]//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016102 ... 7297b4.jpg[/img] random crack flies for blind casting [img]//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016102 ... 7f0c87.jpg[/img] and a deceiver, i would say not bad for the first one [img]//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016102 ... d4a3d9.jpg[/img]

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[karstopo]

Crazy Charlies. I have never tied or fished one. I wonder if anyone has used them on any of our local fish? It's any easy tie. I complicated it by making glass eyes instead of using bead chain or lead Dumbbells.

Seems like a whiting or a pompano might go for one.

Those look great. I throw them at spooky reds in clear shallow water when I don't feel like throwing a clouser and they work great. I also tie them in black or purple for black drum and pink, chart or white for trout in the lights.

New shrimp pattern I've been working on

That shrimp looks great. Thanks for the idea to do the crazy Charlie in black and purple. Going to see if I can get some done later today.

[karstopo]

Karstopo,
I use small unweighted white and pink ones under the lights all the time. The specs love them. I like your glass eye idea.

That's a good tip using them under the lights.

[karstopo]

I did some Crazy Charlie/gotcha type flies in white and a light chartreuse. I hope they fish well so I can lose some and have to tie more. Got to do some in black and purple. Been seeing a lot of black drum being caught. Maybe a small black fly like this could work.

[elnaco]

If you're intending a fly for black drum, I'd put small dumb bell eyes on the crazy charlies. They really really like to feed on the bottom so you need to make sure your fly will be on bottom and get there quick, even if it is shallow.

When I first started fly fishing, I fished mostly down in Rockport/AP. For whatever reason that area just seems to hold more large schools of black drum than anywhere I've seen on the TX coast. That being so, I caught lots of black drum on fly before I ever caught a redfish on fly. But at first I used to get really frustrated throwing flies at drum bc I'd only get an eat about 1 out of every 5 or 6 drum I cast at thinking they'd eat similarly to a redfish. I used to think they were really picky but it turned out I just wasn't throwing the right stuff.

In my experience I've made a few notes about black drum. First, I don't think black drum have very good eyesight in comparison to redfish. They just don't seem to see or pay attention to things in the middle of the water column as well as redfish and won't usually chase after flies in the middle or top of the water column either bc they lose sight of it quickly or bc they're too lazy. You'll notice black drum have those whiskers on the bottom of their mouths. I'm no marine biologist but it seems logical that they use those as feelers for whatever they're preying on along the bottom. So maybe bc of this they just don't need as good of eyesight, don't rely on sight to find food as much as redfish or just don't pay much attention to other parts of the water column. Another thing is one of the primary food sources for juvenile black drum is benthic worms. When you see those small craters in the sand or mud, that's from black drum sucking worms out of the ground. My assumption is they use those whiskers to feel around and sense said worms as well as shrimp, small crabs and other crustaceans.

So anyways, what I eventually found was the most consistent black drum flies had a couple things in common. The first being that they needed to be able to be fished on bottom, preferably scooted across the bottom. The other is I've noticed the darker colors seem to produce more consistently. I think it just helps it to stand out and silhoutte more as it's dropping through the water and as you scoot it along the bottom. Anyways, that's my experience with black drum. They're a lot of fun to catch and eat just as good as redfish

[Zackthefisherman]

Those Hares Ears should fish well Texjbq. I have also been restocking my boxes for the upcoming season. Here are a few midges I tied recently.




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[Rotag]

Perch imitator for my 16 year old cousin

[karstopo]

Avalon Permit fly.

[karstopo]

More Crazy Charlie/Christmas Island type flies. I gave my uncle some as he has a house on a estuary with a dock and lights. I always end up tying many more flies than I can fish but it's nice to have options. It's hard for me to fish the same flies over and over again even if they catch fish. Flies and patterns offer endless possibilities to tinker around. What's the saying? Stay thirsty my friends.

[kickingback]

Picked up a couple of fly rods, size 5 and 8 and tied my first fly today. Should do well I am hoping.

[karstopo]

Picked up a couple of fly rods, size 5 and 8 and tied my first fly today. Should do well I am hoping.

Looking good! Fly fishing is like a disease. Some people have an immunity and will never catch it. I have the pretty serious chronic version that I may never be cured of. Good luck!

[fishr3]

Needed some yellow wooly buggers for bayou fishing.