Where and what I've been doing the past several months.....

Some of you all might remember when I made a post early this Spring about "going off the deep end" and getting into fly fishing.

Well, with help from JoeV, not only did I do that, but I'm able to supply myself with flies to go catch fish.

I just got a new camera that can do macro shots of my bugs. Here's my three deadliest flies. Please excuse the background coloration; I need to make a light tent for pics.



First pic up in a "GFA" (General Foam Attractor) 'Hopper. This is made out of craft foam and some Silli Legs, with a little deer hair for the wings. This one happens to be a light brown, which matches the color of the grasshoppers at the end of Summer around here. I've also tied some up in Green and Yellow. This thing is DEADLY! Once I get the Hopper out onto the water, if I don't get a strike within 15 seconds of splashdown, I can say there aren't any fish in the immediate area.



The second fly isn't really a "bug"; it imitates a minnow. I've got some bead chain for the eyes, and the chartreuse over white is probably one of, if not the, best color. It's made with deer hair, and some other materials to give it a little flash and sparkle. These things are DEADLY! I've caught White Bass, Striped Bass, Skipjack Herring, Sauger, even a small Channel Catfish on this pattern.



Lastly, I have one of my most productive Wooly Buggers. Bead Chain for eyes, and with the hackle wound around the body, it tends to imitate a dragonfly nymph, although this style in other colors/materials can represent many different food items to fish. I have caught LMB, Bluegill, and Hybrid Sunfish on this one; and if I'd fish it more often in other places, probably other things as well.

I've got A LOT of other different flies done up, and lately have been trying a lot of new-to-me patterns. I'll have to try to get a few pics of my fly boxes up.

Well done, Grasshopper!

Just wait until I get the light tent set up. I've been tying Flashback Scuds, Pheasant Tails, Flashback PT's, Copperheads, Zug Bugs, Zebra Midges in three different colors and two different sizes, Chironomids, FEB Deer Hair Caddis, etc.

Well done, Allen. Have you used them yet and are you catching fish?

Buzz, just about everything I've tied has been fished at least once. I've been catching fish on most of them. However, it's all been warm-water species. One of my local lakes started stocking Trout. I haven't caught any on the fly, but have caught some on artificials. Those things are TASTY!

Yeah man, I love trout. We have some excellent streams up here in northern Wisconsin and a tad farther up in northern Michigan where all the Yuppers live. lol

The best ones are caught in the High Sierra. The water is ice cold and they eat natural food. Much better than the farmed ones.

I've always caught them on salmon eggs or Velvetta cheese believe it or not. We would cook them in a cast iron skillet with butter over the camp fire. You can also add almonds.

More Pics! I've got my light-tent set up, but it needs some fine-tuning. May have to whittle some more of the styrofoam out to allow more light in. Might have to go to a translucent plastic jug.



First pic is a size 16 "Copperhead" Nymph. Basically a Flashback PT, gold tinsel for the flashback, and no wings.



What's a "Flashback Pheasant Tail" you ask? That's one above. I tilted it slightly to show off the mylar on the back.



Size 16 Zebra Midge in black.



Size 16 Zebra Midge in red.



Size 16 Zebra Midge in chartreuse.

Very impressive. Awesome work and awesome pics. Good job.

Pics should get even better. I just realized, after I took these pics, that my white balance was set to "Fluorescent", as we have CF bulbs. I accidentally changed the setting to "Incandescent" as well as "Auto", and got more true-to-life captures. I'll have to take a few more pics with the better setting.

I would be very interested in yout light tent setup, or anyone's for that matter. I need to take some good wood and soap pix and I am looking for ideas.

AllenOK said:

More Pics! I've got my light-tent set up, but it needs some fine-tuning. May have to whittle some more of the styrofoam out to allow more light in. Might have to go to a translucent plastic jug.
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Click to expand...

If you want a quick fix until you can get the jug, you might try tissue paper, just plain ol' gift-wrap tissue paper.

Adillo303 said:

I would be very interested in yout light tent setup, or anyone's for that matter. I need to take some good wood and soap pix and I am looking for ideas.

Click to expand...

I did a make-shift light box some time back. I just used a cardboard box, cut large squares out of the two sides and top, and covered the openings with tissue paper. For the top light, I used one of those clip on shop lights with a daylight bulb. For the side lights, I just used small lamps. Backdrop was white butcher paper.

Thank you Cooksie.

I am probbly oging that route. I find thta I have been making wood stuff for two years now, Taking not enough pictures and what I have is fuzzy cell phone pix. I gotta fix that.

Ok, here's my "light tent". Basically, a styro cup with some squares cut out; one to let me put a pencil in with the bug on the eraser, and a few more to let in light. I've cut out the bottom of the cup. The Welch's juice container is for resting the pencil on. I put the pencil on the rim, which holds it better than the flat side of the cylinder. White cardboard under the cup to help reflect light. Camera on a tripod, aimed down through the cup.



Here's an image, without cropping, to show what the camera is seeing. Note that the lamp is on in this image.



I had turned the lamp off, before I shut off the camera, and noticed that I got better color in the shot. So, I captured another image. I'm probably going to be cutting some more of the side off, and just use the fluorescent light above the sink.