Well, I finally had the chance to sit down and tie some saltwater ties. In reality this is going to be the bulk of my arsenal since there aren’t too many freshwater opportunities around me. This isn’t a bad thing. I really look forward to being able to land a nice slot red, flounder, or trout. Maybe even a nice snook! Of course I’d take any combination or all of the above. 😉

I was hoping to spend a few hours taking a fly tying class down the street at Black Fly Outfitters but I was the only person to sign up and it was cancelled. So I’m off on my own for a while longer since I don’t have another weekend open until November. So these may not be pretty but hopefully they’ll work.

First off the vise was a red/white Clouser. It was my first fly with artificial eyes. They’re kind of a bugger to put on but I think it came out ok.

I stopped in to the Salty Feather the other day and walked out with some popper sets and a new (to me) hair stacker. They didn’t have any stackers other than a $30 one I didn’t like (nor would I pay that much) so John sold me one of his own. It’s actually better than what I was after in that it’s double-sided. I decided to match my body to my popper head and this is what I ended up with. For the popper I used doll eyes which I superglued in place. They should add a nice little rattle in the water. I also put a little hackle around the neck so hopefully that’ll work out well for me.

Finally I decided to try my hand at the Buck Deceiver. This is supposed to be a great and very flexible fly. I’m not 100% sold on my technique with this one but we’ll see. I really need to compare it to some better samples.

One thing I’ve realized is that I need bucktail in solid colors. With the exception of black my entire stock is two-tone. I don’t feel that I can really grab enough of a single color. I’m going to try to rectify that this weekend. 🙂

I don’t know if any of these will actually work but I’m sure having a fun time making them. 😀