Premerger Flymph

[Mataura mayfly]

Tim, guess you are on laundry duty until you get out of this pants waxing fetish?

Still, good looking examples in the "singles" photographs.
When it comes to the group shot, I prefer the look of the ones on the left hand side. Not to say the right are no good, just a personal preference/observation. The trout are the best judges.

[tie2fish]

Nice to see you experimenting with differing methods of making pre-spun bodies, Tim, and also nice to see you posting photos of the results. I wouldn't be too discouraged by the fact that some of the dubbing "fell out", as perfecting the art of spinning bodies generally requires quite a bit of practice ... even when using a Clark-style block. Eventually one gets the feel for it, and can make not only the desired tapers, but even bodies with dubbing "fade" -- Old Hat Carl's term for a subtle shift from one color to another to mimic the transition from abdomen to thorax.

Welcome to the Real Flymph Club! Soon you will be matching different waxes with varying types of fur, making your own storage cards, collecting hundreds of colored fur blends, searching for ideal hackle, getting picky about hair patches, stashing tail whisk feathers, attempting to acquire all the Pearsall's Gossamer colors, and obsessing over where to find up-eye hooks .

[Smuggler]

Wow look at those! Looks like the Leisenring method looks well for you the taper on that second fly is very appealing. Hell, they're all appealing.

[William Anderson]

Tim, I'm sorry to jump in late but I have to say your results are fantastic. On the one hand, it's a technique that produce very effective techniques right away and the dubbing and underbody look fantastic. On the other, you'll spend years enjoying the nuances of dubbing blends and wax and the amount of control you have over the bodies. These turned out great and should serve you very well. Good for you trying the knee technique. Personally, as I've tried it several times, but have yet to practice it to success, I find I have much less control over the final body. No doubt having a block provided by a craftsman such as Jeff is an incentive to spend more time spinning bodies as well. Very cool to see this. Thanks for sharing your patterns.

And Bill, kudos for the post.

w

[Premerger]

Hello Bill,

Your post got me thinking:

Welcome to the Real Flymph Club! Soon you will be matching different waxes with varying types of fur, making your own storage cards, collecting hundreds of colored fur blends, searching for ideal hackle, getting picky about hair patches, stashing tail whisk feathers, attempting to acquire all the Pearsall's Gossamer colors, and obsessing over where to find up-eye hooks .
tie2fish

This is a trap for any OCD tendencies! A nice trap though.
When our bugs come out of their winter rest, I'll be taking more careful field notes.
Are you making your own waxes?
If someone could point me in the direction of useful wax discussion, I would appreciate that.

[Mataura mayfly]

Timmy, just break out the credit card and speak to Mr Bill Bailey, he makes some of the best fly tying waxes on the planet.
But, if you want to have a go at possibly 3rd degree burns, setting the kitchen on fire and ending up with some sticky goopy stuff you might be able to use........
Best you find some bow rosin, lard and bee's wax. Then do some research into the various ratios. Then make a "double boiler" contraption like the ones used for animal hide glue back in the day and go on a mad scientist bent for a few weeks. Let us know how you get on.
There is a really funny thread on here where Chris (cassady) relates his early wax making attempts here on the forum somewhere, well worth reading before you start. http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... wax#p59210

When you get sick of trying to find the perfect ratios, get a hold of Chris, Bill, or Bill Shuck and buy some pre-made.

[letumgo]

Tim - You tye a helluva flymph. I hope you're adding a few rows of these to your fly box, in preparation for spring. Please keep posting these beauties.