Three Spiders

[letumgo]

I AM HOWLING WITH LAUGHTER!!!

Funny!

[letumgo]

I can’t stop laughing…

[DUBBN]

Ray, it was your last sentence that put me over the edge.

"Pretty amazing resource, for the perpetually curious learner/do-it-yourselfer"

[Terrestrial12]

Phileangler I'm in the same boat. I've only been tying about 2 years and as I live in a part of the country where fly fishing isn't popular I never really had a mentor. YouTube is a great learning tool but it's also a source of frustration for me. People will take the whole "substitute what you have" and rape a pattern till its utterly unrecognizable. Or be trying to teach people when they have no idea what they are talking about or don't have the basic fundamentals of fly tying. It probably doesn't bother the normal person the way it does me but I am obsessed with preserving history and tying historically accurate flies. It's my goal to tie flies that couldn't be distinguished from their 300 year old counterparts in most cases. Btw I'm loving your macro photos! On your waterhen bloa did you use waterhen or a substitute? I LOVE how some of the hackle looks like it goes from a deep slate blue dun to an almost purple color. Beautiful!!

[Oenophileangler]

Phileangler I'm in the same boat. I've only been tying about 2 years and as I live in a part of the country where fly fishing isn't popular I never really had a mentor. YouTube is a great learning tool but it's also a source of frustration for me. People will take the whole "substitute what you have" and rape a pattern till its utterly unrecognizable. Or be trying to teach people when they have no idea what they are talking about or don't have the basic fundamentals of fly tying. It probably doesn't bother the normal person the way it does me but I am obsessed with preserving history and tying historically accurate flies. It's my goal to tie flies that couldn't be distinguished from their 300 year old counterparts in most cases. Btw I'm loving your macro photos! On your waterhen bloa did you use waterhen or a substitute? I LOVE how some of the hackle looks like it goes from a deep slate blue dun to an almost purple color. Beautiful!!

T12, I, too, try to be kind to the original, but sometimes it isn't possible. Where do you get Water-rat dubbing? I was lucky to find Snipe & Jack Snipe from the UK via Ebay, for a reasonable price. So, yes, it was tied with Waterhen (Got a bag of paired wings packed by Veniards & a Waterhen skin from Steve at Cookshill).

I think I am more willing to alter patterns when necessary. For instance, there's a whole bunch of jig hook nymphs that are the rage now, and I don't think it matters if you use reasonable substitutes. I have been using EP Trigger Point fibers as a hair substitute, and it is much easier to use. I have tied CDC & Elk but with EP fiber instead of Elk/Deer and it worked well on the stream. Same with a pattern called the Missing Link.

Dale

[Terrestrial12]

I hope you didn't take my comment as a dig at you or your flies. Thats not at all the way I meant it if so! I of course make substitutions where I want or need to but I try to keep them reasonable especially if I'm going to be posting a picture of it anywhere. If it's for my own fishing, who cares. Just tie it so you and the fish can appreciate it. I only get irritated when someone will do a video of a classic, call it by name, then substitute every item in the recipe and usually with things that are the wrong color or texture or whatever. Savage flies is really bad about this but I do love his channel. But like I said most people aren't a nazi about keeping with the history and tradition the way I am.
As for the Bloa....your waterhen is absolutely stunning! I don't actually use water rat and I assume most people don't either. I believe they are protected now. I used to just use a slate blue or black mole skin but I have actually started using squirrel dubbing. When I kill a regular ol gray squirrel and shave it with beard trimmers for dubbing I use no guard on the clippers, and raise the the razor itself up one "click". This leave a layer of just the pure under fur with with a staple length of about 1/16". Then i lower the razor all the way and go back and shave that layer of fuzz off in a separate bowl. Shake in a jar of water and let dry and you have a beautiful slate dun, soft, short dubbing that is perfect for the waterhen bloa!

[Oenophileangler]

I hope you didn't take my comment as a dig at you or your flies. Thats not at all the way I meant it if so!

Not at all!