Re: [VFB] Something Wonderful Happened Last Night

[Monte Smith]

Hi Chris, I sat down and in 2 hours, I tied 3 flies!!! Yes, it's a startling change, isn't it?  And you know, it only gets worse.  :-)  Usually, 3 flies would take me 10-12 minutes.  However, this was something special.  As I live in NH and have a great opportunity to pursue stocked Atlantic Salmon nearby, I have begun my journey into <gasp> (bling bling) salmon flies. Uh-oh.  Another addict amongst all these enablers. I have tied salmon flies before, but usually chartreuse zonkers and wound marabou flies that fish nicely but nothing special. But last night, I tied a Cosseboom, a Reduced Dusty Miller (woodduck flanks), and a chartreuse matuka.   Each of the flies, I used a tag, a tip, a but, two body colors, and oval tinsel.   Used high gloss for the head. Sounds great.  Cosseboom, a classic.  You went from gaudy and highly effective to more refined, yet still highly effective.  Guess what - I am off to the fly shop to look for some squirrel tails, bronze mallard, salmon quality ostrich, etc. Now there's a shocker.  <LOL>  Don't forget the seal's fur, silks, tinsels of every color, size, and type, turkey and goose quills, etc. etc. I guess within a year I will be buying Florican Bustard, Macaw, and I will be marrying wings; especially when I get my spey hackle from the Whiting swap. Yep.  No doubt about it. There are so many types of patterns and pattern creations possible, it is really a satisfying tie. It's a whole new tying world.  And it translates back to your trout/salt/warmwater tying very well. Any advice from others that have been where I am??  I definitely want to focus on fishable flies, but something more than the reduced hairwings.   Full dress - I need a raise to be able to afford.... Seriously, it doesn't have to be that expensive to get started with full dress patterns.  There is a nice tutorial by Ronn Lucas on FAOL if you haven't seen it detailing some nice original paterns dressed with inexpensive materials.  Some of the classics don't require expensive materials, either.  Speys and Dees in particular don't require loads of expensive materials, and they are wonderful fishing flies.  If you've collected tying materials over the years, chances are you've got a lot of things you'll need already on hand.  Keep at it!  Enjoy! Monte -- Monte Smith Halsey, Oregon http://community.webshots.com/user/nwflytyer