Flytying

I use my desk as my fly tying station. It's not ideal in that my computer takes up so much real estate, but then it forces me to clean up more often! I got this light/magnifying glass for Christmas from my parents and it has helped tremendously... especially on the smaller flies like this Blue Wing Olive Emerger. This is one of my favorite flies and the fish don't seem to mind it either! I got the pattern at Flytier's page... CDC BWO Emerger

These are bad examples of a great fly. I'll add the pattern and tying instructions as soon as I can. This fly has been responsible for as many fish as any other fly I've used, and I really like fishing it! We call it Matt's Bug because Matt, a fellow CTFF member, made it so popular.

This is a MUCH better imitation of "the bug". Tied on size 10 nymph hooks 2X shank lenth. This one's actually not weighted, but sometimes that's what's called for.

	These crayfish look really good to me... and yet I've not used them much in the water. The pattern I tied this from is lost but that's good for me because it looks so different from the original that I'd be embarrassed if you knew what it was supposed to look like! Believe it or not, the eyes are parts of an old hairbrush!
	This is called a Draggin. It was a terrible attempt at tying a floating Dragon fly nymph for someone who wanted to use it in a West Texas Lake. I'm sure it would catch fish, but I've never used it... in fact I sent him all that I tied for him! No wonder he's not asked for any more!
	These are examples of some of my earliest flies. The top one is nothing but Marabou (a type of turkey feather) tied on a streamer hook with red thread. In the water it swims and resembles a minnow. I actually caught a decent sunfish on this once. The bottom left is a bad attempt at a soft hackle... much too big. The bottom right is a decent attempt at a pheasant tail nymph.
	These are more examples of my early tying prowess. I'm not even sure what the top left one is, but it looks kind of like a bead head nymph with hackle. The one under it is a green weenie... larva lace with a peacock herl thorax. The one on the right is responsible for catching quite a few bass in the Leon River in Belton... by Tabitha. I'll try to find the pattern for it again, but I like the fly a lot. In the bottom section on the top left you see another example of the CDC BWO Emerger. Under that is one of my other favorite flies... the Black Caddis. To the right is the underside of the fly above it.
	I thought I was being original when I created this fly and was kinda disappointed to discover that it had already been done. It's called the Feather Duster. A Chickabou tail and a big hackle feather wrapped in a dubbing loop for the body. If it was made heavy it would look and act like a crayfish underwater.
	A perfect example of tying CHEAP flies. This bee pattern is nothing but hole-punched foam, cheap feathers and one strand of flashabou. It floats like a cork and it catches fish.
	I brushed out my dog Ginger and used the underfur as a replacement for hare's mask. The pattern is a Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear Nymph
	The pattern really calls for little craft beads, but I used some larva lace instead. This fly is awesome looking in the water!
	This is a GREAT hopper pattern! I was using this in the middle of Summer down on the Guadalupe River when a 18.5" Rainbow sucked it down!
	It's amazing how much a little strip of rabbit fur can dress up an already great fly!
	Once again, Matt creates a great fly! This minnow immitation is a killer!
	Hillfisher experiments with foam and fuzzy to create this effective pattern. First used on the South Fork of the San Gabriel, he calls it the San Gabriel fly.
	The pattern is called "Yellow and Rabbit" and it is a great streamer pattern.