Hey guys, welcome back to another week of the blog!
To be honest guys, this week did not really go as I had planned. As most of you know, life happens and there isn't much a person can do to stop it. In this case, mother nature happened to me and completely blew up my plans. My goal for this week was to take my flies to the water and see how well they worked. Unfortunately, as many of you have probably noticed, it has been below freezing this past week. Oddly enough, when the temperature drops to 32℉ and remains there for a long period of time, the water freezes over and turns to ice. This wouldn't be a problem if I was making jigs to bounce off the bottom, because I would still be able to go out and fish. In my situation, the flies float, therefore, I am not able to get the fly down to where the fish are at. I wouldn't say I'm the brightest person but I really don't think a floating fly would catch many fish out of an eight inch hole in the ice. I guess it is possible to make flies that would sink down into the water but I haven't made it that far yet. Maybe I should take that route in the coming weeks and try to fish with those. I would definitely have to obtain some patience because it would still take a while for the fly to sink down to the correct depth.
All in all, I am happy with where I am at right now in the process. This week obviously didn't go exactly how I planned it to but that's just life. Adversity will come and there's nothing a person can do to avoid it. The only thing you can control is how you react to it. I hope I have inspired you in my message today. Until next week!
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Week 1.4 of Fly Tying
Welcome back guys! I know I took a week off but it feels good to be on again. I have had a very productive couple of weeks and I am excited to show you some of my results!
My goal for this week was to have a strong understanding of how to tie flies on my own. In my opinion, I have met that goal. Managing my time to make room for this hobby hasn't been easy but I feel as if I have done a good job. Throughout this several week process I have been able to tie different sizes of flies, simple flies, and even more difficult flies. This journey has been very enjoyable and I'm really glad I chose it.
The biggest struggle I came across this week was working on these more difficult flies. Some of the materials I used were very dry, which made them super fragile. When you are working with something as small as these flies, it's already hard enough to be gentle. But then you add in these fragile materials, it can be really challenging. I basically had to run my fingers down the material when trying to wrap the fly because if I pulled to hard, it would break. This breakage did happen a couple of times and it was pretty frustrating. Fortunately, I was able to continue wrapping the fly by running by string over the top of the broken piece. I think for the future, I will look into purchasing some new, fresh material so it is easier to work with.
Weather permitting, I plan to test my luck and take these flies to the the water next week! Fingers crossed!
Here are a couple of flies I have tied so far:
My goal for this week was to have a strong understanding of how to tie flies on my own. In my opinion, I have met that goal. Managing my time to make room for this hobby hasn't been easy but I feel as if I have done a good job. Throughout this several week process I have been able to tie different sizes of flies, simple flies, and even more difficult flies. This journey has been very enjoyable and I'm really glad I chose it.
The biggest struggle I came across this week was working on these more difficult flies. Some of the materials I used were very dry, which made them super fragile. When you are working with something as small as these flies, it's already hard enough to be gentle. But then you add in these fragile materials, it can be really challenging. I basically had to run my fingers down the material when trying to wrap the fly because if I pulled to hard, it would break. This breakage did happen a couple of times and it was pretty frustrating. Fortunately, I was able to continue wrapping the fly by running by string over the top of the broken piece. I think for the future, I will look into purchasing some new, fresh material so it is easier to work with.
Weather permitting, I plan to test my luck and take these flies to the the water next week! Fingers crossed!
Here are a couple of flies I have tied so far:
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Week 1.3 of Fly Tying
Welcome back fellow bloggers! I have had a fairly difficult week and I am back to tell you why.
I have come to realize time management is a very tough thing when it comes to learning this new skill. School and football practice have kind of set me back a little more than I would have liked. My days have been pretty jam packed and I haven't been able to spend quite as much time tying as I would have liked. Although, I have been able to explore my new challenge a little.
My goal for this week was to work on a more challenging fly. My plan is to really start focusing on more complicated flies so I can reach the next level of this skill. You might be asking yourself what I mean by a "more complicated fly," here's what I'm talking about. In order to add more character to the fly you are tying and attract more fish, you need to add more things on the fly itself. This could anything be from various colors, bird feathers (to act as wings on the fly), different types of mammal hair, etc. These all may seem like very insignificant objects but they can make a huge difference in whether or not you catch fish.
While this may sound like a really simple thing to accomplish, it is actually pretty tough. When you start to add these new materials to the fly, you begin to realize just how careful you need to be. I have come to find this in my own series of events. The materials being used are not only extremely small, but they are also very delicate. For example, when adding "wings" to your fly, you literally have pull small pieces of feather off the stem of the feather to get adequate material. These the tiny conjoined pieces of feathers need to also be symmetrical so they line up properly of the fly's back. To do this, you must pull two full and identical feathers from the bird that are also on opposite sides of the bird.
The skill I have been working on is adding these wings onto the fly. After you have obtained the pieces you see fit, you will tie them on with the desired color of fly tying line. I have had some trouble with this portion because the feathers are very fragile and seem to break easily. My goal is to get this figured out before next week so I will be back on track. Stay tuned!
I have come to realize time management is a very tough thing when it comes to learning this new skill. School and football practice have kind of set me back a little more than I would have liked. My days have been pretty jam packed and I haven't been able to spend quite as much time tying as I would have liked. Although, I have been able to explore my new challenge a little.
My goal for this week was to work on a more challenging fly. My plan is to really start focusing on more complicated flies so I can reach the next level of this skill. You might be asking yourself what I mean by a "more complicated fly," here's what I'm talking about. In order to add more character to the fly you are tying and attract more fish, you need to add more things on the fly itself. This could anything be from various colors, bird feathers (to act as wings on the fly), different types of mammal hair, etc. These all may seem like very insignificant objects but they can make a huge difference in whether or not you catch fish.
While this may sound like a really simple thing to accomplish, it is actually pretty tough. When you start to add these new materials to the fly, you begin to realize just how careful you need to be. I have come to find this in my own series of events. The materials being used are not only extremely small, but they are also very delicate. For example, when adding "wings" to your fly, you literally have pull small pieces of feather off the stem of the feather to get adequate material. These the tiny conjoined pieces of feathers need to also be symmetrical so they line up properly of the fly's back. To do this, you must pull two full and identical feathers from the bird that are also on opposite sides of the bird.
The skill I have been working on is adding these wings onto the fly. After you have obtained the pieces you see fit, you will tie them on with the desired color of fly tying line. I have had some trouble with this portion because the feathers are very fragile and seem to break easily. My goal is to get this figured out before next week so I will be back on track. Stay tuned!
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