Disco Hare

This is the fly that produced most of the action for me while we were in Idaho. It is a variation of a Hare's Ear Nymph. I added a little crystal flash wing emerging from the wing case and I think it adds a little sparkle to the fly. The pictures are of a Disco Hare with read rib and then another with copper rib. They both work well. Tie one up and give it go!

An update on the fly rod

I have done a lot of work on the rod. I have stripped all of the old spar varnish off and I have reset the ferrules. I also taped the new snake guides and hook keeper in the right places ready to be wrapped. I was going to start wrapping tonight but I got carried away tying some flies. Here are the updated pictures.

It Was Another Beautiful Day in Southeast Idaho

Without consulting Kris, my brother in-law Nick and I decided to go to Idaho this weekend for the Eastern Idaho Fly Tying Expo. From the time I took the fly tying class in college I have tied all my own flies and have fished with them with much success. The expo gave us both lots of new ideas and techniques to improve the flies we tie. We left on Thursday night after work and attended the expo both Friday and Saturday morning. On Friday afternoon we decided to pick up Nate Barker in Rexburg and go fish the Henry's Fork of the Snake river. We wont divulge the exact spot because of the giant fish that we took on teeny tiny flies. I am proud to say that the second largest fish, 19 inches, of the trip was taken, by myself, on a fly of my own design. I will post a picture of it soon but I call it the 'Disco Hare'. The largest fish was taken by Nick and it measured 20 inches. Unfortunately one member of our party who shall remain anonymous forgot the camera on the first day so we missed getting pictures of those two fish. You will have to take the word of two fisherman that these fish were beasts. Here are some photos of the second day of fishing.
Here is a different shot of the same fish to make it look bigger!

Bamboo Rod

Last year my parents found a bamboo fly rod at a flea market in Denver. The price was right and it came with an old automatic reel (South Bend). The rod was in horrible shape and it was not going to be functioning as a fly rod any time soon. They gave it to me for Christmas and it has been sitting on the shelf since then. The other day I decided it was time to start rebuilding it and so before I started I decided to take some pictures. The only thing that I did before I started was to sand the grip down so it looks new. Here are the before photos of the rod. I will be posting the updates as I work and progress on it.