3rd Semi-Annual TLTFF Instagram Fly Swap

A big thanks goes out to Dean Wormell of Gin Clear for this awesome write-up!

- Instagram Fly Swap III -

Finally finding time to put up this post about the 3rd Semi-Annual Instagram Fly Swap hosted again by Morgan Kupfer of Tight Line Tales of a Fly Fisherman. Also check out the 1st and 2nd Instagram Fly Swaps.

The call from Moran went out on the @tltff Instagram feed back in March this year and flies were mailed to the 10 tiers the first week of May.

The popularity of this swap is way up from the first time. It took about 5 minutes to fill up after Morgan's initial post!

As with the previous two swaps, we had a great, well rounded group of excellent tiers including some celebrities. The theme of the swap was streamers - one salt and one fresh pattern.

For each set of flies below, there is a link to the tier's Instagram profile, pics of the flies and names/recipes if they were provided (for those who didn't send in names/recipes - it's never too late. Comment below and I'll add it to the post).

All the flies are "Bad Ass" and those with no names have that name for now. On to the flies...

Instagram Fly Swap II

Some of you know that we hosted the first Instagram Fly Swap back in January. Well we decided to have at it again and hosted the second ever Instagram Fly Swap. Amazing tiers were involved yet again and their flies matched their skills. Check out the full write-up on the swap on Dean Wormell's blog, Gin Clear...

- Instagram Fly Swap II -

"In mid-August, Morgan Kupfer of Tight Lined Tales of a Fly Fisherman and originator of the first Instagram Fly Swap, put out the call for a second Instagram Fly Swap. Previous and new tiers signed up. Baitfish and carp patterns were picked and the group of 11 tiers got rolling.

Below are the tiers and their patterns for the swap. Like the first swap, I was blown away by the quality and unique patterns that everyone put forward. Great work by all!"



To read the rest of the post, check it out on Gin Clear and be sure to follow Dean's great blog!

Boom...Morgan

Owl Jones Fly Swap

Just got my flies in the mail yesterday for the "Monsters of Tying Fly Swap" Owl Jones hosted last month, so pumped to give these foam flies a try this summer!

Via Dub the Thorax (who also participated):

Open question, which do you prefer? I was a huge fan of whip finishing but I've recently started to appreciate the half hitch for avoiding trapped hackle on small dry flies. Which do you prefer and why?

Oh and shout out to Owl Jones for hosting an awesome terrestrial fly swap! Can't wait to use these. 

Boom...Morgan

Instagram Fly Swap Part 2A

UPDATE: The business card reading "Morgan's Flies" actually has some flies tied by Mr. Nick Murray of the blog The Man in the Striped Pajamas, his flies are super rad and I failed to give him credit, apologies Nick, awesome flies!

Check out the first part of the Instagram Fly Swap I hosted... Dean from Gin Clear wrote an amazing post about it... check it.

Instagram Fly Swap -- Part 2A

-- Graphics by @phishtitz --

Here's a follow-up post about the First Instragram Fly Swap. Of the original 9 participants, we have 5 that completed their flies, 1 that dropped out and 3 that plan to finish up in the coming weeks. Instead of waiting, Morgan, our host, distributed the first set of flies. These are shown below with tying instructions here. This will be a long post, so let's get started.

@mkupfer32 Flies

Our swap host, @mkupfer32, of the blog "Tight Lined Tales of a Fly Fisherman tied the MK Caddis Dry (center) &Glass Caddis Pupa (lower left) for trout, and the Bass Gurgler Popper (upper right) & B-Ass Clouser Streamer (upper left) for bass. I believe these are all original creations by Morgan.


Trout

@mkupfer32 MK Caddis Dry

MK Caddis Dry
- Hook, Size - Mustad Dry Fly, 14
- Thread - Grey 6/0 UNI-Thread
- Body - Grey Muskrat fur dubbing
- Wings - Flex-sealed turkey feather clipped to look like caddis wing
- Hackle - Brown
- Antenna - 2 clipped feather shafts

@mkupfer32 Glass Caddis Pupa

Glass Caddis Pupa
- Hook, Size - Mustad Long Curved Nymph, 3x 12
- Thread - Grey 6/0 UNI Thread
- Thorax - Muskrat for dubbing
- Wings - Pheasant body feather tip
- Hackle/Legs - Tan CDC
- Abdonmen - 3 green or yellow craft beads



Bass

@mkupfer32 Bass Gurgler Popper

Bass Gurgler Popper
- Hook, Size - Mustad Steel, 6
- Thread - Black 210 Denier Danville
- Body - Charteuse Estaz, Black craft foam tied in and folded over body
- Tail - Black marabou, 2x length of the hook shaft

B-Ass Clouser Streamer
- Hook, Size - Bass Pro Shops Aberdeen Tournament Series, 6
- Thread - White 3/0 Danville
- Body - White/Brown calf's tail
- Eyes - Small dumbbell eyes, chain link eyes
- Flash - Orvis silver angel hair, 2x the length of the hook shaft

David, @phishtitz, of "Blurred Focus" produced a great three-fold brochure to deliver his flies. Definitely the most creative presentation thus far for the fly swap. No recipes were provided, but from his descriptions and pictures, one could possibly figure out the recipes.

@phishtitz Flies

For Bass, David tied theChartreuse Sand Eel (top) & the Red Sand Eel(center).

For trout, the Black Flash Jig (left) & the Green John(right).

@phishtitz Black Flash Jig & Green John 

Mario, @mgoblue_mg, emailed pictures of his ties with recipes which are shown below. The trout flies are the Foxee Clouser and Bunny Leech.

 The bass flies from @mgoblue_mg are the Triple Double and the Single Fly Cray.

Mike, @mike_phazeone, of the blog "Dub the Thorax" tied the Flashabou Midge for his trout flies and two original streamer patters for the bass flies. I'll included Mike's descriptions in quotes with the recipes.

@mike_phazeone Flies

Trout - Flashabou Midge
"I tie these in sizes 18-24. I kept this one at an 18 since I'm not sure where you guys can fish. It can also pass as an attractor nymph pattern in faster water in this size. It does very well for me on the limestone strams here in PA, especially in the winter. I also tie them in red."

@mike_phazeone Flashabou Midge

- Orvis emerger hook size 18
- Michaels Craft Store glass bead
- Black UNI-Thread 8/0
- Pearl Flashabou (ribbing)
- Jan Siman Synthetic Peacock Dubbing - Black

Bass 

Mike writes, "I fish a lot for bass in farm ponds, and the Perkiomen Creek which is right near my house in PA. Purple has always been a killer largemouth color for me, and Chartreuse always works the best on smallies in the streams. I combined the two colors late last year with great results for both species. Slap these down next to some structure, or fish them fast and deep with a sink tip line. Try Streamer #1 (top) early in the morning."

@mike_phazeone Streamers

Streamer #1 (left)

- Orvis size 6 3XL streamer hook
- Purple Marabou (tail)
- Purple Schlappen (collar 1)
- Chartreuse Schlappen (collar 2)
- Sili-Legs - Chartreuse
- Lead Cone - Chartreuse

Streamer #2 (right)

A similar pattern, but a better choice for a more natural presentation. Works well mid-afternoon in clear water.

- Orvis size 8 2XL streamer hook
- Light olive marabou (tail/body)
- Mallard died wook duck feather (collar #1)
- Harelin craft fur - Olive (collar #2)
- Sili-legs - white
- Cone head

@ginclear Flies

Finally, @ginclear (yours truly), of the Gin Clear blog tied some tried and true patterns. The Klinkhammer emerger has been one of my more productive trout flies. I've even caught bass and pan fish with this pattern. For bass, I tied Skip Morris's Skip's Dad pattern. Skip has a bunch of great bass and pan fish flies on his DVD titled "The Art of Tying the Bass Fly".

Trout- Klinkhammer - Hans van Klinken (Italics are modifications)

@ginclear Klinkhammer 

- Hook Partridge 15BN size 16 & 18 (green post)
- Thread 6/0 Brown
- Body Light Brown (16) & Golden Olive (18) Dubbing 

- Body wrapped with red (16) & gold (18) brassie wire
- Abdomen Peacock Hearl
- Post Orange (16) and green (18) Antron
- Hackle Brown 

Bass - Skips Dad - Skip Morris (Italics are modifications)

@ginclear Skip's Dad

- Hook 2xl to 3xl regular or heavy wire. Mustad CS53 size 8 (Mustad 3906 size 8)
- Thread Brown 6/0, 140 denier (70 denier)
- Tail The butts of the pheasant tail fibers that form the shell back
- Body Thickly dubbed brown or brownish-olive rabbit, squirrel or blended dubbing (ice dub)
- Shellback Pheasant tail fibers
- Claws Pheasant tail fibers
- Weight Lead eyes, unpainted (lead wraps on hook and black bead-chain eyes)

That's a lot of flies. I wanted to get this post up with the pictures before fishing any of these beauties (knowing I would probably loose them).

Everyone did a fantastic job with their ties. This was a blast to be a part of and get all these great patterns. Thank you, Morgan for hosting, and David, Mario & Mike for putting out quality work.

Boom...Morgan

Sneak Peek of the Instagram Fly Swap Flies!

Via Dean of Gin Clear's entry for Owl Jones' Orvis Sling Pack Giveaway:

Pay attention close of you might miss them...pics coming soon.

Boom...Morgan

Blog of Note: Dub the Thorax

So Mike Volensky, the author of Dub the Thorax, has kind of become a friend of mine. He is involved in the Instagram Fly Swap I put together and the Owl Jones Fly Swap I recently signed up for. Mike has a great blog, Dub the Thorax. Its similar to TLTFF in that its full of trip reports, fly tying (except his flies are significantly better than mine), and some decent humor (again, better than mine).

Mike is from a similar but different region, Pennsylvania. My fly fishing roots are from PA when I was in college up there. Being surrounded by trout streams (good ones at that, compared to Maryland) and having a fly shop  10 minutes away, I was spoiled. I'm jealous of Mike because of the numerous trout streams he has available to him and because of his awesome tying skills. I only get in on these swaps for his flies...kidding, but seriously. Here's his brief "about me" section...

"I'm Mike. I'm located in southeast PA. I'm a husband and father of two who is addicted to fly fishing, tying, and beer. Sweet, sweet beer."


If you want to learn how to tie some gnarly-ass nymphs, check out Mikes page. Seriously, the man could go pro. A picture or two of his have shown up on our Facebook page as the Pic of the Day. Check out Dub the Thorax and let Mike know what you think. You can also check out DTT on Facebook and see Mikes awesome pictures on Instagram under the name @mike_phazeone.


Boom...Morgan

2012 "Mosters of Tying" Fly Swap

So I'm on this fly swap fix right now. The Instagram one should be wrapping up in the next week or so as I send the flies out soon. Owl Jones cued me in to another swap going on (via Twitter) on his site called the 2012 "Monsters of Tying" Fly Swap which originated from Mike over at Dub the Thorax and a guy named Grant from Outsmartingfish.com. Check it...

So, here’s how it all came about…

I ran across a Twitter tweet mentioning me, Grant Bench from Outsmartingfish.com and Mike from Dub the Thorax. (who also suggested the name for the swap!)  Basically, someone said “jump” and I said ” how high?” ( You had me at “fly swap”)

Tonight then, thorax-breath said we should do a terrestrial swap with foam flies. At least some part of the fly must be foam. Three seconds later, here I am writing up this invitation to all you fly tiers out there to get in on this swap. 

Yay, foam!

I’ve done several swaps in the past, here and in other places and I don’t mind hosting them on ONE CONDITION.

YOU MUST INCLUDE A RETURN BOX WITH A SASE (SELF ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE) IN ORDER TO GET FLIES BACK.

I long ago stopped trying to postage and Altoids tins for people who couldn’t remember this one little thing. No SASE – no flies…unless you want to pick them up at my house. 

So, here we go….

Fly Swap Open Enrollment Starts TODAY. Enrollment will close on March 1st or sooner if we get 25 participants. ( Trust me, unless you’re a die-hard, hard-core fly tier, tying 25 of anything is plenty. So we’ll limit this one to 25.) You will email me for the address to send the flies. Flies will be due NO LATER THAN APRIL 1st.

That’s one month to tie 25 flies or less. I’ve found that giving people longer ( say 2 or 3 months) doesn’t result in a higher completion process. It just delays everyone else getting back flies from the swap.

If we have people who sign up for this and don’t come through (surely not), any extra flies will be either sent back with their respective tiers or given away in a drawing among participants. Whatever you guys want me to do with ‘em.

Look at it this way, if nothing else it’ll get you a link to your blog on OJDC.   So,………… who’s in?

1. Owl Jones, (uh…I forget)

2. Mike, Dubthethorax.blogspot.com

3. Grant, Outsmartingfish.com

4. Garrett, Fumblingthefly.blogspot.com

5. George, wildfly365.blogspot.com

6. Eunan, Addictedtovise.blogspot.com

7. Marc, http://tontorambling.blogspot.com/

8. Mark, http://noclearline.blogspot.com/

9. Andrew, @Flyentologist 

10. Pierre, http://ifishnewyork.blogspot.com/

11. Rich, http://northeasternflyfishingperspective.blogspot.com/

12. Stew Allen, no blog listed (which is totally fine. You don’t have to be a blogger to enter. )

12.9 Jay Cummings, no blog listed

14. Morgan, http://www.tight-lined-tales-of-a-fly-fisherman.com

15. Mark, http://waterfloggin.blogspot.com/

16. “Milliam”, www.lovestyingwithfoam.com 

You can still enter the swap until it reaches 25 tiers. Check it out on the Owl Jones site.

Boom...Morgan

Instagram Fly Swap

Check out this post from @gin_clear on his blog Gin Clear. EXCELLENT POST, couldn't have said it better myself!

Fly Swap Part 1

It's been about two months since my last post for no other reason than not having much news or good fish porn that warrants blog space. It was unseasonably warm in New England in November and December, so we were able to get out to the local streams, but no fish were brought to hand. The temps have finally settled into the normal range for this time of year (5 degrees F this morning), so my attention has turned to fly tying and, with another good cold week, ice fishing. I'll save the ice fishing story for a future post.

The Christmas tree came down, decorations and lights packed away and "occupy dining room" is in full swing. What really got the tying cranked up was getting involved with the first ever Instagram Fly Swap. 

For those of you not familiar with Instagram, it's an app for the iPhone that allows very simple and fun picture sharing. You can take a picture, modify it with filters & effects, then publish it with a comment to the Instagram network and other social networks. Similar in many ways to Twitter, you can follow others, like & comment on their photos, and follow themes or topics with hash-tags.  Started by two guys in 2010, the network has over 15 million users sharing and interacting through their photos.

-- Start of 1st Instagram Fly Swap --

I started following fly fishers and tiers on Instagram about 3 months ago, many of which I interact with through their blogs and other social media channels. I use the Instragram handle @deanwo (same as my twitter handle) and recently started posting fly fishing and tying photos under the handle @ginclear.

A week ago, Instagramer @mkupfer32 of the blog "Tight Lined Tales of a Fly Fisherman", posted a photo of some nice looking streamers and asked his followers if anyone was up for a fly swap. Through comments on Instagram to that post and some follow-up emails, there are now 9 total participating in the swap. We are each tying our favorite trout and bass flies to swap with the group. The international group is made up of seasoned guides and professional tiers to total hacks novices, like me (hopefully, I won't embarrass myself and be banned by the group from future swaps).

First Instagram Fly Swap Participants (follow on Instragram under #flyswap)

• @mkupfer32 of the blog "Tight Lined Tales of a Fly Fisherman
• @phishtitz of the website "Blurred Focus"
• @mgoblue_mg 
• @dr_moreau
• @flyfishing84
• @mike_phazeone of the blog "Dub the Thorax"
• @ramcatt of the sites "KevinHoss.com" and Hatches Magazine
• @bored_in_montana
• @ginclear of the blog "Gin Clear"

To keep it interesting, all pictures of what we are tying are embargoed until we complete the swap and everyone has received flies from the swap -- hence Part 1 of this post. Everyone should have their flies in February, so I'll post pics of what everyone tied along with the recipes in Part 2.

If you are part of the swap and want me to add your blog, website or other info to the list above, let me know and I'll update the post.

Stay tuned....

Boom...Morgan

First Fly Swap Flies from LS

Sick...nuf said.

Fly Swaps

Mr. Murray really sparked my interest in "Fly Swaps" today with his most recent post about an Albie Fly swap he was about to send out. I have heard of these for years and totally understand how they work, but I've never done one. I know I don't have too many followers (and the ones I do have never make themselves known, you guys are so sneaky, like Honeybadgers). So for those of you who are too naive to know what a fly swap is and you ask, Morgan will you please enlighten me, here you go...when two anglers love each other...oh wait, weird. So here's how it really goes; two or more anglers get in touch via a forum, website, discussion board, email chain, whatever...and they all pick out a certain amount of flies (usually for a certain species of fish) and then tie away. Once the amount decided on and shit has been figured out and tied, they swap addresses and send that "order" to one another. Boom. Done. That was easy right? So the purpose of this swapping of flies is so that everyone gets a taste of what is working for other anglers and it also allows you to see something new. I love the idea, I think I'm in, who's with me? If your down and want to swap, comment below or send me an email at mkupfer32@gmail.com. Id be more than happy to set up an email chain and/or discussion board and/or setup something on the TLTFF Facebook page and get the gears a grinding.

Here's Mr. Murrays flies for-a-swapping he just sent out...

Tight Lines...Morgan