April Fly Swap - Question

[David Lee]

Guys (Er , umm ...savages ) , I like the "fly-of-the-month" idea .... as long as we keep it separate from the monthly fly swap (who's hosting May ????) , it's a good idea . We have the "poll" option on this board .... so all we need is a F.O.T.M. master to gather the flies sent in , shoot photos , and maybe have everybody vote on a specific fly ....

This will involve , of course , more time from people BUT - in the long run , it will be VERY cool and something other boards will envy , not that that is the result we are looking for . Even if a flyswap turnout for any given month is low , we still have a good thing going , ya know ?

The feeling of family on this board is growing .... I think it's a good thing . David

[Darian]

OK,.... Sounds like there's interest in a "fly of the month" to be set up in addition to the monthly fly swap. We can proceed as we have with the swap and organize "fly of the month" activities, separately.

Just thinking out loud here, but, if we're going to have a F.O.T.M. we probably need to explore how to choose our moderator for the F.O.T.M. and how long will that person serve What else might be needed

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I can tell you from experience that as soon as the fishing gets going in the spring and daylight savings rolls around our fly tying classes are hard to fill.

There is still a ton of fly tying going on though, all year.

[Jgoding]

Hi guys,

So many questions...

Gregg has a good point with including some info. with each fly. The guys at Flytyingforum do the same and call it a "toe tag". Basically a small piece of paper with tier and fly name is attached to each fly (usually by sticking the hook through it). We should try to do this I think or we can leave it up to the swapmeister to do this... Or I would even be willing to provide the labels myself once we gather all the information and send them to everyone or the swapmeister.

The fly of the month was also an idea that I got from the flytyingforum. It is very general but each month a fly is picked and you tie your version of it. It is very open ended.... say the fly is a pheasant tail nymph, you could basically tie any style of mayfly nymph you want as this is what the fly generally immitates. Or we could narrow it down and tie only versions of pheasant tail nymphs..... It is just a way to get people to try new flies etc... that they may not generally tie.

MSP also had a good point about tying flies that we would use for that particular time of the year and I would have to say that's a good idea as well.

I think the point also came up of possible patterns for each swap. I guess we should leave it up to the swapmeister to provide this information as needed.

Jeff

[Darian]

Jeff,..... Like the idea about "toe tags". Labels still might be an inconvenience, tho. How about posting the name/recipe or a reference to same under the post for the monthly swap No need for handling of labels but the name/recipe could be printed if wanted. (....you can tell that I'm not big on paper mgmt ) If the pattern being tied was originated by a professional, the recipe may be a reference to the source with credit to the originator What do you think

I'm a big believer in letting the "swapmeister" make the choice of pattern and whether it is usable locally for a particular swap. Participants can choose whether they want to partcipate or not. It seems to me that choice should be open to patterns for all types of fly fishing. If there's no interest in a particular swap, there doesn't have to be one for that month.... (our choice)

No thoughts on the FOTM right now.....

[Gregg Machel]

Any ideas for the April swap yet? I'm getting anxious to get started on a new fly already! How about traditional dry flies? This could be elk hair caddis, parachute adams, royal wullf, blue wing olive etc.

[Darian]

Gregg,.... I was thinking we might give everyone a chance to complete their flies for the March Swap before beginning.... I plan to make a post during the weekend of the 26th and close participation for the April Swap around the 5th. That should give everyone enough time.

I think I mentioned, previously, that I was leaning towards Steelhead flies for April and I would exclude glo bugs or epoxy egg patterns from that swap. That would leave a lot of room for tying dries, nymphs, bucktails, etc. (even Olive Beadhead Wooly Buggers :P :P ) That way we can have a variety of sizes and types to choose from. Depending on your choice of patterns, they would be usable in local waters.

[David Lee]

Darian - please put me down for the MOSSBACK , #8 . That isn't too much like a bugger

See ya !! David

[Darian]

Hey , there aren't any beads involved, are there :P

You're in for the Beadhead Olive ...... Oh,..... Mossback

[Hairstacker]

Hey, after biot-infested stoneflies and deer hair spun-out-of-control sculpins, I'll be ready, if not committed (as in insane) to do some woolly buggers.

Actually, I was thinking of doing something different (for me) for the steelhead swap but am now intrigued by your comment, "Depending on your choice of patterns, they would be usable in local waters." Are certain types of steelhead flies fairly useless locally? As in, don't measure up to the now-fabled olive beadhead woolly bugger? How about a black leech pattern, maybe an egg sucking one?