I wish I could report back to you that I have been so busy traveling and fishing new waters that I have just not had time to post anything, but that's not the case. I have been busy, just not on the water. Once the warm weather showed up here in Colorado Springs, I needed to get some plants in the ground. I have done some garden work, but I still haven't finished that either. With summer just around the corner, I plan to get out more and actually have some stories and more photos for you guys out there. For now, I will leave you with some photos of some flies tied by Ben Furimisky and Shea Gunkel this past weekend at Ghillies Fly Shop's Anniversary party . I have 4 videos of Ben tying his flies, including the Extended Foam Drake. Yes, Elton, I was wanting to do tutorial for you as requested, and then realized that it would be even better if the creator of the fly showed us all how it's done. So be on the lookout for those soon.
Ben's High Viz BDE
Ben's Extended Body Foam Green Drake
Ben's Fluttering Foam Caddis-Black
Back side view.
From the front.
Side
Shea's version of CC's Poison Tung.
Shea's PMD Splatte. You will be hearing more about this series of flies soon.
Shea's Splatte in gray.
Hey, look I am famous I got mentioned on Juan's blog. Thanks for doing all the tutorials man, I really appreciate them. By the way if you are ever in Utah and want to do some fishing let me know(not sure why you would ever leave Colorado to fish in Utah). But you must promise not to poke fun of my fly fishing skillz(or lack there of).
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Elton
I've been working on the videos. I will have a couple up soon so keep your eyes open.
ReplyDeleteLooks strangely like my Jujubaetis..like sort of exactly like it. Come on guys...give me a break.
ReplyDeleteCC
CC,
ReplyDeleteIt’s a fact that in the fly tying world there are way too many overlapping patterns. Look at the Sofa Pillow and the Stimulator, the Yong Special and the UFO, the Pheasant Tail and the Mercury Pheasant Tail. Slap a bead on it and name it something different or change the hook style on it and call it something different. Yes, these patterns are very similar and many a joke has been made about this fly looking like the Jujubaetis. I think this was a pattern that Shea tied for himself and shared it with a few folks and it took off. Shea’s tying style is heavily influenced by you as are a lot of people who purchased your book and took your classes.
I know that Royal Gorge Anglers really likes this pattern for the Ark. That’s where I first heard of it. Bill mentioned it to me. Shea did a tying demo for me and tied this fly in a ton of different colors and they all looked really nice. I personally like the PMD color, especially with the red tungsten bead. I have not fished these yet nor have I ever fished the Juju series, but I know that both patterns would produce. I usually like to use a pattern of mine, the Glossy Back Baetis, which shares a common likeness to the Splatte, Jujubaetis, Mercer’s Micro May and the Pheasant Tail Nymph to just name a few. It’s not much different than what is already out there, but I call it mine and I have confidence in it and I am happy with it. My favorite flies are the RS2, the Pheasant Tail, the Hares Ear and the Prince Nymph. These were the originals. Basically every nymph pattern tied after those flies are variations, combinations or spinoffs of these flies. Not that that’s a bad thing, it just the evolution of fly tying. When flies evolve, they often overlap other patterns already out there. Every once in a while a fly like the Copper John comes out and the cycle begins again. What can we wrap around a hook that hasn’t been tried yet? Instead of wrapping superhair around the hook what about using thread…..or wire? Is that enough to make it a different fly and call it my own? I don’t know but I do know that tiers will continue to change patterns to suite their own needs and may name them something different. It’s the evolution of tying.
Weak, Juan...very weak. Go back, read through that and try again.
ReplyDeleteGo tie some flies Charlie!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSomeone call the waaa-ambulance for Charlie, oh sorry (CC)......It gets fairly ridiculous when you get so high on your horse that you have the courage to down someone elses designs......
ReplyDeleteTE
Juan, you took the earlier post down before everyone got to see the true definition of a Hypocrite, thanks for that one Anonymous! Not wanting to add fuel to the fire, (ok maybe I am) I’m having a hard time finding too many similarities between the SPlatte and the Juju series. I pulled them both up on my computer to compare the differences and, no offense Charlie, but they are not the same fly by any stretch my friend. Similarities are not striking enough to be bagging on the SPlatte, seriously, have you ever looked around at what’s going on outside of the Flybox? Not only are the bodies different but the fact that the SPlatte has a tungsten bead, separates these two flies into distinctly different categories. Juan, you make an excellent point about the mercury series, just slap a bead on something and call it new, at least it seems to be defendable? Correct me if I’m wrong Charlie, but I don’t remember ever seeing your Juju’s with a tungsten bead, especially a red one? I for one have never fished the SPlatte series, but because of the design, I’m intrigued to not only fish them, but to buy ten dozen of each color in each size. Shea, keep doing your thing man, I’ll send you an email. Thanks for the entertainment Charlie, that’s awesome!
ReplyDeleteMSG, New Mexico
"A fish catching combination of the H&L Variant, Royal Wulff and a few accessories lifted from other patterns, the Go To Hell Variant is super floaty with lots of hackle, big white hair wings and tail and a tiny bit of sparkle."
ReplyDeleteLifted......realy?
Weak Charlie...very weak. Go back, read through that and try again.
If anything, the splatte looks more like the Glossy Back more than it does the JuJu? Juan, you should be the on the high horse in this situation, or is Charlie taking up all the available seating?
Craven is just one of those guys, apparently, trolling the with the rest of the tools on the internet the fly fishing world is filled with hypocrites. follow your own line of reasoning charlie boy and your deep deep blue poison tung is a rip off of a zebra midge. you can do the same thing with several of your patterns, full stop. you are the only one bringing weak sauce to the discussion here and making yourself look like a d- bag in the process.
ReplyDeleteGR
Juan,
ReplyDeleteThis has been very interesting to follow. Don't know what to say yet, I will think of something. Juan by the way could you get me Shea's email address, I would like to invite him to do a demo at AA this winter
carlp
So Carl, have you had a chance to think about what you add to this drama? I find it interesting Shea hasn't had anything to offer, he must be taking the high road! I for one hope it gets picked up by one of the big fly producers, only having it available in a couple shops doesn't do it justice. Be sure to update your tyers list on your blog Carl, a couple of us want to be there when Shea ties. Oh, and if anyone runs into Charlie, tell him he's a tool.
ReplyDelete