What have you tied today?

[Wildfisher]

The sight post is essential I find Fred as they sit low in the water, especially in broken water

That's what I find and not just in broken water!   :lol: 

[Lochan_load]

Every fly box should have one!
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[Wildfisher]

A lovely  tying Andy.  :

One tip I would offer with nymphs is that by vastly reducing that beard hackle to just 1/2 dozen fibers  if not removing it completely the nymph  will move down through the water faster and catch more fish. These days I usually only have 3 or 4 fibers if any and add a turn of CDC to give  it a bit more "life".

[Lochan_load]

Cheers Fred, aye it's a bit beardy! I usually tie in the hackle last but did it before I pulled over the thorax cover this time and used it to pull the hackle down, made it a bit harder to judge the amount of hackle but  tidier, I'm going to do a few so I'll try keep it a bit sparser ( something I have a problem with!)

[Wildfisher]

I did  a lot of experimenting with nymphs this year and caught a hell of a lot of fish. I no longer bother with wing cases and other such detail as they are fiddly to tie and I am certain they make no difference at all.. As long as the nymph is slim, is roughly the right shape, looks like it has life and  gets down fast to the correct depth I'm sure that's all that matters. If you are not picking up weed and snagging now and then you are not fishing heavy enough. If the fish are obviously high in the water unweighted nymphs or soft hackle spiders are probably better.

[Rabmax]

I still use wing cases often with Olive Nymphs & PTN,s.It's usually something durable & dark plus adds a bit of flash.Usually a material called Black Flat Diamond Braid pulled over.In heavy flows my PTN will often have a mylar flash-back & a pink hot-spot.Even in those very low river conditions last summer they still favoured a PTN with pink hot-spot.The PTN is still one of the best.Cheers All

[Lochan_load]

Same tying again, size 14 this time and just one turn of hackle. Where you putting your hotspot?[attachimg=1]

[Wildfisher]

That is perfection and will catch loads of fish. I create hotspots by finishing the head with globrite floss - (pink and orange work well). If I am using a bead (I do almost all the time) I add the hotspot behind the bead. In both cases I seal it with UV resin.

Like this. This one uses CDC which moves more freely than a hackle. I'll probably tear some of it off when I tie it on to fish.

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[Lochan_load]

Cheers Fred your input (and everyone else's) is much appreciated.
This is how I've been adding a bit of weight, bringing the rib up, tying it off and then building up a thorax with the copper and tying off again. This was on a wee black one I've just done. I've got fire orange thread so I'll use that to make the hot spots, cheers

[attachimg=1]

[Lochan_load]

Here it is finished, the weights invisible but not sure if the copper is dense enough to make a difference

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