Don Moroz has the right idea, why not make money doing what you love to do.
Don has taken one of his hobbies, fly tying and turned it into a work from home idea for making money.
Great job Don.
I am a bit of a fly fishing nut and usually tie my own flies. I have never had any desire to make my living tying flies. I much prefer to tie them and then use them myself, although they do make great gifts.
I went to the Moncton Market to see if I could find a couple of friends that usually have a booth there. My friends weren’t setup that day but I was happy to turn around a corner and see Don’s booth setup.
Don Moroz, owner of Don’s Fly Box
I talked with Don for a few minutes before being dragged off by my wife to look at some things I had absolutely no interest in but it was great talking to Don.
Next time you drop into the Moncton Market check out Don’s Fly Box booth.
Maybe you can even buy your wife a set of new earrings.
If you’re looking to maybe start tying your very own flies be sure to checkout Amazon for a few great books on Fly Tying Basics.
I love fly fishing for just about any species of fish but smallmouth bass hold a special place in my heart because they are real fighters. I also fly fish for a Atlantic salmon which put up an awesome fight as well but they are few and far between unlike the smallmouth bass here in New Brunswick, Canada.
The fly I would like to look at today is called the Clouser Minnow and works great for pretty much any species of fish, fresh or saltwater.
Ass you can see by the picture, top left, you can tie the Clouser minnow in just about any colour.
Here is a video I found that will show you how to tie one up.
I hope you learned how to type a Clouser minnow for smallmouth bass and get out and use it. Happy fishing, friend.
I like to vary the size of the eyes depending on the size of the hook I am using. I also use a figure eight pattern to secure them in place. Also depending on the fish I am going after I will vary the hook size. However when I am fly fishing for smallmouth bass I don’t have to worry much about the size as they will smack em good whatever size you use.
When it comes to teaching others how to tie artificial fishing flies David Cammiss of Learn Fly Tying does an excellent job at the hands on teaching. The fact they are videos makes it easy to just rewind and watch it again and again until you have your fly tied just like Dave so that it will be able to stand up to the torture a fighting fish can give it.
One thing that Dave does that I have never done, but will give it a try, is to hide the hook in the mouth of the vice so you don’t nick your thread and weaken the fly as you’re tying it. I have to admit I have but my thread more than once in the 30 years I have been tying flies.
From knot tying to nymphs tying, this instructional DVD is packed full of intricate and delicate techniques for tying the most effective fly patterns. Dick Talleur demonstrates a hands-on approach to teaching as he guides the viewers through the basics of tying a wide variety of flies. Viewers will learn to tie Gray-Hackle Peacock (Wet Fly), Pale Morning Dun (Dry Fly), Adams Parachute (Dry Fly), Muddler Minnow (Streamer) and many more. From knot tying to nymphs tying, this instructional DVD is packed full of intricate and delicate techniques for tying the most effective fly patterns. Dick Talleur demonstrates a hands-on approach to teaching as he guides the viewers through the basi
Catching smallmouth bass on the fly rod is a blast, especially when I’m using some of my bass popper flies.
Bass popper flies are easy to fish, they’re fun and the strikes are quite often very explosive and that’s why I like using poppers.
Here is a video I found on Youtube that shows how to tie a popper.
Crease Fly Bass Popper – PA Fly Tying Lessons
Crease flies were originated by Capt Joe Blados for stripers and blues.
Scaled down, these flies are an effective alternative to loud poppers when largemouth and smallmouth are skittish but still taking surface patterns. Crease flies wiggle and swirl when stripped and this action often drives bass crazy.
Watch this video to see how to tie a very simple, effective, and durable surface pattern for smallmouth and largemouth bass fishing.
The Adams dry fly is meant to sit on the water’s surface so it’s important to get the wing, hackle and tail proportions just right.
The tail should be the length of the hook shank and the hackle should be one and half times the gap of the hook. Also the wing should be about 20% longer than the hackle. Get this right and it should sit pretty for the fish.
It’s always advisable to use stiff hackle when making a dry fly like the Adams as it will help to keep it floating higher on the water’s surface.
?I enjoy using the Adams on most of the trout streams and brooks here in New Brunswick. I find that I have great luck with dry flies that are made using brown hackles like the colour in this fly.
Note: To tie in the bead to start this fly you can slide the bead over the hook barb and up the shank of the hook. At that point you can use your thread to place the bead exactly where you want it. Use wraps of thread on the front to secure it’s location and then put thread at that back to keep it from sliding around while you tie your fly.
A Simple Leech Pattern
This pattern is quick and easy and really tricks the trout into striking. In a larger pattern it’s great for bass and pike as well. I have always preferred the black leech but we also see leeches that are brown so those patterns work as well.
Ever have trouble getting the head of your fly tied just perfect? Well I have. I used my fingers as part of my fly tying equipment but eventually I started to use the whip finisher I’ve had for 20 years or more. How about you, are you still using your fingers to finish off your fly head?
For me personally it seemed to take longer to finish off the head of my fly than it took to tie the thing, so now my speed has picked up considerable and I have more time on the water than on the fly tying bench.
It took me a few tries to get the whip finisher to do what it’s meant to do but with a little practice it works fine and much faster than just using my fingers.
Here’s a short fly tying equipment, the whip finisher, video that will help you master it in a few minutes. I took extra time because all I had was a few drawings showing me how. I learn much faster by example.
I hope this helps you tie flies in record time now. Maybe you can even start making some money selling your flies on places like eBay.ca and Kijji.ca or directly from your web site.
Don Moroz has the right idea, why not make money doing what you love to do.
