Gift that Keeps on Giving (hopefully)

i'm the richest man in the world!!!!  look what arrived today as a birthday gift from my in-laws.

i guess i know what i'll be doing this winter.  hopefully this gift will keep on giving (i.e. i'll catch some bonefish using flies i've tied from this book).  nice!

update:  i've been going through this book and it is definitely worth the price!

Feeling Crabby

everytime i get my copy of Fly Fishing in Saltwater in the mail, i savor it like it was my last meal alive.  i wait until the end of the day, then devour it cover to cover.  i've added to this bimonthly ritual by reading Eastern Fly Fishing.  so far, these two magazines are the only print magazines i read, not only because they address the exact type of fishing i'm interested in, but the quality of their content remains consistently awesome. in the November/December 2011 issue of EFF, they profiled Colby Hane's Corona Crab fly.

Corona Crab

here's my feeble attempt at tying it.  i substituted the grizzly hackle collar with one made out of mallard flank.  i thought it looked cooler and will perhaps have a bit more movement.  the eyes were made using Aleene's Fabric Fusion, a la Casey Smartt.






the weed guard was tied following EP's nifty technique below.



once i got into the groove of tying, i decided to tie a few more flies...

Fly of the Trip

This River is Wild's Fly of the Trip.  here i ended up using Lion Brand's Velvet Spun pink chenille for the legs.  i didn't have the same color or size chenille as the recipe called for, but i think this works well.  the fly is incredibly light, so i'll be using this for the shallower flats.



 

Avalon Crab Variant

lastly, i tied the famous Avalon Crab permit fly using instructions from the Caddis Fly Shop and Erik Moncada.  again, i made a couple of substitutions.  i thought the recipe's lead eyes were much too heavy, so i downsized a bit and went with brass eyes.  to reduce the weight further, i used plastic beads instead of metal beads for the rattle (two beige/one orange).  i used large, 7mm beads to ensure a louder sound, as well as help the fly settle in the sand with some stability. the orange bead is in front to help simulate the egg sack.  i tested this fly out in my bathtub and the sink rate is still pretty quick.  however, the lighter beads causes the fly stand up almost vertically like a plastic worm on a jig head.  there is tons of movement, and the crab settles in the defensive position.

Norman's Crab

awesomeness.  as his follow up to his description of Norman's Crab fly on his website, Fisherman's Coast, the Flats Doctor himself, Aaron Adams, has posted a video showing how to tie the fly! what better way to spend the holidays than to tie up some bonefish flies!  or maybe tie some up as a stocking stuffer!

Norman's Crab from Aaron Adams on Vimeo.

DIY Bonefishing

so, hands down, the guys at This River is Wild have it figured out.  holy moly, i want their lives.  their "A Taste of a Dream" trips make me drool like i just came back from the dentist.  this video is definitely in my top 5 best videos of 2011. no other video has made me want to quit my job and do what they do.


DIY Bonefish from Mr. Erdosy on Vimeo.

they also went through a lot of trouble not to reveal where they were at.  good idea, because every guy dreaming of catching bonefish without paying up the wazoo for a guide will want to go there next year.  well, i scoured the internet for some 'off the beaten path' destination where one could camp and DIY bonefish.  i quickly realized this was a futile attempt from the start.  if it is on the internet, it won't be 'off the beaten path'.  all the easy DIY bonefish spots are pretty well written about, and therefore already over fished.  particularly in the Bahamas or the Keys.  i went to Eleuthera a couple of years ago, and every flat i went, there were a few anglers already there.

so, my next logical thought was to research a bonefishing destination that wasn't on everyone's top 5 destinations list.  i came up with the British Virgin Islands.  Here are a couple of useful links.

BVI on the Fly

Top 10 Flats in the BVI

 

The Menu

so naturally, soon after i picked up this 'addiction', i saw how expensive saltwater fly fishing can get, especially since my knots were terrible, and the flies seemed to snag every rock in the LIS.  i convinced myself, and my wife (but not for long), that i would be saving money by tying my own flies.  my wife soon 'got smart' after seeing countless ziplock bags arrive in the mail.

other than fly tying patterns and videos online, my number one reference was Angelo Peluso's book, "Saltwater Flies of the Northeast".

this book has over 400 descriptions and patterns/recipes for flies that are widely used in targeting the four primary saltwater game fish in northeastern waters: striped bass, bluefish, false albacore, and bonito.  included are flies that imitate bunker, spearing, sand eels, glass minnows, bay anchovies, herring, crab, shrimp, cinderworm, squid, and more.  while there are a bunch of editorial mistakes found throughout, and this book should be used more for reference than for reading, it is a must have in any saltwater fly tier's library.

the next book that i want to get is Dick Brown's "Bonefish Fly Patterns".  the book has 197 patterns with photographs!  variety is the spice of life, right?

for those of you still awake after reading this post, and want to save money on tying flies...i suggest buying your hooks on amazon.  amazon sells Gamakatsu hooks (100 pack), and since amazon uses dynamic based pricing, if you wait for the right time, you can get a terrific deal.

I'd Rather Be...