Spey flies and Speyside...

[ribwart]

Well, going to sit down here and try a few new things...

One, tying steelhead flies, I've barely tied 2-3 of them and they were all terrible looking things that looked more like someones decent looking flies after my cat had chewed them up and then coughed them up in a hairball looking thing on the floor... But I recently recieved some tips from the boys over at Pac Ang, and will try learning just one pattern at a time for now until my skills improve...

I did tie flies in my early twenties, but they were trout flies, mainly chronies and spratley's and always under the close supervision of my buddy Lar, so needless to say the latest learning curve seems much steeper...

The second item I am going to try is a little "Speyside" Single malt I picked up, LoL...might make things tougher and easier to bear all at the same time... It's a little cheaper than I normally buy, but it smells pretty good...

A couple questions for you guys...When you are tying your intruder patterns with the hook that hangs down on the dropper line, what hooks do you use that are long enough but yet thin enough that they are relatively easy to cut...? My hands get arthritic so it's hard to cut the hook after I've tied it...

First fly to tie will be variations of the pattern that got me my first on the spey, then perhaps the "Tequila sunrise" that Fish Finder ties, if he'll finally show me...

If I'm not to embarrassed of my creations, maybe I'll post a couple pics once I'm done...

rib

[professori]

Rib - I picked up some 25mm partridge hook shanks. You can get single eyes or double (an eye at each end). No hook to cut off as the whole thing is just a shank. PA will carry them.