Rock Cod Flies

Maybe you can help me on my technique and I will show you some holes. 

That's a deal, I have 540 Airflo compact skagit I'd send you to try on your rod. Finding the right line is critical and makes a huge difference. Kiene's will probably let you try out some different lines. What rod is it?

For tips just cut up T-14,T-10, T-8 or whatever shooting heads and put braided loops on the ends. The Rio MOW tips are nice but not really necessary except maybe a floater for summer run stuff. Winter I've probably got 10' T14 on 50% of the time, turns over the bigger stuff no problem.

You're lucky you live close to a river, so much easier to learn. I learned on stillwater casting in a lagoon, it's harder since you can't get the downstream load. When I did go to a river it seemed a lot easier though.

One tip is don't push or power with the top hand, power mostly comes from the bottom hand. This is easier said than done. Learn snap T and double spey and you can fish both sides of the river off your strong side if little wind. I'm still trying to improve myself, especially my cackhanded casts. For me spey casting is very Zen, I often lose track of everything, even while practicing. Enjoy the journey!

Looking good Ryan a bit better than the ones i do lol

There are thousands of fly tutorials on youtube.  Pick a fly and you will probably find someone who has done one on that fly... whether you tie a rf fly or a bass fly.. its always fun to catch one on a home tie.. try the craft store for lots of synthetic materials... Get dumbell eyes and tungston for weight at a fly shop...

"its just fishin"

Shoot dude! Those look good! If I had known, I woulda spent more time at the vise with you instead of all our time at the vice!

I use 3/0 or 5/0 for my shrimp flies. But, but smaller hooks work well too.

I use 3/0 or 5/0 for my shrimp flies. But, but smaller hooks work well too.

I think those hooks were  2/0 I don't remember. But they were actual fly hooks and their equivalent was between a 3/0 and a 4/0 in other styles. I don't know how they measure hook sizes but across brands and types there are discrepancies.

Those hooks had a small eye as well. So I used them and found some with a bigger eye.

Nice work get some pics of fish on them and post them.

I don't have any with the fly in a RF's mouth as we don't own a waterproof camera. We try and borrow my brothers which does not always happen. The single fish was caught on one at RBC2 and most of the fish on my Albion stringer were caught with them.

Sweet, nice pics! My favorite is rootbeer yak hair, copper flashabou and/or krystal flash over some kind of yellow or white synthetic...  Saddle hackle is crazy expensive now because of the whole beauty thing, I save mine for freshwater fish.

I tied some up on short tubes to add above any hook like a skirt to add more movement, works pretty well. Can go modular with multiple tubes and mix and match colors, possibilities are endless.

There are tons of tutortials on utube.. every fly out there has some sort of trick that you will pick up watching.  .. you should weight your flies in any case with lead wire or dumb bell eyes.. Tye the eyes on top of the fly and the hook will naturally ride up making for less snags. wind the lead wire up the shank from the bend to 1/4 inch from the eye.  There are lots of cone heads in large sizes that would do the trick also..  nice stuff for your first try at this!  Use lots of glue or "hard as nails" as it will help keep your flies together and last longer. 

craig

Hella Fishy Ryan

This will be a great winter hobby to play with. Thanks

Nice work.  I have tied some flies myself.  Some really cheap material are kanekalon synthetic hair.

Nice work

Definitely a thread worth reviving...