The Sketch. Sitting at the desk and drew out a few flies, this being one of them. Shortly thereafter I got a picture from my buddy Rich Strolis, of Catching Shadows, and proceeded to text back and forth for the next hour about fly design.
The Draft. That night I tied an order all evening and then made an unsuccesssful attempt to go to bed. After laying there awake for a half hour I got up and tied up the first draft. It utilizes a Gama B10S hook in front and back separated by two small Articulated Shanks from Flymen Fishing Company.
The Refinement. The following day a few extra rubber legs were added along with some manual striping on the head, and it was ready to hit the water.
The Proving Grounds. Headed out to the home river on Saturday morning with a buddy. We knew the water would be very low and clear, but figured it was a good chance to scout a few stretches and get some flies wet. It goes without saying that a few fine cigars were finished off as well.The Swim Test. The fly is light for it's size so it casts pretty easy. The configuration used with the Shanks made the fly stable in the air and very hard to foul, and once in the water it was a sweet sight.
The Feesh.
-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com
That's cool to see the process from start to fish...I mean start to finish!
ReplyDeleteIt was fun busting ideas back and forth with Rich and daydreaming about how these would work out; he has it as bad at the vise as I do!
ReplyDeleteI should have added that at the refinement stage the rubber legs were tied in on either side of the articulation points to help keep them from rotating around to the point of fouling, and the striping was added to break up the solid coloration of the head.
It is pretty safe to say we have issues, good ones that is. Combining ideas produces great concoctions... Good Stuff, I'm sure we will be doing more of this....
ReplyDeleteVery cool to see the behind the scenes creative workings...great post! And great looking fly...I love the colors.
ReplyDeleteThose shanks sure are great. I tied some Red Rockets on them with the gammy at the back...They work a treat. Just have to get them wet this weekend at SRNY...lets see how it goes.
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