Bench Time

I’ve been busy the last few weeks tying a bunch of bass, pike, and muskie flies. It works out pretty good since it’s been cold as heck around here lately. Temps 20 below with wind? No problem, hit the vise and start tying!
Tying warmwater flies are a lot different than tying trout flies. For one, the size of these warmwater flies are gargantuan. Hooks range from size 4 to size 3/0. Due to these larger patterns, there is a lot more material used when tying these flies. As a result, tying times are greatly increased. I’m good if I can pump out a half dozen of these flies in a couple hours.
Trout flies, on the other hand, range in size from size 6 down to size 32. Those size 32s are pretty microscopic. It’s a wonder that a huge lunker trout can feast on insects that small. But they do, so an apt tyer must tie up a bunch of those small midge patterns. The plus side to that, is that a proficient tyer can pump out at least a dozen or so of those flies an hour.
With the forecast for this weekend predicting lows in the -20s and highs in the teens and single digits below zero, plus wind, you can rest assured that I’ll be staying in and tying this weekend. Stay warm!