Yeah, thanks Colin! I found several other fur dealers with good deals too. Check out Sunrise Trading Post and PCS Outdoors. Both have a pretty good selection at decent prices.
Thanks J! You're going to love this new series from Lyle's book. Lots of flies with minimal materials. He even takes some of our standard flies like the Gold-ribbed Hare's Ear and strips it down to the basics and ties it with, pretty much just hare's ear. Cheers. -Matt
I love fishing PTN and Sawyer's is no exception. This or a beadhead are good confidence flies. I tie them in natural, olives and black. Great fly! Cheers
Thanks Darren! Appreciate it my friend. My confidence nymphs are the Prince and one silly little purple opossum/squirrel thing I made up a few years ago. :-)
Thanks, Matt, this is a fish catcher. The technique is for sure a winner, when I began to use weighted nymphs and this pull or slight tugging on the fly line it would induce takes that otherwise would not happen.
Yes Jim, you're absolutely right! It's tricky to get that "lift" in just the right place but when you do and feel the take it can be awesome. It's like getting that perfect drift with the right dry fly under an overhanging branch and you fool the fish. It's that moment when it's just you vs. the fish and you win. (Usually the fish wins and ignores my fly, but when it works... it's a great feeling!)
Sawyer twisted the wire around the pheasant tail before winding them to protect the body. It's also perfectly possible to whip finish wire, but it does work better with a than with fingers
Sir Matt, 😃 i forgot to mention it won't be long before you hit 2K subscribers... That is so awesome I'm Happy for You and Savage Flies Channel Congratulations
Oh, thanks Edward! Did you notice your name on the sign in the background? I'm going to start calling out some of my favorite subscribers there. You were first. :-)
Most Excellent. I watch another video on the Sawyer and found yours to be the best. The other video did the wingcase differently😁 and I kept running out of pheasant tail. Please keep up the great work.
very interesting hide....i remember you saying in texting that you had some cool ones coming.....nice very cool thanks for sharing matt...and as always i will be watching...see ya joe
You got that right Hugh! PS: you are killing it with the old school wet flies. I'm two behind now... still have to watch your Scarlet Ibis and now the Dark Angel. That's a good looking streamer!
Thanks Jim! And yeah, these really are quite easy. I did the first four nymphs last night. One was so easy, I'm almost embarrassed to do a video on it... ever tied a Walt's Worm?
Nice job, I think sawyer wrapped the PT around the wire before wrapping around the body to protect it, yours is fine but the pheasant tail will break and unravel eventually.
Frank Sewer is one of my heroes.The killer bug is a great one too.Nice pelt you have there Matt.I knew what is was from the trapping world.Never tied with one.Hey would like a couple of traps.I will send you some.
Thanks Kenneth! I appreciate the offer but I don't need any traps right now. The only thing I have time for trapping is squirrel (and I've got plenty of the conibear 110s for that). Maybe someday when I retire out to the farm I'll go for the bigger animals but not just yet. Thanks again!
@@SavageFlies beavers ,rats ,mink ,otters fox,bobcat.your plet looked cool , leave it natural,then dye it looks good nstural.Enjoy Matt show it in future videos.CHEERS Matt ,great channel.
Interesting fly I understood this abdomen to bee copper, with a copper built up thorax, with peacock wing case? That's how I have tied them dont know where I got it either way a very deadly fly thanks for info
My best guess on that gorgeous pelt is that it’s the same as what’s being sold in large US fly shops as Finn Coon from northern Finland. At least it looks the same. If true, it’s useable for body dubbing (in loops or as zonker strips), tails & wings or any other soft fur use. Finn Coon is sold in a wide range of colors, so this should take dyes really well. Did you buy it or did you get it as a gift? Polar Raccoon is also sold as the main fur in very expensive hats, jackets, vests & mitts for cold weather. You could play polar Davy Crockett with a maximum image Polar Coonskin hat. ;-)
Polar Davy Crockett sounds like the right move for me. I just might have to look up some instructions for a DIY fur hat. :-) I bought these furs from a supplier-- oddly enough there are several out there who sell online. High quality pelts like bobcat, lynx or silver fox can be a bit expensive, but the people who buy those are buying them for coats or hats, gloves, etc. And some suppliers sell grade 3 pelts, or bags of scraps which aren't good enough for the garment industry, but are plenty good enough for me. And these are pretty cheap. In this last order I think I got the raccoon, a beaver, two opossums, several rabbits, several muskrats and one skunk. I'm going to have to research the Finn Coon, but my next project is to dye several colors of the opossum. I made a Purple Opossum nymph a couple years ago that has done well for me and I want to experiment with a better blend, maybe a few other colors and maybe add some sparkle to it. Fun stuff. :-)
Polar Raccoon?! Never heard of it, but you're right, it looks beautiful. Looks like it could be good for tying Foxee Red Clouser Minnows and other small streamers. Alaska Mary Ann too maybe. Also looks like it might have some good coarse dubbing for larger nymphs and crayfish? Hats off to you for an A-One job on an original Sawyer PT. The "American" PT has gotten so common that the original can get lost. The Sawyer PT has been one of my best small flies for skinny water for a long time. My only change to the original is that I take a few wraps of tobacco-colored Danville 6/0 over the head and a tiny bit of cement when I am done. I started doing that before Super Glue, which maybe I'll start doing now! Thanks Matt!
Hey Pete, thank for the nice comments my friend! I'll have to research the Foxee Red and Alaska Mary Ann. The dubbing on this pelt isn't as course as you might think and it actually feels softer than regular raccoon. Almost more akin to a rabbit or fox underfur. Someone else mentioned cutting zonker strips out of it. I might give that a shot. One other note... Jay, Motti and I are working on a virtual TU meeting for March. I've got it set up where I can do a live tie from my bench and we'll be doing Jay's cicada. Of course, I've never tied one but have all the materials on order and plenty of time to practice! Cheers. -Matt
@@SavageFlies If its soft like raccoon or even softer, one good use would be in spinning loops. At one time I did a lot of Shenk's Sculpins for Yellow Breeches Fly Shop (has since changed its name) and I did the bodies from brown raccoon flank in a spinning loop. It worked great for those #4-6 flies because the fibers have enough body to not get as tangled as rabbit when its spun, but its also thick enough that it will fill several inches of loop. On the cicada: sounds interesting, I look forward to seeing it! I have been doing some cicadas per Jay's instructions in the PPTU Conservationist newsletter, and they look great. The pattern was not difficult after I got the first couple done. The most important thing, in my case, was using the right glue for the foam rubber. NOTHING I had already worked... I had to get the stuff Jay recommended, the Loctite black contact cement. Fortunately/unfortunately, I got a big enough tube that I have now used it for shoe repairs, carpet, etc etc... Stuff is amazing
@@peteyarrington582 Good advice on the glue. I've got regular Loctite but I'll have to look for the black version. To me it just looks like regular Super Glue.
@@SavageFlies It definitely has to be the right stuff, from my recent experience. Looking again at my tube just to be sure, it says LOCTITE Black Contact Adhesive. Then below that it says MR 5414. Its one of those adhesives where you put it on both surfaces, let dry a while, then press them together and thats it.
I did not try to whip finish with the wire, it just felt like it wouldn't work. What did happen (and I didn't show in the video) is that the wire broke a couple of times in the previous flies I tied. Since the wire has no give, if you put half the amount of pressure as you might with a 70d thread, the wire would just snap. It wasn't too hard to work with, I just had to be careful!
I've used this brilliant dressing for decades, and it is my favourite nymph, and I've used it for decades. It's slender yet heavy. I believe it is far superior to the "American" version.
@@SavageFlies I fish this fly every spread my when the mayflies start to get active. I think this fly is a killer. Thanks Matt even tho I’m familiar with it I still picked up a few pointers from you. Thanks for the great lesson.
Nicely done Matt I did a few of these slightly different I left the tag end and did a counter rib with it and varnished the head but the same result frank also did these in black and grey turkey Davie McPhail also has a video on his channel showing fly’s actually tyed by frank if that’s of any interest to you
Tom- that does interest me; thanks! I love watching Davie's channel. It might take a little while looking through his 800+ videos though. Nevermind, I just found it! It was called "Actual flies tyed by the famous angler/river keeper Frank Sawyer." I'm watching it now. Interesting that Sawyer did some with Turkey; I didn't read that anywhere. I assume you would have to use some of the nice tail feathers to get barbs long enough. Thanks for the note. Great stuff!
@@tomharvey7436 Did you bleach the pheasant yourself? I read you shouldn't bleach feathers (after I ruined a starling skin). Of course, I left in in full strength bleach for about ten minutes and it was totally dissolved. Maybe it should be diluted first. :-)
@@SavageFlies if I’m bleaching myself I use hair bleach but you can get grey/white pheasant tail feathers if you have any problem let me know I will see what I can do from here
You're probably thinking of Edward Chavez. He's a follower of the channel and actually came up with a really good pattern a few months back. I think Matt named it the "King Edward"
Oh man, that's a great idea! My wife has a sewing machine... maybe I can learn how to make fur hats. I'm serious. That could be a pretty fun hobby! Thanks for the inspiration Robert. :-)
Yes they are Lee! I can see the lure of tying "pretty" flies and they are fun to make, but you are right... the fish don't care how pretty we make a Pink Lady or how beautiful our old school winged wet flies are. Have you ever noticed the competition fly fishermen use simple, scruffy and ugly bugs? :-)
