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[Blackgivesway2blue]

everybody has there own personal favourite patterns, what are some of yours?



here are some ive been tying, havent caught to many fish on chironomids, but these ones look like they'll catch me some fish this summer !

cheers - Austyn

[HOOK]

those are decent for first tries 

email me and i can give you some tips/tricks to improving your patterns

[Sandman]

those are decent for first tries 

email me and i can give you some tips/tricks to improving your patterns

Why not post the tips/tricks here?  I am sure there are many that would like to learn from your expertise.

[HOOK]

its easier if i can just show someone though, i figured because he lives in Surrey we could arrange a bit of time to tie some flies. I chironomid fish alot and can make them look pretty slick (i dont bother with the peacock though) but im no expert, who really can say they are though  

ok here are a couple off the top of my head

1st tip right away would be to size your rib to the size of fly. the size of wire here looks like either medium or BR (brassie) size

2nd is to coat the flies with something like Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails, brushable Loctite or brushable Superglue. with wire you want the clear finish to be thick enough until you see the ribbing is smooth with it, this could take several coats sometimes with wire ribs which is why i use things like Flashabou, Frostbite or other materials that will lay flatter than wire however by using thinner wire it will take less coats.

3rd and probably most important is to have the body slightly taper from skinny at the butt (bend of the hook) to the bead because this is the natural shape of the insect.

tight lines

[HOOK]

these were my very first few i tied. you can see they are bumpy and the ribbing isnt enough but hey they still caught fish lol



here are a few from last years tying





 

[Blackgivesway2blue]

thanks james, ill message you on facebook when i get home from baseball  - Austyn,

[naka21]

my favorite patterns are ice cream cones in a variety of colors and chromie. Brian Chans Gun Metal chromie is my favorite:) Also started tying those pornomids but havent had a chance to try them out yet..... can i ask hook what you use for the ribbing? ive been  using small red holo tinisel. Will try to post pics later

[HOOK]

this is the stuff you should be using for Pornomid ribbing. this is however the replacement for the discontinued original stuff but its the same.




there is a trick to tying with it so as to not change its colour/appearance.

here is the trick:

run a strand between your thumb nail and forfinger GENTLY but pull just hard enough so it takes out about 50% of the twist. look at the material closely because there is the shiny/pearlescent side and a dull red side. you want to tie it in with the dull side up so that when you wrap it the shiny side faces out. when you wrap DO NOT pull on it very much because if you stretch the material it turns purple and you lose all the properties your after. best suggestion is to wrap 2 or 3 practice strands to get a hang of it before ruining a fly and having to slice it and re-tie.

this stuff works on other patterns as well 

[ricer]

So many options and fun to experiment

I am now learning to use acetate floss and then dip them in acetone.  Great for getting thin profiles.  Check out acetate flies and the green limey or blimey on you tube

also check out McPhails quill buzzer on youtube.  Now i tie a cross between the two.  I use orange silly leg material to tie in the wing buds. The flies were deadly the other weekend.  Fun stuff!

check out the chironomid videos on flyguys.net to give you an idea on what these things look like live 

[HOOK]

I use Flashabou for alot of mine and i coat everything with brushable Loctite (except the Pornomid cause it damages the VHS tape for some reason)