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Post 15 Aug 2021, 18:30 • #1 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/23/08
Posts: 944
Location: US-MT
I need a slightly longer shank I think..........
This one is 1" inch long.
I'd like to make one 1/2" inch long but the 3mm stick on eyes small enough for that size are impossible (for me) to work with. I suppose I could paint the eyes, with Tester's Paint and the end of toothpick. Maybe I could learn how to apply 3mm eyes with tweezers. I'll work on it.

After sticking them on I use a drop of thick CA glue Ace Hardware style to fix them permanently.

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Post 16 Aug 2021, 10:50 • #2 
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Joined: 12/29/10
Posts: 131
Location: US-CA
Instead of tweezers, you might want to try a bodkin. I found that helpful with the stick on eyes. Get it stuck to the bodkin and apply to the fly and then roll the bodkin to help remove it from the bodkin.


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Post 16 Aug 2021, 14:30 • #3 
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Joined: 12/20/18
Posts: 204
Location: Yorkshire
I've never used a streamer but that looks very fishy, might have get hold of something like it to have a go with.


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Post 16 Aug 2021, 20:57 • #4 
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Joined: 02/23/08
Posts: 944
Location: US-MT
Bodkin. That's brilliant. Damn. I'm off the keyboard and back to the vise right now.

Ok. 15 minutes later. The bodkin for installing 3mm mini eyes is a game changer.
I love it. This one is 3/4" inch long. I'll get it down to 1/2" long soon. I'm working on it.

Note too: The stick-on goo on the back of the eyes barely holds. You need resin of some kind. Thick UV resin would probably work. I tried CA glue. ZapAGap dissolved what little stick the eyes naturally had and the eyes fell off. But thicker yet CA glue from Ace Hardware did the trick.

Put on a drop of thick CA glue and then breath on it to kick it off. Or use accelerator. These side feather bodies are hard to position well--in conjunction with stick on eyes. I might go back to fibers of some kind. Maybe even bucktail like a Thunder Creek. This one is new off my vise but I have been fishing micro streamers for a decade now. It's big (Bill Blackburn) medicine for me.

Bill has a story I'm not at liberty to completely tell, about fishing a Southwest Montana spring creek with two fishing industry luminaries whose names I can't use. Only Bill can do that. The gist of it was they got skunked using pheasant-tail and copper nymphs while Bill wack'em silly using tiny tiny Thunder Creek Minnows. On a spring creek when it was hot and sunny and everybody else had the idea "They aren't feeding now."



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I think these 3mm stick on eyes are as small as they need to be. Baby trout fry are a lot like a pair of eyeballs with a bit of clear goo attached.


Last edited by pittendrigh on 17 Aug 2021, 08:13, edited 1 time in total.

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Post 17 Aug 2021, 06:34 • #5 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/12/18
Posts: 457
specialk wrote:
Instead of tweezers, you might want to try a bodkin. I found that helpful with the stick on eyes. Get it stuck to the bodkin and apply to the fly and then roll the bodkin to help remove it from the bodkin.


This is the way I always did it until UV resins came around. I still use a bodkin, except now I just stick the very edge of the eye on it until I can cure the thick UV resin tacking it in place.

I've always read that eyes are a very important "trigger" and can make a fly or lure much more effective. One local author even experimented with different color eyes and found a notable difference in effectiveness!


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Post 19 Aug 2021, 21:03 • #6 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/23/08
Posts: 944
Location: US-MT
A downeye hook with a bead ends up hanging hook point up. So it makes sense to tie it that way.


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Last edited by pittendrigh on 20 Aug 2021, 07:27, edited 1 time in total.

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Post 20 Aug 2021, 05:47 • #7 
Master Guide
Joined: 08/03/14
Posts: 945
Location: central AR
I like that. No, I love that! After I get done with these cataracts, I want to try those.


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Post 20 Aug 2021, 06:05 • #8 
Guide
Joined: 08/19/16
Posts: 314
Location: Brazil
I'm also a big fan of micro-streamers and also subscribe to the theory that eyes are an important trigger. After sticking the 3D eyes to a head that has been built up with tying thread, I apply a bead of super-glue, let it dry, then go over it with head cement (nail polish) to protect the super-glue from water.

You might be able to stick the 3D eyes directly to the bead head, or go over the entire bead with yellow lacquer (nail polish) then paint a big, black pupil onto it.


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Post 21 Aug 2021, 16:19 • #9 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/23/08
Posts: 944
Location: US-MT
RE> cataracts
I had both eyes done. I see colors better now than I have in 40 years.
Unfortunately I had a retina surgery too and that.......wasn't so good.
But I do have 5x jeweler's magnifiers. I'll be able to tie for a few more years.

Every fly needs a name. This one's French Fry ... or is it Fry Bread?
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Post 21 Aug 2021, 17:48 • #10 
Master Guide
Joined: 08/03/14
Posts: 945
Location: central AR
I had my first eye done Wednesday, today is the first day I feel I can see well. You’re right about the colors, so vivid now! I’m looking forward to mid September, tying flies will be fun again.

I like Fry Bread!
Tim

What fibers did you use on the body?


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Post 26 Aug 2021, 07:09 • #11 
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Joined: 02/23/08
Posts: 944
Location: US-MT
Deja vu all over again. I'm getting the procedure down to a routine and the size down too. This one is 5/8" inch long. Maybe it's a French Fry. That might be a catchier name.

There are a zillion fry flies on the net. There is an Instagram guy named teal_blue_68 who does particularly nice work. He uses blobs of colored UV resin a lot. I'm trying to stick to all feathers and fibers for some reason.

I also like leveraging the bead head/down eye hook combination to force the hook to flip over upside down. It's handy to be able to swing these flies through shallow water over weeds. Those shallow weedy places, especially gravel pockets between weeds are fry fly hot spots.

The thing I'm most confident about is where and when. Fry flies work at all times. Like everything else you try different flies and go with your intuition until you find something that works. But the main niche for fry flies in the afternoon when nothing else seems to work. And particularly so (although not limited to) spring creeks, which do tend to be spawning nurseries for the main stem rivers they flow into.
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Post 14 Nov 2021, 18:17 • #12 
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Joined: 02/04/14
Posts: 181
Location: US-MA
They are always feeding....sweet looking fly


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Post 17 Dec 2021, 12:48 • #13 
Sport
Joined: 03/13/18
Posts: 28
Location: boston
Big fan of the small hackle style streamers. How does the fly ride in current? One issue I've run into with flies that have oversized glue on eyes is that one really needs to make sure that those eyes are aligned in order to prevent the fly from going sideways. I also found that you need to be quite accurate with your UV resin application, otherwise the same issue comes up.

Really like the addition of the dubbing, I'm sure it looks great in the water!


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Post 17 Dec 2021, 21:06 • #14 
Master Guide
Joined: 02/23/08
Posts: 944
Location: US-MT
I fished quite a bit this fall and didn't notice a problem. I've been fishing small white one for years, with black and white eyes. I'm starting think the white ones are most reliable.


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