CapeBSalar

That's something really special you got there. I'm sure he'll be overwhelmed. Great looking flies! and I really like the idea with the pond picture and wood. Nice personal touches.

There's a great forum on www.flytyingforum.com on photography, lots of pro's offering tips and tricks and getting great fly photo's. Might want to check it out. PM me anytime. Glad you like the avatar, it's a jock scott, a friend of mine dabbled with the original image in photoshop and came up with this for me as a logo. Cheers. Damian.

I agree, I see there was no winner announced on the other poll either. Not much activity because of the holidays but that's understandable. Cheers!!

Awesome flies guys, tried to cast a vote for all entries like the last one, but only allowed one option. Oh well. Lonefisher, the body work on your fly is amazing!!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Everybody!!

Ouch!

Thank you GGP!

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That's SWEET!! My favorite part of this fly is definitely the wing and the way you have managed to hold the topping and tail so closely to it, it's perfection!! Wonderful job.

I thought it was just me, I'm so glad I'm not alone. LOL! Used to have recurring bear dreams myself lonefisher, then one night I had a dream that I was in a birchwood forest, all the leaves were on the ground, trees were bare, a crispy coolness in the air, I hear crashing through the leaves from all directions, I look up, here are 4 huge black bears coming down the hill towards me, I instinctively got down on all fours, raised my body up high as I could and started swishing through the leaves myself, the bears came closer and I stood still, they sniffed me and then they walked away. I haven't had a bear dream since, this was years ago. I don't think I would reccommend this in real life though, LOL! Pm or email me anytime with questions, I will be glad to help if I can. I'm still working on my photo's and need to read my manual yet again and do some homework on different aspects of shooting digital. What kind of camera do you have? Oh yeah and there's still what...2 shopping days till xmas, so you are safe, tie away and have fun!! LOL! All the best, Damian.

LOL! It's ok Birchy, everybody has their opinion. Merry Christmas to you too AC, and I hope to contribute more to the site. Lots of great things going on here! Best, Damian.

Man, I'm glad I'm not the only one too, thought I was going out on a limb announcing that deep dark secret!! LOL! PS. Thanks for the vote of confidence on the nymphs, hopefully I'll get the chance to try some new genres and step out of my comfort zone. All the Best, Damian.

I'm hoping to get the nor-vise lamp someday. Right now I just use lights from Wal-mart.

Hey everybody, I just want to say thanks for responding so positively. I just didn't want to seem like one of those ego guys coming out of the woodwork and entering flies in somebody elses contests. I really do like to share my work with others and don't get me wrong, it is nice to get a pat on the back or a high five for a nice fly, it's not my main motivation for posting flies for others to see. I would also be equally grateful though if a season expert tyer ripped my fly to shreds and disected every possible error in it, that's how we learn. I feel there is no better tying tool than constructive criticism from an experienced tyer, well that and a good digital camera. It's amazing what a close up shot of a fly will reveal, you see things that you couldn't with the naked eye. It's just amazing. Like a few said, we are all at different levels and I draw inspiration from all sides of the spectrum, somebody totally new to fly tying could teach me something new or inspire me to try a fly that they tied, and all the way up to the mega classic tyer's of the world that I seek creative inspiration from. I'm a pretty visual person and that's how I learned to tie flies, I remember looking in fly tyer magazine and I wouldn't read the instructions, I would interpret the step by step photo's and logically piece together the tying steps in my mind and if I got stumped, I would refer to the particular step instructions. I guess it's just how I learned. Sometimes when I have trouble falling asleep at night I will tie a Green Highlander from Tip to finish in my minds eye, every step and procedure until I'm out. Weird, but true. Beats counting sheep! LOL! Couple of responses here, albannachxcuileag; no, I don't think I'll win them all, heck I might not even win 1 of them, things are pretty close all week on the xmas fly contest, but you know, I'll try to tie the best I can to push my tying. I think that's what these contests should be all about, friendly competition and personal acheivement and improving your skills. Hydropsyche ; Nymphs, gee's it's been awhile, but in that being said, I think this is one of the cool things about little contests like this, I haven't tied a nymph in probably years, so for me to enter a strictly nymph competition would certainly be pushing my limits and abilities as a tyer, I'd be totally out of my element. Will I try my best to tie a great nymph, you bet! Will I have fun.... for sure! That's what it's all about right? Again, I really appreciate you guys voting and making me feel welcome here and for all the kind words. All the Best, Damian.

Hey guys. There was no real negative post made, but one comment that kind of made me wonder whether or not I should put a fly in, it wasn't offensive or negative at all, just a comment. Anyhow, doesn't really matter. I'm new here, so I guess I was just asking if I could play in the sandbox in a round about way and didn't want to intrude. I want to share some of my early flies with the group.... These are two of the very attempts at Classic Salmon Flies back in January of 2005... http://www.flytyingforum.com/uploads/img419ab2b80c367.jpg

There, that's better.