Friday Night Fly-Tying GIFs

It's a Friday night and it's just me and Norma sitting around with nothing better to do. I would go out, but I have a pretty busy day planned tomorrow of working with my dad to finish the basement remodel he and I are doing at my house. Emily's working on a term paper for her MBA course, otherwise we'd be binge-watching season four of House of Cards. I figured I'd might as well tie some flies. I'm still on the fence of going fishing again this weekend, so I might as well be prepared if some fly-fishing does arise.

Ever since I tied those John Deere Jigs, I've been wanting to give making some fly-tying GIFs a try. No time like the present, right? So please see below for some quick and dirty fly-tying GIFs. I went with some simple patterns, as I was more concerned with my camera setup than I was with the fly patterns. First up, the Mohair Leech.

When I was fishing the Current River last week, the guy at the fly shop at Reed's Cabins was swearing by the olive Mohair Leech. He was even kind enough to give me one of his so I could copy his pattern. Granted, I did lose his leech to a submerged tree that day, but I remembered well enough how to make it . . . I think.

Size #6 Mohair Leech

Next I tied up a Pheasant Tail Nymph, mostly because it's a fun, four-material fly (counting the bead head) that I've tied a few dozen times now. Winding the pheasant tail fibers with a camera in the way was no fun though. It's a miracle I was able to lock them in on my first attempt.

Size #14 Pheasant Tail Nymph

Overall, I think the GIFs turned out pretty well (probably better than the flies themselves). It was a bit of a PITA to tie with a camera right in front of the vice, and even more frustrating when I would accidentally knock the camera ever so slightly. I'll probably mess around with my setup some more to make the process a little more easy and uniform. And in case you were curious, here's what my GIF-making setup looked like tonight.

Norma and my camera setup.