HOBBY LOBBY FEATHER PICK CHALLENGE, fLY #1

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

If you’ll remember, I did a post last week about the feather pick I got at Hobby Lobby,... and the challenge I set for myself with that item:

Challenge - Tie as many different flies as I can from the feathers on the pick.

(If you don’t remember that, or, if you're wondering what I mean when I say, “feather pick,”…well, you can find that here: HOBBY LOBBY FEATHER PICK CHALLANGE

Review that, and this will make more sense).

Today, I knocked out the first fly for this challenge.

Although I've had a week to think of something to tie, I was still unsure what I was going to do at the vise.
So, I went to my reject box, looking for ideas.

Inspiration 101
If you've been tying flies for even a little while, you no doubt have a "reject box." As the name implies, this is the place where your less-than-perfect flies go to be forgotten.
Well, I keep mine handy and I use its contents for inspiration, or I strip and reuse the hooks.... whatever.
You get the idea.

In my case, I possess a large 'reject box' on a shelf, with several years worth of flies - and then there is a smaller one close at hand on my tying desk.

This handy one is for the "everyday rejects," - it is just a chewing tobacco tin I found floating in the water. Some people would call it a "dip can."
Yes, people are slobs, and they toss these tins wherever they go.

Jackasses.

But I collect em when I see them, clean em out, and put them to some use.

Yes, friends, I'm a tobacco tin cleaning, re-using kinda guy. 

Tobacco Tin Reject Box

Start With The Hook
When I popped the top on the reject container this morning, a big, bass fishin' worm hook fell out on the desk. Taking that as an omen, and since the feather pick has mostly large feathers on it, I went with that.

With hook in hand, I went straight to my trusty 3-Way Fly Concept*, and let things develop from there.
This is freestyling, folks!

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* 3 Way Fly Concept

- Tail
- Body
- Head/Hackle

1 tail + 1 body + 1 head/hackle = 3 Way Fly!
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SO... what fly did we get? Drumroll, please...........

FEATHER PICK CHALLENGE FLY # 1

Dressing

Hook - Offset Soft Plastic Worm Hook, size 3/0 black, unknown brand

Eyes - lead dumbbell, chartreuse

Under tail - Marabou fluff from feathers

Flash - Angel Hair tinsel

Outer tail - two ragged pick feathers, tied splayed

Body - metallic green, craft pipe-cleaner

Head - Hackle from feather pick

Topping - Pheasant tail fibers from feather pick

As you can see, this one developed a cartoonish, Roger Rabbit vibe...kinda cool.

At first I thought the tail might be too long, but, its proportional - tied to the length of the overall hook.

This beast is heavy, though, and I don't have a 12 wt fly rod that can handle it.... and no, I'm not going to run out and buy one.
Remember, I was at the Fly Fishing Show in Atlanta the other day - I saw how much those things cost!!
So don't go there.

When I fish it, I expect I'll drag it along the bottom on a light spinning rig.
More on that, later. Stay tuned.

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Thanks for reading. I hope you liked this, I hope you learned something, and I hope you'll share it with your friends.

Tight Lines,

David
Palmetto Fly n Fish

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