Whip-Tailed Ugly Bug

I love to tie these and hope to fish one very soon.

Materials:

• A 3/16-ounce ball head jig with a 1/0 bronze hook.
• Kiwi Boot Lace (quartered) - dark brown.
• Tandy Leather Factory Premium Leather Scrap - brown.
• Lion Suede Yarn (Lion Brand) #5  - coffee.
• UTC Ultra Thread 140 denier - rusty brown.
• Pro-Tec Powder Paint - bright orange mixture (hot pink + yellow chartreuse @ 1:1 ratio)

Hogsucker Jig

Cut a zonker strip and tied two chinchilla coque saddles around some antique white chenille to produce this jig. It weighs 1/4 of an ounce and has a 1/0 hook.

The tool in the foreground is a seam ripper. It's useful for cutting your own zonker strips from rabbit pieces and whole pelts.

Extended Leather & Chenille Grub

No need for a long hook shank to tie a longer grub. ;)

 This one is about 4 inches long.  Its body is extended by Latigo Lace.

Mantis-Style Jigs And A Tick

Thought of the praying mantis insect and how most of these jigs resemble it.  Well, a little bit maybe?

The jig in the upper-right portion of the picture looks like a tick to me.  A closeup of a black "mantis" appears below.

Here it is performing a headstand, quite possibly like it might on retrieve. ;)

I plan to continue tying with leather in the near future, but will look to produce different styles.  It's been fun to work with!

Thread Snips - A Tool Review

I purchased a pair of thread snips recently from a local hypermart.  The snips are made by Fiskars.  They are approximately 4.75 inches long and are very comfortable to grip.  I had high hopes for them.

Some observations from using this tool:

• Blades are sharp and remain flush against each other throughout the cuts.
• Blades points are extremely thick and prevent precise cutting of tags away from finishing knots.
• Blades are too thick for extremely close trimming.
• Tool seems appropriate for trimming longer hair (e.g. deer hair) and shaping it into form on large jigs or flies.
• Cuts chenille yarn quickly and cleanly.
• Blades appear to be replaceable.

Keep in mind that this tool isn't made specifically for fly or jig tying.  It will perform well for trimming threads from clothing or furniture and has a variety of sewing and floral craft uses.

In conclusion, I found it to be unsuitable for trimming thread tags on knots.  So, I will continue to use fine-point cuticle scissors for that purpose.

Recent Personal Favorite

My personal favorite bug...

I enjoyed tying this one.  It's one of my favorite color combinations and styles.

Materials:

• Kiwi Leather Boot Lace (quartered) - dark brown.
• Lion Brand Suede Yarn - coffee.
• A 3/8-ounce football head jig with a 3/0 black nickle hook.
• UTC Ultra Thread (140 denier) - rusty brown.
• Harbor Freight Powder Paint - plum brown mixture.

What Am I Thinking?

There may be a madness to my method. ;)