From the House of Genius

[Out Fishing]

One thing about being stuck inside this summer is that I've been able to sneak in a little fly tying while I've been supposedly unpacking and setting up my office. (while my wife's out of town anyway) I got tired of never having the right size stick-on eyes, or the right color, and to tell you the truth, I've never liked their looks anyway. A buddy of mine did a magazine article a while back on painting eyes, but I decided I'd go him one better and make my own stick-ons, eliminating the hassle of trying to get it right every time and waiting for the paint to dry before I could coat the heads. I made these using wooden pens with various combinations of regular acrylic craft paint layered with glitter paint. I lift them off the plastic with the tip of an Exacto knife. The transfer process can be a bit tricky, but the eyes adhere to the heads just fine without being glued - if anything, they adhere better than the Mylar stick-ons and follow the contours better. The heads (and a lot of the bodies) are coated with Liquid Fusion, a water-based urethane glue that's a lot easier to use than epoxy.

[Out Fishing]

Very ingenious, and beautiful!

[Out Fishing]

Heathen fly flikker 


very nice peter. There's alot of ways to make those. Your flies look like yummy bugs 

[Out Fishing]

On flies like those you could do that with the head of a nail using paint right onto the fly. They look great man even if you are a fly heathen

[Out Fishing]

ahh feels like the old days LOL

get ready for the bloooooooooooooooooooooooowwwww

[Out Fishing]

Hey Pat - many thanks for the compliment, but just be careful of being too nice to me or the Generalissimo may very well ban you from the site. I'm just coming off a six-month suspension for dancing with (STRIPERSONLINE) at the New England Nudist Society's New Year's Eve party. His Excellency can be a bit touchy, and you never know what'll set him off.   

Salty, I tried to paint them on directly, but I just screwed up too many, and I find it a lot easier to make up a whole bunch at one time and select matching pairs. Also, I use several layers on most of them, which is easier to do if they're lying flat on a sheet of plastic. You can't really tell much from the picture, but a lot of them have at least one layer of glitter paint on top of the eyeball and under the pupil. This way, I can pick and choose without creating a mess on the fly.

And what's this about being a heathen? You know darn well that everybody on this site is a closet fly fisherman. Besides, I enjoy chucking a plug now and then - the only reason I haven't bought more kits lately is that I haven't had time to finish the ones I already have.  I've only been down here since late July and I've already been kicked out of my workshop in the garage and banished to the boat shed. Since Carrie can make a $2000 painting in the time it takes me to tie a dozen flies, I'm in no position to argue. Hey, do you still have that blue water rig you were trying to peddle?

[Out Fishing]

yep still do. you danced with (STRIPERSONLINE) holy moly

Are you still picking splinters out of yo ass? 

[Out Fishing]

yep still do. you danced with (STRIPERSONLINE) holy moly

Are you still picking splinters out of yo ass? 

Nope, but rumor has it that that's how (STRIPERSONLINE) spends his Sunday mornings.

[Out Fishing]

ahhhhhh peter jay is back.............say sweet eyes.................nice job..............you must have alot of time on your hands peter..........or your wife is outa town to much.........nice work

[Out Fishing]

LOL - I haven't had much time on my hands, but it doesn't take very long to make them. Just bang 'em out and let 'em dry. Just like an assembly line. Yeah, my wife's been out of town a lot, this is her busy season. She was supposed to be in a show on Long Island this week, but this is no time to be on the road. Hope I don't need the boat to go grocery shopping tomorrow. Everybody's battening down here. Be sure to watch the news - I'll be the guy fly casting from the roof of my garage.