Another day, another fly tying contest. It kind of seems that way anyway. Preparing an entry for each contest division, and tying two flies each definitely takes some time and planning. This time it is for the Branson Fly Fishing Expo to be held July 27-29 in Branson Missouri. Branson is really a fun place to visit in the summer. There are a lot of things to see and do.
If you’ve read some of my past blog posts, you would know that I really enjoy fly tying contests. As I did earlier this year, I decided to enter every single category in the contest. I really enjoy going out and finding new fly patterns that I had never tied before in order to complete my lineup.
The entries were due on June 1st. The judging should be completed by July 1st.
Here are my entries for this year’s fly tying contest.
| # | Category | Fly Pattern | Reason For Entering |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nymph | Realistic Mayfly | A good-looking, moderately difficult mayfly nymph pattern and one I had never tied before. Great legs! |
| 2 | Dry Fly | Regan’s Mayfly Spinner | A very impressive-looking dry fly pattern and one I had tied only once before. |
| 3 | Wet Fly | Pink Lady | This is one of the nicest looking wet flies in my “Classic Wet Fly Collection”. |
| 4 | Traditional Streamer | Dahlberg Diver | An absolutely amazing looking fly and one I had only tied once before. It is indeed a large and awesome fly. |
| 5 | Articulating Streamer | Big Eyed Sempermouse | This is one of the only articulating fly patterns I am familiar with. It turned out okay this time. |
| 6 | Bass Bug | Braided Blue Damselfly | I love how this one looks when it is completed. The “damsel blue” color is eye-catching. |
| 7 | Salmon/Steelhead | Logie | I entered a smaller salmon fly pattern for this category and saved the big one for category #9. |
| 8 | Saltwater | Lefty’s Deceiver | I entered this one before but wasn’t happy with it. This year’s entry is better. The red bucktail looks amazing! |
| 9 | Best In Show | Dusty Miller | This fly won a Best In Show award earlier this year. For this contest it is a category so I tied and entered it.. |
The lineup is a little hard to follow because of the size of some of these flies but it goes in “top down, left to right” order with three flies in each column.
