Tuffleye Showcase

Phil Barna Bio

 I originally came to  Alaska in 1977 as an Army 2LT, and when I stepped out of the airport into the Anchorage sunshine and saw the mountains, I knew I was home. When I left the Army, worked for the ADF&G for over 20 years. The first 10 years I worked in south central Alaska, Bristol Bay, Kodiak, the Alaska Peninsula and Prince William Sound, and the second ten years I was the ADF&G pipeline supervisor working from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. I have seen lots of Alaska and I can't imagine calling anywhere else home. I retired in 2000 when I was 45. People ask me why I retired when I was so young and my answer is "because I could." I presently work as a biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. I fish a lot for salmon, steelhead, and rainbow trout and in recent years I have been traveling to warmer places to fish for bonefish, tarpon, rooster-fish etc... I am really enjoying teaching my 12 year old son to fish. I love tying flies almost as much as fishing and I tie a lot of flies just because it relaxes me. I have been tying a lot with Tuffleye and it is so much better than epoxy because it is fast and less messy. I am also involved with a new business venture started by Steve Haber who founded Bolle. We have started a company called HaberVision and we offer high quality polarized sunglasses and ski goggles at half the cost of the competition because we have no dealers-internet sales only. We can be found at habervision.com (use affinity code FISHEYE).

The Boom Creek has a Tuffleye head over bead chain eyes with

a frame of 25 pound hard mono. This is a nasty fly to make with epoxy but incredibly easy to do with Tuffleye.

The flies above were tied by Phil Barna with Tuffleye

David Whitman Bio

David Witham (Australia) Above and flies tied below
I started fishing when I was about 5 and could hold and manage a handline. This grew into serious bait fishing, onto lure fishing and then about 8 years ago in fly fishing and fly tying. Being based on the New South Wales Central Coast (Australia), there are plenty of options available for year-round fresh and salt water fly fishing which has proven to be an ideal testing ground for new patterns.
Personally I have caught almost 60 species on fly and that list grows every year. Most of these fish have been caught in flies I have tied myself and that is the thing that satisfies me the most with this sport.
As I was staring out in fly fishing I found it difficult to find others that shared my passion for the sport on the Central Coast, so I decided to start a fly fishing club.
The Central Coast Fly Rodders was founded back in 2001 and rapidly grew in membership to around forty. Fishing for new species and developing the flies and techniques required to catch them is actively encouraged. And it has been interesting to see new patterns and variations of old patterns come out of our members that suit the fish we target and the way we fish.

Here are a few fly patterns, using Tuffleye, that we use for chasing pelagics in the salt and the Australian Bass in the fresh.

UV Pearl Candy – Target species - Frigate Mackerel, Australian Salmon

PolarFlash Baitfish - Target species – Tailor, Salmon, Kingfish, Mackerel, Barramundi

Bendback Bass Vampire - Target species – Australian Bass, Golden Perch

Joe Pheifer Bio

I am a passionate salt water fly fisherman and fly tyer. I grew up at the Jersey shore, but now live in Hoboken and work in New York City. Most of the time, I cast my flies into the surf between between Sandy Hook and Island Beach State Park, NJ for striped bass, bluefish, weakfish, false albacore, fluke and hickory shad. I've also fished along most of the East Coast, Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela and the Bahamas. My ambition to fish foreign seas is limited only by vacation time and funding--but I love my home waters just as much.

 I was drawn to fly fishing because of the flies. I had fished the surf and jetties with spinning gear since I as a kid, and had already been tying simple flies to use as teasers in tandem with plugs and jigs. Not only did I enjoy the tying aspect, but catching fish on something I made myself appealed to me--as well as not having to deal with treble hooks! Since I knew nothing about fly fishing, in 1997 I took advantage of a class organized by Joe Keegan of the Ramsey Outdoor Store. Little did I realize that the class instructors were an All-Star team: Bob Popovics, Ed Mitchell, Tom Gilmore, and Ken and Lori Vanderlaske. Most of the class took place over a weekend on Martha's Vineyard, a fly fishing Mecca and one of my favorite destinations ever since that first visit. Several years ago, I joined the Coastal Flyrodders, a fly fishing club, which has led to wonderful friendships and greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the sport.

Surf Candy An example of the Popovics classic, featuring a mixed wing of super hair and unique hair.

Hook: Mustad S71S SS, size 2 Belly: silver or pearl Gudebrod HT braid, or similar Top wing: Tan super hair mixed with goldenrod unique hair Bottom wing: white or polar white super and unique hair mixed

Flash: pearl and holographic silver flashabou (added after 1st coat of core) Lateral line: pearl, silver or holograhic silver flash of appropriate width Eye: 2.0 prismatic stick-on (added after 1st coat of core) Body: 2 coats of Tuffleye Core, or 1 coat of Core and 1 coat of Finish

This is a flashy version of Lefty's Deceiver that is very durable due to the synthetic wing and Tuffleye head.

Hook: Mustad C68S SS size 1/0 Tail: 2 or 4 white saddle or neck hackles Top wing: DNA holo-fusion, yellow, neon lime, or other; apply two layers, each folded over Bottom wing: DNA holo-fusion, polar white or white; apply two layers, each folded over

Lateral line: flashabou mirage opal or lt. blue Throat: red DNA powder fish fiber, or red flourofibre Eyes: 2.5 or 3.0 prismatic stick-on (added after 1st coat of core) Head: 2 coats of Tuffleye Core

"Sockeye Bug" by Mark Papazian

Ned Hook: Size 6 Gamakatsu #2307 or Mustad #92553R
Body: Krystal Flash
Tail: Krystal Flash
Thread: Clear 2lb Monofilament
Instructions:by Bob Papazian
Start by selecting 15-20 Krystal Flash fibers (the longer the better). Tie on the tail but don’t trim the excess Krystal Flash. Wind mono up near the hook eye. Wrap excess Krystal Flash forward to eye. Tie off trim excess (save for the next fly). You should be able to do 2-3 flies with a 6” long section of Krystal Flash fibers. Coat Tuffleye core material liberally on the body. You don’t need to brush or scrape it on. Just squeeze it right out of the syringe straight on to the body. Stick the “bug” on a drying wheel for 1-2 minutes & let Tuffleye self level & shape the body. Hit it with the Tuffleye light for 15-20 seconds. The body will be set but slightly tacky. A thin coat of the finish material (optional) can be brushed over the core material to bring out more shine & remove the tackiness. Lacquer thinner will work too, in a pinch. This is a quick & easy fly to make with Tuffleye because you can make the “bugs” in batches (as many as your wheel will hold). Then cure them all at once with the Tuffleye light. The old method using epoxy was laborious, as you could only coat 1 or 2 flies at a time before the epoxy set. With Tuffleye you can tie 20 “Sockeye Bugs” in the time it took to do 8 with epoxy.

"Sockeye Bug" Assortment by Mark Papazian

During the summer months Mark Papazian is a Fishing Guide at Alaska’s Boardwalk Lodge- an “Orvis-Endorsed” ocean front lodge located on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. When summer ends, it’s back to classes in Fresno, California where he’s an Ag-Business Major. Mark came up with the design for the “Sockeye Bug” while fishing the small clear streams on Prince of Wales Island. It’s his go-to Sockeye Salmon fly and also works well on the Island’s Dolly Varden & Cutthroat Trout when used as a dropper fly trailing a streamer.

Bill Hamilton Bio

Born in 1951; fished, hunted and golfed with my Dad until college (1969 – ROLL TIDE) in ponds in south Alabama (he had a fly rod and I had a Zebco); Daddy died in 1986 – my brother got the golf clubs – I got the 16 gauge and the fly rods (I won). I have been tying, building rods and fishing since – Western NC, North GA, South AL. As a side hobby I finished Dental School in 1977 at UAB;wonderful gorgeous wife, 4 MARRIED children, 1 grand daughter. The Tuffleye material is great and easy to use. So much easier than epoxy – mix, apply, rotate, clean-up, touch-up,etc.

Squirrel Tail Crawfish (by Bill Hamilton): colors to match water conditions – light, medium or dark. Thread: Black or Brown – 6/0 Hook: Steamer, 6 – 14, 1X, 2X Claw: Red or grey squirrel tale hair Abdomen: Dubbing to match (plain or sparkle) Legs: Primarily brown or grizzly Back: Turkey – light, dark, mottled – coated with Tuffleye finish This is for bass and bream – just get them excited:=)

Copper John #20 gauge hook by Bill Hamilton:=) I used the recipe from FlyFisherman.com. Substitute Tuffleye Finish for the wing case. Direct link to the article: www.Flyfisherman.com/ftb/jbbarrflies/index5.html – the whole article on John Barr’s “Hopper, Copper, Dropper” is a great read. I tied 8 or 10 Copper Johns and coated the wing cases with Tuffleye Finish. Applied it with a bodkin to the desired shape and cured. Great material - no mixing or rotation device needed, so easy to use and no mess when you are through. Tied by Hunter Granstaff

Other Examples With Tuffleye

Other examples with Tuffleye

Two matching Guinea hen feathers with Tuffleye Flex

Glow Powder in the Tuffleye eyes to make them glow.

2 Dry Flies on #12 and 26 gauge hooks with Tuffleye

Bumble Bee #14 hook

Large Surf Candy 9 inches long

Deep Sea Squid = Guinea Hen feather overlaid with Tuffleye Finish over a line through bell weight. Eyes encircled with Glow powder inlayed in Tuffleye Finish and Grizzly hackles inlayed in Tuffleye Flex for tentacles (see video)