making buzzers

[marvin119]

Hi to all
thinking of tying my own selection of buzzers ready for next season, any ideas on what materials i will need and where's the best place to buy them from, this will be my first time i'm tying any flies and i'm looking for any help
cheers marvin119

[Country Joe]

Hi Marvin,
look up flytying step by step, and also put in Buzzers into search,
this should provide you with all the information you need.

[weight_forward]

Buzzers in their simplest form can be made from just thread, a rib and something for the cheeks. The rib can be fine tinsel or wire, and the cheeks can be tinsel, floss, goose biots or strips cut from crisp packets (tangy cheese doritos is a good colour). Most people put a thorax cover of Mirage / Pearly tinsel on as extra attraction. Then varnish the whole lot with Sally Hansen Hard as Nails (nail varnish).

I would get the Hard as nails and the cheese doritos for a supermarket. The rest can be had from any fly tying shop (I use Lakeland and find them excellent on delivery, if the item is in stock).

That said, there are a whole host of buzzer patterns out there, of varying size, shape, colour. I would have a look through the Step by Step list and pick a few patterns that you like the look of and make a list of materials for those.

All the best - Steve

[shpeil]

^^^^ That's what I've been doing, using goose biots. I tried floss for the cheecks found but was disappointed when it went a bit dull after varnishing. I also need to try some of the Sally Hanson nail varnish - the cheapo stuff I got from Boots seems to be a bit soft and gets chewed up by the trouts' teeth quite easily. Good shout on the crisp packets. Will have to give that a go.

[fishyfranky]

Welcome to the hobby! When you first start tying, you might be all eager to do fancy stuff like most people. I'm no exception and here's one of my early efforts (after a dozen fish or so... a great feeling when your fly works):




I then moved on to some more simple and durable patterns like this one (after ~80 fish):



Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails is one of the best ideas to come from women and you should use it with abandon on your buzzers.


Now I tie really, really, simple, durable patterns for most of my fish catching needs so I can spend more time being creative and fancy. These fancy flys look great in my fly box, which is where they usually stay Here's a prime example of "simply works":



Its just black thread, clear elastic cord, and a white glass bead. Here's a video of using the elastic cord, which you can find at most hobby/craft stores as "Stretch Magic" or similar:

YouTube - Tying the Stretch Magic Midge

YouTube - Tying the Stretch Magic Midge

[Country Joe]

Originally Posted by shpeil

^^^^ That's what I've been doing, using goose biots. I tried floss for the cheecks found but was disappointed when it went a bit dull after varnishing. I also need to try some of the Sally Hanson nail varnish - the cheapo stuff I got from Boots seems to be a bit soft and gets chewed up by the trouts' teeth quite easily. Good shout on the crisp packets. Will have to give that a go.

You can also use Tulip Slick Fabric Paint, it has a very fine nozzle enabling you to apply it just where you want it,
It also comes in most colours
Its easy to apply,
And most important it works.
On the finished buzzer I first coat with locktite easy brush,
Then two coats of hard as nails,
I also sometimes use UV Glow nail polish available on Ebay, comes in a bottle the same as hard as nails, you can apply this to the Buzzer cheeks i don't do the whole fly, i have a small UV Torch i picked up in Lidils cheap as chips,
When shining this on to the Buzzer cheeks coated in UV they positively glow,
does this this makes them a better Fish catcher i don't know, but they do take fish.