Steve Farrar's Flash Blend Fly

 The top fly is last year's 8-inch yak hair  bunker  with EZ body head which weighs 5g.  The new ones (middle and bottom) weigh only 3g.

My new saltwater season will be coming in a week or two.      
I have prepared some new flies.
Since I am a budget fly fisherman, I don't use many kinds of material for tying.
But when I saw the video of the mullet fly tying with the SF flash blend in YouTube, I was very
impressed by this material forming the bulky body fly so quickly and easily.

I ordered several different colors of SF Flash Blend online to add to my few lists of the saltwater fly material.

This material is so light and voluminous that one can make bulky flies easily with less material.
These qualities are what I have been looking for.
In the YouTube video, eyes were glued to the body directly.
But I am not sure whether this way of attaching the eyes is durable enough or not.  So I use pieces of clear plastic as the eye bases and tied them on the hook shank.

Last year's early spring, I saw a lot of  bunker activities in the Little Neck Bay and it will be my early season striper fishing spot.
If bunkers appear again like last year, I will use this new fly.
Let's see.

Install Sic Rod Guides

Last season I found the stripping guide of my 10-weight 15-foot two-handed rod had a crack on the ceramic ring.
As a off-season project, I decide to replace all the guides.  I have used this rod in the saltwater for several years, so it is about time to get new guides.
After I had bought a 13-weight 16-foot rod two years ago, I intended to use the 15-foot one as a backup.  But I use the 15-foot quite often because the 16-foot is inconvenient in certain fishing area.

Sic guides are used on the tip top and stripping guides of the 16-foot rod, so I know Sic guides are strong and good.
During my research on rod guides in the internet, I come across some interesting conversations among surf casting fishermen who want to cast farther distance.
In one of the forums, a fisherman says he prefers Sic guides because he won't hear any noise when the line is running through the guides.  If other guides are used , he can hear noises.
I am kind of fascinated by how much these fishermen care about guides and the research they do to find better guides.     

I would say most fly fishermen are not so serious about their rod guides, myself included,
until I come across this site:
http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/forum/index.php?threads/single-foot-sic-guides.10225/
Of course some fly fishermen do know how rod guides can make a difference.

I want to have the experience of  a rod with all Sic guides because I do care a lot about the casting distance in surf fishing.

I have just finished replacing the guides of my 15-foot rod with all Sic guides.