[ceviche]

What you described says it all. "...rubberlegged stone fly nymphs at 1.85 a pop! " I tied up three of these for my first time on the Yak and caught my first Yak 'bow on one of them. Subsequently, I lost all of them in the following hours, getting blanked except for that first and only nice one. Had I purchased those flies, I would have been more bummed than elated that my first shot at tying rubber legs paid off. Saved money? I think so. Had a good time despite my lost flies? Definitely!

By the way, if you have the Cabela's Fly fishing catalog, you will see that getting reasonably functionable tools isn't that expensive. Just be sure you get a rotary vise as your first purchase, instead of getting the "el-cheapo" just to save money.

 

[ceviche]

Dude, that's a beadhead Kauffmann Stonefly nymph with rubber legs--not a regular Rubber Legs. The regular Rubber Legs is no more than lots of lead wrapped on the shank, rubber legs tied in, and a black chennille body. Beadhead is optional for extra weight. I haven't yet tried tying the Kauffmann version yet, as the regular R/L is obviously simpler to tie.