Fly Tying - Truttablog

Book launch

When I was at varsity there was this dumb saying, that in a man’s life he should buy a farm, write a book, and visit a whorehouse! I have no intention of achieving one of those, and another I simply can’t afford. I have however published a book! This is an announcement I make here with conflicting emotions of satisfaction and humility. Satisfaction, because it has been close on two years of work, and I am pleased as punch with the result. Humility, because ……well because it feels downright pretentious and uncomfortable to announce this out in the marketplace and

21 September 2015

Tying tips: Avoiding steps

When tying in materials, and this applies in particular to bulky materials, you need to handle steps in the diameter of the thread base. If you tie in a bunch of thick deer hair, and trim the butt ends in a straight line, you will probably have a wide diameter zone over the butt ends, dropping in a step to the smaller diameter zone where you have only thread around the shank. This is depicted in the top sketch : A sudden step like this can be managed: You can leave it as a step, and wind one material on

16 August 2015

Bends, Barbs & Beads

In looking through my boxes of hooks a while back, I realised how many “bad” hooks I had in there. By “Bad”, I mean ones that, if you break it down, are not really any good to anyone. I am talking here of ultra longshank hooks, and small nymph hooks. You see the ultra longshank ones are just long levers for helping the Trout rid itself of the sharp bit sticking it in the mouth. Well that is my theory, and I am sticking with it. Sticking with it more than an ultra longshank hook sticks in Trout skin! And

4 August 2015

Tying tips: what to do when the thread snaps

It happens to everyone, and usually at some critical point. Simply grab the tag end of the broken silk as quick as you can with one hand, letting the bobbin fall. With your other hand, reach for your superglue. You will soon master opening that with one hand. (try not to glue the tube to your lips!) Dab a tiny, barely visible amount of glue onto the thread, and wrap it once or twice. It will stick very well. Now you can reach for the bobbin and re-start where you broke off. (Note, some tiers dispense with the whip finish,

31 July 2015

Tying tips: bulky brushes

You will often find that the brush on your superglue, UV glue, or Sally Hansen’s nail varnish, is just too bulky for the fine work you do. Simply use a small pair of scissors to trim away the brush fibers, leaving a much more manageable brush size. I find I trim away three quarters of them!

7 July 2015

Crow bars and treble hooks

Last week-end, we kept a Rainbow from the Umgeni. That is only the third Rainbow I have ever seen come out of the Umgeni, (It is a Brown Trout stream) and in the interests of purity I encouraged my fishing buddy to smack it on the head. We don’t do that very often anymore, so it took me repeating the suggestion several times before he reluctantly harvested the little fish. What was remarkable about it, was what was in its stomach. There was a whole bunch of digested stuff that wasn’t immediately identifiable, but then there were these hard little

8 May 2015

Photo of the moment (30)

3 May 2015

Getting done in 1st prep

I was coaching my daughter this afternoon on getting her homework done and over with quickly. As all “old farts” do, I related my own school experience, and the memories came flooding back. At boarding school. we had early prep, which must have been somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes in duration, followed by supper and thereafter “long prep”. In early prep we were all showered and dressed, but many were still red in the face from the exertion of the afternoon’s sport, and spirits were still high. Little work was done. Most procrastinated, figuring they still had long prep

14 March 2015

The Duckfly Hog Hopper

I discovered this pattern just recently in an excellent video by Davie McPhail. You tube video by Davie McPhail I liked it instantly. It ticks a lot of boxes for me. It is light and springy. It could be one of several things: A cranefly, a small hopper, a half hatched cripple, a hatching midge, and just about anything else your imagination can muster. Exactly what you want in a searching pattern. The one in the video is on a #12. That is rather big for me, unless it is the hopper you have chosen from the list above, so

5 February 2015

Your tying space

I tidied my tying desk this evening, as I do once in a while. The maid normally remarks favourably when I do this, since she is not allowed to touch. I think the abandon with which I toss around dead birds and animals gets to her. Thing is, when the desk is tidy, I can actually lock the thing, as my brother intended when he made it for me. I have to say though, that I was a little worried. I was worried that it would not close. This anxiety stemmed from the fact that I have been on

11 December 2014