24 August 2015
Neville Nuttall and first Trout
By Paul De Wet By the age of ten I must have read Neville Nuttall’s chapter entitled “My first trout”, in Life in the Country a hundred times, and I think I could quote bits of it verbatim. When, aged ten, I finally did catch my first trout (in the upper Umzimkulu) my Mum persuaded me that I should write and tell Neville all about it, which I did. I was so touched by his reply – I still am! I don’t remember if I told Neville about the details of the catch – I am sure I would have.
20 August 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
I had a dream
It went something like this: We were near Mooi River.The water had been booked, but we were somehow unsure of parking arrangements. While hovering around the entrance road the farmer drove past. Bruce is his name. He is from Mooi River. I know him well. We didn’t stop him or greet him, but let him pass like a stranger. Then we parked and walked to the dam in front of his house. Bruce doesn’t own a farm, let alone one with a house overlooking it. The lake was small and ugly, but the water was devilishly clear. This makes little
13 August 2015
11 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
28 July 2015
Treasures and treats
My wife and I pulled up outside a shop the other day, and while she went in search of ice for the cool box, I hung back and answered questions from a woman who was swooning…..over our boat. She seemed a bit rough around the edges. Hard as a woodpeckers lips in fact. Her fingers were tobacco stained, and her hair was like straw. But she got it. She got it that this work of art is a thing of such beauty, that to travel with it, to launch it, and to climb into it, is in itself a treasured
21 July 2015
18 July 2015