2 September 2016
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
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
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
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
A recent topic of discussion has been that of eyes on our Trout flies. It occurred to me that we have come a long way in that department. My earliest memory of eyes on flies was that of the Clayne Baker swimming nymph, in which one was required to tie an overhand knot on a bunch of marabou fibres. Now that was a trick! I think at that time we normally made eyes by simply cutting a stub of tuff chenille either side of the hook. Those were not very pronounced eyes, and come to think of it, the snipped
At a recent gathering of the Natal Fly Dressers Society (NFDS), Jan Korrubel demonstrated the tying of the well known “Papa Roach“, that excellent Dragonfly nymph pattern that is making it into halls of fame. Herman Botes’ Papa Roach: Photo ex Tom Sutcliffe…see link above Jan has a pragmatic approach that I enjoy. He chatted about the fact that he couldn’t bring himself to leave the hook shank bare under the Zonker strip, “because it just looked wrong”. I Know Herman Botes intended the hookshank to be the flat base of the fly’s shape, but a bit of dubbing finishes