Out of Storage Old is New Again

Well blogger has been down for a few days but things are fixed again.  I guess I should keep up on my browser updates.

With the Midwest Fly Fishing Expo coming up in a few weeks I figured it was about time to take all my fly fishing gear out of storage to make sure everything is still in good working order and that I still have everything I need.  The show will be a great place to pick up needed items. After pulling everything out it looks like I only need to pick up a few minor items. Not too bad.  Guess the bank account will not take too big of a hit after all. Now to go through all my fly boxes to see what I need to tie. Oly Wha do I have a TON of flies.  I have three 6"x12" plastic boxes full of flies just from old swaps.  Another two of flies that I had tied myself. That's not including the three boxes of flies that I used for fishing that were in my chest pack. I think I could open a fly shop of my own.

While going through my fishing boxes I came across a bunch of flies that were still in good condition but their hackles were a little smashed from being in the box for so long. So I grabbed my wife's clothes steamer and went to work.  For those that didn't know, if you need to restore the bent hackle on old flies just pass them through some steam and the feathers will magically restore themselves.  It's a great trick. Check out these differences.

Before

After 

Before

After

The after images are still a little "damp" after the steam bath but you can see the differences. Well back to the bench.  Hopefully I will have another pattern tomorrow for everybody.

Swapping Again... Ah The Memories..

Well I did it. I decided to join a fly swap.  Back when I was tying all the time I used to host a ton of fly swaps back on the old Virtual Fly Shop Bulletin Board. How many people remember that BB? There isn't a forum today that compares to that site.  What a shame. But let's get back to the swapping. Let me explain what a fly swap is for those that may not know.  As swap is basically a group of tiers that trade flies. What happens is a Swap Meister (host) posts a message about starting a swap. He will let everybody know how many swappers can join and what the theme of the swap is.  Let's say 10 swappers and the theme is Caddis Dry Flies.  When 10 swappers sign up the fun begins. Each swapper will then tie 10 of the same pattern, one for each swapper, an mail them to the Swap Meister.  The Swap Meister will collect all the flies and then send each swapper one of each pattern sent in. This way each swapper will get one fly from each person. It was always fun waiting for the mail to see if a package of flies arrived and what treasured awaited me. I have swapped flies with people from all over the world and throughout the US.  Good times and great memories.

Speaking of memories, when I was tying my flies for the swap (Gartside Sparrow BTW) I threw Van Morrison's Moondance into the CD player. Every time I listen to this album I think back to my college days at Northern Michigan University. My buddy Dan used to play acoustic guitar and sing at one of the local bars. It was always a good time to kick back have a few beers and listen to Dan sing a few songs for us. I can still picture him singing "And It Stoned Me." I had never heard the song before and now it is my favorite Van Morrison song to this day. Dan and his brother are still playing some great music.  If you are ever in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and you see the Truckey Brothers are playing you should do yourself a favor and check them out.

OK back to the swapping. Here are the flies I tied for the swap.  Let's hope everybody is happy with them.

I was also playing around and tied up this little sucker. A #28 Olive X-Caddis.  A guy could go blind tying flies this small.

More Pheasant Tales and Some Great Jerky

First snow storm of the season passed through last night and into today.  Perfect time to use a vacation day in my opinion.  Well that is until I saw that MDOT actually kept the roads clear the whole time.  My hats off to the men and women who kept the roads clear and safe for everybody.  Well I was planning on going to the Michigan Outdoorama Show after work anyways so why not go a little early while the crowds are still thin. Another great show as usual.  Thanks MUCC for putting on the show each year.  The biggest highlight of the show for me every year is the Deering's Jerky booth.  This place has in my opinion the best jerky on the planet and I consider myself a jerky snob. To my amazement this year they had Corned Beef Jerky.  Oly Wah this stuff is amazing. Who would have thought my favorite deli meat and jerky all in one!! I also picked myself some of their Cherry, Garlic and some Chicken Jerky for my wife. She would have killed me if I didn't get her the Chicken Jerky. They do ship their jerky anywhere so order some up.  You won't be disappointed.

Once home I had to check some of the forums I had posted on.  On the Flyfisherman.com board I had asked a question about everybodys favorite searching pattern.  One of the posters had said the Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle was their favorite. Since I plan on fishing a lot of soft hackles this summer I though why not tie up a few. Back goes in the Grateful Dead's Dick's Picks #24 again and off I go.

Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle

Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle

Hook: Mustad 3906B #12-16

Thread: Uni 8/0 Brown

Body: Pheasant Tail

Rib: Fine Gold Wire

Thorax: Peacock Herl

Hackle: Hungarian Partridge

Dead on With The Pheasant Tail

When I was wondering around the Flyfisherman.com Fly Tying Board earlier I ran across a posting about someone trying to tie a Pheasant Tail Nymph in under 2 minutes.  Here is a video of somebody actually doing it.  Talk about efficiency. So how close could I come? So I pulled out some Grateful Dead, Dick's Picks Number 24 to be precise, for some creative inspiration. What a great show! I envy my fellow Heads that were there that night. I played most of my favorite Dead songs that night and Donna Jean was on but not over the top. I have seen the Dead several times and they always put on a great show.

So can I do the two minute Pheasant Tail Nymph?  I tied up a few for practice and gave myself one shot and one shot only.  Materials are at the ready hook in vise and thread in hand. Start the stop watch and off I go.  Things go pretty smoothly and I'm not rushing just tying quickly. OOPs fumbled picking up the whip finisher. There done, stop watch stopped...  How did I do?  Not under two minutes but a very respectable 2:40.  Not to shabby if I say so myself. Well that was a fun little experiment.  I may have to try again someday to see if I can do better.

Pheasant Tail Nymph

Hook: Mustad 3906 #12-20

Thread: Uni 8/0 Brown

Tail: Pheasant Tail

Body: Pheasant Tail from Tail

Rib: Fine Gold Wire

Wing Case: Pheasant Tail From Body

Legs: Pheasant Tail from Wing Case

Old Friends and New Technology

Today I took a day away from the vise to spend some time on the web and checking out all the fly fishing forums I used to visit.  While it seems like it has been a VERY long time since I have been on these sites, it is nice to see old friends still posting away.  It has been fun catching up with my old cyber friends again.  There are several good sites out there dealing with fly fishing and fly tying. Here is a list of some sites I really like:

http://flyanglersonline.com/
http://flyfisherman.com/
http://flytyingforum.com/
http://www.Michigan-sportsman.com/forum/

There are several more regional boards out there. Find a site that is specific to your area and you will find a wealth of information. 

Speaking of technology, a great addition to you tying room would be a small tablet PC like the Kindle Fire. While the iPad may be the big name in the tablet word not everybody needs to spend the money just to have the Apple name. The Kindle's 7" screen is perfect for the bench.  Books are nice but take up too much room in my opinion. Just imagine having a small screen that shows the fly and the pattern for you to look at while tying.  Now if someone would write a nice app for the Kindle and BlackBerry Playbook I would be very happy. Until then looking up the information on the internet is working just fine.

Gartside Sparrow and Son Volt

In the mood to tie something different today.  Lately all I have been tying is flies I will be using for Brooks, Browns and Rainbows.  But what about the Steelies and the Salmon runs we get here in MI?  It got me to thinking about some of the fun we used to have on the Pere Marquette river.  It seems that every fish I ever hooked was on the Gartside Sparrow.  A nice simple straight forward fly that catches fish.  I don't care if they think it is a nymph of a small bait fish, it simply works for me.

While I'm in the mood to tie something different how about a little different music?  Well I have been listening to a lot of Wilco lately but what about the other band that split off of Uncle Tupelo? If you have to ask the other band is Son Volt.  I'm not sure which band I like better.  I guess it depends if I am in the mood for a little Alt Country or some Mid-Tempo Rock.  Either way both bands are fantastic.  Tonight I felt like listening to Son Volt's Trace. In my opinion their best album hands down.  I find myself singing out loud throughout the album. Especially when "Tear Stained Eye" is on.  I just had to go back and play it again while typing this. What an amazing song!!

Well back to the tying. The Gartside Sparrow can be tied in any number of colors depending on you preference. First you will find the aftershaft feather needed for the head behind the pheasant rump feather needed for the collar.  Be careful when wrapping the aftershaft feather.  Believe me it it real easy to break this fragile feather.  Aside from that this is a very easy straight forward fly to tie.

Gartside Sparrow

Gartside Sparrow

Hook: Mustad 9671 #4-14

Thread: Uni 8/0 Color to match body of they fly

Tail: Marabou tied short approximately 1/4 of the shank length

Body: Rabbit and Antron Blend

Hackle: Pheasant rump hackle tied in as a collar, to extend at least to the tip of the tail.

Head: Pheasant aftershaft feather(s) wound around shank just in front of collar.

Hendrickson Spinners with Ben Harper

While I still had out A.K.'s Fly Box I was flipping through the pages I stopped and at the section on Wound-Hackle Spinner Wings.  I had always seen these in the fly shops when I was up fishing but never actually tied any myself.  They had always caught my attention because they looked like a very effective spinner wing.  I guess now is as good of time as any to start tying them. Tying something new required something a little different than I had been listening to lately.  Some Ben Harper would fit the bill perfectly and what better album then Diamonds on the Inside.  The first time I heard the title song I was hooked.  Funk, Blues, Reggae and a little Rock all on one album. I guess I am showing my age when I call them albums.  My kids call them CDs and I'm sure my grand kid will not know what either one is.  It's a shame the new generation will not know the joys of listening to an album like Exile on Main Street of Dark Side of the Moon...  But I digress. Back to the topic at hand.

The wound-hackle spinner wings proved to be a little easier to tie that I had imagined.  At first it was a challenge to get the wings to be even on both sides but once I took my time it was simple. Basically I pinched one side while doing my figure eight and once they were separated I did a quick wrap of thread around the wing on each side. I will be tying all but the smallest and of course the Hex's this way from now on. 

Hendrickson Female Spinner

Hendrickson Female Spinner

Hook: Mustad 94840 #12-14

Thread: Uni 8/0 Tan

Tail: Dun Hackle Fibers

Egg Sack: Yellow Dubbing

Body: Hendrickson Pink Dubbing

Wing: Grizzly Hackle Hackle Wound Then Separated to Form Spent Wings

Thorax: Hendrickson Pink Dubbing

Drums on the St Vrain... Well Sort Of

My has done some extensive family tree research and according to him our family in the US is descended from a Prussian soldier that fought during the American Revolution.  He has not mentioned anything about any Irish or Scottish heritage.  As much as I like listening to Pipes and Drums there has to be some in there someplace.  There just has to be. A friend of mine introduced me to the very cool "alternative" pipes and drums group Tartanic.  Their live album Unleashed is fantastic.  It really gets my blood pumping. Even better it was recorded live in Livonia, MI not far from me.  I had to laugh when I caught myself stacking elk hear to the beat. It's a good thing I put down a piece of foam on the desk. I could have easily put more than a few dents in the desk.

Earlier I was flipping through A.K.'s Fly Box and decided to tied up some of his St Vrain Caddis.  I have fished this fly a few times and it is a great pattern especially on quicker water. If you haven't tried fishing this pattern you should.

Tan St Vrain Caddis

St Vrain Caddis

Hook: Mustad 94840 #14-16

Thread: Uni 8/0 Tan

Body: Tan Very Fine Dry Fly Dubbing
Wing: Elk Hair Length to extend past hook bend by half hook-gap distance. Wing should be sparse
Hackle: Brown

Organizational Skills

I just spent over four hours organizing the tying room/closet. Oly Wha what a task! (There goes the Yooper in me again) I think I needed better organizational skills before.  I mean seriously, do I really need six spools of white thread? What was I thinking? I only use white thread to tie flies for one hatch. Tan is just as bad but at least I use tan thread more often. If the thread wasn't bad enough, I think I have enough Microfibetts to supply even the biggest production tyer for a lifetime.

I wish the closet was big enough for me to take pictures of my hard work. Let's just say that peg board is a wonderful organizational tool. If you think about it all the tying materials we buy are on peg board in the fly shop. Why not do the same thing at home? The best addition in my opinion if the thread holder. I was about to pick one up at Joann's when I was there earlier however I'm glad I didn't. Walmart has the same thread organizer for half the price. Hopefully all this hard work makes my life easier in the future. If not I guess I will have to try again.

Wilco and the Spiders. March Brown Spider That Is.

Have you ever run across one of those albums that just really gets you going?  A couple weeks ago I ran across Wilco's Kicking Televison, Live in Chicago while playing on Spotify.  What a fantastic album! From beginning to end this album never disappoints. I really need to see them live. I have been a Wilco fan for a while and I cannot believe I missed there show here in Detroit last month. Oh well hopefully they will be back soon. Last night I planned on tying up some more soft hackles and ran across the pattern for the March Brown Spider and instantly I thought of this album. Of course I don't own it so I had to make room in the closet for my laptop so I can listen to Spotify just to listen to this album. I am so glad I did. I have to get this album. As a matter of fact I am listening to Spiders as I write this.

Well on to the March Brown Spider.  From what I have read this is a great searching pattern that imitates several different mayfly species. I know several spots where I think this fly will come in very handy this year.  There is one spot on the South Branch of the Au Sable that I have tied into a very large brown several times but was never able to land him.  While I know time has passed and he is long gone but this spot should always hold a large fish. A deep hole with an undercut bank and a tangle of old logs.  It couldn't be a better spot. Every time I tied into a fish there it was always on a sunken fly so this should do the trick. I just have to remember to use a heavier tippet this time.

March Brown Spider

March Brown Spider

Hook: Mustad 3906 #12-14

Thread: Uni 8/0 Orange

Hackle: Brown Partridge

Rib: Oval Gold Tinsel

Body: Hare's Mask Fur

More Soft Hackles

Well I took a couple days away from the vise. Time to get back at it in full force. I don't know if it laziness or if I wanted to keep listening to some live Crowes but I kept Freak 'n Roll in the CD player.  I think I will pick up the DVD also.  If it is half as good as the CD I know I won't be disappointed. 

I ended up tying a bunch more soft hackles.  Especially the Partridge and Green and the Partridge and Yellow.  I figure these will come in handy during the Sulfur and BWO hatches.  I am predicting at least one large brown on the Partridge and Green. Hopefully more than one.

Partridge and Green

Partridge and Yellow

Partridge and Green

Hook: Mustad 3906 #14

Thread: Uni 8/0 Olive

Body: Green Floss

Thorax: Hare's Ear Dubbing

Hackle: Gray Partridge

Partridge and Yellow

Hook: Mustad 3906 #14

Thread: Uni 8/0 Yellow

Body: Yellow Floss

Thorax: Hare's Ear Dubbing

Hackle: Gray Partridge



Partridge and Orange

Another beautiful day here in Michigan. Although I would prefer a little snow on the ground. What is winter without a little snow.  Hopefully I will be able to hit the slopes here soon.  Skiing on man made snow is nowhere near as nice as natural snow. More than likely I will have to take a trip north to get a few runs in.

For some reason I have really been getting into The Black Crowes lately.  I have always been a big fan of their music. Lately though I have been more and more impressed with their music.  After listening to their Freak 'N Roll...Into the Fog over and over again I hoping they tour this summer and hit DTE. Fingers crossed.

Tonight I was in the mood to tie up a few soft hackles.  I have never really fished them however I have always like tying them. To me they are a very elegant looking fly. I will try fishing them this year. We will see how it goes.

Partridge and Orange

Partridge and Orange (also known as Grouse and Orange)

Hook: Mustad 3906 #10-14

Thread: Uni 8/0 Orange

Body: Orange Floss or Silk

Throax: Hares Ear Dubbing

Hackle: Partridge Hackle

I will post more soft hackle flys in the coming days.