Isonychia

Back when I first posted to this thread, I used a Dyna-King Barracuda. I have since switched to a LAW. I was fortunate to get one of the last ones before Mr. Waldron got out of the vise-making business. I'll have to admit that I'm a bit of a vise junkie. I still have every vise I've ever owned -- a Thompson A, a fixed-head Regal, a rotary Regal, the Dyna-King and the LAW. John

A famous Scottish salmon fly, the Garry, was tied using fur from the local parson's Golden Retriever. Garry was the dog's name. John

Hi, Will... Nice design! I'd like one in Black and one in Navy. Both size XXL. Thanks! John

Twenty years ago, I'd have said I'd give up tying. Now it's just the opposite. Ongoing back-pain problems have made fishing very, very difficult. In the last two years, I've fished a grand total of three hours. Fly tying "keeps my hand in the pastime," so to speak. John

Gee, it's been a while since I checked in here.... My basic kit is a Nikon D90 (Nikon D2H as backup), 17-35 mm f/2.8 Nikkor zoom, 105 mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor, 35-70 f/2.8 Tokina zoom, and an 80-400 Nikkor f/5.6 IS zoom. Also a lot of gadgets and gewgaws, including two SB-800 Speedlights and an R1C1 Macro Flash Kit. John

Congratulations, Al! You'll love the CMOS sensor; it makes low-light shooting at least 10 times easier. The color-balance algorithms in this generation of Nikon are vastly superior to those in earlier models, too. Enjoy! John

Just scored a box of Thin Mints from the daughter of a co-worker. I'm usually good for at least three boxes, but this year the doctor tells me I'm about two Samoas away from Type II diabetes. So I'll just graze on these two or three cookies at a time instead of inhaling a whole sleeve at once. :innocent: John

Dang, Jeff, that's a beautiful setup! I'm envious -- and I have a custom TV Tyr and a wall full of shelving to hold my materials! John

Mrs. Claus was good to me, too -- an Oasis laptop bench, a Dyna-King vise light, a pair of Anvil taperizer scissors, a Whiting hackle gauge, a pair of Whiting hen necks and some white-tipped turkey feathers. John

Full-time outdoors writer for a local newspaper, and a free-lance writer/photographer for hunting- and fishing-related magazines. John

Most excellent, Dave! Informative tutorials, well photographed and nicely designed. A "must-bookmark" for sure. John P.S. The subliminal vegetable images make me think you're in cahoots with Jamie Oliver, who has spent the last couple of months in my hometown (a.k.a. "America's Fattest City") teaching us poor overweight hillbillies how to eat properly.

I have a Nikon D90 as my primary camera, with a Nikon D2H and a Nikon D100 as backups. I carry a Canon S70 point-and-shoot in my fishing vest. John

Holy cow! http://blogs.wvgazette.com/johnmccoy/2009/...d-record-brown/ John

That's a beauty, Carl! Simple, but deadly effective. :thumbup: John

Nice lookin' Watson's Fancy! If I may offer a couple of suggestions: 1.) Lengthen the tail. When you hold the tailing fibers over the hook shank to measure them, they should reach from the point immediately behind the hook eye all the way to the apex of the hook bend. 2.) Lengthen the wing a little, too. As TroutBum pointed out, the wing should extend to the midpoint of the tail. 3.) Make the throat a little fuller. Using hen hackle or schlappen helps here. Cock hackle fibers just don't have enough bulk. You've already addressed the other two issues -- the uneven floss (although the red-black junction was nicely executed) and the third rib not crossing over the midpoint of the floss junction. You're off to a terrific start. Look forward to seeing more of your stuff! John

We sure have missed you, C! This thread hasn't been the same without you. We're happy to hear that you're out of the hospital, and we hope you recover fully and quickly. All the best, John

I'm with Trout Bum. Post that puppy over on the Classic Streamer and Wet Fly section of the Classic Fly Tying Forum. That's outstanding for a first attempt; doubly so because you managed to tame the peacock sword pretty nicely. The Alexandra looks easy to tie, but it isn't. You're off to a terrific start. John

Hey BDH, Next time you hit the Elk, look up Dave Britmeier at the Elk Springs Fly Shop. Dave is the high priest of the Elk's small-fly cult. I once watched him take 10 fish in less than an hour from the heavily fished Trestle Hole, every one of them on flies size 28 and smaller. John

I'm posting this link because almost all of us on this forum are fly fishermen; a careless backcast in the wrong place could put us in a world of hurt. http://blogs.wvgazette.com/johnmccoy/2009/...-suffers-shock/ Let's be careful out there. John

At a recent American Casting Association event in Toronto, Rajeff broke his own one-hand distance-casting record with a gargantuan 243-foot heave. It broke his previous record -- set 23 years ago and believed by many to be unbreakable -- by seven feet. My blog has a link to the ACA website and the contest results: http://blogs.wvgazette.com/johnmccoy/2009/...s-world-record/ John

Flies received, and they are FABULOUS!!!! Thanks, Fred, for hosting the swap -- and thanks, everyone, for such beautiful work! John

<blush> You guys are too kind. Fred, the flies went out with this morning's mail. You should get them in a couple of days. John

These are Heckham Reds, a pattern from Bergman's Trout. John

Flies are done. As soon as I can get them toe-tagged and bagged and ready for mailing, they're outta here! Lookin' forward to seeing everyone else's flies!!!! John

While walking from my hotel to a "welcome dinner" at a nearby museum in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., I spotted this heron standing on a rock smack in the middle of the Grand River. Fortunately I was carrying my camera bag, and a riverside boardwalk allowed me to get within range. This was taken with a Nikon D90 and a Nikkor 80-400 IS lens. The reddish tones reflected in the water are the brick facades of riverside buildings. John