Bryon Anderson

Thanks! Yep, the handles on the first two are spalted Maple. (The greenish light is just poor lighting in the shop lol). African Teak for the hoops on those. The second one has a Maple burl handle, with a hoop of curly Maple, Cherry, and Niove.

Well, after a good year at my new property, I finally have my shop up and running and I am building nets again -- thought I'd share some pics of the 2023 crop so far. I'm very happy to be back in the shop - I'm planning on doing more fly tying travel cases, tool caddies, etc.

On their way - should be there on the 13th.

Thanks ChugBug -- I like the sound of this. I'm starting to see that a big part of the problem here is lack of advance planning on my part. Things have clearly changed in the world of mail and shipping; I need to catch up and adapt. Thanks for the tip.

Thanks to the fine folks at the USPS, I will be sending my flies without an SASE. SM please feel free to disperse my fly set amongst the others or however you feel is best. It makes me really sad to say this, but I doubt I will be participating in The swaps going forward; the USPS has made it just too much of a PITA. DarrellP thanks for hosting!

Wiggle stonefly nymphs will be mailed out tomorrow.

Aw, man...that was my go-to for hooks, beads, cones, eyes...thanks for the heads-up Flytire.

Steve you guys on the east side of the state seem to be getting all the snow this year -- we had only one snowfall that could be called Lake Effect, and that didn't even crack 10" here in Whitehall. Not that I'm complaining. Looking forward to spring over here, too.

I think I've tried every different type of product made to solve this particular problem. Cocoons makes the most comfortable fit-overs onthr the market, IF they fit snugly over your eyeglasses. Philly's suggestion of taking your current pair of Cocoons along when you pick out eyeglass frames is an excellent idea. The downside of the fit-overs--at least for me--is that they don't offer a wide range of sizes. If the smaller ones are not big enough to fit over your eyeglasses, chances are the next size up is going to be way too large. If clip-ons aren't your thing, then I would agree with the others who have recommended biting the bullet and getting prescription polarized sunglasses. One word of caution with those -- if your prescription lenses are the progressive multi-focal type, you won't want your Rx sunglass lenses to have much of a curve to them. My first pair of Rx sunglasses were wrap-around style, and I found that this distorted my vision through the progressive lens. My current Rx sunglass lenses are almost flat, and my vision through them is very clear. I use opaque side shields that slide on to the bows when I'm on the water. Best of luck in your search.

In his book Production Fly Tying, A.K. Best recommended that the vise be mounted at a height that allowed the tyer's forearms to be at no more than 20 degrees above parallel (with the floor/desktop) when tying. I've tried to hold to that recommendation ever since I read that, and have found that it does reduce fatigue in my arms and shoulders. I use a Peak rotary mounted to my desk with a C-clamp. When I am seated, the head of the vise is about at the level of my sternum. This does have me looking down at the fly, but, like Mikechell mentioned, I am looking through the bottom portion of my progressive eyeglass lenses, and this keeps my head level enough that I don't get neck cramps. If I need to see the side of the fly, I just rotate the vise.

I'm in with a wiggle Stonefly nymph

I'd do some of each. If you're getting short strikes, switch to the rear-hook ones.

Very fine set of flies arrived here last Friday - sorry I'm late in acknowledging. Thanks Kim for hosting a fun swap (and for the extra goodies).

Thanks vicrider!

Good to know Mike, thanks! This was just the best price I'd ever come across on them, so I thought I'd pass it along. 🙂

Great deal right now on double edge razor blades on Amazon "Black Friday Deals". 50 blades for $8, vs 10 blades for $5-10 elsewhere. Get 'em while they're hot! 🙂

For streamers and bass bugs -- which is easily 75% of what I tie -- I like the Gamakatsu B10S for bigger bugs, Clousers, and the front portions of articulated streamers. For single-hook streamers and buggers I use Daiichi 2461 when I can get them. (I like the straight eye and the black finish.) When I can't get the Daiichis, I usually default to Wholesale Fly Co. All of my dries, wets, and nymphs are tied on various Wholesale Fly Co. hooks. I always think of an ad that used to run in the fly fishing magazines (remember those?) I think it was a Tiemco ad; in any case, it showed a rigged fly rod, complete with leader and fly, and it had labels with little arrows pointing to different parts of the rig, with prices ("Fly Rod -- $500, Fly Reel, $300, Fly line, $100, etc.) The one by the fly said "Hook: $0.25." Below the picture was a single line: "Which part catches the fish?" That stuck with me.

My wife and some friends wanted a week in the mountains, so they got us a very nice rental house in Maggie Valley, NC - that's about 45 min. east/northeast of Bryson City. I got out fishing twice; once on the Tuckaseegee ("Tuck") and once on the upper Nantahala. I fished the delayed harvest sections in both rivers. The Tuck was a little "underwhelming" -- I had trouble finding an access that wasn't right next to a busy highway and/or already being fished by 5-10 other anglers. I did manage one little smallmouth bass to the net, and I saw several trout rising that I couldn't interest in even the smallest dries I had (#20 BWOs). The Nantahala was a significantly more rewarding experience. The section I fished (off Wayah Road in the delayed harvest section) was absolutely gorgeous, and I had better luck there. The rainbows would hit a small dry (#18 ParaWulff) on a decent drift between pockets. After I got the hang of walking on the slippery rocks (Note to Self: buy metal tractor-cleat things for wading boots) and spotting the bigger fish, I found a deep pool in which there were three nice browns. Each of them cruised over once to inspect one of the flies I ran through there, but nobody bit, alas. I probably fished over those browns for the last hour I was there. It was frustrating but in the best way -- the time flew by and next I knew it was time to head back. I did ask the guys at the fly shop about getting a ferry ride from Fontana Marina over to the mouth of Hazel Creek, but they told me that I shouldn't try fishing those areas by myself, especially since I'd never fished in the area before and didn't have at least a full day to commit to the venture. Good to know for next time, and I will go back. Thanks to everyone here who offered your advice on the fishing in western NC -- it definitely came in handy! Cheers, Bryon

Thanks DrLogik, that sounds awesome! As it happens, the place we're staying is actually right outside Bryson City, so the waters you mentioned will be on my list.

Nice tie! The Gray Drake is one of the first "big fish" hatches here in Michigan.. (There's even a fishing lodge on the Muskegon named for them.) We pretty much just fish spinner patterns, as the conventional wisdom here is that there isn't really a dun emergence to speak of; the duns apparently just crawl out onto the bank (kind of like stoneflies) and into the bushes. The spinner fall is what gets the fish looking up. That being said, it occurs to me that they probably look a lot like your winged wet pattern when they're getting to the bank, and I bet that pattern would fish well as a spinner, too. This one will go into my "New patterns to try next year" folder.

Thanks to everyone who replied! It looks like I will definitely be taking the waders and a couple of rods along on our trip. Trout fishing in November, woohoo!

Has anyone here ever tried Euro Nymphing for Steelhead -- specifically in Michigan Great Lakes tribs? I am very curious about this technique and would like to learn it. I believe I have a good rod for it (a beautiful 10' 7 wt. from our own Steeldrifter/Midwest Custom Fly Rods ), now I just need someone that can show me how it's done. If anyone here could recommend a good guide service in Michigan with experience in the method--or if there are any Michigan folks here who know the method and might be willing to do a "teaching day" with me (I'm willing to pay), I'd be most interested and appreciative. Thanks - Bryon

Thanks guys -- Noahguide our rental is actually a little west of Asheville, so the Nantahala should be in decent drive-to range, but I will give the Pigeon a look as well! Thanks for the Google pin. We are driving down, so I will have the capacity to bring several rods and assorted gear. I'm thinking I will bring my 8'6" 5 wt. glass and a 9' 5-6 in case I need to throw some small streamers or something. "