Gene L

Buy a hackle gauge. Theyre cheap mount to the vise, and they work.

March Brown Thread 8/0 Tan Hook: dry Fly Tail: barred medium ginger Body: Hairline March Brown Wing: Wood duck flank Hackle: barred medium ginger

The Sally Hanson "Salon" stuff comes in a square bottle. I don't know if it's the same stuff, but it works well. And I cut the brush off to a convenient size. As is, the bristles are too long.

I tie on a true rotary vise, but don't always use the full rotary function. Still, it's a hook-gripping mother, and I've never had reason to dislike it. I recently bought a Anvil Apex (a non-rotary vise, but a "rotating" vise) and it's fine, but I just got it because most of us need a second vise and I wanted to see if the rotary ability made a difference. It does, but I could do without it if I had to.

The "PAT AP. FO" indicates it was invented by Al Sharpton.

An airtight container is great, like the Tupperwear containers. I use mothballs...you can get them cedar scented if you want. There isn't any home remedies for protection that stand up to mothballs, and moths being your primary enemy it keeps them away. It also keep the butt smell away from bucktails.

I've got an Anvil Apex. A good vise. I wouldn't reccomend it for those without a fairly strong grip, as it takes some pressure to get the hook to set. I love it, it's a backup and very secure with excellent customer support.

You can if you whip finish behind the eye of the hook. BUt I wrote that I whip finishing the hackle ON THE POST and not at the eye of the hook. This prevents the trapped hackle when you whip finish around the hook shank. It is very difficult to whip fishing around the post by hand without removing the fly and remounting it so that the tail is up and the post faces forward like the hook eye normally would. It is easy of you use a whip fishing tool. I don't find it so. I just horizontally whip finish the fly in the vise, around the post, by hand. I can't get the tool to work for me, but have seen others that do. I don't whip finish around the eye, as it traps hackle.

Here's a review published by Hans Weilenmann. This part metal, part Delrin vise has proven reliable and durable. It has some impressive features: true-rotary cam operated design, quality steel jaws capable of securely holding hooks from #2/0 down to the smallest the tier can handle, optional saltwater jaws for hooks up to #9/0 ($32), rear handle crank, and a flexible C-clamp that can handle tabletops up to 61/2". While the Dan-vise is compact, the Delrin components are somewhat bulky. The crank rotates the jaws smoothly but is noisy. The stem has a diameter of 10 mm. erdict. The Dan-vise is a terrific value and a very sound tying tool. A vise mostly made out of Delrin may put some tiers off, but it is the vise to beat in the sub-$100 class. HW

I can whip finish a parachute better by hand than with a tool. This is a testiment of my nerdiness and inability to work the Matarelli in the horizontal mode. I probably could learn if I wanted to.

I've read the book more than once. In the modern English version. As a fishing book, it's not related very much to fly fishing, just a chapter or so written by a Mr. Cotton, IIRC. Dame Juliana Berners, about 100 years earlier, wrote "A Treatise on Fishing with an Angle" which has more on fly fishing and tackle building and the same twelve flies in it as The Compleat Angler. This was back when they used 13-15' rods and line about the same length. Wet flies exclusively, and the patterns are so vague I don't think they can be duplicated today. Her book is available on-line and in the modern version, is pretty readable and more of a technical book, whereas Walton's book was philosophy, songs, and poetry with just a little bit of fishing.

Your mom had a stil??? Cool.

A whip finish makes a nicer looking head than a double half hitch. With head cement, it's unlikely that the half hitch will come loose, but I almost never half-hitch for a finished head. A Materetti tool is a valuable aid for a beginner, and I think easier to use it to place the knot, but on larger flies I use the two finger finish much of the time. If the OP is referring to that English guy who does a double half hitch, he's slower than even picking up a tool and finishing the head. Plus, three of these doubles means a big knot of thread, and that won't do with small flies.

Well, with these ringing endorsements, maybe I'll try the Petijean bobbin. I've got several bobbins already, but one more can't hurt.

The bobbins with the ceramic tubes work for me. No, I don't think the Petijean bobbins are worth the cost. I think all the Petijean products are over-priced, wildly so. The ones with the ceramic inserts (not ceramic tubes) are good, but harder to load without a bobbin threader.

I sharpen mine. No way you're going to get a razor edge nor is one wanted. That would defeat the purpose of scissors by reducing the bevel. What you want is an edge that will shear, not a edge that will shave. I use a finish file on mine, or a half round diamong hone, and hit them three or four strokes on each blade. This is generally all you need and leaves a rough edge that cuts thread and whatever you're going to cut with scissors. If that scares you, take a permanant marker and paint the bevel edges then file the marks off. Or stone it off, whatever.

Back when they used horsehair for lines and leaders, "clear" white hair was considered superior to dark hair as it was round according to "The Compleat Angler." Which assumes other tail hair wasn't, I suppose. But none of the flys mentioned in that book used horsehair. White could also be dyed. I've never tried it but don't see why it couldn't be used for ribbing, or even for bodies on nymphs. It would be interesting to try some.

I wouldn't say it's common, but McPhail uses it a lot. Lead wire is I think more common over here, and you can get it in different thicknesses. The flat lead is known variously as "Zonker Tape," I believe. It's used to shape a zonker body, but will work for other lead appliacations as well. You just cut it to the needed size with scissors.

I started out with a kit, and the only thing I have left out of that kit is a hair stacker. Kits, IMO, are made up of the cheapest materials and are no bargain. I'd avoid them unless I got a chance to examine them. You can always do better by purchasing tools and materials separately, and not in a kit form.

Sorry for the newbie question, but why do you need an UV light for tying?

I would add that in additional to wood duck wing, the hackle is 1.5 times the gape, and tied rather sparsely. Two turns in back, two in front. And according to an article in Fly Tyer about 10 years ago, a slight amount of the hook is visible (about the thickness of the hook shaft) from the head to the hook eye. At any rate, the fly isn't tied all the way up to the hook eye. Why, I don't know. That's the classical tie, as I remember it. In faster water, you'd want to hackle more, of course. I might add these flys were tied to imitate the insects in the Catskill region of NY, and your mileage may vary a great deal.

Good looking workbench!

I use nylon or poly thread, sometimes silk. But I see no real reason (not that one is needed) to use all-natural materials. Modern materials are superior, and I'm speaking specifically to thread here. Silk is pretty huge in relation to poly. It's like a cable. You can tie smaller flies with man-made materials, but I admit to having a soft spot for using many naturals. When possible.

My apologizies. It IS redder than it should be. Try this one, shot in natural light.

They're gray at a distance, but the fur is mostly bronze tipped, gray figuring into it. Up close, they've got a lot of various color to them. The tail is gray, but the central fur is brown, black, and bronze (and yes, gray.)