morfrost

Since you indicate that you have a quantity of these hare's feet, why not try dyeing just one or two. This should give you some feedback on how it affects the hair, with respect to changing the properties that make a Usual, the "Usual", and you'll learn something about dyeing hair for fly tying. Although another member joking replied to seek out a foodstuff which stains your tee shirt to a desired colour, using this on hair will generally produce different results on hair fibres versus fabric fibres. even natural ones. Hair is a protein fibre and cotton is a vegetable fibre with a cellulose type base. Acid dyes are the most popular types of dye used on protein fibres, although there are other types which will work. Acid dyes are simple to use and very safe. They set the dye into the fibre using an acid, like acetic acid ( vinegar). Onions skins, beets and other natural materials will dye many things. Do some research. If you want to purchase some dyestuffs, I would suggest you google " Jacquard Dyes" and this should lead you to a source of not very expensive dyes with which to experiment. You may wish to experiment with Kool Aid. Try googling " Dyeing with Kool Aid". On small batches of hair, one or two packs are all you need. There's lots of info around on doing this. Be careful in your kitchen or your wife might get PO'd at you if you make a mess, unless you have an old slop sink area in the basement to make wine, beer and other man-messes. PS:- RIT dye is not particularly reactive with animal hairs, tending to produce dull colours, at least in the limited amount of stuff I've tried dyed using it. It works real well with natural vegetable fibres such as cotton. Let us know how you make out with this.

I contacted Hugh in late summer to see if he had any hackle and maybe get some saddles. He emailed me back saying he had sold his hackle operation and would forward my email to the new owner. I haven't heard from them as of this writing. I've been too busy to follow up on this. I see that the link is not up at FTD anymore. That's too bad, because they were pretty good hakle for the price, and real useful for what I mainly tie.

Go for it, man! Fight back against those using our good fly tying saddles to adorn the hairstyles of the easily persuaded. Use the lesser quality( for flies ) hackles and go to town. Use high quality earring findings; i.e. sterling silver , gold plated or stainless, so you are producing a top notch product. Save the best hackles for your prize flies. Seriously, I do the same thing, except I tie wet fly patterns from the Bergman TROUT book (colour plates) using Alex Jackson silver and gold salmon hooks, size 7 & 9. I epoxy glass beads over the hook points to cover them and sell them at my local market along with my trout and salmon flies. The ladies like 'em. I only have 1 each of a particular pattern on display to emphasize the "uniqueness" of these earrings. There's over 100 such patterns in Bergman's book, TROUT so that's easy to do. I get $ 15.00/pr.

Had a quick look at your article. Truly exceptional. I will be doing some of these this winter.

I can't getr this to download. All I get is a bunch of invitations to download " Fast Download Manager",.etc, then no link to any download. I guess I know how to read, but forgot how to comprehend. I finally figured this out and am downloading now. Can't hardly wait to read your information. Thanx for posting

Why don't you try spraying the Sally Hansen finished fly with a sparay lacquer or spray polyurethane finish to encapsulate the odour? I know what you mean about the smell from the SH nail polish, but I don't seem to notice it after I've left the flies out for a few days. The spray lacquer should keep it in.

Here's how you can do it yourself. If you saw the rod tip square where the blank is sound with the finest blade you can find, i.e a coping saw or a fret saw if you have access to one, the blank should end up with a very smooth cut. Sand the end with a fine sandpaper , 120 grit or so to make sure you hasve a nice edge. Try to remove as little of the original tip section as you can. If you have a rod tip sizer tool or a machinists sliding caliper , you can measure the diameter of the end. You can get one from J Stockard or another supplier of rod building material.The tip top is measured in mm ( millimeters) If you use a machinist's caliper, convert to mm. Order the appropriate tip top from J Stockard or your local shop. Order some thermal rod tip cement. If you can't do this, take the cut tip section to a shop that sells fly rod components, get them to measure it and buy the appropriate tip top and cement. Get some size A nylon rod thread to match your winding colours and accent colours as appropriate. Get some colour preserver ( CP) and rod finish too ( 2 part rod finish). Lightly Sand the area under the tip top with extra fine sandpaper ( 220 grit to dull the finish and give the blkank some "tooth" for the glue. Heat the thermal glue stick with a match or lighter, dab a small ball of glue on the end of the rod and push on the tip top, lining it up with your guides. Pushing the tip on will forcre the glue down the blank. If there's excess, let it cool. You can then chip it off with a fingernail. You may have to reheat the tip top if it set before you got it lined up correctly, but that's no big deal. Use pliers to reallign the hot tip top, and work quickly. Reheating it to soften the glue will make the tip top hot enough to burn you. I've done that a few times. Winding the threead is simple too. You can cheeck out the rod building section on this site or google " winding guides on fly rods" to get instruction on how to do this, or borrow a book from your library on rod building. Finish by brushing on the CP, let it dry and apply the finish. I think we all will break a rod tip now and again. I've done it several times. The rod tip sizer tool, colour preserver and 2 part finish is handy and it only codsts a couple of $. Who knows, this may ignite an unknown spark in you and you mayu build your own rod somewday.

Don't get a new vise. Get hold of Al Beatty"; Google "Al & Gretchen Beatty". He's the North Americal Distributor for Danvise and will replace the jaws for $20.00

TYERS OF THE WORLD UNITE! (Oops, I think we already are) Brothers, let us band together to stop the insanity! I propose we all go to Michael's or some other craft supply house, buy some finding and tie Bergman Wet flies on Alan Jackson No 9 Plated Salmon Hooks, mount them to the findings and sell them to the "Fashionista Featherheads" at $ 50 a pair. Women ( and Steven Tyler) will wild go over them. There are over 100 such patterns, so we have practically an endless inventory of stylkes. Women look at earrings in the same way they look at shoes. Have you ever seen a woman with only one pair of shoes? This will drop the market out of the feater hairweave businee and we'll get our feathers back. Besides that we will have accumulated enough in our collective stashes that we'll take that dream trip to " ______ Fill in the Blank_____ " . Don ( morfrost)

Tie up some Humpies with an Orange body, or maybe Yellow. I use Phentex yarn for the body on these Humpies. I also have some light Green Phentex yarn that I will use as well this summer for Salmon. I have had some success in the past with a Wulff pattern using a Highlander Green Seal fur dubbed body. The Humpy has the same type of "buggy" l;ook that the Wulff fly does, at least to my eye. I would tie the Wulffs on a Wilson Dry Fly hook. I think I will try the Salmon Humpy on a #6 or #8 Dry Fly Hook, like a Mustad # 94840 hook. I think my green is too light, but you never know. PS Phentex used to hsve a great Green coloured yarn, about the same colour as Highlander Green. I think they discontinued this colour, since I can't seem to find it. Warren Duncan used to tie " Green Machines" with this stuff. I'd love to get some if anyone has some and can spare a little.

I'd like to get in on this too. About 40 years ago, in 1972 or '73, I was fishing the opening of the season for walleye at Pigeon Lake in the Kawartha region in Ontario, Canada. This would be mid April, and I thought I had snagged on something when I felt some resistance on a retrieve. At that time I wasn't fly fishing, so this was using a minnow as bait. When I tried to free myself, the line moved, but very slowly. I thought I might have snagged up on a sunken tree branch, or maybe the proverbial old boot. Retrieving slowly, I got the snag to the boat, only to find a big old muskie on the end of the line. I'd never hooked one before; actually I'd never even gone after them. One of the guys in the boat got the net, but instead of allowing the fish to swim into it,he scooped it up across the bows of the net and lifted ir clear of the water. This thing was about 42" or so long ( my memory may have allowed it to grow some), but the net had a wide mouth and there was fish hanging out over each side. At that point the fish flexed itself, breaking free of its restraint and escaped back from whence it came. It was so sluggish in the cold water, that I could not tell it was a fish until I actually could see it, and it displayed no fight whatsoever. Shortly after that I relocated to the east coast of Canada, and have remained there ever since. Since then I have taken up fly fishing and fly tying, and now I fish mainly for Atlantic Salmon, landlocka and some bass and pickerel. Although there now are muskie in the Saint John River in New Brunswick, I don't have a proper boat to go after them, and I don't think they are readily accessible in this river by wading. Currently I am planning to go after some muskies in the Ottawa area in Canada. My daughter lives there with her family, and I am gearing up to fish them in the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers in the fall when I visit them I have bought a 13' 9 weight spey rod set up and will tie up some big streamer flies. There is not too much here in my area for Muskie fly tackle. Maybe by winning one of these I will have a sample to study from and use. It may be the lucky fly to allow me to get the "One that got away", or maybe his grandson. Tight lines Don (morfrost)

Try Doug Swisher's site. Send an email to "[email protected]" & Say "Sign me up". He'll send you the link, etc and email you a buletin of his specials. He must get some of his stock from the Dungeon, because he carries the same items as FTD, as well as other stuff. He carries Congo Hair

In the good old days, fly tyers made their own wax, based on bees wax, resin and other stuff. Resin was probably sap from coniferous trees, and this was melted together with the bees wax, maybe some tallow (beef fat) and other ingredients that don't come immediately to mind. I've tried doing something like this with Bees wax, some liquid Veniard's dubbing wax and a few drops of terpentine. I was trying for a wax that is just a little softer than bees wax. It was OK. This was several years ago. I now use prepared dubbing wax in the twist tube package. There are recipes for this floating around in space. I'm sure a Google will unearth some for you if you feel adventurous. Her's one from Global Fly Fishers http://globalflyfisher.com/tiebetter/dubbingwax/

Swedish Trout Hunter Surface tension is a property of a liquid resulting from molecular cohesive forces at or near the surface of the liquid such that the forces contract and the suirface of the liquid behaves somewhat like a stretched membrane. The surface tension is a property of the fluid in question. As such, the surface tension in a wide vessel or a narrow vessel are the same, as long as they both contain the same liquid..

If you could only train 'em to skin out their little gifts.

When using the braided loop connector, I find it's almost impossible to get the end of the fly line right tight against the inside of the loop connector. There's always a small gap inside, and that creates a hinge point. To combat this I use a very small vinyl plastic tube. Actually, it's food grade TYGON tubing, 2 mm in inside diameter. This I slip over the braided loop when I install the line inside the braided connection, then slip it down over the point where the line meets the braided loop. This stiffens up the hinge point. The whole deal is still flexible and the tygon tube stretches to maintain itself in place. I finish the connection with a needle knot over the end of the braided connection. I paint all threadwork and potential steps and bumps with Shoe Goo thinned with toluene.

I've been using these CA glues for a couple of years now. Currently I am using Loccktite gel glue in the squeeze bottle applicator (great control) and Krazy Glue in the Brush applicator bottle ( the thin stuff), I clean the brush with acetone when I first get a new bottle of adhesive then trim the brush down to about 4-6 bristles. I use this to finish the fly. I apply a little directly to the thread at the hook eye and then whip finish. Break the thread. All done. The thicker stuff has many uses, most of them have already been listed above.

How about posting your recipe in the data base. Is that White Fox in the wing along with the Grey Fox? I like the look of this fly but it would be nice to be able to replicate it accurately. This obviously isn't the original formula ( no floss veil over the rear floss butt for example), so it would be instructive to see where you deviate from the original. This may help lead others along a creative path similar to your own. Isn't that one of the purposes of having the Database?

Amazing compilation of truisms. Somewhat akin to having John Prine rewrite the lyrics to Tom Lehrer's " Boy Scout Marching Song"

If you're from Moncton NB area, see Don at Don's Fly Box at the Moncton Market.

THis tool in ther picture should work the same as was described above.

I've seen shallow under counter wire basket shelves at my local dollar store. They have wire "U " shaped brackets attached to the basket to allow it to sit under a countertop. Using one of these in conjunction with a shallow container of some sort ( aluminum cooking roaster tray, plastic tray ,etc) would enable you to drop your waste on the countertop, pull out the tray and sweep your waste into the container whenever you want to, and this container can then be dumped into a garbage can at the end of the tying session. I assume this is what you want to do, or something like it. You may also find something like this at a building supply store. J Stockard has a shaft mounted garbage container that mounts on the shaft of the vise. You may not be aware of this. I myself use a rectangular wire frame mounted on my vise shaft and in this is mounted a small kitchen garbage bag, or a small plastic bag from the convenience store. My trimmings drop right into the garbage bag. But then, my vise is mounted on a pull out typewriter stand in an old oak office desk, which is different than your setup. Some people have even mounted a shop vac nozzle into the countertop. Works way cool, but not my style, personally.

"Verrrry Interesting!" - Artie Johnson- Laugh-In Comedy Show Late 1970's TV I wonder- Does it come with a quick draw Holster ? As for me -KISS - ( Keep It Simple, Stupid) Straight through the hole in the tube is good enough for me.

Danvise has a real nice product for around $ 80. Purchase the vise arm extension for about $ 20.00. Total cost around $ 100. J Stockard sells them. Learn how to adjust the jaws for different hook sizes ( watch the dvd that accompanies the vise). That's about it. Holds hook secure; easily fastens securely to a table top; accepts a wide range of table thicknesses you can attach it to; it is a true ROTARY Vise; - What more do you need, and it will accept shaft mounted accessories ( garbage bag holders, etc, if you bore the holes out to suit the vise stem. It doesn't look sexy you say, and some of the parts are a synthetic plastic material- OK, so you CAN'T get everything for $100. Sue me. Good advice has been given here by others- try some different ones out and get the one you like and that you can afford. PS:- I still use a 30+ yr old reel with a graphite spool and some plastic body parts- It's still working well, but suppose it's a lot like me- not very sexy looking.

Try a little Krazy Glue on the butts instead of head cement as described earlier before tying the calf tail on. Don't use the Gel stuff; use the thin glue. It will wick right in. Just use a little bit and it will dry quickly.