WhiteBuffalo58

Well thank you very much, SC! I really appreciate the well wishes and offer to help! Folks here have been more then generous with their time and knowledge. I enjoyed seeing your tying station and am in the process of setting one up myself. Just waiting for the new vise and tools to come in, to see what I need to allow for. Seeing others benches has given me alot of good ideas. Rob

Thanks, Paul! Yep, I reckon wives are about the same everywhere, but she'll get over it. You're right about never seeming to have enough. Even after buying this 20 lbs. box of materials, I still started a "have to have" list! Rob

I've been fishing for well over 50 years and my 7 year old grandson frequently out fishes me. (and, i'm proud that he does) But, there's got to be a moral in that somewhere. My only saving grace is that i'm lucky enough to have been the one that taught him how to fish. Rob

I just bought the beginners vise and tool kit from J. Stockard. Also 100 hooks in various sizes and 12-200 yard spools of Danville pre-waxed thread in different colors. To some, this might seem to be a somewhat lowend upgrade. But it will be a great improvement over my old Noll kit vise, the tweezers with a rubberband around it, that i've been using as a set of hackle pliers and the ink pen cap that i've been using as a hair stacker. Not to mention using a kids glue stick for "waxing" my thread for dubbing and a half dozen other get by for now substitutes. I'm stoked!! I've got some really great old materials to work with, but this should shed a whole new light on things! Oh, and speaking of light, I also bought a lighted magnifier. Life is good and long winter nights are gonna be alot more fun this year! Rob

Boy, am I glad to hear this!! There's hope for me yet!! Rob

Thanks guys, i'll probably just start with about a 7wt line and see how it does. Rob

You bet Mike and thank you!! Rob

Will do, Paul. It's a pretty decent little pelt. Rob

Thanks Peterjay! That's great advise and greatly appreciated! Actually, i've been thinking the same thing. No sense duplicating any of these, if they just don't work, right? Temps are supposed to be back up into the 70's by Friday, i'm gonna try and get out then and give atleast some of these a trial run. Living along the White River system, namely Bull Shoals Lake, my main goal is to tie flies suited to panfish species. White Bass, Brown Bass, Crappie, various species of Perch, etc... Although the occasional Largemouth, Kentucky or Walleye wouldn't hurt my feelings none! Point being that Trout fishing here is pretty much a 1-2 day event every spring when the local hatchery does their annual release below the dam. It's wall to wall fisherman, standing elbow to elbow and a far cry from that peaceful setting along a back country stream. Here on the lake though, I have private access to several hot spots and that's where my focus is for now. I really appreciate any and all input, guys! Like Peterjay said, the only way to get better is to know where I fail. Rob

Ok, Mike. I'm on it! Let's give this a try. It's resized to 400 x 311. Is that a little better? Rob

Still too big, let's try this. That's a little better. Rob

That I can do. Working on pic resizing, so hopefully this will be ok. Thanks, Rob

Can't seem to get a decent pic that'll show any detail. It's an 8' fiberglass rod (was that boos and hisses I just heard? ) It's cream colored with dark brown wrappings if that helps. My brother gave it to me, but it originally belonged to my grandpa. He was an avid fisherman, but not that into fly fishing. Where I grew up, fly fishing was really more of a novelty. Kind of a shame I think, but that's how it was. I'm gonna say this pole probably dates to around 1960, give or take a few years. Rob

You bet! A fly that can't be fished, sounds like a real waste of time and effort. I know i've got the black and brown covered, i'll have to see about the olive. Thank you much! Rob

What's that saying? All great dogs think alike? Funny thing was that there's a skunk pelt in the mix. It's been properly tanned and I can't smell anything on it, but neither one of my dogs wanted anything to do with. They both just backed away and looked at me like, "are you nuts"?! Rob

Tails too long, got it. That's exactly the kind of feedback I need. I'll work on that and start on a dozen Wooly Buggers. I'll aim for true classic form, but how about color variations? I do appreciate the input, guys! Rob

Yah, I suppose i'll spare them the misery. Wouldn't make much of a chew toy anyway. I was sorting through some of the furs that came in this box lot out on the picnic table the other day. I thought I was gonna have to take a stick to my Rat Terrier, he was just bound and determined they were supposed to be his! Rob

LOL! Well Paul, maybe i'll just throw 'er to the dogs if you think she's that far gone. Save time and postage that way. Naw, she's still a purty bird, even with all her ruffled feathers. With my rookie skills as a tyer, I really have no buisiness having these birds. I kinda feel like I need to wait for my skills to develop before even plucking the first feather. Rob

Better, but still kinda big. Let's try this one. Rob

another try

Pic attempt http://

Great! They could use a good cleaning. Mike, i'm trying to work out the picture thing, but havn't figured it out yet. Sorry. Rob

I started about two weeks ago and this is what i've done so far. I began with a Buzzer, then tried a few other classic patterns, but most are figments of my imagination. Just trying to learn technic at this stage, but can tell that getting wings tyed in properly is going to be a big challenge for me. All comments and advise welcome! Thanks, Rob

Thanks fellas! Sounds like good advise to me. Any suggestions for a good way to store them? I really don't like stuffing them into gallon ziplock bags. Maybe a properly sized Tupperware style container? Rob

I got these in a box lot of vintage materials. One is a Golden Pheasant, the other a Lady Amherst. Both have been stored in ziplock bags for a number of years. In order to fit, they had to be folded to some degree. As a result the Golden hasn't done too badly, but the Lady Amherst has become somewhat disheveled. Right now I have it flattened and pressed between a couple of books. What's the best way to store and/or process these to avoid any further problems? Should they be plucked and sorted or is it best to leave them whole and pluck what feathers I need, as needed? The tail feathers were removed years ago and came in a seperate bag. Thanks for any help or advise. Rob