Mark Knapp

I'm not sure if calluses are the measure. I have those too. I think the question is, do you think you are better than others because you have gained some proficiency with a fly rod? Or maybe the measure is, if you think fly fishing is harder than spin fishing you might be and elitist. We could start a whole new Jeff Foxworthy bit. "You might be an elitist if..." I'll start it with- "your fly tying room is bigger than your kitchen". (mine is).

Them're sure purty Fshng

That one looks like a real good one to me. It's those breast and shoulder feathers we're after. What say you guys?

Cute, looks like a pika.

Huh.

Good points, all. You're starting to sound like an elitist.😋

Thanks Mr.

Those look killer.

All he'd have to do is brush against it to clean it, but it seem like it would be a little like a bull in a china shop. I don't know, maybe he's nimble.

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say.

I believe it.

Norm, you are always a great help. "Norm for president"

Nice job.

Very cool. A lot like a sparkle dun but better.

Too funny.

I think I'd like to see that thing swim.

Those look very cool. Sorry I can't help you. The only draw back I can see with those is, you need to load the bobbing to use that bobbin holder. If the slim line configuration is more comfortable for you it might be worth it. Still, very nice. I might make some like that out of ivory. (You know, for the snobbier tiers)

Thanks everybody. I even had a few customers in the store, sold one of the knives we keep in stock and a few other things so, a good day all round.

Actually, they really did. For the first day all summer it didn't rain at all. They had a great time. And now... it's raining again.

Best day ever!, (Watching the store) Glad I'm not a commercial tier.

Not really what I was talking about but that's OK. I'm trying not to be too critical because I think you did a good job but that looks like a bait hook. For some people, it would be sacrilege to tie a salmon or steelhead fly on that hook. When I was first starting I would tie on any hook I could find.

Yeah, a really big part of it is knowing what good is. After four patches, I know what "good" is and what it aint.

So far I've had 5 customers and answered the phone a couple of times. Still three hours to go. Sunday is normally a slow day but we open anyway because you never know who might come in. Our best customer ever came in on a Sunday, and he's been a steady customer ever since. Thank you, from a business stand point.

I'm learning a lot so far. It took my trying four different patches of deer hair to find one that compresses and flairs right for size 12 and 14 hooks. I also found that caribou compresses and flairs a lot more than deer hair (something I already knew but this reinforces it) caribou is also a lot more brittle than deer hair so it's probably not a good choice for a fly you want to fish a long time. It may be a good choice for flies in rougher water, it's more buoyant than deer and should float longer.

Not terrible. About the only thing that jumps out at me is that, that is not normally the hook you would tie a steelhead/salmon fly on. But hey, I went down to the store yesterday to get regular old standard dry fly hooks in 12 and 14 but they must have had a run on them and I'm tying flies on 1X and eye-up hooks. Sometimes ya gotta make do.