Trichoptera

So you're thinking that the goal of fly fishing is to catch fish? A very interesting concept which could be debated for hours.

I think the "bait fisherman" moniker is a good plan. Anyone who gets offended at being called a bait fisherman probably isn't worth keeping around Will have to check into the fly fishing expo; looks interesting. Is there any chance of catching something in the casting pond if I bring some night crawlers? Suffering withdrawal...

Kind of a minor question here, but what good will it do to set aside billions of dollars? I should know better than to post such a question, but I can't help myself. It's kind of like a dart board. Every problem is solved by throwing a money dart at it and hoping it hits the right place. Legalized thievery.

Your post kind of cheered me up actually. Well the fact that someone knocked them down is a real downer. But we had about 14" of the stuff in our driveway this morning. I was sick all day yesterday. Very unusual for me, but I actually laid down ALL DAY. Unable to get up due to nausea/dizziness. I felt a lot better this morning, ready to get to work on my long list of projects until I saw how much snow I was going to have to move. I am pretty sick of snow right now :wallbash: I'm glad you had fun with it, it makes me feel better.

I once sat in on part of a demonstration by Kevin Feenstra at Cabela's in Dundee Michigan; he fits the qualifications Also Roger DePoy, the manager of the Lunker's fly fishing department (in Edwardsburg, MI) comes to mind.

My first thought was perhaps you're nuts but apparently you aren't nuts so there must be something to the sow bug. Looks like some of the first flies I tied but apparently it works?

Loki, the Norse god of mischief. A fitting name. We start dog training on January 2nd; I am just training him as a companion dog and not for birds, a decision I think I'll be pretty happy with. He's a great dog.

My favorite fly book and the one I will use the most is "Essential Trout Flies" by Dave Hughes. Anything by Dave Hughes is a pretty good book. Another book I like is "Fish Flies", the encyclopedia of the fly tyer's art, by Terry Hellekson. It contains a lot of fly recipes and goes into some detail on how to tie them.

The secret to success is excellence. If you do a job well you will reap many rewards for it, the least of which might be financial. I think you have a great magazine and perhaps the only thing it needs is marketing. What I have read in the magazine reveals the author's passion for their pursuit, which is often times lacking in magazine articles. I also like the idea of writing an article that covers a large portion of the details of it's subject and not limiting the article to a certain number of words or pages in the magazine. I think the detail in the articles is what makes the premier issue something that people enjoy and will go back to time and again, and then purchase the next issue. I think magazines can get "burned out" in the sense that they once they have a following they simply publish the sizzle and reap the profits, so the magaizne goes into a downhill slide. Some bullet points to sum up my thoughts; - continue with some variety in the articles that will appeal to a variety of tyers - use authors that are passionate about their tying - try not to limit the length of an article, so that it can go into whatever detail the author believes it needs. (this may require editorial judgement) The main reason for this is so that the reader understands how the author is accomplishing the task and why he is doing it in a particular way. Although their are many different ways to accomplish the same task and the readers may have their own style, it is still of great benefit to know exactly why it is being done in a certain way. The next time I go to my local fly shop I will take the magazine along; I am pretty sure they would stock their shelves with it, and sell a bunch.

As usual there was a lot of great information there. I was a little disappointed in not having the large vendor booths there that were there last year. I had planned on buying a few things but ended up stopping at D&R in Kalamazoo on the way home to buy the ceramic tipped bobbin I have been wanting, along with misc. other items. Another $40 in the sink hole. I did get a box of different floss colors at the show, but I passed on the $80 and $100 prints that they were selling at the door. Seems like a lot of money for a print to me but then I am not an art collector. I suppose I could always sell my house and have some very nice prints to push around in my shopping cart. I bought a fly from Day5 and had him sign a card to go along with it, will be the first item to go into my Day5 shrine :bugeyes: I'm putting it away somewhere to sell on ebay when he is rich and famous; or if he dies first it will be worth even more. Watcing the professional tyers at work is fascinating because they have developed their techniques way beyond the amateur tyer that I am.

The gas prices have in fact affected my thinking about driving. Things cost more than they used to 20 years ago; a lot more. Mainly labor costs more. Food prices increase slowly, but they do increase. I never thought I would set around and complain about the cost of stuff when I get old, but here I am. Forty years old, setting around complaining because it is going to cost over $500 for just the labor to replace the heat exchanger in a 3 year old furnace. The furnace was brand new 3 years ago, the heat exchanger burnt through; the installer says it is because we have inadequate ductwork in our house, and that in addition to filters that had been a little dusty and a chimney that needed cleaning caused the heat exchanger to burn out prematurely. So I am totally remodeling our furnace room. Yesterday I went and got some flooring, cheap paneling for the walls, the cheapest ceiling tile they had, and some plumbing to move a drain line, for a room that is about 58 square feet of floor space. The bill came to $465. I am pretty sure 10 years ago those materials would have cost me less than $300. Whenever I go to drive somewhere now I think about how much it is going to cost. I just don't drive as far or as much to fish. I spend more time tying flies that way I guess. But I am still driving over to Mason on Dec. 1. The weekend after Thanksgiving I have a room reserved at the Wellston Inn for 2 nights, about 3-1/2 hours drive from here, but that is really going to be more like a honeymoon and less like a fishing trip :devil:

I was there last year and would not miss it again. This is the only show I know of in this area though so it'll be a once in a year thing for me. The closest fly tying club is like 2 hours drive away so I am not a member of any of those either. So the fly tying show is the only live tying I get to see, and therefore well worth the 2 hours or so drive and the cost of admission. I plan on making a day of it this year. If you made a day of it I think it would be a good day. Lots of stuff there to spend your money on too. You'll never know if it is worth your time until you actually go. But for me I would go even if it was a four hour drive. You'll have to put some effort into it probably to make it worthwhile, you know like actually talk to people.

Thanks for the great responses. I realize shock collars have there place in dog training but if you don't know dog training it is very easy to ruin a dog with the shock collar. Loki has adapted well to our other dogs which are smaller than he is by quite a bit, so that is one big sigh of relief. If he was agressive towards them he would have to leave. He has turned out to be a great dog and I think will be a fine companion for years. I have wanted a dog like this for a long time. He is laying at my feet right now dreaming about all the things we will do together. I am starting a basic dog obedience class in January and will order the Gun Dog book as well. We went for a walk the other night and he does well on a leash. The biggest challenge I see with a hunting dog is training them to come when called and not run off. One good thing we found out when checking his vet records is that he is only 17 months old.

I tie flies to fish, so I try to tie at least three of the same pattern and size for my box. If a fly works I hate having just one. This past weekend was a perfect example; I saw a fly being tied at Lunkers at Edwardsburg MI and picked up the materials to tie it because I thought it would be a nice fly for salmon. I made one with the chartreuse head color they were tying, then expermineted with some wool for heads. So this weekend when the one fly I had was slammed by a salmon I landed the salmon and shortly thereafter I lost the fly on a snag on the bottom. No more of those flies, and that was the only salmon I landed. I will tie a dozen of those for steelhead fishing this winter and probably another dozen for salmon next year. I find that it takes 2 or 3 flies to get in a groove and they start looking better after that. I suppose if you are tying flies for show and are very careful then the first one will come out good but that is not really my experience.

In a typical fly tying or fishing or woodworking magazine I find a few articles that I think are going to be interesting enough for me to read and worth the money that it cost. In "Hatches" I want to read every article. The magazine will last me a few weeks I think before I really get through it, and then there will still be new flies to tie out of it. I like the fact that there are a lot of names that I have never seen before covering a wide variety of topics. I think it would be possible to do a magazine that really specializes in one type of tying but I think it is much more interesting to cover a variety in each magazine and helps to broaden my mind. It appears that the people who are writing the articles are passionate about their tying and are not just writing or fishing for money. I plan on buying every issue published in my lifetime and they will all be saved.

Yesterday in the paper there was an add for a free "German Short Haired Pointer". My wife is an animal lover and we already had 6 dogs, mostly small dogs, but the Pointer is my dream dog and so I called about it. We went to look at the dog and ended up deciding to bring it home even though it was not exactly what I was expecting. We think it is an English Pointer and not a German. I will have pics sometime next week as this week is crammed. He is a 2 year old intact male, which we will get fixed. He had been named the generic "Hunter" and we decided to name him Loki, the greek god of mischief. I think it will probably be fitting. I walk a couple miles 3 times a week or so, plus we have a dog run and medium yard so he will get plenty of excersize. The rough part is that at some point an ignoramus was using a shock collar on him. He is very timid around me, which may just be because of the newness but I think he will require a lot of work if I use him to hunt. He has a beautiful natural point. I would love to train him for pheasants and grouse, and was wondering what "pointers" you would have for me to make that happen.

I use fabric paint, bought in the craft isle at Meijer. Any store like Walmart would carry it. 99 cents per tube. It is made for painting stuff on t-shirts and such, so it dries water proof. Works great and you can get a number of different colors cheap.

I keep checking back for the A.. picture. Not sure exactly what that is and not sure I want to see it, but it sounds interesting I have found that there is no way to depend on other people to do what I think is the right thing. My emotions cannot be dependent on things which I have no control over. But there are always blessings in doing the right thing, no matter how painful it may be at the time. It may sound archaic, but I rely on the Bible for instructions, and find it has all the answers to life's problems. I'm sure you will have a great trip; I wish to head west at some point but it will be several years down the road. Enjoy the time you have and make the most of it, and give yourself a pat on the back for trying to help someone in need.

Seriously, you were in the UP and didn't eat a pasty? You must be kidding Two weeks ago when I was on Isle Royale my hair were only 1/4" long, so there was no chance of anyone mistaking me for bigfoot. And I wore pants; reading through this thread I realize now what a mistake it would be not to.

Are ther Frank Lloyd Wright houses in the Portage area? I would be interested in knowing where. Also I guess if there is such a list it would be nice to have a list of the places he designed. I am not really a fan of his style but I find it interesting. And by the way, hush up on southwestern Michigan :wallbash: Not everyone can live in God's country. Ah yes, now I remember; the average winter temp is 60° below zero with 20 or 30 feet of snow. Yeah, that's it.

I was debating the merits of a rotary vice a while back when I was looking to buy a new vice. I thought it was one of those things that people buy just to show how much money they have, kind of like a riding lawn mower with a 24 horsepower engine. A riding lawnmower works fine with an 8 horse power motor but when your neighbor has a 12 horse mower then you need to buy a 14 horse and then he will replace his with a 16 horse and so on. Kind of like reading a fashion magazine and then buying clothes to go with the new styles. In other words a complete waste of time and money which in my opinion is the pursuit of idiots. I went to a fly tying expo and talked to a very experienced tyer about his rotary vice and he explained that the advantage is twofold; you can easily see exactly where you are placing the materials on all sides of the fly and if you need to attach something at the bottom of the fly it is very easy to turn it upside down and tie in your material then turn it back upright. I don't use the rotary feature to tie wooly buggers but on some of the mroe complciated flies it is very handy to have.

The thought of saving money never really occured to me. I do occasionally wonder how flies can be sold so cheap I read articles in Field & Stream and Outdoor Life as a youngster growing up and I just knew that I would learn to tie my own flies. It's just part of fishing. I have bought flies when I did not have the right flies with me and I enjoy fishing with them as well. I have a very nice big bass bug bought from "The Troutsman" in Traverse city that I display on my desk with the box it came in. I have never really given much thought to why I tie my own flies, it just seemed like the right way to go about fishing.

If you are serious about wanting a really nice desk and willing to spend actual money for it, this is a project that I would be interested in. One thing I have run into in the past is someone who sees a piece of furniture for $300 and thinks I can build a better one for less money. I have been a professional woodworker over twenty years now. I work full time as an engineer for a kitchen cabinet company, and part time in my shop at home. I take on projects at home not so much for the money as the fact that the project is one that catches my interest. I can provide plenty of references. The design normally starts with the client's ideas, sketches or magazine clippings or other pictures, and then progresses from there as I make drawings for the customer to review. Old fashioned American quality. Cherry is my favorite wood to work with, but I do work with any type of hardwood. This would work fine if you are not in a hurry for your desk; it would be sometime around the first part of next year before it could be completed; I stay pretty busy. I am located in southern Michigan, but can easily arrange shipping throughout the USA. I was thinking of designing a nice fly tying desk so your post caught my interest. I hope it is not inapropriate to offer my services, but it does answer the question I guess. Email [email protected]

The most important thing I looked at was a good value for the money spent. I could not imagine myself paying $300 for a piece of bent aluminum with about 3 machined parts on it. For a hobby tyer, I found the Griffin Spider vice at $75 to be one of the best values for the money. If I was a professional tyer I would want a lever locking jaw that is adjustable in such a way that it would not come out of adjustment over a period of tying the same fly for 8 hours straight or whatever. I would want the jaw to hold the hook very securely without marking it up; perhaps very fine serrations on a jaw with just the right hardness. I would want to be able to lock the head into position very easily ( a simple lever lock of some sort). I would want a multiplier crank handle with a belt attached to a gear on the shaft, which would allow me to either turn the fly by hand with a crank on the shaft itself, or using the multiplier crank. I think professional tyers might be interested in a motor turned vise, but it would have to be easily adjusted for speed; I think this would be fairly easy to do using a DC converter to power a DC motor with a simple rheostat switch (I really don't know anything about electricity but I know something like this would be fairly simple for a knowledgable person to set up). I would want the switch to be a lever that would have a fairly long pivot so the speed would be adjusted easily and smoothly. At 3 revolutions per minute, you will end up with a lot of vice motors in the dumpster. I would want a stainless steel or titanium shaft that is a large enough diameter that it does not bend when a considerable amount of pressure is put on it. In short the hook has to be easy to lock into position, it has to be able to rotate smooth and fast easily yet be locked into a very secure position when you don't want it to rotate. I would want something other than just a bent wire arm to hold the bobbin when you need it out of the way; perhaps an easily adjustable arm of some sort that the bobbin would hook onto. The bigest problem I have while tying flies now is how to locate the bobbin so that I can use the rotation to attach hackle; if I locate it at the side the thread pulls the bobbin out of position while I rotate the fly, and if it is at the front the thread tends to unravel off the front of the fly and my bobbin drops down on the table. Maybe I just don't know how to tie flies If I was a professional tyer I would not mind spending $1000 for something that would ease every problem I have in life, and there are always people with money who will buy something just because it is the most expensive thing on the market.

Thanks for the laughs. A really good way to start off the day. But seriously, what is the question? Whether you can breed chickens for a specific color feather? What rock have you been buried under? I think the color of the feathers is somewhat limited, as the gene for the color has to be there to start with. For instance, I don't believe you can breed chickens to make a cerise colored feather. ALthough you might be able to over a couple thousand years. I will have to consult Spock on this issue. But really, hackle breeding is a very serious business and goes far beyond just throwing a bunch of chickens in a farmyard and seeing what happens. The blue dun comes to mind as a color that has been bred into several consistent variations of the same color.