Jump to content
Fly Tying
FlaFly

Some historic flies

Recommended Posts

I started fly fishing back in the late 1950s while in high school. Have no idea where I learned how to cast... just seemed to happen. I started tying all my flies soon after.

 

I tied all but one of these (the beetle) back in the late 1960s. I have no idea how I learned to do it. Most of what I tied back then were poppers, using commercial heads (cork). The three old ones I carved from cork, and painted. The big bee is a bass popper on size 8. The other 2 are on size 12. The beetle is foam, first thing I tied when I started again (last year).

 

 

I fished the small bee a lot and caught a lot of bluegills with it, but the wing feathers were getting torn up, so I retired it. Forgive the lousy pics... my camera wasn't cooperating. (as usual).

post-52210-0-59994100-1408062147_thumb.jpg

post-52210-0-09949500-1408062192_thumb.jpg

post-52210-0-03228200-1408062240_thumb.jpg

post-52210-0-61284900-1408062287_thumb.jpg

post-52210-0-44849500-1408062318_thumb.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Interesting story and bugs. Don't try to take close ups. As the thumbnails show, better a little more distance clearly than a fuzzy close up.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Can't remember how you learned to cast or tie? Is the memory the first thing to go? hehehe......You must be at least 70. Your time frame is close to mine. Thanks for sharing. I just dug out a couple of my old hair bug home ties a few days ago. The choice of what fly to tie on the leader was much easier back then. My first ties were small BG poppers on #12 hump shank hooks with 1/4" cork cylinder bodies, Kip tail tails and a small hackle palmered. The cork was epoxied on the hook and was almost indestructible except to being grabbed by a tree limb. Those things sure caught a lot of BG. Hundreds if not thousands. I still use them but have converted to foam bodies and don't even need to paint them and they no longer get chipped paint.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Seventy-four, to be precise. I don't think it's memory so much as the fact that I never paid attention to anything or anyone except myself back then so I naturally have little memory of details.

I was taking these pics from about four feet away, zoomed, but neither of the two cameras I tried would stay focused, and neither had manual focus.

I think I'll play around with them and see if I can get some usable shots before I post again. I've got some recent foam body flies that are what I use now.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That's really interesting. I started fishing in the 50's but did not start fly fishing until the mid-eighties. Thanks for posting the pics.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That sir is very cool. I wish I would have saved some of my flies from back when I first tying in Cub Scouts. You've got 4 years on me but sounds like you kept busy fishing and tying in high school whereas I devoted my time to cars, girls and beer, not necessarily in that order.

 

Most of my early ties were wet flies I used on ponds for 'gills like most of us in the early years. We also did some poppers of course and just ran across a plastic box of kinked shank hooks from the late 50's that were still good.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh, now those are neat! They remind me of the flies my dad pulled out of his tackle box that my grandpa made wayyyy back in the day. (What day that was? I have no idea...)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

By the way, since there is a current thread regarding illegal possession of feathers, I'm reluctant to say what those wings are from, but back in college I had a friend who was professor of ornithology. He occasionally got a deceased bird from a local Busch Garden type establishment, as they occasionally die. These were usually African birds (example the Crested Grey Crane), and he would pass a few feathers on to me.

I guess I will claim that I don't remember what they were from.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

FlaFly... Cool flies and nice thread. My old flies were not that nice. You and I are the same age and started fly fishing and tying about the same time. I recall as a mid teen riding my bike a couple hours to a boathouse where I sold worms on weekends and fished. They had fly casting contest and I was awed when I saw it for the first time. The line floated in the air so graceful and those guys were putting a fly in a tiny floating ring. I began hanging out with these old men who were having a great time. A couple took me under their wing and taught me how to do it. By the following summer I had saved enough (mostly trapping muskrat) that I got a fly rod, reel, and line. I was given some flies by tiers and they taught me the basics of tying. Now, I'm the old man giving away flies and showing anyone interested how to cast and tie.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...