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Fly Tying

phg

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About phg

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    Wake Forest, NC

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  1. From my experience working with Boy Scouts, I'd have to say, for fly fishing, then need to be 11 or 12 to have the physical coordination to work a fly rod. You should try to take them fishing before that, though. I took my grandson fishing, for the first time, when he was 5. Spinning rod with worms, in a farm pond full of bream. Good introduction to the sport.
  2. I've bought from McMaster-Carr, no problem. They are set up for retail sales through their catalog (WEB Site).
  3. I'm not sure beads help sinking much in swifter water, upstream maybe but they don't seem to sink on the down/across or on the swing. At least not for me, even cone heads on buggers swim at the top much of the time in the runs, unless loaded with the normal amount of lead. Haven't tried tungsten, so, don't know if it helps or not, I was disappointed with the beads I tried with no added lead. Yes, you have to cast upstream, and you should try to lift your line off the water. We used to call it "High sticking", but now it's called by other names, as if it were something new.
  4. If you check the plates in Ray Bergman's "Trout", almost all the wet flies are tied with beards. Only a handful have collars. The real argument is whether it's OK to use a "false beard", or if it should be wound around the hook and pulled under to form a beard. My mentor, from whom I learned to tie winged wets, back in the '50's, always used, what are now called "false beards." This technique allows you to use hackles that are, technically, too long on any fly. The fact is, the hackles we had back then didn't allow you to be too fussy. You used what you had, and nobody looked down their noses at you for doing so. That said, I use beards on almost all my winged wets.
  5. Most southern Appalachian streams are fairly high gradient with swift runs and plunge pools. Those conditions call for a fair amount of weight, so bead heads and lead wraps are the norm. I use a variety of beads, including black nickle, where I want the weight, but no flash. Generally, though, I can't say as I've ever noticed the color of the bead making much difference. A little extra sparkle doesn't seem to hurt. I also have to agree with whatfly. In most instances, especially on smaller nymphs, the use of tungsten doesn't seem to make much difference, and is probably not worth the cost. On larger flies, say size 12, the extra density of tungsten may help.
  6. Hey, they are out of most sizes and styles of waders too. I was going to get a pair for Christmas. I guess I'll have to wait for Easter, now.
  7. This is NOT true. There are only a few materials that are "illegal to possess," and there are acceptable substitutes for most endangered species. If you get obsessed with using the Victorian materials, like Edwin did, then it can get very expensive, but it can still be totally legal.
  8. I use the Dr. Slick dubbing spinner, when I use a dubbing loop. I like it a lot, and have fun demonstrating it. Gary Borger has switched his tool/technique, a bit. Last year, at the Fly Fishing Show, he was demonstrating this tool from Ikea: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30301167/?query=PRODUKT&icid=iba|us|unbxdsuggestion|201811132211556208_1 He cut the end off, and bent the shaft into a hook. Cute, and he obviously was having fun with it. Still, I like the brass spinner. It's fun too....
  9. Looking good! If you haven't already done it, you might try hooking up with the Cape Fear Fly Fishers. They could provide you with a wealth of information on fishing in your area.
  10. Reasonably well, if you have a slow casting stroke. I did it as a kid. OTOH, fly fishing was invented so that you didn't have to bother with catching live insects Agreed! Back when I used worms (with a fly rod), I never did like the way my fingers always smelled of worm guts. Yuck! Fly fishing is much cleaner.
  11. This was my first year as a tyer at the Symposium. I stayed busy. There was a steady stream of patrons, but it never seemed to be overly crowded. Most of the time, there was someone in front of my table, and I tried to engage, instruct and entertain. That is the art of demonstration tying. I freely admit that I am not the best tyer in the world, (although I am pretty good) but I do enjoy meeting people and I don't get rattled when things don't go right. Unfortunately, I didn't get to look around too much, so I can't really comment on the variety of vendors. Food was a problem, and there aren't any restaurants nearby. Overall, though, all the tyers I talked to thought it was a pretty good show.
  12. For size 18 or 20, I just use a couple of pheasant tail fibers.
  13. I got some Solerez Bone Dry UV resin at the Symposium last weekend. That stuff is great for head cement! Water thin, so it soaks into the thread, and then zap for 6 seconds to cure. No muss, no fuss, no tackiness. I'm going to be using that a lot!
  14. I'm on the email list, so I get frequent promotional messages. I picked up a recent one, from my trash folder, and tried the link in it, and it worked fine. The WEB site came up as: https://gcoutfitters.com/ The product selection is far more limited than it used to be....
  15. Will has been having server/provider problems recently. I had the same problem accessing this site several times last week. The only thing you can do is try again later.
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