Ibonn

Griffin 3ARP Vise. I found it in the bargain bin a few years ago for $40 at my local big box sporting goods store, great vise, holds many different sizes of hooks very well.

Thanks. I forgot that I picked up one of those maps last year. I'll check into it. Is the West Fork fairly accessible? I want to take my father in law fishing on a river near the lake and he does have some mobility issues(He can get around alright but I can't take him out bouldering on a mountain stream).

Has anyone fished Lake Toxaway in North Carolina? Also are there any good trout streams around the lake that anyone could recommend?

I have 3 Echo fly rods, an Ion 8wt which I broke on a Florida Keys trip. I had a great warranty experience with Echo, very fast turn around for warranty work, it was like it never happened. I have a 4 wt Echo 2 (which is now Echo Edge) 8ft rod really nice action, 2 tips one for accuracy and one for distance, (gimmick) I like this one for smaller streams, panfish, etc. I just recently got an Echo 3 5wt 10ft rod, I love this thing, it casts great, it has been the fly rod I grab most often now days. I would recommend this brand and I think very highly of their product.

Ebay yields occasional treasures...

I have the blue tungsten 4.5 version and they cut very well, not quite as precise as I would like, excellent scissor, one drawback I have found with these is the screw backs itself out quickly as you work, I should get off my butt and get some lock-tite on it I just haven't thought about it the last couple of times I have been by the hardware store. The blue paint chips off easy too.

It appears that if I want to buy precision cutting in scissors I will need to get a vault to store them in... Thanks for all the information, I did order a set of Anvils and I suppose I will eventually order the high end surgical scissors as well, I just need to figure out where I can get financing...

I have a long pair of the microtips (4 inch) and an all purpose short pair. The Microtips are pretty good with fine work but when I get really small they are not fine enough. Does anyone have the smaller pairs? Will they cut finer than the larger pair? Does anyone use the Anvil scissors? Thanks,

I have been looking for a very fine tipped pair of scissors, anyone have any suggestions as to the sharpest and most pinpoint accurate? I have a couple pairs of Dr. Slicks as well as a pair of sixth fingers....Anvils? I routinely tie 20 to 26 size flies and I can't seem to get close enough.

Cool pattern, I like the idea of tying the Golden Pheasant Tippets in short like that. What could be substituted for the Condor Barb? Black ostrich herl? or Peacock herl dyed black? Thanks for sharing this one. Ian

Does anyone have any experience with this material? is it similar in thickness to the midge thread made by Montana fly or is it thicker? Ran across it on JS, I am wondering if it would be suitable for thread midges or if it would be too thick.

Great buggy looking fly. I like the idea of wrapping the tinsel with the wire like that. Thanks for sharing

How did you fasten the flashabou strand to the hook? Did you wrap it over itself somehow? Great looking fly.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys, I have been spending a lot of time the last couple days reading all these great posts and looking at all the great fly patterns, this site is loaded with information...You are right about the time sucking nature of this site, worse than facebook is right! Thanks, Ian

Just joined this forum a couple of days ago, and I am amazed at the wealth of information here! I have been fly fishing and fly tying for 2 years now and I can't seem to get enough of the sport or the hobby of fly tying. I spend most of my spring/summer fishing time on the lake and local ponds fishing for bass and panfish, and my winter fishing takes place in my local tailwater the Saluda River near Columbia. I also love to fish the Davidson River in North Carolina and I have traveled up there for a day trip 2 to 3 times in my short fly fishing career. I have also fished in the mountains of NC in small streams in the Smokies and elsewhere. I am blessed with many local opportunities for year round fly fishing with very little travel. I haven't even scratched the surface on all the saltwater opportunities that South Carolina has to offer, but it is certainly on my list! I caught the fly fishing bug fishing in Alaska and catching cutthroat trout in a mountain lake located in Wilson's Pass in Misty Fjords National Monument. I would recommend this trip to anyone, it was cold but the scenery and the fishing was great! I picked up tying around the same time as I picked up the fly rod and I enjoy tying simple patterns, small Woolly Bugger type streamers for bass and panfish, simple soft hackle wet flies (I have caught many fish on them in the Saluda), tiny size 20 to 24 thread midges for wintertime trout fishing in the Davidson. (I was introduced to the Montana fly companies midge thread and I can't seem to get enough of tying these simple little flies) I tie some basic nymph patterns, princes, pheasant tail, Hares Ear, etc. all of which are good in my area. I recently learned how to spin deer hair and I was also given an airbrush so I got some popper bodies to paint up. I would say that learning these two new techniques will be the focus of my tying over the next few months as well as tying wet flies as I am currently reading a book on wet flies by Dave Hughes. I have noticed that it is quite easy to accumulate large amounts of tying materials, tools and doodads in a very short time.(the toughest part is selling it all to the wife and not grossing her out too much with all the animal parts laying around) I admit that I have lots of materials that I have yet to find a use for and I hope that participating in this forum may help me discover some fun new patterns to tie and fish. I am looking forward to learning more about fly tying in this forum by reading and posting patterns. Thanks, Ian Bonnema Lexington, SC