Al Beatty

Hi Group, Franz Pott patterns, George Grant patterns, the Makay Special and others are featured in our book, the Art of the Weave. It is available on Amazon or on our website (btsflyfishing.com). The hackle for the Pott's Mite and the Grant's patterns are all woven on a loop of thread. Both men "patented" their weaving designs. Pott's patent(s) featured 2- or 3-thread weaving loops and Grant used a 2-thread weaving loop. Grant's hackle weaving method was different that either of Pott's methods. Take care & ... Tight Lines - (Gretchen &) Al Beatty www.btsflyfishing.com

Ditto on Fabric Fusion but Lock-Tite Super Glue is also good. Take care & ...

Hi jss127, In the past, I've used a Dremel tool to "clean out" bobbin tubes. To do so I found I needed to make a burnishing tip for the tool our of #10 copper wire. I cut a 2-inch section of wire then ground one end to a blunt tip with a belt sander so it would fit inside the tip of the bobbin tube. A gentle application of the fast spinning tip inside the bobbin tube fixed about 90% of any problem bobbin I had. It's worth a try and the cost of a 2-inch section of #10 copper wire is not much. By the way, after cleaning out a few bobbins, a groove will wear in the copper tip. Just smooth it back up with the belt sander and continue cleaning out bobbin tubes. Good luck! Take care & ...

Hi Group, We use two methods. In our long-term storage boxes we use no-smell moth "blocks." We get them at Lowe's; they are white and round (about 3" in diameter, don't remember the name). We use Red Man chewing tobacco in our short-term storage boxes. It does a good job but is only effective for about 6 months. Take care & ...

Wow! I didn't know that could happen. We've been using S-glue since the late 60s. Sorry for your problem. Take care & ... Tight Lines - Gretchen & Al Beatty www.btsflyfishing.com

After reading some of the posts in this thread, we understand why we had to "go through" a different sign on process. Take care & ... Tight Lines - Gretchen & Al Beatty www.btsflyfishing.com

We have a couple of #1 vises but not interested in selling them. Good luck with your search. Take care & ...

Most of the "office clip" grabbers tend to allow the cdc to slip a bit more than we want. We found if we crazy glue short sections of rubber band to the heavy black, metal clips, the hold the cdc quite well. Take care & ...

Hi Camp'n'fish, The "stringies" inside a boat bungee are protected from UV by the outer covering. Regular rubber leg material or silicone skirts for bass lures make much better legs on fishing flies. In time, even they will become brittle with dry rot. Take care & ...

We both use an assortment of reading glasses with different power ratings. EX: Gretchen ties with 5 power and Al ties with 3 power. Both of us also have a set of 2 power glasses on a lanyard around our necks. When we need a quick increase in power, we just put a second set of glasses on our noses over the ones already there. The extra glasses are real handy for checking a fly head to be sure there is no unwanted "waste material" showing. Take care & ...

Love ALL of the flies on this thread. Take care & ...

We don't coat the quill wings and yes they do come apart but for fishing that seems to make no difference. Optional wet fly wings from mallard flank fibers are easy to tie and attractive to fish. Take care & ...

Hi TIER, I liked your YouTube video. It's a strong effort as a first video. Yes, there are some things you could do different. I'd be pleased to GIVE you one of our books (The Self Publishing Encyclopedia). One of the chapters in it is the methods we use to shoot YouTube videos. You may find it helpful. Please email me (us) at [email protected] or go to our website (www.btsflyfishing.com) and use the "Contact" link. Be sure to put Fly Tying Forum Book Offer in the subject line. We'll need your USPS Mail address to send the book. Take care & ...

Hi It includes 21 different weaves when considering the variations and also includes some rawhide braiding techniques Al learned as a working cowboy in the '60s. Of course those techniques are placed on a fish hook in our book not a horse but you might find them interesting. They certainly add a bit of "wow" to a fish hook but honestly the fish probably won't care. Take care & ...

Hi The body Pott body weave is the same as illustrated in the Grant book but Grant's hackle weave (and knot) is much different. In our book we feature the 2 and 3 strand loom weave cover in the two patents Pott filed (1924 & 1931).

Hi group, For the last 6 months, we've been hard at work on another book about weaving and braiding on flies. The new book is called The Art of the Weave and is on Amazon.com as a hard copy (print paperback). The book covers all of the normal braids, several you've probably never before seen, and our addition, braiding on the fly. You may not know it but back in the 60s, Al made his living as a working cowboy. During those years he learned to braid leather, rope, and rawhide from an old Nevada cowboy. Some of those braiding techniques have found their way from the corral to the fish hook and beyond!! Also of interest is the chapters reviewing the Grant weave and the Pott weave. The Pott weave was in jeopardy of being lost to the ravages of time when the late Frank Johnson salvaged what he could then passed the information along to us. That information plus data gleaned from the Pott Fly Company archives make for a very interesting read AND some fly tying techniques not seen for many years. You can get the book from Amazon or we'll have signed copies by the end of February at btsflyfishing.com or the Albany, OR show in the middle of March. The Kindle version of the book will be ready around the end of the month. Take care & ...

Hi robbor, We use a LOT of Danville thread and have many empty spools. Send your mailing address to my email address ([email protected]) and I'll send you a couple. Be sure to put "Request Spools" in the subject line so I don't accidentally delete your email. Take care & ...

Hi cb27, I have all three books and think the hard-bound version is the best but all three are very informative. The hard-bound version varies in price from $750 for a 1st edition to about $100 for one of the subsequent editions. Here is a couple for sale on eBay if interested: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=the+master+fly+weaver&_sacat=0 We are currently working on a book on weaving and braiding flies. As it happens, the George Grant chapter (9) after the one we're currently working on is next. We expect the book will be done sometime early in 2020. We'll announcing it when available. Take care & ...

Hi Chris, I love it. Darned, I wish we could tie that fast but after 60+ years of tying we are probably as fast as we are going to get. In fact, as the years unfold we seem to be slowing down a bit. Anyway, good job!. Take care & ...

Good looking collection of flies. Take care & ...

Al first ran across this fly in the late '70s in a Poul Jorgensen book (we think?, fading memory). It was originally tied as a quill-wing wet fly then eventually the wings were "reset" to redesign it into a dry fly. Usually the wings are tied out of duck quill (sometime goose) slips but that materials is far enough out-of-vogue that getting matched pairs is not as easy as it used to be. The same fly with blue-dun hackle point wings or Wonder Wings is equally effective and the wings are more durable than the quill slip version. Take care & ...

We ditto the Harbor Freight magnetic bowl. A couple of them have worked for us for years. Take care & ...

Hi Spokane Dude, We have used thread to make dubbing brushes by gluing one side of a thread dubbing loop before putting the dubbing in it. Then spin it and remove from the tool while still under tension and let it dry (while still under tension). We usually use two hackle pliers and a couple of rubber bands to suspend the still wet (and glued) dubbing brush until it dries. Mike is right though, the best is light wire. Take care & ...

Hi guys, I recently got the 1mm foam suggested by flytire in an earlier post. It works great for those size #16 and smaller Humpies. It sure beats trying to trim 2mm foam strips. Take care & ...

Hi patze003, A taxidermist might be a good option. Just be sure the hair comes from the rib or belly of the animal as it is better for spinning. The hair along the backbone, over the shoulder and over the rump is better for wings & tail of hair-wing dry flies (Wulff, Humpy, Trudes, etc.). Take care & ...