Tom Gibbons

Yesterday, I attended the Fly Fishing Show in Lancaster Pennsylvania. I found myself attracted to all the fly tiers who where lined around the walls. I walked the isles watching as they tied their flies. I had my head down as I passed each station looking in fascination as these people created such beautiful flies. I was walking by one station when I heard the man behind the table say, "Are you a tier?" I looked up to find a friendly gentleman with a smile on his face, tying a beetle. I chuckled and explained to him that I'm in the beginning stages and am going to give it my best shot. He began to give me advice; like not to go a buy material, just to "buy" it. Stick to lots of black and whites. He told me to make sure I buy the best vise I can afford and he said if I don't remember anything else he told me, he said to keep control with the the thread, as he showed me by using his blobbin close to the hook. He continued giving me advise as he finished the beetle, put it in a container and handed it to me. He asked me to give it a try and email him to let him know how it worked. He told me that above all else, you'll never forget that feeling of catching that fish with a fly that you tied. He gave a great impression. His name is Bruce Corwin. Check out his web page www.brucecorwin.com

By hte way.. I have never met any tyer who was not willing to go out of their way to help me understand even the simplest technique,, Bob Clouser,Jack Gartside,Bob Popovics,many others all treasured memories. Hearing your story is lifting.Thanks.

Hey Missouri,nice flies,very catchy looking. Jack Gartside was fond of underfathers also Charlie Craven uses canned air with a zip lock bag to mix dubbing,"Charlie Craven's Basic Fly Tying".Thanks. you've reminded me also to get into Carp with the flyrod as I intended last year on the Delaware.

hawhaw,when your in it,your in for good,nice room.

man you have atmosphere! nice innersantum. I have fished up your way a few times,lived in Northhampton county till last June.. tried Texas for awhile,ended up in Ky.miss Pa.

man you have good taste,I'm totally envious.

Another of your very lovely flies Mr. Wielenmann. Thanks so much. Tom.

I agree with you H.Champagne. Deeky has it covered. Lots of work tho, but very skill gratifying and you get to use 'em.

You are welcome. Merry Christmas and a blessed prosperous Happy New Year.

this may seem unusual, but it's not. 4" black bunny strip leech weighted w/ barbell eyes so hook rides up. Drag it slow on the bottom, with frequent stops.

how are you doing livefly? been a while since this post of yours back on Aug.13,hope i'm not to late. what did you end up with? as the other guys recommended dealing with j. stockard, so do i. i bought a vice from them last wk. and it got to my house in 1 day. i don't have disposeable income ,retired, so i took a chance on griffin blackfoot mongoose. stockard listed it for 123.98, lower price than any other dealer, and they gave me coupon point discount[5.00] free shipping, total 118.98. this model also has bobbin cradle and material clip adjustable, extention post for more ht. from table, a really nice foam lined smart plastic case. and it's a rotary. this thing has many varied adjustment features also. i have'nt tyed on it yet,just monkeyed around with learning how to adjust jaws to hook sizes. i'm hoping for a good relationship with this puppy. tom.

Howdy Rawdawg, you going to list these materials on this site? I mean ton of stuff is rather interesting. tom.

reminds me of the salmon river[pulaski] method for fishing salmon i learned here in the site posts. thank you smalliefanatic once again. of course i checked out moffit. had that gut feeling about their method after the brief description with spacing of the circle hook...snagging's what came to mind. fagettaboudit.

i remember i switched from a shad fly to a ell fly imotation one day on the delaware blow easton pa,others at the spot were z,ing out till i started catching BIG suckers. if you wanted to see the dead come alive, of course everyone wanted to get in on it,said if its suckers what the hell, suckers it is. i was the only one fishing long rod.the fly was bout 5" long black rabbit w/med lead eyes,hook i bent in the vise as a keel hook quickie. Tom.

I believe all flytying is an art form. However, realistics is truely one of the highest forms of of the art!

Hey Seadog,Semper Fi brother. 60-64.

No comprimise from me, Art form, and is'nt it so , so cool, we are all flyfishers. ya baby.

Hey man you tie some good flys! I tyied up some 16&18's of the "indestructable" on mustad scuds, fished offcolor water Sun. am. with em' got some bangs from the croud no solid takers tho. I confess I had no black flash like yours , I sub'd with a kind of black thread/fine gold tinsil I bot way back someplace. Anyway today I spent at the vise most of the day,,rain,rain,rain. I live 2 mi's from the Delaware, near Belvidere, N.J. Check you later,Thanks,Tom.

Hey Joe you get a shad run up there? Nice flys, I tied something similar but on gold mustad size 1 hook. The jig hook is a patently new one for me, as a shad fly hook that is. Oh yaa, the no snag concept ,,, uunhuh.

Hello Paul,

the Blackfly I referred to may be a bug you heard of; "Mansonella Ozzard". What I found is what "Wikipedia Enclyclipedia" offered. These bugs[if they are the same as described] give you a stinging bite which produces a swollen area and very itchy for days. I'm still trying to get more info as the locale of bug does'nt add up in relation to my area, upper Delaware River [Pa. N.J.] I was bitten by them last summer and this spring, they are no joke. O.K. I'll be standing by,Tom. Anybody else reading this if you have input please jump in,Thanks.

Hello Dog&Ark Mike,, thanks for the comeback on the pliers,,I'll be looking into those yall mentioned. Tom. and thanks Jani for the photo.

Hello Hans,I see you are in the room,goodmorning.

man this place is flat getting better all the time, Thanks uffe.

nice work Doug. cant wait to see whats next.

Thanks Guys, I don't know about the bulldog ones, Pamona?, C&F,Electrical Clip,English Pliars, [i'm feeling dumb]; All Greek to me. oooh yaa,fingers, yep, I know about them,,still,,I need to get several good ones. I'll be checking into the above. Futzer, Dog, Bruce, are the electricals the ones with the little pushbutton on base and tiny hook on top? And Mike, where do I get the English pliers you mentioned? I would like to have all of the above so please clue me in. Jani that clip looks interesting, looks like a gadget,man I like gadgets.

I cant locate at this moment, ][the post about sissors] I just bot the set, drslick,[3] long,med,and sht. pt.,as a guy interjected, "my fiscars" bot for 1.00 6 of them, he said he gave 3 away,were best. My opinion,'he's right on. In his book'Basic Flytying" Charlie Craven tells you what& how of primary tools. Now to the point: who really knows from experience the best hackle pliers in the the whole wide world....? Got that done yet?... Thanks. Tom.

Hi Hans, very nice of you to surface in here today,I'll run with you in the low places anywhere. Thanks for embracing us,we certainly do you.And your daughter. Tom.