cphubert

👍👍 looks like fun afternoon on the farm pond

First Myggan welcome to the site and thank you for posting your flies. Your spice fly looks like a cased caddis to me and I find it a fresh idea to use spices glued to foam, like a kanelbulle for fish, very innovative. All of your flies will catch fish and I am sure you will continue to improve your style and your fly patterns. Do you fish rivers or the coast?

Their either thinking MOM or stop looking at my neck!

The contrast of blue's in the wraps are nicely balanced & the cork is unique and perfect. The lower section on the hand grip looks like a river rock pattern to me.

Pancakes and smartpills! Now that's the way to start the day!

The rivers are chosen to ensure the brood stock salmon are dam bound so in effect they are land locked, not sure if any are ever hold overs as it can develop into a congestive style of fishing for the take season, the ponds or lakes may have a few hold overs but no river access for spawning to develop a land lock variety (Ouananiche). The base for the strain was Maine's Penobscot anadromous fish, also in decline, as are some of the Canadian Maritimes fish. I feel fortunate to have fished the "king of gamefish" on some wonderful rivers with a few lifelong friends but would trade the experience's and memories for a successful Connecticut River Salmon program just watch them leap in the rivers of New England.

Connecticut does have a brood stock fishery on two rivers and a couple of ponds/lakes. Not like a scheduled river and fishery starts in late fall and is catch and release until mid December then they fish them out quickly. Unfortunate but it is open to all fishing (spin & fly) with a single barbless hook artificial (lure/fly only) it is probably one of the only or very few places you can spin fish for atlantics in North America but they are not wild or returning fish, but salmon non the less. Our Connecticut River Restoration project is in its last phase of failure. After 50 years of hope they pulled the funding a few years ago after the returns went downhill drastically for the last decade. A few people where excited the last few years as salmon redd's where spotted on the Farmington river but these fish are no longer captured in the fishways and milked so a few are spawning in the rivers, but they are protected. All anyone can do is hope nature can find a way but most think it is hopeless. The brood stock programs is being continued for the present time as it took them decades and a lot of $ to develop the strain.

Mike that is a very nice job on the bench & pallet wood to boot!

Very bright! easy way to keep your eye on your fishing partner in a crowd.

Ok I'm in, first day of spring might as well tie a few flies tomorrow.

They are probably tied with a domestic saddle and usually have more feather length than the Chinese or packaged strung saddles and the ability to match the barbule sizes to your hook. If you are catching fish then it is a matter of cosmetics. I usually go to shops or shows and look for saddles that fit my color/ size/ and price, very hard to size and grade online. I do not personally know anyone that trims the fibers but if i had to it would be prior to tying it in by stroking the barbules backwards until they are perpendicular to the shaft then trim to length (both sides) it will give a unnatural end to the barbule (like the breadcrust pattern). but it maybe easier than trimming after. Hope this helps you.

Very sharp, almost as nice as the one you made for me😁

On a roll Steve must be getting to be that time of year!

wobble worm welcome to the forum, is your vise a terra? and what model or type spring action (like a regal) or cam type jaws?

tree roots and frost heaves the paved driveway killers of the north. nice job on the concrete drive Mike. I have to stay with trap rock and process.

Another clean classic rod, looks nice Steve owner should be very happy.

Absolutely worth every penny, my last ones had batteries I was not disciplined enough to always have fresh ones around, and I have large fat fingers and changing them was a PITA I used my bodkin to change them.

I'll stick with the griz and brown.

except mothers and daughters 😉

Classic clean rod, the kind I would be proud to pull out of my truck and string up!

rechargeable, drop into the charger at night tech said they should last years we'll see..

I just got a new pair and they are much better, not only for hearing my commander in chief, house, (wife) and others but to help control my tinnitus. they help a lot & no more battery's. I am like Mike the noise is constant but seems it varies in intensity and/or my ability to tolerate it. To date nothing seems to help in a crowd, but not being a social critter I have that covered. Steve I understand, some days it it is very consuming and the more you try to forget it the more you hear it ocd or not.

I feel for you, mine is hearing loss related and the hearing aids do help but I don't sleep with the hearing aids. Some nights it is hard to fall asleep you have tried the fan, have you tried a radio on low? I have found music sometimes helps to distract me, hate to give someone a plug but I use calm radio, a online music station they have different platforms. I try to think about the song I hear focusing on the notes or words and usually drift off to sleep. In another month or so the peepers singing always help I'm probably one of the only people that enjoys them or the crickets for background noise.

That is one sweet looking rod that is the first carbon fiber type seat that I like, looks very nice with blue hints to match the wraps. Steve you did a great job on that one.

Very attractive rod. Really like the cork work on the grips, colors are just bright enough. Owner should be very happy.