Kirk Dietrich

Dave, thanks; that shadow box must be nice. Spider, they'll certainly work as good as anything "new" from today. Fla, gotta love the old stuff, good idea on the post I wish I had something to contribute. I was never a collector and all the stuff from my younger fly fishing days was lost to Katrina. Tide, thanks. Gallasch used to tie his Skipping Bugs commercially in fact, when Orvis carried his bug, they were all tied by him, not some third world fly tier like flies today. I only met Accardo once at a "Sportsman's Show" show here in New Orleans and didn't get much time to chat with him. Tom Eggler has/had a great commercial popper. Kirk

All good advice but I've got to ask what the problem with the dull finish? Unless it is oxidized to where it is effecting function, then I wouldn't worry bout it. I like mine with the dull grey finish. Kirk

Cool Utyer. PJ, I'm always leary when a knot name is preceeded by "Double"..., which is what they suggest for the heavier tippets.

Maybe but the knot was by Davy Wotton. Fish can go for a nautical mile without the knot popping, you just have to have the means to follow.

While I use a Non-slip Mono Loop for tying most of my flies to tippet, I do use the Improved Cinch knot for when I want direct connection. Recently I heard about this Davy Knot being 100%, anyone been using this knot? Kirk

The longer it is, like in the photo, the more likely it is to block the fish. You want it shorter, trim it down to where it is only slightly below the hook point, or above depending on how you look at it.

Look forward to it.

Hey, I still know how to hijack, I just hijacked the hijack. Sorry to hear you're sick PJ, wondering why someone didn't pick up on the bait I left when I said, "...I realized I was a little late coming, which doesn't normally happen." Get well soon, Kirk

Ditz, with Joe being one of the pioneer flyfishermen back then, I'll bet you are right about Helen having tied for him as she was well known and respected and of that era. I guess when Lefty told me Bill was Joe's personal tier, it could have been that when Joe called Bill, he could be assured Bill would tie what he wanted how he wanted it??? Not sure. I do know Lefty said that Joe Brooks rarely tied flies.

AGN, yes it is the same Joe Brooks. I'm curious now if Joe came up with the Blonde, like the Skipping Bug, he may have just named it or conveyed the idea to Bill who maybe then tied it. I used to work for a guy that was a guide and he tied some but didn't have much time with all the fishing he did. Often he would talk to me about an idea and have me come up with something and we would tweak it from there; could be Joe and Bill had a similar relationship. SILK, that's cool, I wish I had saved stuff from back in my beginning fly days. Glad you liked the pics of the old bugs; you should maybe photo some of your bugs and post them. Kirk

Thanks

Haha, yeah, I realized I was a little late coming, which doesn't normally happen. Yeah, that was an article I did for Flyfishing and Flytying put out by Amato publishing; I first did the piece for a friend's blog site then decided to send it to the magazine for consideration. Hope I didn't ruffle to many feathers.

Use smaller eyes.

Some of these bugs are 60 yrs old. Enjoy ye ole bug makers... Kirk This is an overview pic of the bug my friend Ted Cabali lent me from his collection to photograph. Bill Gallasch’s Skipping Bug tied by Bill, named by Joe Brooks. Bill was Joe Brooks personal tier. According to Lefty Kreh, Joe didn’t do much fly tying. Bill originally made these from Cedar but then began making them from balsa; he drilled a hole near the bottom and inserted/glued the hook with bucktail and chenille into the hole. When Orvis was selling them, Bill was tying them for Orvis, so, if you bought any of these from Orvis way back, you have a Skipping Bug tied by the originator. The Pac Man bug tied by local New Orleanean Ronnie Leonard, who is now deceased. Fayard Crippled Minnow. Christy bug tied and sold by and in New Orleans. Pecks poppers, the large one was tied by Accardo’s company after he bought out Pecks. The smaller one was by Pecks. The label says it. More Pecks poppers tied by Pecks. Bottom - Dragon Fly, Center- Cricket, Top – Grasshopper. Peck’s Parker Feather Minnow tied by Pecks. This pattern was given to Peckinpaugh by a cotton broker in New Orleans named Parker.

AGN, those look good, I'd move the eyes on the Squirrelly a little farther back to make it easier to attach the slippery squirrel tail hair. FlyfishJam leaves the white tips on his and says they work really well in his streams for smallmouth. Kirk

It's a blast catching those little bass on the small minnow balsa bugs. I love watching them come in behind with a little head wake, those little guys are fun to catch - good stuff for sure! Kirk

Looks good to me. Do some different weights and some chartreuse ones too.

Tutorial by Curtis Fry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeatp-UTY7M

Like TheHound and Adventure568, I saw someone else flyfishing and catching bass on a day when I didn't get a bite on my conventional gear; I too was about 12 or 13. From experience with my kids with just regular fishing, if you want to get kids in it, they need to catch fish and preferably more than they would another way. While most of us grow to enjoy fly fishing just for the sake of it and many youngsters may thing it has to be cool but don't mistake the fact that kids like catching fish; I mean, what is more cool than that? Catching more fish than your friend. Find a place where they can be almost guaranteed success in catching fish, teach them to cast a little and when they catch fish, they will be hooked more than likely. Kirk

I was thinking the same thing Tide although the sculpin headed ones might make to muck kerplunk for skittish bonefish in clear shallow water but I'm sure for deeper water bones they would work.

Looking good! Look forward to fishing report.

Fisherboy, yes and no. They are designed to float on a 45 deg angle with just a little of the nose sticking out. When you strip, they dip and dart to the side and when stripped to keep below the surface, they dart left and right and erratic. So, yes, they do go side to side like a Zara but not strictly on the surface like a Zara. If you twitch lightly, they will go side to side and not dip as much but I tend to work them more aggressively although I do work them gingerly letting them dart on the surface. Also, the large ones cast on a 7wt and the smaller ones on a 5wt. fshng, thanks.

Balsa is nice to work with. I especially like the mid-weight balsa. Nice SBS you put up for folks. Here are some 3 balsa minnows and a pencil popper on 10xl hooks and a diver on a 7xl hook that I made a few months ago. Some balsa minnows I call The Rabid Dog on 7xl size 2 streamer hooks I made last year.

All yours.

Nice job! Nothing ugly about it. I'd call it a Fish Sandwich Popper.