Bryon Anderson

I'm thinking a long those lines redband02. If no one here wants them, I will likely donate them to my TU chapter or the TU fly fishing school where I volunteer every summer.

You're right, Norm, and I can't imagine how they must feel. Beyond devastated; probably nearer to hopeless. I don't for a moment think that my situation even comes close to something like that. Thank you for the reminder that my energy is much better spent on gratitude for what I still have and compassion for others who are facing true hardship, rather than on self-pity. (In case this sounds snarky or sarcastic, please know that I don't mean it that way.)

If you are new to tying and looking to add to your stock of materials, head over to the "Classifieds" section of the forum - I have posted pics of some materials I am looking to send to someone who will make use of them. 🙂

UPDATE: I'll keep this brief - suffice it to say we are now on "Round 3" of trying to get our insurance (Liberty Mutual) to pay up. After two months, our original adjuster finally told us we could expect payment in the next 24-48 hours. Before that could happen, however, we got a call informing us that Adjuster #1 had so royally screwed up the claim that we had been assigned to a new adjuster, and would be starting the process from scratch. So ended Round 1. Round 2 went much the same - nearly another month of screwing around, and finally they cut us a check---for about one-third of our actual damages. So begins round 3 - complaint filed with Michigan Insurance Commissioner, contractor (of our choice this time) submitted an estimate detailing what repairs will realistically cost, and a good friend who happens to be a pretty well-known attorney standing by to inform them of our intent to sue for a bad-faith claim if need be. I am still grateful that it wasn't our home that was hit, but boy, is it going to be a loooong winter if I don't have my woodworking shop to escape to.

Got a bunch of stuff I'm not using that I would like to give away to someone new to fly tying who's working on building up their stock of materials. Some hair/fur, some synthetics - see pics below. I'll cover shipping within the US. Please send me a PM if interested. (For those new to the forums, you can send a PM by clicking on my user name, which will take you to my profile. From there, just click "Message".)

2017 Subaru Outback. Best car I've ever owned. I will likely continue to drive them as long as they're made (and the quality remains undiminished). The only reason I'd change would be if I were to get a boat and needed more towing power.

One of the most useful realizations I've ever had has been that "the news" is really no different than a soap opera - no matter when you tune in or how long it's been since you last did so, it's going to be, as my dad used to say, "Same old sh*t, different day". A few big corporations making billions off of constantly stirring the pot, keeping everyone angry, anxious, and afraid. I do keep my phone on me, and it still gets way more of my time and attention than it should, but I'm working on it. I exchange texts with my sons, my sister, and a couple of friends on an almost daily basis, and those communications are always a net positive for me -- humor, support, catharsis, compassion; all the things that matter. I wouldn't willingly give that up. I'm also addicted to the ability to find the answer to nearly any question I might have or information about any random thing I might wonder about during the day. My wife and I have an app that lets us see each other's exact location at any moment, which is a comfort, and also a convenience as it eliminates a lot of texts of the "where are you?" or "are you off the water yet?" nature. It's like most things in life -- the trick is to extract what benefit you can from it, while avoiding (or just learning to ignore) the bad.

Yet another point in favor of de-barbed or barbless hooks! 😄

I think you're right Capt. Bob -- I'm thinking of going back to tying my own bass leaders, which I make 6' long, consisting of 2' each of 30lb/20lb/15lb. If the 15' tippet proves too visible, I can always add on a foot of 12 or 10 lb.

Went back to the same spot tonight and got right back into them. The first two both broke my 2x tippet. The first one was kind enough to shake loose my Booglebug, so I tied it back on and, a few casts later, had the exact same thing happen! This one kept my bug, though. 😕 (It's barbless, so I'm sure he'll be free of it quickly.) Now I'm off to order more Booglebugs 😊

This is the primary reason why I tie almost all my dry flies parachute style (with the hackle wound around an upright "wing post" of either calf tail hair, deer hair, or synthetic yarn so that the hackle fibers radiate out from the wing post and lie parallel to the hook shank). Collar-hackled (or Catskill style, as they're sometimes called) dry flies are things of beauty, but I always had a terrible time getting them to alight on the water correctly. Like you said, they seemed to always want to list to one side, or sometimes even alight completely upside-down. Very frustrating. Parachute dries land correctly for me about 99% of the time. I also believe that they more accurately represent the profile of a mayfly when viewed from below -- at least to my eye, they do. The few dry flies that I do still tie with the Catskill style collar hackle are mainly patterns like the Humpy, "Wulff" patterns with divided hair wings, and a couple of caddis patterns; on these, I trim the hackle tips flush with the hook point. This helps significantly with getting them to land and float correctly, and the fish don't seem to mind.

Truth!

Impressive work all around! You are a man of many talents for sure.

Wow! Those are some whopper Smallies! Nice - looks like a great day

Every once in a great while I'll find a Largemouth in the Grand or Muskegon - but yeah, they are mostly in lakes over here too. I would love to find a lake with Smallmouth in it that I can fish in my kayak. Only ones I've found that have Smallies are big ones like Pere Marquette Lake or Muskegon Lake, and those have lots of "big-boy boat" traffic. Props and big wakes make me nervous...