billb

Steve and Merle: Have PM'ed you my address. Everybody: Three sets of flies in hand and five addresses sent -- we're well on our way! Bill

swapmates: Linesides has sent me a PM that he needs to drop out of our swap. We'll miss him (he ties nice yak hair Clousers!), but his departure is unavoidable and I'm sure he'll be back for future swaps. Bill

fellow swappers: billy's flies have arrived, with several extras for Addie and me and ziplock plastic sleeves that I'll use in packaging everybody's flies for distribution -- thanks, billy! Three dozen down and nine to go. Bill

troutguy: Address sent via PM. Will look forward to seeing your Clemson flies, whichever color combination you choose. Bill

Pelhament: Green and black would be great. I wouldn't have had a problem with another set of green and yellow/gold flies, but the variety will be nice! Thanks for your flexibility. Bill

billy: Thanks for the photos (and for tying the extra fly so folks can see what you've sent), as well as for the extra flies you've sent for Addie and me! Will confirm receipt when your package gets here. fellow swappers: The 2nd image of my fly does enlarge -- is the enlarged view big enough, or should I make future image files larger? I'm new to posting images and am trying to avoid unnecessarily long download times, but it would defeat the purpose of posting in the first place if folks can't get a good enough look at flies. Please let me know what you think. Bill

Bill: I haven't been able to figure out why my photo thumbnails won't enlarge. I wonder if it's because, in my attempt to keep them from eating up to much storage space and download time (I'm creating the JPEGs at the smallest setting available --160 x 120 pixels), I've made them too small. Have sized this JPEG larger (I think) -- let's see if it works! Bill

Salty: Very nice desk, but what really caught my eye was your library..... Bill

I think Steve's right. Looks like the stem on mine is just about exactly 3/8". Bill

My UVM Clousers are done -- here's what they look like. Bill

The first batch of this swap's flies arrived today! flyrod98's blue/white Deep Minnows are very nicely tied, as you can see in the photo he posted a few days ago. He sent a couple extra flies: a pretty Thunder Creek Rainbow Trout for Addie and a Murdich Minnow that I'm looking to take out to the closest pike lake. Thanks, Bill! billy: You're welcome. Glad to hear that you're learning through this swap -- that's half the fun of doing these things. Bill

Daryn: Three more -- -- "Streamers and Bucktails: The Big Fish Flies" -- Joe Bates, 1979 (Bate referred to it as "the winnowed augmentation" of "Streamer Fly Fishing in Fresh and Salt Water" and "Streamer Fly Tying & Fishing") -- "Hair Wing Atlantic Salmon Flies" -- Keith Fulsher and Charles Krom, 1981 -- "Newfoundland Salmon Flies ... and How to Tie Them" -- Len Rich, 1988 A lot of the hairwing salmon flies in the last two books use material other than deer tail, but it's in there nonetheless, and the books make for great reading. Bill

Nice fly, Daryn. Am about to tie up some marabou-winged Black Ghosts for a quick trip to Grand Lake Stream, Maine, this week, but will try out your variation after I get my hands on rabbit strips. Bill

Congratulations. It's amazing how resilient our kids are, although it kills us to see them go through the tough stuff. Bill

I have no doubt! Bill

Here are the materials I received from Kerry for my flies in this swap. Bill

I agree! Bill

fr98: Just PM'ed my address to you. Thanks, Bill

Kerry: Glad mine made it, too. Thanks for the kind words about how they turned out -- had fun tying them. Am trying to figure out how to attach a photo of the raw materials, but still am unable to pull a jpeg out of my computer ......... will keep at it. Looking forward to seeing everything. Oh, yeah -- where do we pre-register for Challenge 13?! Bill

Holy Hog Ties, Batman! Nice fly. Have sent you a PM with my mailing address. Who's next? Bill

Good idea. I've not yet fished the "Shewey's Squirming Squid" I tied for this swap. It's a Northwest Coast rockfish pattern that I found in Dick Stewart and Farrow Allen's "Flies for Saltwater" (great source of patterns, in a great reference volume series). I'm planning in trying it out this year on Northeastern stripers. Bill

Matt: You can cut down on the flaring by using hair only from the top two-thirds of the tail (nearest the tip). If you take a couple of not-too-tight turns around the hair and the hook initially to hold things down, do not make any of the subsequent (and tighter) turns on top of or behind those first wraps. I also use some head cement on the butt ends, but usually only if I'm only tying in a big clump of hair. Be sure to pull out the shorter hairs after cutting the clump close to the tail hide, to reduce the diameter of the clump at its butt end (the end you're tying in). Then trim the clump to length, and if the butt ends slip in your fingers before you get them tied in, even them up (not the tapered ends of the hair that will point to the tail of the fly) get in a hair stacker. This last task will help you tie a neater head. Hope this didn't state the obvious too much! Practice, and more practice, will make you more efficient and proficient at tying in deer hair, and at doing so many other fly-tying activities. Bill

billy: Sounds good-- will look forward to seeing them! Bill

We've got a full swap, with 12 tyers signed up. New tyers/swappers: Please feel free to ask any questions you have. The "old" swappers are happy to share. Guess I'd better get started on my UVM Clousers! Bill

troutguy: You're in -- that's orange and purple, isn't it? Bill