Streamside

I own Caucci/Nastasi Spinner for 12 years or so. Use it a lot. {TIP} If you put a small dot of colored head cement / paint on outside rim, you can count rotations to keep fly bodies consistant. can also tease dubbing before you wrap.

Oh it's a king fisher alright! Look here to see a real Blue chatterer {Cotinga} http://www.classicflytying.com/index.php?showtopic=15094

This is my first post since illness last year Thought you should see this. I contacted seller and told him it was kingfisher worth about $5.00 He said it was confirmed chatterer by two experts. Someone with more money than brains, purchased a raggid old king fisher skin for $1500.00. It was originally listed for $4000.00. Feel bad for buyer, very expensive lesson! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=180427221380

The main rule to remember in fly tying is that the dressing materials you tie in will always conform to or follow the initial thread underbody shape you started out with. If you are bundling the base of the wing and simply tying it in on top of the hook {via pinch and loop}, how can you expect it to splay properly? You first need to start out with a wide enough thread base to properly splay out the base of your wing. Once you have the base of the wing properly mounted, the rest of the wing will follow suit automatically. Here is my crude representation. The left shows a wing base bundle simply tied in on top of the hook shank. The right shows a wing base splayed out over a proper thread base. Hope this helps. John

I've been away for a while and missed quite a bit by the look of things. Here is a photo of the Cat Puke you asked about. It's high and dry adult stone, tied with Rainy's tube bodies that also doubles as a great caddis immatation when tied in smaller sizes.

Thompson strait jaws are the most common vise jaw available. Most fly shops carry them stock. There are also aftermarket companies who make replacement jaws. I believe both FLY and Sunrise and India all carry an aftermarket jaw for around $5.00 - $7.00. The jaws out of any Thompson A style vise will fit your vise. The jaws for SLT360, Vision 360 Rotary and old A style are all the same jaw. You should have no problem getting a replacement. John The jaws below are all from different Thompson vises but they all interchange.

400.00 GBP United Kingdom Pounds = 781.372 USD United States Dollars 1 GBP = 1.95343 USD 1 USD = 0.511920 GBP 781.372 USD and of course there will be duty/ brokerage on top.

Ya me too once I gave it a little thought. Not saving anything and I don't have much use for C clamp. I tried to get through to Dancia using the telefax # on the site but not having any luck. Have you got a price quote new yet. John

Hi troutbum was that with the base bobbin rest, accessories? I might be better to go new myself as well.

Bruce here's the add. FS: LAW Bench Vise...SALE PENDING -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not the Snowbee-Waldron version. C-clamp. If you like a pedestal base, any standard one such as Regal will work. Current price is about 450GBP ($850) plus shipping from the UK. Excellent lightly used condition. Nothing wrong with this vise...it's as good as they say...this is my back-up LAW. $715 shipped, just in time for Winter. greenriver7043 AT yahoo DOT com Thanks, Chris Edited by: cdmoore at: 11/20/06 16:55 Add was posted 8 days ago by the moderator and is still pending. Let me know if your not interested because I'd like to snap it up myself if you don't want it, and if it's still available and the sale falls through. John

The jaws on your old 3000 are probably just polished and rounded smooth from constant use. I have had the same situation with my Renzetties. Take the jaws apart and sand them flat on a belt sander with 100 diamond grit, give them a quick buff on a piece of course leather so they won't scratch plated hooks and reblue them with gun blue so they won't corode. They will be as good as new.

Rob's recipes and contact info can all be found on his home page. Rob's page You can also {iron} porcupine quills flat and color them with permanent markers for flat body wrap, much the same as Rob's style.

Hi Ray. Here is my way I came up with for using porcupine quills for extended body mayflies. Take one porcupine quill and two porcupine guard hairs. Using just your fingers {no vise} line up the tails and butt end of the quill together between your thumb and first finger, and using the bobbin in your other hand bind them to the quill. You will notice at the butt end of the quill there is a little point which is the root. Once you have bound the tails to the quill, make a couple figure 8 knots to splay the tails apart and tie it off with a couple half hitches around the little root point and trim your thread. Next coat the quill in cement, then take a small pinch of your favorite flavor of fine dubbing and gently roll it on between your thumb and first finger. Give it a couple seconds to set and then roll it again a little tighter . Then just cut it to the length you desire. They are very easy and quick to make. I usually make up a film canister full of each color /size/ type of mayfly and then I have them all prepped and ready when I go to tie my mayflies. P.S. I posted those photos of my tying setup you asked for under the bobbin thread last week incase you missed them. John

I assumed that was a given. I do wash before and after

When you are talkng about alum, do you mean the same stuff they use in pickling to make the pickles crisp? http://www.foodsubs.com/Misc.html

Thank's Chris. I thought they might use a native bark of some kind. I've also heard they use a brown tanic leaf compost. Sumac leaves I think. This is all the information I could find on it. Vegetable Tanning Vegetable tanning leather produces stiffer result that is still flexible but better suited for sturdier products such as belts and luggage. Hides are placed on frames and hung in vats of tannin, which is where ‘tanning’ got its name. Tannin is a natural product found in certain parts of trees such as chestnut, oak, and hemlock, using the bark, wood, leaves, and fruit. This process involves the skins being moved through a series of vats. The first vat will have a weaker solution of tannin than the final vat.

Hi Will. What's the most common way of soft tanning among farmers in Australia. {Home recipes} Just curious

You don't need to go to the bother of soft tanning it unless you plan on wearing it. All I ever use is a mix of 1\3rd coarse salt, to dehydrate, 1\3rd 20 Mule Team borax for scent, & 1\3rd crushed moth balls or moth flakes to keep the bugs out. Here are three buck tails I did this weekend. Total cost about 59 cents. They will keep forever.

Can you please post a link? I can't find it.

I'd fish with you anywhere. Some flies are made to catch fishermen, some flies are made to catch fish. Man that is one serious box of fish catchers. As Graham said...... "I bet you can pick every pocket clean on your streams!!!" I too truly enjoy looking at your fly boxes. Thank you for sharing.

Here you go Ray

Hi Harold I will post some pics of my tying station for you. Hang tight. John

Hi Grey Squirrel, my vise is a Pamola Fly Lathe. I have two of them. One clamp model one base with all the extentions. I have a number of high quality vises, but these are definately my favorite. I use them 90% of the time. The vise was definately designed with the professional tyer in mind. Every single feature on the vise was well thought out. I know everyone is is defensive about what vise they use, I guess I'm no different because I honestly feel that the Pamola is the ultimate in vise design. There isn't a single feature I would change on it. The most unfortunate problem with the Pamola is that it is no longer made.

I love DR Slick tools in general , but I absolutely hate those freakin Dr Slick bobbins! They are the most inferior bobbin design I have ever used. The ceramic is rough enough to file your nails on and they are a downright bitch to thread! If I owned such a successful tool company as Dr Slick, I certainly wouldn't put my name on those damn bobbins. I still have one left I got as a gift. As soon as I'm finished with this post. I'm gonna fold it in two and throw it right in the garbage where it belongs.

You will quite often see them on ebay. If not contact Tiemco.