Mark Knapp

Hey, I may be mistakin, but wasn't that you who just won Forged in Fire last night. Excuse me if im wrong but only aware of one Mark from Fairbanks AK who crafts knives and that be you. Congradulations, and I'm sure your wife will appreciate the $9000

 

Doug

Yes Doug that was me but I'm afraid you saw a rerun. That episode was from season four, three years ago, I think. It was a great time and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Thank you very much Doug and Tier.

And to you, Kimo. And to all my friends here on FTF Merry Christmas.

 

I found the video better than most I've seen. I like the tiers style of describing the tie very much. I like the version with the wire better, I would trade a longer tie for more time fishing any day.

 

Because knit picking is what we do on the internet, I can't help mention that the lead wire is .015 not 0.15 as the tier said. (0.15 is a little over 1/8 of an inch)

 

Great video anyway, thanks for posting. I'm going to adopt the wire version for my go-to.

Thanks, Im glad you like the video. So I swore I said .015 sized. Ill go back and check, but Im almost positive said it right. Of course Ive been known to leave bloopers in accidentally, and this could very well be one of those times.

 

Ok so you caught my blooper. Haha! I sometimes will get a little dyslexic and say things the wrong way. I checked the narrative I wrote, and I wrote .015, however I said 0.15 when reading it. Silly me, thanks for catching that. Unfortunately YouTube wont let me edit voice, so its stuck forever wrong. Luckily I wrote the right size in the description section of the video. So hopefully people dont get too confused

 

No one would really think you were using 0.15 Dia. wire. I'm just picking at you. Besides, in the video you can clearly read .015 on the spool.

I have lots of video mis-speeks on you tube.

If we were all perfect, what would we talk about on the internet?

I found the video better than most I've seen. I like the tiers style of describing the tie very much. I like the version with the wire better, I would trade a longer tie for more time fishing any day.

Because knit picking is what we do on the internet, I can't help mention that the lead wire is .015 not 0.15 as the tier said. (0.15 is a little over 1/8 of an inch)

Great video anyway, thanks for posting. I'm going to adopt the wire version for my go-to.

I'm still tying the old classics from the Orvis Index.

Giant Black Stone Fly Nymph

Giant golden Stone Fly Nymph

Olive Scud

And then I tied something from my own imagination.

A Pheasant, Goose Biot, Peacock Herl, Partridge Wet.

Kimo, you're quite the nymph-maniac these days. They are first rate.

I've had the same thing happen. For me though, If I left everything alone, undisturbed, the glue and the fibers would harden back up and everything would be fine.

 

Mark, very nice indeed! I'm a big believer in form follows function and you nailed it while still adding some artistic embellishment. Too often I see knives that look like they are either thrown together with bailing wire and rough shaped or they have so much superfluous stuff added that they look like a goth teenager that went on a piercing binge and can now no longer do anything but sit in moms basement for fear of having something torn off by the shrubbery outside. Again good stuff. Very generous client you have there.

 

Swamp

 

P.S. Three guesses as to which pair Mike would choose! LOL

Thanks everybody for the props. You end up with sore hands after a marathon build like that. They were shipped in time, and my hands are feeling better. I'm guessing Mike would have chosen the blue handled ones. I can be accused of over dressing my knives at time as well as my flies. Being a custom knife maker, I have to make what my customers want. Overwhelmingly they want bling.

 

Now, it's time for some ice fishing.

 

Nice work Vicente

Mark, very nice indeed! I'm a big believer in form follows function and you nailed it while still adding some artistic embellishment. Too often I see knives that look like they are either thrown together with bailing wire and rough shaped or they have so much superfluous stuff added that they look like a goth teenager that went on a piercing binge and can now no longer do anything but sit in moms basement for fear of having something torn off by the shrubbery outside. Again good stuff. Very generous client you have there.

 

Swamp

 

P.S. Three guesses as to which pair Mike would choose! LOL

Thanks everybody for the props. You end up with sore hands after a marathon build like that. They were shipped in time, and my hands are feeling better. I'm guessing Mike would have chosen the blue handled ones. I can be accused of over dressing my knives at time as well as my flies. Being a custom knife maker, I have to make what my customers want. Overwhelmingly they want bling.

Now, it's time for some ice fishing.

That's a ton o' work there! They look fantastic.

Thanks bud.

Wow Mark how long did it take you to do all those??

We took the order just after Christmas last year. We have been working on them all year (me and my apprentices). The same customer ordered 50 of my 1911 survival knives for Christmas last year and we are working on an a proposal for next Christmas of 50 slip joint folders. We, of course, worked on a lot of other things during the year too. It's hard to say exactly how much time we have in these knives alone, a few hundred, I'm sure.

This is what I've been up to. Fifty hunter/skinner sets. 100 knives total. My biggest single order to date. A customer of mine gives them to his customers for Christmas.

I am sorry to hear some of you are depressed, especially you Steve, don't be sad. We love you.

James, next time you come over, bring the devise you're taking pictures with. We'll work on your picture taking a little bit. In my opinion, you should try to do everything you do, the very best you can do it. These pictures are not the best you can do.

Another nymph from the Orvis Index.

Perla.

This pattern calls for a blend of yellow and amber African goat fur for dubbing. For some reason I couldn't find my yellow and amber African Goat fur to blend so I substituted red fox and amber poly dubbing. Please excuse the departure from the original.

Now that my pictures are getting better I have noticed a couple of things. One thing I noticed is, as the pictures get better the flies look worse. You can see every thread out of place and every wild feather fiber. Becoming a better photographer makes you a better tier.

Too late, I noticed that the hook gap on this fly is probably too big for this fly. Maybe it will help keep smaller trout off of this one.

Yes, that's very nice. Meeshka

I'm back to tying from the Orvis Index of Fly Patterns.

Early Black Stone Fly Nymph.

Early Brown Stone Fly Nymph

Little Yellow Stone Fly Nymph

Very nice Siski.

Ooh, now that one I really like, Scott

Yep, that's why I said I would leave the ID's to you. It's funny that the long ears have shorter ears than the red breast. That's the way it is sometimes with fish names.

Great looking stuff Kimo

 

Mark,

If you ask me you have an obsession as you said. Is it a problem?

An addiction is only a problem when it negatively impacts self or others. Since fly tying usually keeps delinquents like you guys off the street ... I say it's a BOON in this case !!!

 

 

Yes, I think it's only a problem if it keeps you from your regular work, spending time with family, if you lay awake thinking about it or if you are denying it's doing all those things to you. But, It's not doing any of those things to me, so I'm good.

Wait, was he striped or stripped, he looked striped to me. Sorry to knit pick at you.

I thought I saw a long ear sun fish there. I will leave the species ID to you, you da man on that.

Nice trip.

Very nice.

Mark That is a lot of material. You have your room organized nicely. I really like your tool holder. Did you make that?

Yes, The base of it started out life as a piano key board cover (after it was an oak tree). I got it at our dumpster transfer site. I mitered it and added the top from an oak board I had.

Mark,

 

First of all: A sincere thank you. I thought I had a problem but your post has allayed my fears. I'm a piker compared to you and your collection of materials.

 

Nice job of the tying desk. You've given me an idea or two for when I get around to modifying mine.

Thanks bud, and you are welcomed. .

Two bins of caribou. You should use some caribou in your nymphs. Thats a lot of stuff.

Caribou, like all members of the deer family have hollow hair, thus it floats so it might be counter intuitive for a nymph. I could try it for higher floating nymphs. It is super good for things like elk hair and deer hair stuff (unless you're a stickler for tradition). It is the most buoyant of the deer hairs (that I know of). I plan on experimenting with it quite a bit. Frogs and mice jump to mind right away.