DFoster

And looks good in heels- 😆

Today is my last day of work until the new year which means unless things go horribly wrong I won't have to turn on this damn computer. I'm grateful that this forum brings fly fishing to me on all those work days when I'm stuck in the office and can't get to the water. Thank you all for that gift and Merry Christmas!

@Bimini15 I didn't tie these - Called a "Wicked Pissah" and tied usually on a size 30, people do very well on a heavily pressured local tail water with them. Since you can't see them with 12' leaders and # 9 tippet those that fish them strike at any disturbance on the surface. This isn't my style of fishing but I can't argue with the results. I've seen people catch a lot of big trout (20"+) with this technique and fly.

"It will be cold on Christmas and might rain or snow except for where the sun is shining". Around here our local news seem to only hire bikini models to guess what the weather will be.

I like it sir- it’s simple and Tasteful. There was a time when I would have to move the piano every year to make room for the 12’ tree our daughters insisted on. Then break out the ladders to hang lights. Now our girls have kids of their own and and we listen to them tell us how busy life is. They spent their entire weekend decorating. I love our table top tree- LOL!

Nice skins! “Marriage is a lifetime prison sentence, choose your cell mate wisely”. You chose well 🙂

Thank you -that is exactly how they were packaged. (No label). Thank you all for the responses – I will try the captain’s recommendation but I’m fairly certain now that they are dyed rooster. The thing that threw me is that my modern black rooster is actually black when seen under my tying light and these old feathers are a dark blue.

I was going to say 120 years ago people actually lit real candles on the real Christmas trees which explains why a lot of those houses are no longer with us. I burn our tree every year on New Years and no matter how much you water it -poof!

A while back I was given a box of 1970's era tying materials from a gentlemen who briefly had the tying bug and then quit. Anyway there are what appear to be black hen hackles in size and shape. However in good light they most definitely are a really dark shade of blue and are quite nice to tie with. I know it's tough to see in the photos below but I'm wondering if these are simply dyed hen or could they be another species of bird? To me they almost look to good to be dye. When I got them they were separated into individual feathers and not part of a skin. I do not know anything about dying techniques - is there a way to test to see if it's dye?

I hope your talking about electric candles- if you mean actual candles that would explain it! LOL

We also have a cat that chooses to live with us, I say it that way because I'm of the opinion he's just using us for food while secretly plotting our deaths. The cat was ferrule, we had been seeing him around our property for a year and a half and assumed he belonged to someone. Then one night we were sitting by our fire pit enjoying some adult beverages when he came up out of the darkness. My wife began patting him and realized she could feel his rib bones and that he was starving. Well she fed him and just like that he was at our door every morning at first light and back again that evening. We needed to get him to a vet for shots, which required welding gloves and three people to get him into the cat carrier. These days it's easier to pay more $$ for the mobile vet service to come to us. Having run from coyotes his whole life he was most definitely not happy about Oliver when we got him. They currently have an uneasy truce where they tolerate each other.

@Steeldrifter My wife and I keep it simple- candles in the windows which is a tradition here in New England. I'm not sure if that's the case in other parts of the country? Our daughters are grown so these days we buy a small table top tree.

I don't think little Oliver would care very much for the climate in Florida, it's that fur thing you pointed out Mike. Believe me he was no fan of the summer up here and couldn't wait for it to end. He's 1/2 American Eskimo and 1/2 schnauzer and his coat is all from his Eskimo side. He absolutely loves the cold weather and it's a fight with him to get him back inside. We'll have the wood stove cranking to take the chill out of the house and he's sleeping on the ceramic tile which is the coldest flooring in our home.

We've had Oliver a little over a year and every day he makes us smile. Life with a dog is a blessing my friend!

20 years ago I worked for a company based in West Palm. The receptionist was originally from Michigan. One day after shoveling her car out she loaded it up, drove to the airport and bought a one way ticket to Fla. She said she called her parents and told them where to pick up her car and she was quite proud of not having any source of heat at her Fla residence. Your kind of girl Mike!

Oliver would like to respectfully disagree. 🥶 IMG_7482_(1).MOV

Yes the weather Ap had us in central Massachusetts at 6" two days ago and now it's calling for 18" to 20". I can't wait! It's the perfect time to tie up some fly's, with the wood stove burning, a warming glass of fine bourbon and a pot of hot stew cooking! Funny we love getting snowed in but I'm sure the local news is reporting that the world is ending with women and children to be hardest hit- My wife and I detest the media's 24/7 storm coverage of the first big snowfall each year. They actually think they can scare everyone with their dire warnings of power outages and life threatening travel conditions. Yawn- this is New England and we're New Englanders, it snows and gets cold here. Many of us have power generators, snow blowers, four wheel drive vehicles with plows and in the rare event the four wheel drive can't get you where you need to be there's always snowmobiles- we'll be just fine and we'll lend a hand to our neighbors if they need something. Apparently the media hasn't realized the day's of the blizzard of 78 are over. What they should be doing is letting the non residents and visitors from warmer climates know that there's no need to buy every last gallon of milk or loaf of bread at the super market. Uh! I guess I actually I should have said my wife and I just detest the media period. We both stopped watching the local and national news this year. You would be amazed at how your outlook on life gets better. ☺️

Nice job Chug- I don't tie these beauty's so I have no advice or criticism to offer but I must say I respect anyone who is willing step into the world of the classic salmon fly. They are sort of the concert pianist to the fly tying world. Best wishes.

Nah, he's got long sleeves packed away just in case the temp drops below 75- 🥶

Hi Kim I live in Charlton a half hour drive from Gardner and I am very familiar with the Colonial. The company I work for always holds the Christmas party at the Colonial (except this year do to the virus). The place is absolutely beautiful. Work pays to put the entire company up overnight so we can indulge in adult beverages and the food is gourmet.

Same here- I can't say decades but I haven't had any issues. The only bobbin issue I've ever had was from the really cheap metal one that came with my first set of tools. After a year it started chewing thread so now I use it exclusively for wrapping wire.

I love the Davy knot and use it often especially on cold days. However as I learned from a forum discussion here about knots the Davy knot has been proven weaker than other knots. That said I have landed some large rainbows using a Davy knot. I still use a clinch knot when salmon fishing or if I'm fishing down stream where the fish has the advantage of the weight of the current.

Kim I am so happy to hear that! Health is something that’s easy to take for granted. A really close call via a heart attack 6 years ago changed my outlook on life forever . You must truly love our sport to hang in there for 15 years and It’s my hope that first day back on the water will be a day of days. A wise person once said “Any time spent on a River is a gift”. Damn straight.

Mike I'm of the opinion all waders will leak eventually no matter what you spend. I was tempted to buy a $400 pair of Simm's but I'm rough on my waders and never get a year out of them before they start to leak. So I buy under $200 and expect to seal leaks. I currently have a pair of LL Bean's waders that I paid somewhere around $170 for and they are really nice for the money, BUT they began leaking this autumn (2nd year). Before the LL Beans I had a pair of Bass Pro White River waders ($130ish) after a few months I noticed damp spots on my pants. I kept finding and sealing leaks with the UV stuff and had them for 7 years before a persistent leak at the crotch got really bad and forced me to put them in the trash. My wife still laughs about calling me on the way back from fishing to make a stop at Walmart. I didn't notice the wet spot so I'm fortunate the guy who makes the "People of Walmart" memes wasn't at that store that day. I will admit I used to wear jeans under waders which is notoriously bad for them so others with the same pairs may have gotten years without leaks. I've since stopped wearing jeans and now wear soft athletic pants under my waders which I highly recommend.