What are you working on?

[mikechell 0]

Have fun, Mark !!!

[dadofmolly 0]

Right now working on getting out of the hospital. Had a GI Bleed start last night which has ruined a planned trip. Should be out by the weekend but no trip.

[mikechell 0]

Good luck and best wishes, DadofMolly. Having just spent a week in a hospital, nothing's better than getting back home.

[Charlie P. (NY) 0]

I'm working on training my new fishing buddy. Duffy (our one year old Airedale Terrier) loves water and this was the first time I tried him in my kayak. Perfect gentleman and seemed to grasp "low center of gravity is good" quickly. We spent two hours cruising the shore (no tendency to jump off), cruising past dogs splashing after balls and sticks (stayed attentive but still and quiet), THE ADMIRAL circled us and throughout he remained happy and seemed to be enjoying it (you can tell buy his ear positions). He did fine out away from shore as well. Much better than the prior pup (a Kerry Blue Terrier) who would try for shore whenever we got within 20 feet and was never at ease when on board.

 

New trip will be with a pole! He gets pretty excited with fish on the bank or shore. Everything will be tethered for sure.

 

 

 

[vicente 0]

Leaving for two back to back fly fishing trips and the Blade Show in Atlanta GA. in the morning. Will be back on June 20th. Talk to you all again then.

I've always wanted to go to the blade show, it's always eluded me, should've gone when I lived in Nashville.

[mikechell 0]

Cute, Charlie!

[utyer 0]

This is a project I have worked on before with limited success: When I first started fly fishing in the late 50s, these flies were very popular in the Western US.

 

After my grandfather passed, I found this collection of flies in his tackle boxes. Since he lived in West Virginia and New York, I must guess that these flies had been sold there as well. Since his flies were loose, and unmarked, I don't know where they came from.

 

 

All these flies are very old (at least 50 years,) and many are not in condition to be fished. I decided to try and duplicate them about 15 years ago. I had a copy of The Master Fly Weaver by George F. Grant, and read up on the methods used to weave the bodies and the intricate methods used by both to create the woven hair hackles. My first attempts I used horse tail hair, and to simplify, I simply reversed the hair to form the hackle. The results were OK, but not good.

 

Recently I tried again. This time the hackle and bodies are made from synthetic hair from the beauty supply store. These come in a wide range of colors and prices. Some are less than #2.00 for a very large 44 to 48" long hank of hair, and the lighter color was only 99 cents for an 88" bunch. This hair is much thinner, and reversed easily without building up too much bulk at the head.

 

 

 

If there is any interest, I will put a Step by Step together in that section of the forum later.

 

 

 

 

[Lesg 0]

I really like the royal coachman looking one in the first photo.

[DFoster 0]

 

All these flies are very old (at least 50 years,) and many are not in condition to be fished.

 

 

 

 

I love those flies Utyer but please don't fish the originals even if they're in good condition you might lose them. They're beautiful, old flies seem to take on a patina that gives them that "antique" look. I would put them in a nice display box and hang them on a wall (there are instructions on line). Over the years I've had several small collections of 50+ year old trout and salmon flies given to me as the result of a death in someone's family. When time permits I intend to mount them in a shadow box for display in my office.

[flytire 0]

tying a sandy mite

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgeFs3gjcIY

[utyer 0]

Norm, I have seen this before, and my goal was to come make a similar fly in a lot less time.

 

DF, I have no intention of fishing any of these. If I ever again get a "fly tying room" I will make a shadow box of these and some of my other flies. I have done clocks before, with flies at the hours. The first one was for my mom, who could never remember the names. A least with the clock, she could point out the ones she needed when she was out.

[tferg 0]

Great to see the Potts flies utyer. My father and I used the Sandy Mite and the Lady Mite pretty much exclusively on the Big Hole River and Rock Creek back in the sixties. Very popular fly here in Montana. We swung them and sometimes added lead if we had to. They came from a time when durability was premium. Delicate flies didn't cut it with my dad. As I recall, Potts used chinese boar hair - not elk - and they would really last. I tied some years ago, but they take a lot of time to do them the way Potts did them. I can't tell you how many fish they accounted for.

A friend of mine bought all of the chinese boar hair from a Butte Montana shop some years ago as it became impossible to get the right stuff.

When we didn't have enough money to buy them ( I think they were 45 cents), we would buy a knock off fly called the Black Bear Brown and the Brown Bear Black. These woven flies worked too, but I never fished them as confidently. They were 10 to 25 cents. Sometimes I could dig a dime out of the couch. I still have a couple that I tied, but I won't fish them.

[flytire 0]

speaking of george grant and franz potts heres an interesting article

 

https://redboatmarkchronicles.blogspot.com/2015/02/a-day-at-montana-fly-fishing-museum.html

[utyer 0]

That IS a great article, thanks for the link.

[DFoster 0]

Great article Norm- thank you for posting that!