Bamboo Rod
On the home page of this website, I mentioned that there is nothing like catching a fish on a fly you have tied yourself. To that, I would append, “With a rod, you built yourself.” Read More
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Foam Beetle
I recently traveled to New Jersey to attend the International Fly Tying Symposium. If you have never been, I would highly recommend it. It was well attended, and there were some excellent fly tiers, including Fly Tyer magazine’s Fly Tyer of the Year, Barry Ord Clake. I especially enjoyed drinking coffee and talking to some of the tiers at 6 am in the hotel lobby. Read More
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Bodkin Cleaner
Bodkin Cleaner
When tying, I use my bodkin to pick out dubbing fibers, trapped hackle fibers, poke holes in things, and add head cement to whip finishes. As a result, it gets gunky and needs to be cleaned.
292021 BRANSON FLY FISHING EXPO
Michael Lack Tying
The Branson Fly Fishing Expo was held this last weekend. It was canceled last year because of COVD. Unfortunately because of the COVID Delta variant attendance was down. There were few vendors, slightly more fly tyers, and an occasional visitor. However, I had a great time. I was able to tie a lot of flies and give them away. I was also able to visit every vendor and tier. As usual, I never fail to learn something. I got to see several old friends and make new ones. Isn’t that what the show is really about. I’ll be there next year!
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Stewart’s Black Spider
Stewart’s Black Spider
Stewart’s Black Spider first described it in his 1857 book The Practical Angler; or, The art of trout fishing, more particularly applied to clear water. It is as effective today as it was in 1857.
21Tom Loving’s Gerbubble Bug
Tom Lovig designed the Gerbubble Bug in the early 1900s to fish for bass on the Chesapeake Bay. It is a very effective fly but did not become popular until the May 1971 issue of Fly Fisherman popularized it with the history and tying instructions.
It’s not difficult to tie, but forming the head is time-consuming. Modern woodworking tools and a few jigs can make the process much easier.
50Hooks
Smallmouth
Boundary Waters, MN
When I started tying flies in the 70s, I thought I could save money. I was wrong. Over the next 60 years, I have spent thousands of dollars on materials to tie flies. It would have been much cheaper to have purchased every fly I use in that period. Of course, I would have missed all the fun of tying the flies. I learned a lot, and I do think my flies last longer than the store-bought flies.
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Sparkle Pupa
In my last post, I described the Veiled Caddis as an alternative to the Sparkle Pupa. When tying the Sparkle Pupa, the Antron fibers were either too thin or ballooned out too much. However, searching the internet, I found an easy way to get perfect results.
19Bird Hunting
The day after Christmas, David Weingold, my son, and I went bird hunting. I am not much of a hunter. I don’t shoot anything I will not eat. But David likes to eat the quail and pheasant. I go along just to take pictures and watch the dog work.
23Veiled Caddis
Veiled Caddis
In 1981 Gary Lafontaine published a seminal work entitled Caddisflies. This book is based upon observations made while scuba diving. In it, he describes the life cycle of the caddisflies and how they behave in the water. LaFontaine goes on to develop various patterns and discusses how to fish them.
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